Wednesday, 18 December 2019

WEDNESDAY, 18 DECEMBER 2019

WEDNESDAY, 18 DECEMBER 2019

The Speaker took the Chair at 2 p.m.

Karakia.

Oral Questions

Questions to Ministers

Question No. 1—Prime Minister

1. Hon SIMON BRIDGES (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all her Government’s statements and actions?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): Yes, particularly the Government’s actions this year to address New Zealand’s long-term challenges, including record capital investment in hospitals and schools; the passing of the zero carbon Act; the announcement of $12 billion to continue to address the infrastructure deficit, including another $6.8 billion in transport projects. We’ve built over 3,600 State houses, added to that base of housing, invested in mental health and cancer treatment. We’ve recruited more than 1,800 new police since we took office, created a $229 million sustainable land-use package, and supported our regions through the Provincial Growth Fund. We’ve expanded Mana in Mahi apprentices. We’ve banned military-style semi-automatic weapons; continued to roll out a three-year transport programme, including 3,300 kilometres of safety improvements; and the $100 million Green Investment Fund—that is just to name a few.

SPEAKER: I will remind the Prime Minister there is opportunity for 10-minute speeches later in the day.

Hon Simon Bridges: Is the reason she didn’t mention child poverty just then because seven out of the nine indicators are much, much worse?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: On child poverty, we’ve introduced the winter energy payment, we’ve extended paid parental leave, we’ve increased the family tax credit, we have indexed benefits to wages—all of those policies are projected to bring 50,000 to 70,000 children out of poverty. If I may, the member knows the data that he is referring to is data under his Government. He is deliberately misleading the House and he’s misleading New Zealand.

Hon Simon Bridges: Why is her Government now in deficit?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Obviously, if you look around the world, a number of nations are experiencing issues with global growth rates. Relative to others, our performance is solid. The member will well know, though, that it’s had impact on ACC investments, and that represents a significant portion of what New Zealand is experiencing right now.

Hon Simon Bridges: Does she accept that lower economic growth and wasteful spending are the primary reasons why New Zealand’s now back in deficit?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Absolutely not.

Hon Simon Bridges: Is she embarrassed that after inheriting surpluses that were forecast for at least another 15 years by Treasury, her Government has turned that into a deficit within just two years?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: That member well knows that his Government was more often in deficit than it was not.

Hon Simon Bridges: Can she confirm that growth has decreased from 4.5 percent in 2017 to just 2.1 percent now, and that that means less tax revenue and more spending by her Government?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: What I can confirm is that when you compare New Zealand to Australia, as the member often does, to a range of different countries within the EU, and against the UK and against Japan, we are outperforming when it comes to our GDP growth. When you look at the global headwinds, New Zealand is well positioned. We have low unemployment—some of the lowest we’ve seen in a decade. We have had wage growth that is amongst the highest in a decade. We have solid growth rates. We are in a good position to invest for our economy.

Rt Hon Winston Peters: Can I ask the Prime Minister as to whether she’s received reports explaining that if the economy was roaring along in 2017, the Government lost?

SPEAKER: Order!

Rt Hon Winston Peters: It’s a report.

SPEAKER: It might well be, and it might well be a device on the part of the member to invite the Prime Minister to comment on something which in some ways as the leader of the Labour Party she might have had responsibility for, but certainly doesn’t as Prime Minister.

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Look, what I do know is that—

SPEAKER: Order! Order! No, I’ve ruled the question out. [Interruption] The member should be too.

Hon Simon Bridges: In light of her last answer to the last supplementary, to the effect that things are going well, can she explain again, then, why New Zealand is in deficit?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: As I’ve already acknowledged, the global headwinds that New Zealand is facing are exactly the same as what the rest of the world is facing. If the member thinks that 2.4 percent growth is bad, I wonder what he thinks about the 2.1 percent, which was the average under his Government.

Hon Simon Bridges: Can she confirm that her Government is to spend $23 billion more on day-to-day spending than previously predicted?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: No, I cannot confirm that here and now.

Hon Simon Bridges: Does she accept that running a deficit breaks the promise she made to New Zealanders to stay in surplus unless New Zealand is in a crisis?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: The member will see from the forecast that we move quickly out of that position, and, again, I would point out that the situation that New Zealand finds itself in is not dissimilar to Australia, the United Kingdom, Japan, the EU—other nations within the OECD we compare ourselves to—with some significant differences, those being that our growth rates outperform many of those, that our unemployment levels are low, and that our wage growth far outstrips that under that Government. On almost every marker, we are outperforming, including projected deficits, which that member experienced far more of under his Government than under ours.

Hon James Shaw: Can the Prime Minister confirm that the promise that she made to the country was actually that the Government will deliver a sustainable operating surplus across an economic cycle?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Yes, I can.

Hon Simon Bridges: Was, in fact, the pledge that she made that she would deliver surpluses unless there was a natural disaster, an economic shock, or a crisis in New Zealand?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: It is as the member Mr Shaw outlined: a sustainable surplus. I point out again that we have delivered surpluses over $10 billion to date, and forecast to be over $10 billion in the future.

Hon Simon Bridges: Did she make a statement that she would deliver surpluses under a Labour Government unless New Zealand had a disaster, an economic shock, or a crisis?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: We assured New Zealand that we would deliver sustainable surpluses over an economic forecast cycle. We have delivered surpluses over $10 billion to date, and projected to be over $10 billion in the future. I have to say, I am proud of what this Government has managed to do in the face of significant headwinds. What we’ve done on the cost of living, what we’ve done on unemployment, and what we’ve done on wage growth is fundamentally making a difference to New Zealanders. If the member read Treasury reports, he would see that Treasury has advised the Government not to make changes in the short term around austerity just to achieve that short-term surplus, because it would not be the right thing to do.

Marama Davidson: Are the deficits and surpluses the only way to measure the economic wellbeing of a nation?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I’m glad the member has asked. She, of course, is acknowledging that around the world the move, of course, is to take into account the wellbeing of a people’s nation, its people, its environment, and, of course, its infrastructure. On those measures, it is fair to say that we have been left with a lot to do. Whilst those opposite have not yet had the data to demonstrate what we’ve done—for instance, on child poverty—we’ve made more than $5 billion worth of investment to low and middle income New Zealanders because they are the very people who needed this Government to start investing in them beyond a three-year cycle, and that is exactly what we’ve done.

Hon Simon Bridges: So is she borrowing $35 billion additional over the next five years because, as she says, austerity wouldn’t be the right thing at this time?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: We’re borrowing because infrastructure deficits exist in this country, interest rates are low, our debt rates are low—lower than what we inherited under that Government—and now is the time to invest. In fact, his finance spokesperson himself, some three months ago, endorsed that very position. That is exactly why we’ve made the $12 billion worth of announcements into infrastructure. And I would point out that as a percentage of GDP, New Zealand’s debt will still be lower than what we inherited from that member under the last National Government.

Hon Simon Bridges: If she’s borrowing for “infrastructure”, why is only $12 billion of the $35 billion she’s borrowing in the next five years going on infrastructure?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Again, I refute what the member has outlined, but again point out that the member’s own finance spokesperson has endorsed the idea of this kind of investment in infrastructure. Interest rates are low, Government borrowing is low—lower than it was when we started in office, under the last member’s Government—and, even at its highest point, will reach 2.5 percent over this cycle, which is lower than you left it.

Hon Simon Bridges: Why is she breaking her pledge to keep debt at under 20 percent of GDP by 2022?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: The member well knows that we’ve delivered that on two occasions. We also, though, listen to Treasury advice to move to a range. It was advice that we agreed with, we did so recently, and we are falling well within that. Again, I do want to point out that if the member thinks that our debt levels are high now, he must think very poorly of the last Government, because they were higher then.

Hon Simon Bridges: What is the point of making promises to New Zealanders, like running a surplus and paying down debt, if she just chooses to ignore them?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: While I refute what the member is claiming, I just have one thing to say: GST.

Question No. 2—Finance

2. Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH (National) to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by all of the Government’s policies and actions in relation to the economy?

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): Yes, in the context that they were made. In particular, I stand by this Government’s careful management of the books, which has seen us run $13 billion of surpluses in our first two years in office and forecast around a further $12 billion of surpluses over the next four years. I’m also particularly proud of our $12 billion investment in capital that is forecast to increase the size of the economy significantly over the coming years. There are many other things I am proud of, which the Speaker will, no doubt, give me an opportunity to talk about shortly.

Hon Paul Goldsmith: How can he stand by his economic policies which have seen New Zealand transform from strong growth and surpluses into slow growth and deficits in two short years?

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I completely refute what underlies that member’s question. If he looks around the world, he will see that New Zealand continues to grow at a pace faster than Australia, Japan, Canada, the UK, and the eurozone. The New Zealand economy is doing well amid global headwinds. It would be nice, just one day in the House, for the member to stand up, back New Zealand businesses, and say we’re doing well.

Hon Paul Goldsmith: What was he talking about yesterday, when he said, “When we came into Government we ranked 34th in the OECD in GDP per capita, and we’ve improved [on] that. We’re [now] 32nd and we will keep moving forward”?

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I was responding to the member’s question about growth and GDP per capita.

Hon Paul Goldsmith: Well, is it not the case that New Zealand’s growth per person in 2017 was 24th in the OECD, and now it’s 28th?

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: No. No, the OECD told us that we were left, in terms of growth and GDP per capita, in 34th position in 2017, and this improved to 32nd position. We can have this fascinating argument about OECD stats, or we can celebrate the fact that the New Zealand economy is in good shape, jobs are growing, and wages are growing. The member needs to cheer up.

Hon Paul Goldsmith: I seek leave to table a note from the Parliamentary Library which is a compilation of the latest OECD stats on GDP growth per person, showing that New Zealand—

SPEAKER: Order! That’s it. Is there any objection to that document being tabled? There is none.

Document, by leave, laid on the Table of the House.

Hon Paul Goldsmith: Well, why is he peddling fake news in this Chamber?

SPEAKER: Order! No, that’s it—that question’s gone.

Hon Paul Goldsmith: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. What was wrong with that question?

SPEAKER: I will give the member a seminar later if he wants one. He should know by now—he’s been round long enough.

Hon Paul Goldsmith: Is it also not the case that growth per person in 2017 was 1.7 percent in New Zealand, and it is now less than a third of that, at 0.5 percent?

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The member—his way with numbers is such that I’d like to go away and confirm that. What I do know, from memory, is that the average per capita growth over the forecast period that we have released last week is ahead of New Zealand’s 10-year average.

Rt Hon Winston Peters: Can I ask the finance Minister, if GDP per person is the proper measurement, how many examples as precedent has he been able to use from Ministers in this House from 2008 to 2017—by way of precedent?

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Oh, I try not to use that particular period of time as a precedent for this Government.

Hon Paul Goldsmith: So what impact on Kiwi families does a drop in growth to less than a third of what it was two years ago, on a per person basis, have?

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: We all know that New Zealand is continuing to grow. We’re continuing to grow as an economy faster than most of the countries we compare us to. If the member wants to pretend that the rest of the world doesn’t exist and that we’re frozen in time in 2016 or 2017, he can do that. On this side of the House, we are governing in real time in a way that’s leaving New Zealanders’ books in good shape.

Hon Paul Goldsmith: Just explain to me how New Zealand’s books are in good shape if we’re running a deficit only two years after you inherited massive surpluses?

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I can do that at great length, if the member would like. In our—

SPEAKER: No.

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: —first two years in office, we ran very strong surpluses. We’re going to be running another $12 billion of surpluses. In the face of global headwinds, the economy continues to grow above trend, unemployment is at the lowest level in a decade, and wage growth is at the highest level in a decade. That’s why the New Zealand economy is in good shape.

Question No. 3—Finance

3. TAMATI COFFEY (Labour—Waiariki) to the Minister of Finance: He aha ngā rīpoata hou kua kitea e ia mō te ōhanga o Aotearoa?

[What recent reports has he seen on the New Zealand economy?]

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): Friday’s BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) showed that, seasonally adjusted, the index was at 51.4, expanding for a second straight month. Similarly, the BNZ business Performance of Services Index (PSI) out yesterday showed continued expansion of the services sector in November, recording a reading of 53.3. The PMI reading is above those of Australia, the UK, Japan, and the eurozone, while the PSI reading is above the UK, the US, the eurozone, and Japan, demonstrating the continued solid fundamentals of the New Zealand economy.

Tamati Coffey: What reports has he seen on business confidence in the New Zealand economy?

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Yesterday the ANZ Business Outlook Survey, a favoured survey of members opposite, showed that headline business confidence jumped another 13 points in December, after jumping 16 points in the month before, up to its highest level since the Government took office. Firms’ expectations for their own activity rose 4 percent to a net 17 percent expecting higher activity over the year ahead. Across the survey, employment intentions rose 5 points to a net 8 percent of firms intending to lift employment. While this survey remains a sentiment survey, it is great to see New Zealand businesses feeling more upbeat about their prospects as we head into next year.

Tamati Coffey: What reports has he seen on consumer confidence?

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: It’s not just businesses that are feeling more confident. According to the latest Westpac McDermott Miller Consumer Confidence report released yesterday, consumer confidence rose sharply in December to 109.9. Westpac said that the rise in confidence had been widespread across the country and was seen across all ages and income brackets. It said increasing optimism around the economic outlook is behind the turnaround in household sentiment. The number of households who expect to be better off financially over the coming year rose to its highest level since 2009. It’s clear from these surveys that businesses and consumers and households are finishing the year on a confident and optimistic note and we wish all in the House to feel the same way.

Question No. 4—Transport

4. CHRIS BISHOP (National—Hutt South) to the Minister of Transport: What is his best estimate for when construction of the City Centre to Māngere light rail project will begin, and what is his best estimate of when the completed project line will be open for passengers?

Hon PHIL TWYFORD (Minister of Transport): As the member is well aware, we’re going through a process that will give the Government a preferred delivery partner and an announcement will be made on time lines next year. However, my best estimate for both parts of the question is that the line will be open well before the date that the previous transport Minister, Simon Bridges planned, which was 2047.

Chris Bishop: What did the chief executive of the Ministry of Transport (MOT) mean when he said last week, “At this stage this process is about deciding who the preferred delivery partner will be not the specific solution.”?

SPEAKER: I’ll let the question go because it’s close to Christmas. It doesn’t actually relate to the primary or the answer.

Hon PHIL TWYFORD: Well, I think that the MOT’s chief executive Peter Mersi was quite clear in this explanation that the twin track process that’s currently under way is about informing a Cabinet decision on the delivery partner and delivery model. What I think he also said was that questions about route alignment, about design and traffic segregation—all of those things—are part of the process because they are what the parties are putting in their bid. But the decision on those things—route alignment, design, traffic segregation—will be made after Cabinet makes its decision on the delivery partner.

Chris Bishop: Has he seen the comments of Matt Lowry of Greater Auckland, who has said “You don’t go to Fletcher’s and say ‘We want you to build us a road.’ and Fletcher’s go ‘OK, where do you want us to build it?’, and then say ‘I don’t know. We’ll work that out later.’ ”; and why is he overseeing a process where precisely this scenario is happening in relation to light rail?

Hon PHIL TWYFORD: Well, it’s not that scenario at all. We are choosing—

Hon Members: It is.

Hon PHIL TWYFORD: No, it’s not. It’s not that scenario at all. We are choosing a delivery partner and a delivery model, and that’s partly because the New Zealand Superannuation Fund and their Canadian partners have made a bid that is unlike any other procurement model that’s been attempted in New Zealand before, and the Government has taken the view that it is compelling, it’s promising, and we are determined to give it serious consideration.

Chris Bishop: Is it fair to say that in December 2019 the Government has not yet settled on the exact route that light rail will take in Auckland?

Hon PHIL TWYFORD: Well, we know that the line that’s been prioritised in the Auckland light rail project, which is the city centre to Māngere, will cross the isthmus, will cross the harbour, and will connect two of the biggest concentrations of jobs in the country, but the precise route alignment is subject to work that is ongoing, and that decision will be made next year.

Chris Bishop: Is it fair to say that in December 2019, the Government has not yet settled on what type of rail will be used for the light rail project?

Hon PHIL TWYFORD: No. It will be rail with two tracks that go forward in parallel.

Question No. 5—Health

5. Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National) to the Minister of Health: Is he satisfied with the performance of the health system this year?

Hon Dr DAVID CLARK (Minister of Health): My concern as Minister of Health is that New Zealanders get the services they need. I’m satisfied that more people are receiving more care from our health services. I’m satisfied that we’re making progress rolling out new front-line mental health services and that we have New Zealand’s first ever suicide prevention office up and running. I’m satisfied that making it cheaper for 600,000 people to visit their GP has made it easier for people to get the care they need when they need it. I’m satisfied that the newly established Cancer Control Agency will drive improved care and better outcomes. Of course it will take time for our health services to fully recover from nine years of neglect, and there is more work to be done, but I am satisfied that we are on the right track and we’re making progress.

Hon Michael Woodhouse: Is he sure the health service is delivering more health for New Zealanders when the only published data are all showing indicators going backward on his watch?

Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: I refute the second part of the question, clearly.

Hon Michael Woodhouse: Well, does he stand by his statement, “I want to see meaningful and transparent measures of progress in health.”, and, if so, is he satisfied that his removal of published elective surgery throughput is consistent with that statement?

Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: I yesterday spent some time sharing with the member some of the shortcomings of the narrow set of political targets the previous Government chose, and I can tell the member today good news: 5,000 more planned care interventions happened in the last year, more New Zealanders are getting more care in appropriate settings. This Government will have to take time to address all of the neglect that we’ve inherited, but we’re making good progress.

Michael Wood: Well, is he satisfied that, under his leadership, DHB deficits have ballooned to over $1.1 billion?

Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: As the member knows full well, DHB deficits have been building up since 2013, and the bulk of this year’s deficits relate to one-off costs incurred during his and Simon Bridges’ Government’s time. That includes $772 million to put right a decade of underpayment to nurses, doctors, and other health workers. We’re going to put that right. We’re going to make sure they are paid appropriately, unlike what the previous Government did, and I want to take this time to thank the doctors and nurses and allied health workers who were underpaid under the previous Government’s watch. That is something we want to put right. There are many long-term challenges we’ve still got to sort out, but I think the former Minister needs to look in the mirror when he’s raising concerns about this year’s deficit, most of which relates to historic problems created by that Government.

Hon Michael Woodhouse: But is he satisfied that, in the year of delivery, he is delivering poorer health outcomes for New Zealanders?

Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: The member is flat out wrong. This Government is delivering cheaper doctors visits: 57,000 fewer people say they can’t afford to go to the GP than they could a year ago. We’ve made a record investment into mental health and addiction. We’ve rolled out new front-line mental health services. We rolled out Mana Ake, a programme in Kaikōura and Canterbury for children in the wake of the earthquakes, in primary and intermediate schools. We rolled out Piki, free counselling for young people in the Wellington and Manawatū area. We’ve rolled out a suicide prevention office—New Zealand’s first ever suicide prevention office. We’ve got an interim Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission up and running. In the cancer control area, we’ve got a cancer action plan. We’ve got a Cancer Control Agency. We’ve funded 12 new linear accelerators. We’ve got Pharmac approving five new cancer drugs since the Budget. We’ve got bowel screening rolled out to 10 DHBs; 420 cancers detected early when there is better prospect of having life-saving interventions. We’re rebuilding and upgrading our hospitals: $2.45 billion set aside to address the neglect we’ve inherited—$2.45 billion. That is more than twice what the previous Government set aside in their whole nine years. Mr Speaker, there is so much more I could say, but I fear you will not let me continue.

Question No. 6—Education

6. Hon CLARE CURRAN (Labour—Dunedin South) to the Minister of Education: What is the Government doing to develop a sustainable vocational education system that delivers the skills that learners, employers, and communities need to thrive?

Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Minister of Education): The Government inherited a polytech system posting collective losses of around $70 million per year and with plunging enrolments. We needed to take bold and concerted action to ensure that our vocational education system remained viable, and, in fact, we’ve done a lot more than that. This year, we’ve developed a completely new integrated model that’s going to take vocational education in New Zealand into the future, that’s going to put industry into the driver’s seat, and that’s going to put students and trainees at the centre. Work putting our institutes of technology and polytechs into a sustainable long-term position is already well under way. Workforce development councils will be established in 2020. Centres of vocational excellence are also being established, and the funding system is on the way to being overhauled.

Hon Clare Curran: What decisions has he taken to prepare industry to take a leading role in the reformed vocational education system?

Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: Yesterday, I announced that we’ll be establishing six industry-led workforce development councils. The areas of coverage for those six councils will be construction and infrastructure; another for primary industries; one for service industries; one for health, community, and social services industries; one for manufacturing, engineering, logistics, and technology; and one for cultural, creative, and recreational industries. These groupings are based on the vocational pathways that schools are already very familiar with, and they are industry’s favoured model. Combined, they cover most of the industries that employ around 2.5 million people in around half a million businesses across New Zealand. They’ll bring together a number of new industries or sectors not currently covered by industry training organisations, including areas in IT like web and graphic design, fashion, other ICT fields, teacher support qualifications. They will now also have a powerful industry voice.

Hon Clare Curran: How will those workforce development councils be important to the vocational education reforms?

Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: Workforce development councils put industry in the driver’s seat of determining what their skill needs are, and they’ll ensure that the education system delivers on those. The councils will ensure that training and qualifications meet industry standards and that courses that are taught are relevant and up to date, and unless a training and education programme has the confidence of industry through its workforce development council, it won’t be approved and it won’t be funded.

Hon Clare Curran: What is the Government doing to encourage more people to enter vocational education and training?

Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: Heaps, but to name just a few: 4,000 more Gateway and trades academy places are being funded from next year; 345 students received the very first Prime Minister’s awards for vocational excellence this year; initiatives like speed meets are helping to connect up employers and students, to create a stronger link between employers and the education system; and, of course, apprentices and trainees are eligible for two years of fees-free training under the Government’s fees-free scheme.

Question No. 7—Social Development

7. Hon LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupō) to the Minister for Social Development: Does she stand by her statement earlier this year that “Our plans will result in fewer children growing up in extreme poverty and see more people moving off benefits and into decent long term work”; if so, does she believe that she has delivered on this promise?

Hon CARMEL SEPULONI (Minister for Social Development): Yes, I stand by this statement, and this Government is delivering on this. As I’ve said before, there is more to do. However, we have already introduced the Families Package, which has benefited over a million New Zealanders; committed to indexing benefits to wage increases for the first time in New Zealand’s history; invested more into helping young people upskill and move into work through programmes like Mana in Mahi and Limited Service Volunteers; lifted benefit abatement thresholds so people can keep more of what they earn; passed legislation to repeal the harmful sanction that penalised sole parents and their children; and put an extra 170 case managers on the front line at the Ministry of Social Development to support people into sustainable employment. Finally, as I also said earlier this year, we’re taking a balanced approach and are committed to delivering change over the longer term and prioritising areas like housing and mental health, which impact on all New Zealanders but particularly those in the welfare system.

Hon Louise Upston: How can this have been delivered, when there are 22,000 more people on jobseeker benefit and 8,000 more children in benefit-dependent households since the Government took office?

Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: We know that the number of working-age New Zealanders on benefit proportionate to the population is one of the lowest that it has been in over a decade, at 10.2 percent. What we’ve also seen during the July to November period was an additional 3,600 benefit exits into employment compared to the year before. That’s a 13 percent increase, and that came about around the time that we introduced the new work-focused case managers. So I do believe that this Government is delivering for New Zealanders. Is there more to do? Absolutely, and this Government’s committed to doing it.

Hon Louise Upston: How can she believe she has supported people into long-term work, when she has not delivered 4,000 Mana in Mahi places that the Prime Minister promised and only five percent of Oranga Mahi participants are still in work after six months?

Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: Can I say that with respect to Mana in Mahi we are absolutely meeting the targets that we have set with getting people into Mana in Mahi placements. I think that the outcome that we’ve seen to date is that 70 percent of those who started in Mana in Mahi have continued in Mana in Mahi and, of those that have come out, about 16 percent have gone on to do something else, supported by MSD, and about 16 percent have ended up back on benefit. But we haven’t given up on that 16 percent, and we will continue to support those young people to get into meaningful upskilling and training, because, unlike that side of the House, we don’t believe that young New Zealanders are “pretty damn hopeless”. We believe in their potential.

Hon Louise Upston: Does she believe she has delivered on child poverty when John Campbell is stating that “There are many children here and they are waiting for food that their families might run short of” and when Green Party MP Marama Davidson says that the My Food Bag trial only hides the fact that people simply don’t have enough to eat?

Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: We have to be really careful in this House not to over-politicise child poverty. There’s a reason that we all signed up to the child poverty reduction targets, and that is because we know that we have an issue as a country. That issue didn’t just come about when we took over two years ago. There were, unfortunately, children living in poverty under the previous Government, but, for far too long, it was ignored. We’re not ignoring it anymore; we’re doing something about it. We’ve set those targets. We are absolutely focused on achieving those targets, and we look forward to working constructively with other political parties in the House to do that.

Hon Louise Upston: How can she be delivering on poverty when the head of the Christchurch City Mission said that things were better under National and food banks are reporting that they have never seen so many people in need?

Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: We have to reflect on more than the past two years. Already, what has been mentioned in the House has been the Children’s Commissioner and his comments. I need to refer back to something that the Prime Minister mentioned, and that is the Child Poverty Monitor. The stats that that side of the House keep referring to are stats that came about under their time in Government, not ours. We are committed to addressing child poverty. That is why we introduced the Best Start payment for New Zealand families. That is why we introduced the winter energy payment. That is why we’ve lifted Working for Families. That is why we have indexed benefits to wages. That is why we have lifted the abatement threshold—so that people can earn more whilst being able to maintain their benefit and not be penalised. There is a lot that we’re doing on this side of the House. Is there more that we have to do? Absolutely, and we’re committed to doing that.

Question No. 8—Health

8. ANGIE WARREN-CLARK (Labour) to the Minister of Health: What progress, if any, is the Government making to improve access to quality healthcare for New Zealanders?

Hon Dr DAVID CLARK (Minister of Health): I have more good news. This Government is committed to a strong health service that is delivering more care to more people—that starts in primary care. We know early intervention is always better, and that’s why in December last year we made it cheaper for around 600,000 people to visit their GP. That investment is already paying dividends. In the latest New Zealand Health Survey there was an almost 10 percent drop in the number of people who reported that they couldn’t afford to visit their GP. I’m proud to be part of a Government that is making it easier for people to get the care they need when they need it.

Angie Warren-Clark: What progress is the Government making to improve access to mental health and addiction services?

Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: This Government is taking mental health and addiction seriously. We’ve rolled out Mana Ake, putting mental health support into primary and intermediate schools throughout Canterbury and Kaikōura. Piki is delivering free support to 18- to 24-year-olds in Wellington and Wairarapa. We’re rolling out new front-line mental health services. Already, 170,000 people across seven DHBs have access to free mental health services at their local general practices, with new sites to be added and announced next year. We’re investing more into addiction services and we’ve announced funding for new mental health facilities in Waikato, Tai Rāwhiti, and Palmerston North.

Angie Warren-Clark: What progress is the Government making to improve access to hospital care?

Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: Every day the staff in our public hospitals take care of thousands of people. I want to take this opportunity now to say thank you to them for their dedication, professionalism, and hard work. I want to wish them a merry Christmas. Last year they delivered more planned care interventions than ever before—an increase of 5,000 on the previous year. Even more progress has been made in the first quarter of this year, when we’ve seen 3,150 more planned care interventions than over the same period in the previous year, as well as 5,800 more first specialist assessments, and 2,710 more acute discharges. I know we have more work to do and our new DHB chairs and boards face many challenges, but after nine years of neglect our health services are making real progress in delivering more care for more people.

Chlöe Swarbrick: What has been done to ensure New Zealanders who need it have access to high quality, affordable medicinal cannabis?

Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: Just today I’ve announced that new regulations are going to be in place that will allow local cultivation and manufacture of medicinal cannabis products that will potentially help ease the pain of thousands of people. Today’s regulations, which will come into effect on 1 April next year, set out the quality and licencing arrangements for manufacturing and distributing medicinal cannabis. I want to thank all who have worked on this across the coalition and confidence and supply: those on this side of the House that have made medicinal cannabis so much easier for New Zealanders to access.

Question No. 9—Regional Economic Development

9. JENNY MARCROFT (NZ First) to the Minister for Regional Economic Development: What has the Provincial Growth Fund achieved in 2019?

Hon SHANE JONES (Minister for Regional Economic Development): In 2019, the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF), amongst other things, has achieved endless publicity; in addition to that, the occasional eruption of two of the seven deadly sins from the other side of the House: envy and lust.

Jenny Marcroft: What recent successes regarding PGF projects is he aware of?

Hon SHANE JONES: This answer may take a tad longer, given it’s the season of good cheer. In terms of green minerals, I’d like to point out that Geo40—the loan that was allocated to a Taupō company—has proceeded to achieve all of its milestones, not only the extraction of battery grade lithium from geothermal fluid but a development that would never have taken place but for the Provincial Growth Fund. Just to show that we’re conscious of legacy industries, the Dunedin residents are overjoyed about the reopening of the Hillside workshops. Just to show that we spread the good cheer across the four winds: the Ngati Porou - Tai Rāwhiti roading package of $137 million is on its way. I wait with bated breath to see if Tūhoe want a road.

Jenny Marcroft: What will the Provincial Growth Fund deliver in the coming year?

Hon SHANE JONES: Next year is an incredibly important year, and given the constitutional role that I’m fulfilling in answering this question, I shall be sober and clear-headed in my answer. During the course of 2020—

SPEAKER: Now, this’ll be a fine thing!

Hon SHANE JONES: —we will see a Māori Battalion museum, which will offer a testimony to all of the families and the men who served overseas, at Waitangi. We will see the Whanganui rail upgrade. As you know, we are a party, we are a Government, that is deeply committed to rail after the last nine years of woeful neglect. We will also see, in an area that has been neglected for far too long, the Westport Airport seawall rebuild. To round things off, we will also see the Ōhaaki northern plant completed and the rolling ball clock.

Rt Hon Winston Peters: Could the Minister tell us how many times he’s literally been knocked over by National Party provincial MPs trying to go to the PGF announcements?

Hon SHANE JONES: We did fund the initial study into the relocation of the Ports of Auckland out of Auckland, and I have noted that Mr Matt King is now an enthusiastic supporter of this stance, and indeed the leader of the National Party has announced that the port will go, and actually he’s favouring—I’ve warned him about conflicts of interest—Tauranga over Northland. [Interruption] Perhaps. Although Steven Joyce is antagonistic to the idea, the real boss, John Key, is highly supportive. Look forward to a very colourful and informative year from my good self next year.

Question No. 10—Transport

10. CHRIS BISHOP (National—Hutt South) to the Associate Minister of Transport: Does she stand by all her statements and actions?

Hon JULIE ANNE GENTER (Associate Minister of Transport): Yes, in the context they were made and given.

Chris Bishop: What actions this year, if any, did she take to try and resolve Wellington’s bus issues, described by one Wellingtonian as a “lasagne of failure”?

Hon JULIE ANNE GENTER: I agree that the Wellington bus fiasco has been unfortunate. Unfortunately, I don’t have ministerial responsibility for that.

Chris Bishop: Will she be taking to Twitter over the Christmas break to lambast “car fascists”, or has she suddenly developed new respect for the millions of New Zealanders that drive a car every day?

Hon JULIE ANNE GENTER: I completely reject the assertion that is in that question.

SPEAKER: Question No. 11—Marja Lubeck.

Chris Bishop: Supplementary? Supplementary?

SPEAKER: Well, the member has to stand up, not look at the members behind him while he’s sitting down, if he wants another supplementary. Because it’s Christmas, I will let the member have it, but he’s got to remember to stand up if he wants a supplementary.

Chris Bishop: Thank you, Mr Speaker. I appreciate your indulgence. Has she met former mayor Justin Lester recently and asked him why he was telling people she had threatened to resign if the second Mt Vic tunnel was prioritised in the Let’s Get Wellington Moving plan?

Hon JULIE ANNE GENTER: I have not.

Nicola Willis: Will she provide Wellingtonians with an early Christmas present and release her secret letter to Minister Twyford?

Hon JULIE ANNE GENTER: As the member is well aware, the Ombudsman has said that we were right to withhold the letter.

Nicola Willis: Will she write any further secret letters to oppose a second Mt Vic tunnel being brought forward as a priority project in the Government’s new transport package?

SPEAKER: That question is ruled out.

Question No. 11—Workplace Relations and Safety

11. MARJA LUBECK (Labour) to the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety: What steps has the Government taken to increase wages for the lowest-paid workers?

Hon IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY (Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety): Thank you, Mr Speaker. Today, I announced that this Government is lifting the adult minimum wage by $1.20, and from 1 April next year, that will bring the minimum wage to $18.90 per hour. This complements work to raise wages in the State sector and major pay equity settlements. For example, 30,000 people working in our schools, including teacher-aides, librarians, and therapists, will get a pay rise in the new year which will see them all receive at least a living wage. This Government believes in sharing prosperity more fairly and for the right of people to get a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.

SPEAKER: Before the member comes, I am going to explain to our visitors in the gallery that during debates such as the one which is going to come up soon, we do relax our rules a little bit for clapping at the end of speeches, but we don’t do that during question time. The only noise that’s meant to happen is meant to be from members on the floor, and I will remind the members on the floor that they are members of Parliament, not seals, and to stop clapping.

Marja Lubeck: Why did the Government decide to increase the minimum wage?

Hon IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY: Well, there’s just so much good news. The fundamentals of New Zealand’s economy are strong, our unemployment rate is low at 4.2 percent, and our economy is predicted to add 43,600 new jobs in 2020. Our GDP is growing at a faster rate than Australia, Canada, the USA, the UK, European countries, Japan, and others. With our economy doing well, we want to make sure that our lowest-paid workers also benefit. The rise in the minimum wage is estimated to boost wages by $306 million a year across the economy.

Marja Lubeck: How many working people will receive a pay rise on 1 April?

Hon IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY: About a quarter of a million workers will be better off under this increase to the minimum wage. The new rate will mean an extra $48 a week in Kiwis’ back pockets, if they’re working for 40 hours a week on the minimum wage. Wages across the economy are now growing at their fastest rate in a decade, a 4.2 percent increase to the rate of hourly average wages. This means more money in working people’s pockets and more spending throughout the economy.

Hon Tracey Martin: Can the Minister confirm that the latest step is merely still on the pathway towards fulfilling the coalition agreement between New Zealand First and the Labour Party to take the minimum wage closer to the living wage?

Hon IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY: I can confirm that. We are well on the path to making the minimum wage $20 an hour by 2021.

Question No. 12—Prime Minister

12. Hon PAULA BENNETT (Deputy Leader—National) to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all her Government’s statements and actions?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): Yes. Now, the members will have heard many of the highlights from this year alone from this Government, but I wouldn’t mind traversing just a few more, including, as the member has said, boosting the minimum wage up to $18.90 on 1 April 2020, benefiting more than 200,000 New Zealanders, and an economy delivering 4.2 percent unemployment and 4.2 percent wage growth. We are doing well. Cheaper doctors visits, which recent surveys show is making a difference in terms of people accessing doctors when they need it; a Cancer Action Plan, including 12 linear accelerators to make sure people get the cancer treatment they need in regional New Zealand; bowel screening, which has made a difference, potentially saving more than 400 New Zealanders’ lives; mental health care, Mana Ake down in the South supporting children and young people with mental health issues; rolling out school-based health services—Mr Speaker, I could go on, but I do not wish to test your patience.

SPEAKER: Well, the member failed.

Hon Paula Bennett: Has she seen the summary of submissions from the Ministry of Transport’s public consultation on drug-driving that showed a majority support for the introduction of oral fluid testing?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I have not seen the document that the member references.

Hon Paula Bennett: Why has the Government not yet moved to introduce a random roadside drug-testing regime when 71 people died on our roads last year with drugs in their system?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: The member well knows the Associate Minister of Transport is working on this very issue and, I’m sure, would be very happy to update the member if the member were willing to ask. Again, this is an area that I do acknowledge we are having to do work on that the member’s Government themselves did not complete.

Hon Paula Bennett: Why is there no detail concerning drug-driving in the draft legislation for legalising recreational cannabis?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Because the member well knows that these issues are, as are workplace health and safety issues, dealt with in entirely separate pieces of legislation. So health and safety legislation covers drug-based impairment in the workplace, and, of course, in the same way that we regulate and legislate around alcohol, that’s where it’s best placed to make sure that, within our transport safety and within the Crimes Act, you’re dealing with impairment around both alcohol and drugs.

Hon Paula Bennett: Does she think it acceptable that a drug-driving testing regime should come after cannabis is legalised, as her justice Minister has written in his Cabinet paper?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I do want to point out to the member that, actually, these things—impairment is impairment, regardless of whether or not New Zealanders choose to vote for or against the referendum. Of course, we have to deal with the safety issues relating to impairment through drug-driving regardless. In fact, whether or not a New Zealander chooses to vote in favour of this bill will not change that we do not want to see people impaired by drugs on our roads. What the member, of course, knows well is that making sure that we have a regime that accurately captures impairment has been the challenge that faced both the last Government and this Government.

Hon Paula Bennett: Does she consider it a highlight that, in her year of delivery, what she’s actually delivered is more on the unemployment benefit, more homelessness, and—

SPEAKER: Order!

Hon Paula Bennett: —more child poverty?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I’m happy again to correct the record. The National Party continues to use stats from their time in office to attempt drawing conclusions around child poverty. It is absolutely fake news. We have implemented more than $5.5 billion worth of changes going directly to low and middle income New Zealanders that will lift between 50,000 and 70,000 children out of poverty. The first data—the first data—capturing a snapshot on child poverty will not come out until the beginning of 2020, and even then it won’t fully capture the issue. If the member wishes to keep raising the appalling record of her Government on child poverty, she’s welcome to.

Hon Paula Bennett: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I note that earlier you ruled out a question about fake news yet were quite happy for the Minister to then use it in her answer inappropriately and incorrectly.

Hon David Parker: Speaking to the point of order, the problem wasn’t the phrase, it was the fact that there was an assertion in a question that wasn’t the question, and I thought that’s why the Speaker ruled it out—not for the use of the words.

Hon Dr Nick Smith: I seek leave of the House for the Land Transport (Random Drug Testing) Amendment Bill to be introduced on the next member’s sitting day and receive its first reading.

SPEAKER: Is there any objection to that? [Interruption] Order! Order! Both sides will be quiet on this particular issue. Neither side has any glory on it.

Bills

Te Pire kia Unuhia te Hara kai Runga i a Rua Kēnana / Rua Kēnana Pardon Bill

Second Reading

Hon NANAIA MAHUTA (Minister for Māori Development): I move, That the Te Pire kia Unuhia te Hara kai Runga i a Rua Kēnana / Rua Kēnana Pardon Bill be now read a second time.

Bill read a second time.

Third Reading

Hon NANAIA MAHUTA (Minister for Māori Development): I move, That the Te Pire kia Unuhia te Hara kai Runga i a Rua Kēnana / Rua Kēnana Pardon Bill be now read a third time.

Ki a koutou e te whānau a Rua, ka nui te mihi, ka nui te mihi atu ki a koutou kua tae mai nei hei kaimataara i te kaupapa mō tēnei rā. E ai ki te kōrero a Rua, kotahi te ture mō ngā iwi e rua, he tika tērā kōrero, ā, kua mana āna kupu whakaari i tēnei rā. E te tupuna, e te tohunga, e te rangatira Rua Kēnana Hepetipa, hoki wairua mai, kāti rā, huri noa i tō tātou nei Whare, tēnā koutou.

Tuatahi, ki ngā uri o Rua, ngā kaiwhakapono o Te Iharaira, tae rawa ake ki ngā uri o Tama Kaimoana, o Maungapōhatu. Koutou kua puta i ngā whārua o Te Urewera. Nā koutou i pīkau tēnei kaupapa i roto i ngā tau, me āna piki, āna heke hoki. Ahakoa ērā, kei konei tātou i tēnei rā mō te pānui whakamutunga mō tēnei pire. Nā koutou, nā tō koutou maia, kaha hoki, kua tae tātou ki tēnei rā. Nō reira, kei ngā uri o Rua Kēnana, tēnei a Tainui waka e mihi kau atu nei.

Ka tangi ki ngā tini aituā i roto i te wā. Tēnei mātou e tangi tonu nei ki a rātou, otirā kei ngā mate o tēnā marae, o tēnā hapū, o tēnā iwi, puta noa i te motu, haere, haere, hoki atu rā. Rātou ki a rātou, ko tātou ngā kanohi ora e tau nei ngā mahuetanga iho o rātou mā, tēnā rā tātou katoa.

[To you the family of Rua, many greetings, many greetings to you who have come here as witnesses for today’s initiative. According to the statement by Rua, there is one law for both peoples. That statement is correct, and his prophetic saying has been validated today. To the ancestor, to the spiritual leader, to the chief Rua Kēnana Hepetipa, return in spirit, enough, right around our House, greetings to all.

Firstly, to the descendants of Rua, the faithful of the Iharaira, right through to the descendants of Tama Kaimoana, of Maungapōhatu. All you who have emerged from the valleys of Te Urewera. You have borne this matter throughout the years, with its ups and downs. Despite them, we are here today for the final reading of this bill. Because of you, because of your courage and strength, we have arrived at this day. Therefore, to the descendants of Rua Kēnana, this is the canoe of Tainui congratulating you unreservedly.

We lament the many who have passed away throughout time. We still grieve for them, and indeed the deceased of each marae, of each subtribe, of each tribe, throughout the country, farewell, farewell, return in peace. May the deceased remain with the deceased, we are the living, those left behind by them, greetings to us all.]

We gather here today to honour Rua Kēnana Hepetipa, a prophet and leader of the Iharaira faith, a Tūhoe rangatira and community leader. In 2017, my predecessor, the Hon Te Ururoa Flavell, on behalf of the Crown, along with the Hon Christopher Finlayson, signed an agreement with Ngā Toenga o Ngā Tamariki a Iharaira me Ngā Uri o Maungapōhatu Charitable Trust to introduce legislation to provide a statutory pardon for Rua.

Many whānau, rangatahi, kaumātua, pakeke, and followers of the Iharaira faith also signed that agreement. I mihi to Ngā Toenga o Ngā Tamariki a Iharaira me Ngā Uri o Maungapōhatu people of Rua, today, here in the House, and those watching from afar.

I also acknowledge the leadership and passion of the trustees of Ngā Toenga o Ngā Tamariki a Iharaira me Ngā Uri o Maungapōhatu Charitable Trust, the signatories of the 2017 agreement: Richard Tumarae, the chairperson, Frederick Heurea, Atamira Tumarae-Nuku, Nancy Tait, Anthony Toko Miki, Miro Heurea, Tane Rua, Dan Hiramana-Rua, and Myrtle-Jean Hiramana-Rua.

The people of Rua have waited over 100 years for this pardon, and it is my hope that it will go some way in healing the land and its people. It’s their hard work and undying commitment that have led us here today. For so long, they have helped carry the burden of this kaupapa, and must be acknowledged.

For this, the third and final reading of the bill, I would like to turn my attention acknowledging the people of Rua, many kaumātua of whom have since passed, and who have fought so hard and so long to get this far. I especially want to acknowledge the contribution of Kirituia Tumarae-Teka, who passed away before the first reading of this bill. Atamira Tumarae-Nuku, Kirituia’s moko and spokesperson for Rua Kēnana whānau, gave evidence before the Waitangi Tribunal at Maungapōhatu as a 14-year-old. She spoke of the impacts of the invasion of the families of Maungapōhatu, the things that happened to her kuia—the hurt, the pain, the suffering that was caused not just to them 100 years ago but how it was handed down to them and the stigma that was associated with it.

Kirituia passed away last year and, sadly, won’t see the pardon passed into law. Atamira told reporters after the first reading that she is proud to carry her nanny’s legacy, and that she will be at rest knowing that we’re almost there—moe mai rā, moe mai rā, e te whaea.

It’s pertinent that the third and final reading of this bill is taking place in the last sitting session of this House in 2019, a year that has shown the Government’s commitment to ensuring our history and our stories add to the full account of history that will soon be taught in all our schools across New Zealand.

As was mentioned by Professor Taiarahia Black at the unveiling of the New Zealand Wars plaque on 12 September this year, following the announcement from the Prime Minister that we will soon be introducing New Zealand history to our education curriculum, and the same day as the first reading of this bill, we have entered into a millennial moment of our nationhood—those were his words. He mentioned that millennial moments are the result of rigour—both through debate, discourse, academic endeavour, and, importantly, societal receptivity. For too long, our stories have remained untold, held on to in the dim, dark corners to be shared amongst whānau, at home, around the fire, and on the marae.

The story of Rua is not unique; it is not dissimilar to the experiences of other Māori prophets throughout our country and in our history, but it is, none the less, part of our history, part of what has happened to our people. We are now, at this moment, completing an unfinished chapter.

Today, we consider legislation that will provide a statutory pardon for Rua, as well as acknowledgments and an apology from the Crown for him, his followers, and his descendants. It will give effect to an agreement between the Crown and Ngā Toenga o Ngā Tamariki a Iharaira me Ngā Uri o Maungapōhatu Charitable Trust, signed on 9 September 2017.

The purpose of this bill is to restore the character, mana, and reputation of Rua and his descendants, and apologise for the deep hurt, shame, and stigma suffered as a result of the invasion of Maungapōhatu. The bill concludes with the statutory pardon for Rua for the conviction for moral resistance to arrest. It also declares the restoration of the character, mana, and reputation of Rua, his uri, e Ngā Toenga o Ngā Tamariki of the Iharaira faith.

The bill is designed to alleviate the ongoing suffering of the people of Rua, and achieves the Crown’s objectives to promote reconciliation in the wake of historical wrongs. I’ve detailed much of the historical context relating to how the Crown perceived the threat of Rua’s influence and subsequent arrest. But can I say this: Rua sought to uphold the principle of kotahi te ture mō ngā iwi e rua—one law for both peoples—and this was echoed regarding the control at the time of the liquor trade at Maungapōhatu, and unequal treatment of Rua at this time.

On reflection, the presence of a large contingent of heavily armed police at Maungapōhatu in 1916 was deemed by the Waitangi Tribunal to be out of proportion to the liquor charges involved and posed a danger to the Maungapōhatu community. Police kept women of Maungapōhatu under armed guard for a time. Tūhoe recollections of these events are that some of the women were raped by police. A waiata composed by Rua while in prison, “Te Taura Whiu Kau”, refers to these rapes. This incident has been described by some historians as the last shooting of the New Zealand Wars, Te Pūtake o te Riri. It is an incident that has dwelt long in the Tūhoe memory, and has continued to cast a shadow over more recent events in our history.

The bill is the result of extensive consultation between Crown officials and Ngā Toenga o Ngā Tamariki o Iharaira me Ngā Uri o Maungapōhatu Charitable Trust on the terms of the agreement underpinning the bill and the drafting of the legislation that we are passing today.

I think we’re taking a good step towards reconciliation. When I reflect on some of the points raised by my colleague the MP for Te Tai Tonga, Rino Tirikatene, and the gift that was given by his tupuna when roads were opened up to Maungapōhatu, we can do no less than ensure that those roads stay open and are well guarded to enable the people of Maungapōhatu to flourish.

The bill is also a sign of the Crown’s commitment to restore the relationship with his people; understanding the deep hurt, shame, and stigma carried by them was not remedied by the Tūhoe Deed of Settlement that was signed by the Crown in 2013.

So we have come to this time. To all those who have gathered here, many people have put their hearts and energies into ensuring that we have the ability to not only pass this bill but see the Governor-General visit Maungapōhatu this coming Saturday. It’s an important moment. I want to acknowledge Rino Tirikatene as chair of the Māori Affairs Committee, and also the legacy connection that you highlighted earlier, with the people that are gathered here, to be able to acknowledge the work that you’ve done in a pretty quick time frame to ensure that the aspirations of the whānau could be achieved, that we pass this bill this side of Christmas to be able to enable reconciliation and to move forward. I’d also like to recognise the Parliamentary Counsel Office, and, in particular, the Te Puni Kōkiri officials who have been working tirelessly to make sure that all the logistics and all the arrangements and all the detail of the legislation can be in such a state that the people here today that are gathered have confidence that what we are doing is supporting their aspiration.

Nō reira, he iti tāku kia tāpiri atu ki te kaupapa kei mua i tō tātou nei aroaro, koutou katoa kua tōpū mai ki te tautoko i tēnei kaupapa, tēnā tātou katoa.

[Therefore, I have but a little to add to the matter before us. To all who have gathered here to support this initiative, greetings to us all.]

JO HAYES (National): Tēnā koe e Te Mana Whakawā. E koro mā, e kui mā, e rau rangatira mā, e te whānau o te tangata, whānau whānui o te tangata, o Rua Kēnana, nau mai, haere mai ki Te Whare Pāremata i te rā whakahirahira.

[Greetings, Mr Speaker. To the elderly gentlemen and ladies, the many leaders, the family of the man, the extended family of the man, of Rua Kēnana, welcome, welcome to Parliament on this important day.]

It is certainly a day of celebration, but it is a day of remembrance of all the things that have gone wrong in our history of New Zealand, and how we stand here in this Parliament, on all of our Māori bills—whether they be Treaty settlements or whether they be reconciliations like this here today—in remembrance and an apology to the very people that the Crown came in and assaulted.

Rua Kēnana, a prophet of Ngāi Tūhoe descent, set up in Maungapōhatu; he set up his dream for his followers, for the Iharaira faith, because he believed in moving forward with his people. Today, we stand here and we apologise for the Crown’s actions back in those days and for the pitiful arrest of Rua Kēnana, the leader.

I’m humbled to be on this side of the House, participating in this apology, participating in the third reading of the Rua Kēnana Pardon Bill, as a member of the National Party, and also as a member of the Māori Affairs Committee where we heard submissions all overwhelmingly in favour of this particular bill, where we pushed forward. Rino Tirikatene, the chair of the Māori Affairs Committee, and members spoke about how we could make this happen for the whānau of Rua Kēnana, and we worked hard to make this happen for you in that remembrance and our respect for Rua Kēnana.

I need to pour out this feeling from this side of the House because many people don’t see us like this. But I am privileged and will be privileged to be able to witness the signing of the Royal assent at Maungapōhatu on the 21st. My colleague the Hon Nicky Wagner and I will be travelling up for that precious moment in your history and our history, and I will be humbled and honoured to do so.

The Minister Nanaia Mahuta gave an eloquent speech—as she does—on this bill. I just want to say that I support everything that she spoke about, because that’s what this is all about; this is about you, at the end of the day. I look around the House—and, no doubt, there are people sitting behind me as well—you have come a long way to hear these words, to hear us stand here and put back in place the mana of Rua Kēnana; the mana that was so wrongly taken away.

So I’m not going to say too many more words, because I feel that if we keep carrying on I’m going to actually lose my voice. That’s no disrespect to you people, but, as you can hear, I’ve got a bit of a heavy cold. So I want to congratulate you for keeping up with the fight. No doubt your tupuna’s sitting up there going, “You did well; you kept up the fight.” Now we are here today in the last throes of this particular work.

So I too want to acknowledge all of the work that went on with your side, with your whānau, with your negotiators, with the Parliamentary Counsel Office, with the Māori Affairs Committee, and with everybody who participated in making this happen for you today. So without any further ado, I’m humbled to commend this bill to the House. Kia ora.

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Adrian Rurawhe): I understand this is a split call. I call the Hon Peeni Henare—five minutes.

Hon PEENI HENARE (Minister of Civil Defence): Tēnā koe e Te Māngai o Te Whare. Ka noho tonu ahau ki roto i Te Reo Māori. E ōku rangatira, e ōku tini whanaunga kua tau mai ki roto i te poho o tō tātou Whare. Heoi anō tāku hei tautoko atu i ngā mihi ki a koutou katoa kua tatū mai. Koutou kua haere mai i tawhiti, koutou kua haere mai i tata. Haere mai rā koutou ki roto i tēnei Whare o koutou, kia kite atu, kia parangia nei ki te rae ngā mahi i oti nei tātou i te rā nei.

Kua kōrero mai nei tōku tuahine Te Hōnore Nanaia Mahuta i ngā kōrero katoa e whai pānga ana ki tēnei pire. Heoi anō tāku, hei tautoko ake. Hei tautoko ake i ngā mihi ki a rātou kua nunumi ki te pō. Rātou i hinga atu ki roto i ngā tau maha kua pahure ake nei, tae rawa atu ki te wā i mauherengia ai tō koutou tupuna a Rua Kēnana. Heoi anō, kotahi tonu te tangi ki a rātou kua ngaro atu ki te pō, haere mai, haere. Ka whakahokia mai ngā rārangi kōrero ki a tātou te hunga ora.

Rua tau ki muri, kō atu i te rua tau ki muri, i tae atu ahau ki roto i te poho me te aroha nui o Maungapōhatu, hei noho tahi, hei kai tahi, me ngā iwi o Tama Kaimoana, me ngā uri katoa o Ngā Toenga o Ngā Tamariki o Iharaira, me te tini o Maungapōhatu. I taua rā, i kaha heke mai te ua. Ā, ka āhua raruraru nei a Peeni me te whakaaro ake ka noho tonu ahau ki roto o Maungapōhatu mō te wiki. Engari, i āhua māmā ake te ua, ka tae rawa atu a Peeni te puta atu.

Ahakoa te ua, i uru atu ahau ki roto i te aroha o Maungapōhatu. I uru atu anō au ki roto i te mamae me te aroha o te iwi ka noho ki roto i te kohu o Maungapōhatu. I te rā nei, mā tēnei pire ka āhei tātou te tepe ki mua. Ehara i te mea hei haerenga tawhiti rawa, kāhore. Koinei te tepe tuatahi ki runga i tēnei huarahi. Kia kitea ai e ngā tamariki me ngā mokopuna kua tau mai ki roto i Te Whare nei, i ngā mahi kia unuhia i te hara i tau ki runga i tō rātou ake tupuna. Nō reira, e tino harikoa ana ka tū au ki te tautoko i tēnei pire.

Ko te mea pai o tēnei pire, he pire tino rerekē nei ki ngā pire tatūnga i ngā take Tiriti kua kitea nei i tō tātou Whare. Kua kōrero mai Te Minita mō te āhuatanga o ngā tohunga whakairo i te kupu, kia kite atu ai tātou katoa i te ngākau o wēnei kaupapa ki roto i tēnei pire. He mea rerekē ki ngā pire kua kitea. Kua kitea i ngā pire tatū ai ngā take Tiriti, ana, ko ngā kōrero hītori, ana, ko ngā whenua ka whakahokia atu, wēnā mea katoa.

Engari ko tēnei, ko tāku e kī nei ahakoa te kupu o tēnei pire, ahakoa te rahi o te pūtea ki te ao, ka kore e ea i te mana o te tangata, o te tupuna a Rua Kēnana. Ahakoa te rahi o te pūtea, nui kē ake te mana o ngā mātua tūpuna ki te rahi o te pūtea. Koinā te pai o tēnei kaupapa. Koinei te pai o tēnei kaupapa, kia whakahoki atu anō te mana i tāhaengia e Te Karauna kotahi rau tau ki muri i ngā uri e noho mai nei.

Nō reira, ehara tēnei i te takaroa i ngā kōrero. Heoi anō tāku ki ngā uri o Rua Kēnana e noho mai nei, te aroha mai ki tēnei tō koutou whanaunga o Mātaatua waka, ka kore e tae atu ki roto i a koutou ā tēnei wīkene. Engari, kāore e kore ko reira tonu ngā whakaaro nui o ōku ake o Te Tai Tokerau ki runga i a koutou, kia pai ai tō koutou noho ki raro i te maru o tō koutou maunga, kia hoki wairua mai anō tō koutou tupuna ki roto i ngā mahi o, kaua ko koutou anake, engari ngā kōrero katoa o te motu whānui.

Nō reira e ōku rangatira, haere, hoki atu ki te wā kāinga ki raro anō hoki i ngā manaakitanga o te wāhi ngaro. Ka tū au ki te tautoko i tēnei pire. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

[Greetings, Mr Speaker. I will remain in the Māori language. My leaders, my many kinsmen who have come to rest in the embrace of our House, all I have to do is support the greetings to you all who have arrived here, those of you who have come from far away, and those who have come from nearby. Welcome to this House of yours, to see, to see clearly in person the task which is accomplished by us all today.

My sister the Hon Nanaia Mahuta has addressed everything related to this bill. All there is for me to do is support—support the acknowledgments of those who have departed to the underworld, those who have passed in the many years gone by, right back to the time when your ancestor Rua Kēnana was imprisoned. And so, there is but one salute to those who have been lost to the underworld, greetings and farewell. The discussion returns to us the living.

Two years ago, over two years ago, I went into the midst of the immense caring of Maungapōhatu, to sit together, to eat together with the tribes of Tama Kaimoana, and all the descendants of Ngā Toenga o Ngā Tamariki o Iharaira, and the multitudes of Maungapōhatu. On that day, the rain came down heavily. And Peeni was a bit troubled and thought to himself that he might be stuck in Maungapōhatu for the week. However, the rain eased up, and Peeni was able to get out.

Despite the rain, I was enveloped in the affection of Maungapōhatu. I was also enveloped within the pain and the compassion of the tribe living in the mist of Maungapōhatu. Today, this bill will enable us to step forward. Indeed, it is not on a particularly long journey, no indeed. This is the first step on this path, so that the children and the grandchildren who have arrived in this House can see the actions to pardon the crime for which their ancestor was accused. Therefore, I am very pleased to stand in support of this bill.

The good thing about this bill is that it is a different bill to the bills settling Treaty matters that are seen in our House. The Minister has spoken about the feature of the expert wordsmiths, so that we can all see the heart of these matters in this bill. It is different to the bills that have been seen. Generally, historical narratives, lands being returned and other similar things are seen in the bills settling Treaty matters.

However, this I tell you that despite the words of this bill, despite the extent of all the money in the world, the prestige of the man, of the ancestor, Rua Kēnana will not be paid in full. Despite the size of the financial redress, the prestige of the ancestors is much bigger than the sum of money. That is the good thing about this initiative. This is the good thing about this initiative, to return once more the prestige which was stolen by the Crown a century ago from the descendants sitting before me.

Therefore, I’m not wanting to prolong the speeches. All I have to say to the descendants of Rua Kēnana who are here is please forgive this kinsman of yours from the Mātaatua canoe, who won’t be with you this weekend. However, no doubt the consideration of my own from Northland will be with you, wishing you well for your stay in the shelter of your mountain, that your ancestor may return in spirit to the activities of not only you but all discussions around the wider country.

Therefore, my leaders, farewell, return to your home with the protection of the unseen. I stand in support of this bill. Greetings, greetings, greetings to us all.]

RINO TIRIKATENE (Labour—Te Tai Tonga): Tēnā koe Te Mana Kaiwhakawā. Tēnā koutou ōku rangatira, Ngāi Tūhoe, ngā uri o Rua Kēnana, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, nau mai, whakatau mai. He hōnore nui māku ki te tū ki te tautoko i tēnei pire, Te Pire Unuhia Hara kei Runga i a Rua Kēnana, nō reira tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

[Greetings, Mr Speaker. Greetings to my leaders, Ngāi Tūhoe, the descendants of Rua Kēnana, greetings, greetings, welcome, welcome. It is a great honour for me to stand and support this bill, the Rua Kēnana Pardon Bill. Therefore, greetings, greetings, greetings to all.]

It’s indeed a privilege to stand at this third reading of the Rua Kēnana Pardon Bill. I want to add my endorsement to all the kōrero and the welcomes that have taken place and to welcome the whānau of Rua Kēnana and all of his many descendants who have descended upon Parliament this afternoon. I’m very proud, as the chair of the Māori Affairs Committee, that we achieved what I think could be close to a record of actually giving a thorough examination to the bill and a full submission period that was opened up, we were able to complete that mahi, and also, now, we are ushering in this third reading.

So I want to acknowledge all the members of the committee. In particular, I want to acknowledge the Hon Nanaia Mahuta for her tautoko and our mahi, and the many submitters that we had on the bill. They are too numerous to name, but—another record, I guess—this bill had 100 percent tautoko from submitters, and there was not one opposed. That’s testament to the tautoko and the yearning of this bill for this day to arrive, so I want to acknowledge all of the whānau, many of whom—in fact, the majority of whom—are mokopuna or whānau of Rua Kēnana. We acknowledge their pleas to us to hasten the passage of this bill, and I’m pleased that we were able to do that, which will culminate in the Royal assent in Maungapōhatu this weekend.

I’ve got only a short call, but I want to acknowledge Rua Kēnana. I was handed this wonderful commemorative booklet by Professor Black to commemorate not only his works and his profound impact but also this occasion, and what a striking young man Rua Kēnana—

Marama Davidson: Yes, we were just saying that.

RINO TIRIKATENE: Yeah. He has many, many descendants, and they are all here to witness this occasion. But he was a striking—a striking—prophet, leader, rangatira, an activist, and a freedom fighter. He was quite a leader and he founded the Te Hāhi Iharaira, and I want to acknowledge that also. Such an impact that this rangatira had that we are pardoning today through the passage of this legislation. Terrible wrongs were committed against Rua Kēnana: trumped-up charges culminating in invasions into Maungapōhatu, and imprisonment. The impacts of that on the Iharaira faith and the whānau of Maungapōhatu have been long lasting, but it ends today. It ends today with the passage of this bill.

This bill formalises the agreement that was negotiated very thoroughly with Ngā Toenga o Ngā Tamariki a Iharaira me Ngā Uri o Maungapōhatu Charitable Trust. I want to acknowledge their work along with the officials from Te Puni Kōkiri, who worked to come up with this agreement. I guess not every detail was able to be included, but at the end of the day that agreement was reached and the parties were happy with what we’re enacting through the passage of this bill.

The most important aspect is the pardon and I want to, just in conclusion, read a lovely quote that is contained herein this booklet. It was by Paetawa Miki. He said, “Kua kitea e te ao, kāore he hara o Rua, o ngā tāngata o Maungapōhatu [The world has seen Rua was innocent, as were the people of Maungapōhatu].”, and that has come to pass today. With that, I tautoko this bill. Kia ora tātou.

Hon NICKY WAGNER (National): Kia ora. Tīhei mauri ora. Te Whare e tū nei, tēnā koe. Te papa e takoto nei, tēnā koutou. Ngā mate, haere, haere, haere. Ngā reo, ngā mana, tēnā koutou katoa. Kei te kōrero ahau mō te pānuitanga tuatoru o Te Pire kia Unuhia te Hara kai Runga i a Rua Kēnana / Rua Kēnana Pardon Bill.

[Greetings. Behold, it is the breath of life. To the House standing here, greetings to you. The earth lying here, greetings to you. The dead, farewell, farewell, farewell. The representatives, the authorities, greetings to you all. I am speaking about the third reading of the Te Pire kia Unuhia te Hara kai Runga i a Rua Kēnana / Rua Kēnana Pardon Bill.]

This is a very special day. It’s a special day because it is a chance to recognise a past wrong—to recognise a past wrong—and for Parliament to do everything it can to reconcile that wrong. Our mahi today is to restore the mana, to restore the reputation of Rua Kēnana and his descendants, and to apologise—to apologise for the deep hurt, the shame, and the stigma suffered as a result of the invasion of Maungapōhatu in April 1916.

In many ways, Rua Kēnana was a victim of his times. He was a visionary, a prophet, and an enlightened and peaceful leader. But he lived in a time when New Zealand was in great turmoil. If you think back, the New Zealand Wars were only a generation or so past and, indeed, Rua’s father had been killed by the Crown, and the hurt and the mistrust of those times lingered on both sides. And in 1916, New Zealand and New Zealanders were grieving from the terrible loss at Gallipoli—that campaign that caused the death and wounding, both psychologically and physically, of so many young New Zealanders, so many sons, so many brothers, so many husbands. Every family and community had been affected. So on the back of a huge wave of patriotism for the First World War, when it broke out, and the dreadful pain, hurt, and disappointment of Gallipoli, the public were looking for scapegoats. People were upset, people were paranoid, and people were prepared to believe all sorts of nonsense and mistruths about traitors in their midst. Rua Kēnana, prophet, pacifist, leading a non-violent religious community in Maungapōhatu, was seen as an easy target.

Lots of allegations were made about him: he was letting the side down; he was an unwholesome influence over his people—some even said he was the Māori kaiser and had machine guns mounted at Maungapōhatu. Anger flared because it was known that he had discouraged Māori from enlisting, saying Māori shouldn’t be fighting in the white man’s war.

But it also seems that Rua and the Maungapōhatu community were also victims of the Commissioner of Police, John Cullen. He was a staunch Irishman. He was the commissioner from 1912 to 1916, and he’d been trained by the Royal Irish Constabulary. That’s not the sort of police that you would normally expect to ring up if you had a burglary. They were like a paramilitary organisation and they were designed to stamp out rebellions. He brought that experience to the New Zealand police force. The problem for commissioner Cullen, of course, was that Rua wasn’t breaking the law. His discouragement of Māori from enlisting wasn’t illegal. So Cullen revived an old charge of sly-grogging, selling alcohol without a licence, and, much to everybody’s confusion and dismay, decided to re-enforce it.

The arrest of Rua Kēnana on Sunday, 2 April 1916 by John Cullen and nearly 70 heavily armed policemen was an invasion, and it was a total overkill and violence to a peaceful community. Indeed, as we’ve heard, the Waitangi Tribunal in its Te Urewera inquiry found that the Crown used excessive force, and although the local police had met Rua cordially, as soon as Cullen turned up things quickly got out of hand and, as we know, Rua’s son, Toko, and another young man, Te Maipi, were killed. There were also another three Māori injured and four police wounded and, on top of that, the people of the community were harshly and violently treated—and all along the arrest was illegal. Despite that, after one of the longest trials in New Zealand history, Rua was convicted of moral resistance and that was because the jury couldn’t support any other conviction, and he served 18 months in jail. And that conviction and the 18 months made the jury members so concerned that they protested his sentence. But nothing changed.

So today, now, we recognise that the Crown’s treatment of Rua Kēnana and the community was unreasonable and that it’s had a long-lasting effect for the whole Maungapōhatu community, Rua’s followers, and, of course, his whānau—and it’s wonderful to see so many of you here today. So today, the New Zealand Parliament acknowledges that miscarriage of justice and the harm that was done to the community and to the Iharaira faith, and provides a pardon for his conviction of moral resistance to arrest. The restoration of the character, the mana, and the reputation of Rua Kēnana, his uri, and Ngā Toenga o Ngā Tamaraki o Iharaira faith is declared.

Today is a hugely significant day and it’s been a very long time coming. And I’d like to recognise the work of the Hon Chris Finlayson and the Hon Te Ururoa Flavell for beginning this process and for everyone that’s here today for completing it. It has been a collaborative effort. People have worked long and hard and we’ve done it before Christmas. But most of all, I would like to thank the whānau and the followers of Rua Kēnana for their grace and for their tolerance in accepting this pardon and the accompanying apology. And I particularly look forward to coming to Maungapōhatu to celebrate with you this coming Saturday. Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. Kia ora.

Hon SHANE JONES (Minister of Forestry): Ā, Reo Māori. Kia ahatia? Kei ngā mātua, kei ngā whāea, waiho hei wāhi wēnei kōrero wāku me hoki au ki te karakia mai i taku tupuna i a Ngāpuhi, “Te Karakia Nakahi”. Tēnei anō te whakamāturuturu i a Rangitūātea, ki a Papatūānuku e takoto nei.

Turuturu ā-uta, turuturu ā-tai

Turua te hau kia tupu

Turua te rea kia tupu

I aha te matua whāngai

E pihi nei te ao e totoko i te pō

Kia aweawe, kia aweawe, oi e

E kī, e kara, e Rua

Pungarehutia anō tō tapuwae ki te whare e

Kāhore, tahia te pūngāwerewere, tahia te puehu

Kia mahea, kia mahea

Kia puta whakaritorito tō pā harakeke

Ki tō rahi, puta ki te whaiao, ki te ao mārama

Tihewa mauri ora.

Ko te tikanga o tēnā kōrero he whakamahea. Pēnei me tā Ngāpuhi e kī nei, ka pokea te ingoa, ka pokea te kaupapa, ka tukuna te karakia kia muru ai i te hara. Koia tā tātou i tēnei rā i roto i tō tātou Reo Māori, me ō tātou whakaaro Māori, e rapu me pēhea rānei tēnā mahi pokepoke ki te ingoa o te koroua nei, ki wāna uri e whakamahea ai i tēnei rā.

Itiiti noa iho ngā wā e kite ai tātou, mātou, ngā kaitōrangapū i roto i tēnei Whare, tētahi pire e pēnei ana. Ahau ka mahara ki tētahi kē atu mō te kaumātua i kōhurutia ai ki roto i te rohe o Whakatōhea, a Mokomoko. Nā reira, koutou kua tatū mai nei, e rapu nei, me pēhea rānei ēnei mahi o mua e whakatutukitia ai i roto i te māramatanga, i roto i te rangimārire, me te pono, tēnā koutou kua tau mai ki tēnei Whare.

Ka mutu, me pēnei taku kōrero koutou Ngā Toenga, ngā uri o te koroua nei, ā Tūhoe whānui, tēnā anō koutou katoa. I a au i te tamariki he mea tono au ki te kura i Tīpene. Ko waku hoa katoa ngā mea i oti Te Reo Māori, ētahi o mātou ngā Tararā o Te Aupōuri me ngā poi o Tūhoe.

1977 i ahu ake mātou ki Ruatāhuna i runga i tētahi pahi. Kuku ana mātou pēnei me te hipi ki roto i tēnā pahi. Pō rawa ka tae ake ki Ruatāhuna. Kāore au i mōhio he aha te take i noho ai a Te Rangihau i runga i taua marae i taua wā ki te pōhiri i a mātou. Ka whakaritea e te tuakana o taku matua a Kīngi Īhaka tana tuakana ko Te Rawhiti ko au te kaiwhakautu mō te kura o Tīpene.

Nā, ka puta mai ngā kōrero mai i ō koutou tuakana, ō koutou mātua, i tērā tau, 1977. Ka riro māku e whakautu. Kātahi a Te Rangihau, ka kī atu, “E kare mā, he aha rānei tēnei white man on a brown horse, brown man on a white horse rānei?” Kātahi ka karanga atu taku māhita kura, “Waihongia taku mokopuna Tararā, waiho kia kōrero.” Kātahi a Te Rangihau ka kī, “E pai ana, pēnei he Tararā tā tātou kai i tēnei pō, he wāina whero.”

Nā reira, me mihi atu ki a koutou i roto i te wairua ngahau, te wairua māmā, tā te mea mā roto i te whakamaheatanga e oti ana i roto i a tātou i tēnei rā, kaua rawa tātou e waiho kia taimaha rawa kia pōuri, kāhore. Wāhia kia puta ai tātou atu i tēnei pito o te huarahi mai i te wā i meatia ai wēnei mahi kino ki te koroua nei, ā, hāunga anō ki te tangata engari ki ngā tikanga, ki ngā ritenga, ki te tātai, e pupuru tonutia ana i waenga tonu i a koutou. Nā reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou.

[Māori language. What is to be done? To the fathers, to the mothers, to open my address I should return to the incantation of my ancestor from Ngāpuhi, “Te Karakia Nakahi”. This is also to sprinkle with water from the Sky Father to the Earth Mother beneath us.

It is dripping inland, and dripping out to sea

Let the wind grow

Let the shoot grow

What did the nurturing parent do

The world of light grows forth from the night

To be tall and lofty, indeed

You don’t say, my friend, Rua

Your footprint in the house has become ash

No, sweep away the cobwebs, sweep away the dust

So that it is clear, so that it is clear

So that your flax clump emerges with young centre shoots

To your multitudes, emerging to the daylight, to the world of light

It is the breath of life.

The purpose of this speech is to clear the way. As Ngāpuhi says, if the name or initiative is affected, an incantation is delivered to clear away the wrong. That is what we are doing today in our Māori language and, according to our Māori thinking, finding how that action which affected the name of this elder and his descendants can be cleared today.

There are very few times that we see, us, the politicians in this House, a bill like this. Myself, I remember one other about the elder who was murdered in the tribal region of Whakatōhea, that is Mokomoko. Therefore, to you who have come here, who are seeking how these actions of days gone by can find resolution in understanding, in peace and the truth, greetings to you all who have arrived in this House.

And furthermore, I must say this to you, Ngā Toenga, the descendants of this male elder, and wider Tūhoe, greetings to you all. When I was a child, I was sent to school at St Stephen’s College. All my friends were those who completed the Māori language, some of us were Dalmatians from Te Aupōuri, and the boys from Tūhoe.

In 1977, we went to Ruatāhuna by bus. We were squashed together like sheep on this bus. Finally at nightfall we arrived at Ruatāhuna. I didn’t know why Te Rangihau was at that marae at that time to welcome us. My chief Kīngi Īhaka’s elder brother Te Rawhiti arranged for me to be the responding speaker for St Stephen’s College.

So the speeches arose from your elder brothers, your chiefs, in that year, 1977. It was up to me to reply. Then Te Rangihau said, “My friends, is this a white man on a brown horse, or a brown man on a white horse?” Then my school teacher called out, “Leave my Dalmatian grandchild, let him speak.” Then Te Rangihau said, “That’s fine, we will dine like Dalmatians tonight, with red wine.”

Therefore, I must acknowledge you in the spirit of entertainment, a light spirit, because through the clearing which was completed in the House today, we shouldn’t let it remain too onerous, to be sad—no indeed. Break through so that we emerge at this point on the path from the time when this horrible act was wrought upon this male elder and not only to the man but also to the customs, the practices, and the lineage, which is still retained amongst you. Therefore, greetings, greetings to us all.]

I stand to support this bill. I want to acknowledge the former Māori MP Te Ururoa Flavell, who carried this take. It is difficult to imagine when we were young at St Stephen’s College, when we were younger in our protest days—much thinner—that we would ever have seen parliamentarians gathering in common purpose to pass a bill which recognises that in those earlier times of poor legal decision-making, of prejudice, of fear, that we have now revisited those sins of history. I’m sure for those of us in the House today, it reflects how far we’ve come on the journey in terms of reconciliation.

But this is only one step. Whilst we pass this bill—and there’s such a treasure trove of information in this document that I’m holding—more importantly, it falls upon those of us who are politicians to speak out against those who doubt the wisdom of what we are doing here today. I support what the Hon Nanaia Mahuta has had to say: this bill redresses a wrong that reflects how the prevailing power culture was around the early 1900s. But the challenge is to ensure as the character of New Zealand society changes—the challenge is those of us who descend from the Māori tribes, the Pākehā side, that we do not lose the foundation influences that define us as classic New Zealanders, native New Zealanders, people of the Pacific. Do not lose those foundation influences. That’s why, in particular, my party, my leader, and my colleagues are happy to support this particular bill on this day.

On the question of why we do this, we do this partly because we are still in the process of redressing the wrongs of history, but we want to show our fellow citizens that not everything is about money; not all feelings, all emotions, all sense of pride can be monetised. And in an almost religious, spiritual way, the highest court in the land, our Parliament, is being used to ensure that we clean this blot off the relationship between the Crown and the people of Te Urewera, and that is something I beseech all of us, as I said in our language, to teach our children, teach our community, teach the next generation—not so much that it can be magnified beyond what it should be, but to show what type of nation we are becoming. If you have those aspirations, then every day fight for them. The identity of us as Kiwis, New Zealanders is stronger by redressing these historical colonial wrongs. I salute the whānau, the descendants of Rua Kēnana and his many wives. Kia ora tātou katoa.

MATT KING (National—Northland): Tēnā koutou katoa. Look, I’m really proud to be in the House today, and it’s a real pleasure to be speaking on this bill. It’s long overdue. I can feel the emotion in the room here today, and it’s a long time coming. I’d like to acknowledge the Hon Nanaia Mahuta for bringing it forward, and I’d also like to acknowledge the chair of the Māori Affairs Committee, which I am on: Rino Tirikatene, a great man. He and I are tallest in Parliament, the twin towers of tall timber.

Anyway, Rua Kēnana was a great Tūhoe man. He was from a community in Maungapōhatu, in the Urewera mountains. We’re dating back to 1916 here, where he was arrested for sedition for opposing Māori conscription in World War I. It’s a real struggle to believe that that actually happened. You know, we all know it did, and it’s incredible times, as the previous speakers have said. It was incredible times to think that that could actually happen. One of the longest trials in New Zealand’s legal history it was, and he suffered a great injustice—a great injustice—an injustice that we’re attempting to put right today, if that’s possible.

I want to acknowledge the great work of the Hon Te Ururoa Flavell and the Hon Chris Finlayson, who helped make this a reality. Those two guys did some great work for New Zealanders, and specifically for Māori, and I want to thank their efforts on behalf of the National Party. It’s an appropriate response to a set of circumstances which focus on the criminal conviction of Rua Kēnana, and it seeks to restore his mana and his reputation and that of his descendants. So we acknowledge that mana and the preservation of his reputation, because I know it’s of high importance in the Māori community. It’s not about money; it’s about the apology, the heartfelt and deeply meant apology. So like we say, we’re here today, working together across the House altogether, acknowledging that today for you guys.

I struggle to believe it. He did 18 months incarcerated for that arrest, and it’s incredible to think that he actually did nothing wrong and he spent 18 months in jail for that. I’m an ex-policeman and I can’t imagine putting someone away in jail for something they didn’t do.

It’s a statutory pardon and apology, and I hope it’ll go a long way to healing the wounds that were caused way back then. It’s a part of New Zealand, but we have to own up to it and we have to acknowledge that it happened, and this agreement and pardon is about moving towards reconciliation. The historic agreement brought closure to the 101 years of conflict between Tūhoe and the Crown. What happened with Rua Kēnana has a long-lasting intergenerational effect on whānau. It’s now up to the descendants to help the next generation move forward and rebuild a prosperous community. It’s important for whānau to reconnect those disconnected back to the land—identity, faith, and whānau.

Today is a great day for the descendants of Rua Kēnana and the followers of the Iharaira faith. I commend this bill to the House. Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.

MARAMA DAVIDSON (Co-Leader—Green): E Te Māngai o Te Whare, tēnā koe. Ngā uri o Rua, Ngā Toenga o Ngā Tamariki o Iharaira, e ōku rangatira, koutou katoa, tēnā koutou. Tēnei te uri o Te Tai Tokerau me Te Tai Rāwhiti e mihi kau ana, e mihi aroha ana ki a koutou katoa i tae mai nei, i noho nei i tēnei Whare, tēnei rā whakahirahira. Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, kia ora mai tātou katoa.

[Greetings to you, Mr Speaker. The descendants of Rua, Ngā Toenga o Ngā Tamariki o Iharaira, my leaders, all of you, greetings to you. I am a descendant of Northland and the East Coast, greeting unreservedly and with love all of you who have come here, who are seated in this House, this important day. Therefore, greetings, greetings, greetings to you all.]

An Aotearoa that acknowledges her wrongs is an Aotearoa that sets an enduring foundation of justice for her future, for everyone. An Aotearoa that even knows her own true history in the first place is an Aotearoa that inspires us to know each other better and to work together for the benefit of everyone.

It is with immense humility and admiration for Rua Kēnana and his descendants that I stand today as the Crown to support this long-overdue pardon, to herald the start—and only the start—of the Crown righting its wrong. In essence, in 1916, there was an unjustified Crown invasion into a small pacifist community that left two men dead—one being Rua Kēnana’s son Toko Rua, and another young man of Maungapōhatu, Te Maipi.

I have my son sitting here among all of you, ngā uri o Rua, today in this House. I am pleased that he is able to be here to sit amongst us on this historic day, and I particularly want him and all our nation’s mokopuna to understand the importance of what happened at Maungapōhatu.

In that invasion, after a series of injustices and the invasion that was subsequently then carried out, the Waitangi Tribunal report called this an “unjustified invasion, carried out with excessive force”. If that wasn’t enough—the resulting miscarriage of justice around the undue detentions, the arbitrary arrests, and the unreasonably long trial, with all charges being dismissed and yet Rua being imprisoned for 18 months for morally resisting what was an immoral arrest in the first place. We must properly acknowledge the harm of what all this injustice did for the people of Maungapōhatu in that time and on the generations since.

We heard from submitters to the Māori Affairs Committee, mostly all descendants of Rua Kēnana, who were overwhelmingly in support of this bill. I wanted to quote in particular the submission from Ngawaiata Turnbull, who helps to sum up some of the mamae carried through from the generations to today. In the submission: “Generations of whānau suffered this attack and then the following stigma passed down through the years has weighed heavily on the health, wellbeing and lifestyle of Tama Kaimoana, Iharaira. The mental, emotional, physical and spiritual wellness of Tama Kaimoana, of Iharaira has suffered through the years of alienation from our lands and the loss of customary intellectual properties.”

It is important to put right at the forefront the voices of ngā uri o Rua, the voices and the descendants of the generational harm that happened to that community and to those people. So I acknowledge all of the submissions, written and kōrero, that came to us to further express what the dismantling of that community did—that community that many people had helped to build with blood and sweat and tears, and to build with the commitment to the wellbeing of their people and of the land. I acknowledge the importance of confronting the Crown wrong, in all its ugliness, to, hopefully, learn from it. As descendants said in their submissions to us, now is the time for our voice to be heard.

We were reminded of how the stains of injustice still exist among the whakapapa of Maungapōhatu, and we were reminded, for example, of how Rua’s mokopuna set against him. Something that was said constantly in submissions was, “Kia kitea e te ao te weriweri o Te Karauna.”—so the world can see the offences of the Crown.

So today is not just about restoring the mana and the dignity of Rua Kēnana, of Maungapōhatu, of Iharaira, but it is also about being honest and upfront on the wrong of the Crown.

I’m really, really clear that this bill is only the start—he tīmatanga noa iho [it is just a start], albeit a long overdue one. Many submissions call for us to go further to rectify the harm, suggestions that do fall outside the scope of this actual bill. But, Mr Speaker, if you’ll allow it, I would like to share my support for the call from some of those submissions around what else is needed. For example, we heard a call for public awareness raising, for private and public apology forum around the motu—Rua Kēnana history in schools definitely has to be a thing—a memorial to Rua Kēnana, letters of recognition, and financial compensation.

I think the kōrero that must stay on the table is one that asks: what will it take to truly restore justice, to hohou te rongo [to make peace]? What is required of the Crown to rebalance the harmony for a positive Tiriti justice relationship with the descendants of Rua Kēnana?

So, again, I take the guidance of the descendants to sum up the importance of what this bill does do. “Kia wetekia te kino” was what we often heard in the submissions—to release the wrongdoing. The bill alone cannot restore the mana of Rua Kēnana, but an enduring commitment from the Crown to an equal partnership is what will hold us all in good stead, and so our nation’s children can see Aotearoa is a country that embraces our lessons. There is no need to fear justice is what Rua Kēnana has taught me. There is every reason to hold justice tight.

The bill actually says, in the part of the apology, that the Crown unreservedly apologises for, for example, the lasting damage and the deep hurt, shame, and stigma. That is a starting point that I know means a lot to everybody here in this House today and to many more who aren’t able to be here in this House.

I was not able to come to the pōwhiri and the welcome today for our manuhiri from Maungapōhatu and Ngā Uri o Rua. But I was able to watch my good friend Jos Wheeler’s photography and video work to see you carrying in the photos and the images of those people who are no longer with us today who have helped to bring this incredible mahi to fruition. So I was there with you today thinking of you all day today, and I am coming to Maungapōhatu this weekend. I am incredibly rapt, and I am bringing my tamariki because they need to know this story. I am going to ask Nika to give my office some clear instructions on how to get there, because Google apparently doesn’t know the way either.

I am incredibly excited to be coming to Te Urewera for the first time in my life and for such a historic occasion, for us to really get serious as a country about how we truly uplift us all collectively to honour our past, and to go forward with a future that acknowledges its truth and brings us together to work together for a future that can uphold the mana of all of us. Tēnā koutou katoa.

DAN BIDOIS (National—Northcote): Tēnā koe e Te Mana Whakawā; Te Whare e tū nei, tēnā koe; te papa e takoto nei, tēnā koe; ngā mate, haere, haere, haere. Nau mai, haere mai, whakatau mai. Tēnā koutou katoa.

[Greetings, Mr Speaker; the House standing here, I greet you; the land lying here, greetings; the deceased, farewell, farewell, farewell. Welcome, welcome, welcome. Greetings to you all.]

It’s a pleasure to rise and take a call on the third reading of the Rua Kēnana Pardon Bill. I’d just like to start out by acknowledging everybody in the room today who’s come here from near and far—descendants from Rua Kēnana, the people of Maungapōhatu, and everyone else who’s here today. It’s a pleasure to have you with us on this occasion.

We are here to honour Rua Kēnana, a man who was a prophet, a good man, a leader in his community, and what I’d call a positive deviant in our society—someone who challenged the status quo and lived strong to his principles.

This bill that we’re discussing today gives effect to an agreement that was signed in September of 2017 under the previous Government, and that agreement, in essence, formally pardons Rua Kēnana. It acknowledges the harm that he suffered but also that the people of Maungapōhatu also suffered. It also has an official apology from the Crown to Rua Kēnana’s descendants and promotes reconciliation for the future as we move forward.

We’ve heard a lot today about Rua Kēnana and the wrongs that were done by the Crown, whether it be from the invasion that was unjust or the lengthy trial, the number of people that were detained, the two deaths that resulted from the invasion, the 47-day trial—one of New Zealand’s longest trials in our history—or also the 18 months that he was wrongly imprisoned for. This is a proud day for the descendants of Rua Kēnana. You can be proud of his legacy but also his contribution to our country and to your community as well.

I’d like to certainly acknowledge the many, many people who have been part of bringing this bill to the stage that we’re at today. Te Ururoa Flavell and Chris Finlayson did a tremendous amount of work putting this together, and I think they deserve a proper acknowledgment for their contribution. Minister Nanaia Mahuta, thank you for your contribution—and also Rino Tirikatene, the chair of the Māori Affairs Committee, which I’m a member of. We heard a lot of submissions, and all of them were unanimous in their support for this bill.

But also I would like to acknowledge the many people behind the scenes that don’t necessarily get formal acknowledgments, the people from the Parliamentary Counsel Office, the Crown officials, and the hard workers at Te Puni Kōkiri, who do a lot of the negotiations and hard work behind the scenes to bring these deeds to the House. But also, to the Maungapōhatu charitable trust, thank you for your patience. It’s taken us over 100 years to get this stage, but I am certainly proud to be on this side of the House as we acknowledge the wrong that was done to Rua Kēnana and also the unjust behaviour from the Crown to the people of Maungapōhatu.

It’s a short contribution from me, but I do want to again acknowledge everybody who’s come down today for what is a fantastic and positive occasion. I commend this bill to the House. Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Adrian Rurawhe): This is a split call. I call the Hon Willie Jackson.

Hon WILLIE JACKSON (Associate Minister for Māori Development): Tūhoe moumou kai, moumou tangata ki te pō, tēnā koutou; e ngā tamariki o te kohu, tēnā koutou; tēnā koutou e ngā mokopuna o Rua Kēnana; tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, ā, tēnā anō tātou katoa. He hōnore nui ki te kōrero e pā ana ki tēnei kaupapa. Tēnei te mihi ki a koutou i tēnei wā.

[Tūhoe wasteful of food, destroyers of mankind, greetings to you; to the children of the mist, greetings; greetings to the grandchildren of Rua Kēnana; greetings, greetings, and greetings to us all. It is a great honour to speak about this matter. I acknowledge you all at this time.]

Can I say, I enjoyed the pō’hiri this morning. Wonderful seeing so many from the haukāinga in terms of Tūhoe here. Normally, we just have the flash Tūhoes in Wellington, like Rawinia Higgins and Wena Tait and others. So it’s really good to see the people from the coalface here to tautoko the kaupapa. I was going to say Tai Black too, but he goes back and forth all the time, and, hopefully, he’ll get his boy right for the Blues this year. But anyway, just adding to the kaupapa, I tino tautoko our Minister Nanaia Mahuta, who’s done some wonderful mahi and our chair, Rino Tirikatene. It’s just fantastic seeing their work.

I was asked by a rather ignorant person—sadly, Māori—what this was all about this morning. I should reveal their name but I won’t—I’m tempted. “What was this all about, given that Rua Kēnana only spent a year or so in jail and one or two people got killed? What was the big deal all about?” And, of course, that’s been explained beautifully today by the various speakers. I had a think about that, and in this short time I thought of two words to sum this kaupapa up: mana and tino rangatiratanga. A very famous Māori said to me—I told him I wouldn’t reveal his name: Judge Joe Williams—that the most important tikanga is mana, and the ultimate indignity is living without mana. Our people prize their dignity above everything. I think that’s what this kaupapa is about. Why else would a group of people—sorry Joe—why else would an iwi pursue this kaupapa so vigilantly? So I congratulate people in the House.

Ko te mea nui ko te mana, koirā te kōrero a Joe, tino tautoko tērā kōrero.

[The main thing is the prestige; that is what Joe said. I strongly support that.]

We’ve pursued it; you have pursued it for over 100 years—over 100 years. That’s what this fight is about: restoring and restating the mana of Rua Kēnana. Congratulations for that. I know Minister Jones has said it’s not about money. I know there’s not a lot of kotahitanga about that, but I think it’s about everything—it’s about everything, but mana first and foremost is the overriding priority here.

The second part of that is tino rangatiratanga. What is tino rangatiratanga? Surely it’s the right to run our own show, to do the business as Rua Kēnana was doing—as Rua Kēnana chose to do. He chose to make outrageous statements in those days: “Let the white man fight the white man’s war.” Again, our prophets saying things years and years before other famous people said it, like Muhammad Ali, for instance, in the 1960s when Ali was saying that type of kōrero. Rua wanted to do his own thing, run his own show, sell booze to his own people, kei te pai. That’s rangatiratanga, that’s tino rangatiratanga, and that’s something I tautoko and our people should tautoko.

So in my short contribution today, I think those two words describe the actions of the people who’ve taken this up, and, in many ways, they are the blueprint for Māori going forward. What do we want as a nation in 2019 and 2020? We want our mana and we want our tino rangatiratanga. So I thank the great koroua Rua Kēnana. I thank Tūhoe for your persistence, your commitment, your contribution, and it’s an honour to speak on this bill today. Tēnā nō tātou katoa.

HARETE HIPANGO (National—Whanganui): Ka nui te mihi ki ngā uri o Rua Kēnana, ngā uri o Maungapōhatu, ngā uri o Ngāi Tūhoe. E tautoko ana ngā kupu, ngā w’akaaro o ngākau, wairua a taku tuahine Te Minita Nanaia Mahuta. Nō reira, kei ngā uri o tēnei, te mokopuna o Hoani Wīremu Hipango rāua ko Te Kēpa Te Rangihiwinui. Nō Te Iwi o W’anganui mātou, e mihi kau atu nei.

[Many greetings to the descendants of Rua Kēnana, the descendants of Maungapōhatu, the progeny of Ngāi Tūhoe. I support the words, the heartfelt thoughts, and the spirit of my sister Minister Nanaia Mahuta. Therefore, to the descendants, this is the grandchild of Hoani Wīremu Hipango and Te Kēpa Te Rangihiwinui. We are from Te Iwi o W’anganui, greeting you unreservedly.]

I stand to take a brief call this afternoon on a longstanding and enduring burden. I am ever mindful that when I do stand to address the House on such poignant and significant matters of the burden that is associated with that responsibility as a Crown agent in conducting oneself appropriately in conveying the message of sincerity, of an apology, and a pardon.

Rua left his mark on this world

Rua Kēnana, Tūhoe prophet from the Urewera

He told his people not to go to war

Let the white man fight the white man’s war.

These are the words of the waiata that resonated when Ngāi Tūhoe came to join us of W’anganui at our 79-day occupation of Pākaitore in 1995. I was there with my people but I was also a young lawyer working in the courts. Many of my people and the people of Ngāi Tūhoe were arrested and they were taken before the courts, and I attempted to advocate and represent the people of Tūhoe.

So standing here to speak today, I make that connection of Tūhoe, of W’anganui, and the shared journeys that we have embarked on and the depth of the mamae that we have felt. As I look at you all in the gallery, you are the descendants of Rua Kēnana. I stand here as a descendant of my people, knowing what it is to carry such a burden.

Although my kōrero is brief today, it is about the Crown and New Zealand acknowledging this history, because often this history has been buried in the perspective from the perception of another person’s conveying of that story.

I turn to the words and the lament of Rua Kēnana from the prison walls of Mount Eden. Some of those words that he shared were that “Although my hands are locked in chains, the people know the scriptures have spoken … [and] to caress my sleep within my sanctuary. When the dawn is finally realised I emerged outside … Enough said, my vision for prosperity will be everlasting.” Here today, you as the descendants of Rua Kēnana gather here for the acknowledgment of the official apology being conveyed and that pardon.

The Maungapōhatu invasion and the Crown’s treatment of Rua was unreasonable. It was repugnant; it was reprehensible. The convictions have caused severe prejudice and burden to you, his uri. It is now appropriate for the Crown to pardon Rua and to lift that burden from all of you here as his descendants.

The official pardon and declaration to restore character, mana, and reputation is provided to Rua Kēnana for the conviction he sustained for moral resistance to arrest. The restoration of the character, mana, and reputation of Rua Kēnana, his uri, and Ngā Toenga o Ngā Tamariki a Iharaira faith is declared. I commend this bill to the House.

KIRITAPU ALLAN (Labour): Tēnā koe, e Te Māngai; otirā ki a koutou ngā uri o Rua Kēnana kua hara mai nei i tēnei ahiahi tino whakahirahira. I tēnei rā, ka huri ake au ki a koutou, ko koutou e kawea te mana o tō tino tipuna, o Rua Kēnana. Anei tā mātou nei hē i ngā wā o mua, heoi anō ko tēnei tā mātou rā ki te huri ki a koutou ki te kī ki a koutou, aroha mai, aroha atu, aroha mai.

[Greetings, Mr Speaker; indeed, to you, the descendants of Rua Kēnana who have come here on this very important afternoon. Today, I address you, you who are carrying the prestige of your important ancestor, Rua Kēnana. This was our wrong in the past, and so this is our day to turn to you and to say to you, sorry, love and compassion given, love and compassion received.]

I cast my eyes up to you all this afternoon—indeed, this afternoon when you came into the pō’hiri—and I looked across as we saw young and old who came from the tihi o tō koutou maunga o Maungapōhatu [the peak of your mountain, Maungapōhatu] to this House, our Parliament, and we looked upon you all as you came in. Some were chuckling, some were quiet, and there were many who carried tears, not just of those that came to this House today but for the generations that have come before you and for the mamae that many of you have carried for so long.

It is upon us, as members of this House, to acknowledge that mamae and to acknowledge that pain, for the generations of hara that you have all carried for the wrongful incarceration of the prophet Rua Kēnana. We cannot undo the trauma that has been carried for generations, but what we can do is acknowledge it and turn to those of you that have carried that trauma and have carried the mana of his name, of his toto, of his whakapapa, and for the role that you all have played in ensuring that that wrong was restored today. We acknowledge the many, many years that has taken.

In particular, I want to turn to the young people who have come to this House—ā tātou nei taiohi, ā tātou nei rangatahi [our youth, our young people]—because, today, we as the Crown turn to the descendants of Rua Kēnana and we say, “There has been a wrong that has been incurred, and today we seek to restore the mana of your tipuna.” But let this not be the last day that you all, as a generation, hold us as the Crown to account, because this day is a day in the restoration of that wrong, but this Crown has an ongoing role to ensure that we act with you all as our partner. I turn to the words of my colleague the Hon Willie Jackson who just prior said that today, and this pardon, is about the restoration of mana. But, too, in turn it is to acknowledge the tino rangatiratanga of all of you from that maunga.

So, as we embark upon the new dawn and the new day, and when we all gather on Saturday for the Royal assent so that that mamae is restored, may you turn to us as well and say, “But now you guys have got to keep your word—every single day from here, you keep your word.” And that’s a challenging issue for us all as we have to try and understand what this partnership looks like in this day and age. That’s a kōrero that we will have with you ongoing and with our people ongoing. How does that partnership manifest?

Before I close my remarks today, I also want to acknowledge the close hononga that you all have to Ngāti Awa and the impacts of Whakaari on all of you that have gathered here today. I know I saw Jackie Te Amo, who was up there in the trenches working alongside many people in the recovery. I know that all of the people gathered here today have a close hononga to that motu and to those that have passed. This is a big day for you all, and I acknowledge you for coming to this House. With that said, we commend this bill to the House. Nō reira.

Hon MEKA WHAITIRI (Labour—Ikaroa-Rāwhiti): E Te Māngai o Te Whare, tēnā koe, otirā, ngā mema o Te Whare nei, tēnā tātou katoa. I tū ki te mihi i ngā uri o Rua Kēnana, te iwi o Te Urewera, Maungapōhatu, anei ngā mihi maioha ki a koutou katoa. Ōku rau rangatira mā, e kui mā, e koro mā, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

[To the Speaker, greetings to you. Indeed, to the members of this House, greetings to us all. I stand to acknowledge the descendants of Rua Kēnana, the people of Te Urewera, Maungapōhatu. My affectionate greetings to you all. My esteemed leaders, the female and male elders, greetings, greetings, greetings to us all.]

I am pleased and honoured as the member for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti, the neighbouring Māori electorate to Waiariki, to celebrate and support the passage of this significant piece of legislation. Can I acknowledge all those who are here in the House today. Can I acknowledge the hurt and the harm—basically, the Crown stuffed up and here we are trying to make a small contribution of acknowledging its stuff-up with a pardon and an apology to this great leader, Rua Kēnana. He was a great man, a visionary, a prophet, and I want to acknowledge his role as a protector of the whānau, as a protector of whenua, which led to his arrest. I want to acknowledge in these contributions that we do the significance of the relationship I have with the people of Maungapōhatu. I want to acknowledge particularly Rua’s stance on leadership on the protection of whenua and his leadership role.

To that, I want to acknowledge the Te Whaiti Scholarships which come off the Tūhoe whenua. I acknowledge the Te Whaiti Scholarships because, without those scholarships, my two sons would never have got to Lindisfarne. My colleague here, the Hon Willie Jackson, acknowledged Justice Joe Williams of the Supreme Court, who also benefited from the Te Whaiti Scholarships, which enabled him to be educated also at Lindisfarne. So, as a mother of two boys who graduated through the generosity of Tūhoe whenua, I say thank you. I say thank you. Last week, my oldest son gave the graduate address at the Victoria University graduation, and he centred his speech on leadership and posed this question: “We are all leaders but the question remains—are we ready to lead?” So, to those that are here, I personally want to acknowledge the journey my sons have made through the connection and the generosity of Ngāi Tūhoe and the whenua that Rua stood up and protected. So I want to acknowledge that and say thank you.

This is an auspicious day. It is an amazingly important day for the hurt and the mamae that you, as descendants, of Rua have carried over these hundred years. I want to add my acknowledgment to all those—the negotiators—on behalf of Rua’s uri. I want to acknowledge the officials, I want to acknowledge the Hon Nanaia Mahuta, who’s brought the bill here, and my colleague Rino Tirikatene as the chair of the Māori Affairs Committee. I’m honoured to be a member of that select committee. I do know the enormous amount of work that people have put into this bill—the submitters and the report that came back to the House. It is a significant day, it is one that we should celebrate as a nation—this righting of this wrong—in memory of Rua Kēnana, an amazing leader, and I do hope that his legacy of protecting whānau, protecting whenua continues to his current people today. Kia ora tātou. I commend this bill to the House.

Dr SHANE RETI (National—Whangarei): Thank you, Mr Speaker. E rau rangatira mā, e ngā iwi, kia ora mai tātou.

[My esteemed leaders, the tribes, greetings to all.]

It’s a pleasure to speak to this bill. Looking through the background of the bill, on 9 April 2009, Wai 894 was addressed by the Waitangi Tribunal: the Treaty claims of iwi and hapū of the Te Urewera district. Three years later, on 20 December 2012, Part 4 of the claim was released, containing material particularly relevant to this bill. It concluded three things. First of all, police used excessive force against the Maungapōhatu community. Secondly, Te Tiriti o Waitangi was breached. And, thirdly, the arrest was unlawful, taking place on a Sunday, when arrest warrants were not allowed to be used.

In traversing the background, in 1916, Rua was convicted and spent 18 months in prison. He was tried on 17 October 1916 in the Auckland Supreme Court for the charges of sedition, resisting police, counselling persons to murder, counselling persons to discharge arms, counselling persons to wound, and counselling persons to assault police, amongst other things. He was acquitted of sedition, charged with one year’s imprisonment and 18 months’ reformative detention for resisting police. The jury disagreed on the other charges, and indeed they rejected the sedition charge and went to public domain complaining about the judge’s eventual conviction, which was 18 months of reformative detention and one year’s imprisonment.

This is actually a petition to Parliament as well. Rua remained in prison until 1918. When he returned home, changes against his people—famine, land loss, and urbanisation—had taken effect. Shortly after returning home, there was further devastation of a people already under threat. The 1918 influenza epidemic had a huge impact on the iwi and hapū of Whanganui. In 1918, the Whanganui Māori population suffered a death rate of an estimated 36.3 deaths per thousand. This figure was well in excess of the national Pākehā death rate of 5.3 deaths per thousand. In fact, Whanganui had the 12th highest general death rate for influenza across the whole country. The Māori death rate due to the 1918 influenza pandemic in the Whanganui district was over six times the national average for the Pākehā population.

From then to now, Wai 894 describes a “socio-economic chapter [that] is a sad history for the peoples of Te Urewera. … It chronicles over a century of neglect, relieved only somewhat by the [large] impact of the welfare state and of the expansion of the forestry industry. Hardship, poverty, disease and lack of opportunity pervaded the twentieth century experience[s] of the peoples of Te Urewera.” The Māori Affairs Committee received 60 written submissions and heard oral submissions also. Some of these submitters included mokopuna, whāngai, and a great-niece of Rua Kēnana. Officials concluded that the submissions were overwhelmingly in support of the bill in its present form and unanimously recommended it to the House. There is no question of redress across many domains. In 1895, Premier Richard Seddon, speaking to a delegation of Te Urewera leaders in Wellington, fully acknowledged the customary rights of the peoples of Te Urewera: “The lands are yours, the forests are yours, and the birds that flock there—they are yours.” However, that is a discussion for another time.

This bill has the title Te Pire kia Unuhia te Hara kai Runga i a Rua Kēnana / Rua Kēnana Pardon Bill. This bill confirms the historical background, makes acknowledgments, an apology, pardon, and declaration to restore character, mana, and reputation. In essence, it is a pardon for a criminal conviction.

Once passed into law, the statutory pardon will be only the fourth arising from Crown-Māori relations. The first, in 1988: those of Ngāti Awa descent who were arrested, tried, and labelled as rebels in or about 1865 received a statutory pardon in Te Runanga o Ngati Awa Act. The second, in 2013: Mokomoko received statutory recognition of a previous Royal prerogative of mercy pardon for his involvement in the murder of missionary Carl Völkner. The third pardon, in 2014: Kereopa Te Rau received a statutory pardon for his role in the murder of Reverend Völkner through the Treaty settlement with Ngāti Rangiwewehi.

To that rare list, we now today add Rua Kēnana. In conclusion, then, this was an injustice that we need to make right, and today this House is unanimous in that endeavour. Today, we pardon Rua Kēnana. Kia ora mai tātou.

LOUISA WALL (Labour—Manurewa): Tēnā koe e Te Māngai o Te Whare. E ngā mana, e ngā reo, rau rangatira mā o Tūhoe, Maungapōhatu, ngā uri o Rua Kēnana, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa. Kua tae ki te wā kia unuhia te hara kai runga i a Rua, kia whakahokia tōna mana me tōna ingoa rangatira ki a ia me ana uri.

[Greetings, Mr Speaker. To the leaders, the spokespeople, the chiefs of Tūhoe, Maungapōhatu, the descendents of Rua Kēnana, greetings, greetings to us all. The time has arrived to pardon the crime that sits on Rua, to return his prestige and his chiefly name to him and his descendants.]

I repeat those words of Nika Rua, who is the spokesperson for Ngā Toenga o Ngā Tamariki a Iharaira me Ngā Uri o Maungapōhatu Charitable Trust. I repeat those words because those words were spoken today, as the whānau of Te Urewera, of Tūhoe, came to this place, this Parliament, seeking—my mate Willie called it mana restoration, but from our perspective, it was seeking justice, seeking justice for your tūpuna, because there was a miscarriage of justice.

I want to thank my colleague Shane Reti for outlining the whole historic interface with Government in terms of this injustice. Now, the definition of a miscarriage of justice is that there’s a conviction of an innocent person, and, obviously, this bill is about Rua Kēnana, but I also want to acknowledge that your women were raped, that some of your future leaders were killed, and that many of your tūpuna were imprisoned, criminalised through a deliberate act of the Crown. They did that via the police as their agent, and so they abused their power. It was institutional abuse, and it was deliberate.

So what this bill says—and it is part of our truth and reconciliation process that we are now being honest about some of the things that have happened in our country through colonisation, and we confront the consequences of that colonial history every day in terms of institutional racism and the ongoing effects on our people right across the motu. So I want to acknowledge that this bill has happened because of you, the people from Te Urewera. We wouldn’t have done it ourselves. We needed you to use your voices through the processes, the Waitangi Tribunal process, through your commitment to clearing the name of your tupuna.

That’s what I want to acknowledge, that resolute commitment to historic abuses of our people. We need to tell these stories, and so through your acts, we now provide, I believe, content for our books that we need to teach our kids. We need to remember these histories because they are relevant today, and they’re relevant for all New Zealanders. We have issues of racism in our country, and when you think about where we’ve come from, of course we are going to have continued issues of racism. It is only through telling these truths that I believe we can move forward in partnership and actually realise Te Tiriti o Waitangi, because that’s what I also think this bill signifies—that we now have a capacity within this Parliament to acknowledge those historical wrongs, and, through pieces of legislation like this, to correct them, which puts us on a pathway, a very positive pathway, going forward.

So to all our rangatahi here, this is a historic day for you. I, like you, lament all those tūpuna that have passed, but I know that they are here with us, because we are them. We are the mokopuna of our tūpuna who started these journeys. So for the whānau of Rua Kēnana, I hope that you find peace, and I hope that with what will happen on Saturday, with the Governor-General actually coming for the first time to sign a bill that assents to this pardon, you feel a sense of satisfaction about where we are as a country. Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

SPEAKER: Sorry, members and people in the gallery—I thought it would be useful at this point to outline the process. I’m soon going to call Mr Coffey for the final contribution to this debate, the question will then be put, and the Clerk will announce the result of that. There will then be an opportunity for a waiata from people in the gallery. After this debate, there is an adjournment debate where, traditionally, the leaders of the parties, at the end of the year, make a contribution, but I understand that there will be some movement from the galleries after the waiata.

What I’m proposing to do, members, is to give the opportunity for people who want to leave after the waiata to do so, so they have a little bit of time. I’ll say to members on the floor, I observed people coming in. There are quite a few people up there who are even older than I am and don’t move quite as quickly, so we will have an unusual situation where we will have the opportunity to talk amongst ourselves for a short period of time until I call order and start the next debate.

TAMATI COFFEY (Labour—Waiariki): Tēnā koe e Te Mana Whakawā. Tuatahi, ka huri ngā whakaaro ki ngā mate o te puia o Whakaari, i mate ai i tērā wiki. Ka tangi mōteatea te ngākau ki a rātou kua wehe, kua ngaro. E ngā mate, e moe, e moe, e oki. Ka tangihia Te Arawa i ngā mate o Mātaatua, ka tangihia a Mātaatua i ngā mate o Te Arawa. E aku rangatira kei runga ake, ngā Tamariki o te Kohu, ngā uri o Rua, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

[Greetings, Mr Speaker. Firstly, my thoughts go to the deceased from the eruption on Whakaari / White Island, who passed away last week. The heart laments for those who have passed, who have been lost. To the dead, rest peacefully in your eternal slumber. Te Arawa grieves the dead of Mātaatua, Mātaatua grieves the dead of Te Arawa. My esteemed leaders above, the children of the mist, the descendants of Rua, greetings, greetings to you all.]

First of all, can I, like many other members, acknowledge the work of the previous member for the Waiariki, Te Ururoa Flavell. A member, a colleague of mine, said this started with the Waiariki and it will finish with the Waiariki as well. So I acknowledge the hard work that both Te Ururoa Flavell and the Hon Chris Finlayson did in bringing this to the House. Secondly, to our visitors, our manuhiri from the gallery: we all stand here alongside you, acknowledging the hurt and the pain that you have suffered over the years, and we do that with our hearts open to you.

Three: I was accosted when I was recently up at Ruātoki. One of the aunties came and she said to me, “Tamati, what’s this pardon thing all about? What does a pardon mean?” I said to her, “Oh, it’s kind of like an apology. It’s like saying sorry.” And she said, well, a pardon, in her argument, was actually—she felt as though it was the Government pardoning Rua Kēnana for his wrongs. I had to have a wee think about that, and I had to say, “No, no, no. I get where you’re coming from on this one, but actually, this is the Government asking to be pardoned for the crime that took place, the injustice that took place, all of those years ago.” So to our auntie out at Ruātoki, if she’s listening, then actually, I hope that I’ve clarified that, because it did have me for a wee bit.

Can I be really honest and say that if I had the opportunity to meet Rua Kēnana, the man himself, I’m pretty sure I would’ve liked him, because it sounds like he was a pretty hardcase fulla. It sounded like he was somebody that knew his whānau, he knew his followers, he knew his place in the world. He had been guided by his kuia, his kaumātua. Also, he was, I understand—in the Star, there was a bit of kōrero back in 1916 about him being the Māori kaiser, and he made some reference to the fact that if the Germans won the war, he would be on their side. I don’t know if that was lies or not, but it would be something my uncle would say if he was up against the wall, I’m sure. That’s kind of what happened to Rua.

In the early days, I understand that he was very against alcohol; he didn’t like it. But, in fact, he learnt that to be able to control the impacts of it, to create the minimisation of harm, he needed to control the sale and supply up at Maungapōhatu. So that was something that he tried to do. But, of course, the laws at the time and the direction that the country was going in was the way of prohibition, so, actually, that wasn’t an option for him. So he wasn’t able to do the admirable thing, the thing that we talk about lots here in the House of Parliament—about minimising the impacts of alcohol in our community. He wasn’t able to bring that to fruition.

We talk about history in schools and the impact that this is going to have with our tamariki growing up and learning about the wrongs of our Government, our country, the pathway that we’ve taken. We will celebrate the good stuff, but we’ll also acknowledge the warts, as our Prime Minister says, as well—warts and all. Let’s have a conversation about that. But actually, just hearing the contributions from my colleagues in the House this afternoon, I realised that, actually, there’s been a spin-off effect to that, and that’s been the learning in this House. Yes, our children will learn that, but actually, our politicians have learnt that, too. They’ve learnt about the journey of Rua Kēnana, they’ve learnt about the discrimination and the hurt that his descendants have faced.

So I thank you for being here. I thank you, everybody that has been involved in this from the start to this very point right here. Can I say, as your adviser in the Waiariki, that, actually, now’s a really good time to get in and start hustling some of our Ministers for some money. They know who you are now. So if you want some roads, let’s talk about some roads. Let’s talk about some Provincial Growth Fund money, Mr Shane Jones. Let’s talk about some money for tourism so that if you guys want to embark on that, let’s go and hit up our Minister of Tourism as well. I advise you to start engaging and to start getting into the hustle. I look forward to seeing you in the weekend. Kia ora rā.

Bill read a third time.

Waiata

Haka

Adjournment

Adjournment

SPEAKER: I think we can now say normal transmission has resumed.

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): I move, That the House do now adjourn.

Mr Speaker, friends, colleagues, one and all: for New Zealand, it’s been quite a year. In amongst Aotearoa’s highs and our lows, for me it has been our people who have stood out all the way through. And those people—they are, ultimately, embodied by the people who are present in this place. So, as is tradition and as is only right, I am going to commit the first few moments of my words this afternoon to acknowledge those people who are often our unsung heroes in this place.

Of course, Mr Speaker, I should start with you, our referee, our adjudicator, our tennis coach—of sorts; 5-love—except in tennis, you can’t deduct points in the way that you are able to. Mr Speaker, your job is not an easy one, but we appreciate the role that you play in this House and in this precinct, and I want to pay special tribute to what you’ve tried to embody in this place through simple acts like putting a slide on the forecourt of this Parliament, which I think speaks to the kind of place we wish to be in the world.

Right through to, for instance, our parliamentary security—who have a difficult job, at times, but hide from us the worst of their job and always undertake it with a smile; to the Chamber and meeting support staff, who are always attentive and kind; to the cleaners, who are here in the wee small hours, often passing us as we exit and entering for their night’s work; to the catering team, who provide for us a home away from home, in many ways reflecting the kinds of meals we would otherwise serve ourselves, except the quality of the toasted sandwiches is probably better; to our parliamentary librarians, who deal with sometimes random requests for information; the tour guides, who make this place sound much more exciting than it probably is in reality for the visiting public.

The Cabinet Office—they are unseen but unsung heroes, in my book; the Office of the Clerk, the seen heroes of this Parliament and debating Chamber; Ministerial Services; Parliamentary Service; the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet—my personal gratitude to them for the work that they do servicing me and my needs; the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Heritage and the child poverty teams, again—selfishly, I acknowledge you; VIP drivers, which I know both sides of this House would care to acknowledge, for their selfless professionalism, and for always providing company and a smile; and the Diplomatic Protection Squad, who do have, from time to time, a difficult job, but who always perform it with courtesy and respect.

To those who work in our electorate offices, who are the face of parliamentarians when we cannot be present, and who do, at times, the most difficult and the most trying and the most traumatic work on behalf of New Zealanders every single day; to the Prime Minister’s Office; to the staff who work in Premier House; and to the gallery, who provide an incredibly important role in our democracy—to everyone who makes this place work, makes this an institution we can be proud of, we all, I’m sure, say thank you.

And I ultimately believe that no matter what side of the House that you’re on or no matter what role you play in this place, we are, essentially, motivated by very similar purposes. We have an ambition that we want New Zealand to be even better than it is today, than it was yesterday, and even than it was the year before that.

And we, of course, have a special insight into some of the people who, on a day-to-day basis, do that job themselves, and so well. I can’t help but reflect on the extraordinary insight I’ve seen, in particular into our front-line public servants, during events like 15 March, and, more recently, Whakaari / White Island—again, testament to the extraordinary people who work in our health services: our ambulance drivers, our doctors, our nurses. No two days are the same for those people, and yet they bring with them a huge amount of humanity and empathy and professionalism. To our firefighters, who have been working abroad in Australia in recent times, and in our own tragedies in New Zealand and extraordinary events—right through to, of course, our police, those on the front line, and I do want to add those who work in our marae, our iwi, our hapū, who, in times of trial, have been right there making themselves available and opening their doors.

In every regard, I have seen brave, courageous, professional humans representing the very best of New Zealand and, as a nation full of ordinary people who do extraordinary things, they deserve the best place in the world to live, to work, to raise their children, and it is the ambition of this Government on this side of the House to provide that. So this has been our unashamed year of getting thing done for them, and so I’m going to start canvassing what some of that year has looked like. I’m going to start at the very beginning—a very good place to start; I can assure you that will be the only Sound of Music reference that I will make for the course of this, although I’m sure the team could pull it off. I absolutely believe that Kieran in particular would look excellent in a set of curtains—not least because I’ve seen him in elf tights, and if he can pull off that, he can pull off anything. But we won’t do it with song, because I’ve heard Grant Robertson sing.

If we can start at the very, very beginning—I want to start, actually, from December, because even before we came into the new year, one of the incredibly important things we did was make sure that people experience in New Zealand cheaper doctors visits. Those cheaper doctors visits have rolled in through this year and have meant that 540,000 people on community services cards have paid $20 to $30 less to go to the doctor. A recent survey has shown us that more people have been able to afford to go to their doctor as a result—57,000 people have said they haven’t put off that important visit, because those visits are cheaper. The same with prescriptions: more people are picking up their prescriptions because of the work that we have been doing.

If we come into April, we lifted the minimum wage—up to $17.70, and over 200,000 people with a boost directly to their income, and higher wages. In May, we scrapped NCEA fees, we increased funding for schools so that they didn’t have to charge school donations—all of that making a difference to parents’ back pockets. And in the Budget, who could forget the landmark Wellbeing Budget, where we increased the biggest boost in funding for mental health this country has ever seen? And it wasn’t just about the cash; it was the services it brought. We already had Mana Ake, a service in schools for all of the young people and children in primary and intermediate schools in Canterbury and Kaikōura to deal with the devastating after-effects of the earthquakes. We already had counselling services for under-25s in this region, but what we have now done is begin the national roll-out of primary mental health services for all New Zealanders throughout the country. It will take time, but the impact of that more than $1 billion investment will be long-lasting and huge.

Alongside that, Housing First places have increased, and I want to acknowledge that’s alongside a big increase in State house building—more than 3,000 houses, more than 2,000 being built as we speak; the impact has been incredible in housing. We are building KiwiBuild houses and we will keep building KiwiBuild houses, because we know there is more to do on housing supply and we will keep going until we address those issues.

Mid-year: we heard the people who said get rid of single-use plastic bags, but we’ve done more than that; we’ve started investing in improving our waterways, fencing, riparian planting, planting trees around our important catchments—Kaipara is one area we’ve started, directly supporting community groups there, and we’re working on standards to improve the health of our waterways and stock degradation.

A hundred and forty nine million trees have been planted. We’ve passed the historic zero carbon bill. We have an historic agreement with our primary sector to make sure that we address emissions. As we roll into the end of the year, $400 million is already going into our schools to improve property. Eighteen hundred police have been trained. We’ve increased Gateway places and Trades Academy places. Mana in Mahi. We’ve recently opened the Suicide Prevention Office. The Cancer Control Agency. Today, another increase in the minimum wage was announced for April next year. I could go on.

It is clear—in the short time that I have available—that this has been the year when we’ve been getting things done. Now, we will never claim perfection, but we will always claim progress. I can guarantee you this: we will be back in 2020 better than ever, ready to fight an election, and ready to keep on going. We are ready to win in 2020.

Hon SIMON BRIDGES (Leader of the Opposition): Thank you, Mr Speaker. I want to start by thanking the cleaners, the presiding officers—including yourself, Mr Speaker—the Clerk’s Office, the Hansard Office, the Bills Office, the Table Office, the catering staff who serve us and help us so well, the security team, the messengers, the library and the IT teams, and my staff who do a fantastic job, the National Party headquarters, and members of Parliament. This year, I got hold of Santa’s naughty and nice list; I found it on the Treasury website, actually, after Santa asked Grant Robertson to take good care of it and make sure it doesn’t leak!

So on to the list and what is on it. Jacinda Ardern: she’s on the nice list; in fact, she’s probably on the cover of it because she says lots of very nice things.

Winston Peters, the oldest naughty there is: he’s on the naughty list, obviously, as well. Maybe, he’s actually on the Electoral Commission’s naughty list as well. But we’ll see how that goes next year, Mr Peters.

Santa doesn’t actually have a clue about Kelvin Davis—mind you, neither does he; he spent most of this year avoiding question time on witness protection, I think, is where that’s been.

Phil Twyford: you’re on the naughty list, because if you can’t build a single house or a single road, Santa’s not giving you a single present!

David Clark: he’s opted out. He doesn’t like having lists or targets, actually, that’s sort of where he’s at.

Iain Lees-Galloway—

Hon Iain Lees-Galloway: Ha!

Hon SIMON BRIDGES: —he’s naughty—well, there he goes again. He’ll do anything to get in my video! He’s clearly on the naughty list for giving a convicted drug smuggler residency. But he’s nice because every time he opens his mouth, our 17-year-old William Wood gets more votes.

Stuart Nash: naughty list for not doing his rego. Come on, mate.

Kris Faafoi: naughty list for obvious reasons. Whānau, whānau, bro!

Willie Jackson: he’s on the nice list for giving me a boost and downgrading his own Prime Minister on TV a week or so back.

Duncan Webb: he’s on the naughty list because eating kiwis is never OK.

Tracey Martin: she is definitely—oh, no, she’s very interested—on the nice list for her quality—[Interruption]—no, this is a serious one, actually—Facebook videos. I’ve got 32 social media staff and I can’t do that; you know, it’s every single day.

Dr Deborah Russell—doctor: she’ll be on the good list. She’ll be in a state of eudaimonia this Christmas. That’s E-U-D-A-I-M-O-N-I-A.

Clare Curran’s on the nice list. She’s seen the writing on the wall and she’s pulling stumps. We wish her well.

Andrew Little: he’s on—well, actually, Santa had him on the nice list until Winston decided we’d need a referendum to decide, so he’s going to have to wait until next Christmas to find out.

Julie Anne Genter: I don’t want to miss out Julie Anne Genter. We’re going to put you on the nice list as a thanks in advance for dropping your punitive car tax. Thank you so much, Julie Anne Genter.

Marama Davidson: she’s on the naughty list for trying to reclaim the “c” word. Well, they’re going to have to try harder reclaiming the “d” word: delivery.

Let’s remember what the Prime Minister said at, I think it was the start of this year, 2019: “2019 is now the year that a lot of delivery um will be required of us and is actually already under way. So whether it’s, for instance, our child wellbeing strategy um, of course, our housing programme across community housing, Housing New Zealand and KiwiBuild, the receipt of the Tax Working Group, and all the work that falls away from it.” Well, what work hasn’t fallen away from it this year? By any measure, this Government has failed to deliver on its promises in 2019. After Treasury predicted—surgery, that too—surpluses as far as the eye could see, in just two short years we’re back in deficit. That’s not just a broken promise; that’s rank incompetence by this Government.

The economy has slowed down, we’ve seen basically a halving of growth, and monthly job growth is down almost 70 percent. By the end of this term, when Phil Twyford should have been delivering 16,000 houses, what is it? Not 300 from KiwiBuild. Cost of living has increased sharply with Kiwis paying more tax at the pump, with rents rising—and they don’t like this one and they won’t acknowledge it in the House—$55 a week and food getting more expensive. Seven out of nine child poverty indicators have gone backwards under this Government, and the Christchurch City Mission said things are much, much worse now than they were under National. Literally not a single infrastructure project has started under this Government. For all their talk and bluster about a new infrastructure package, there is no detail and barely any spending in this term of Government. The only person dressed in red who will deliver, this year, is Santa Claus.

Labour cannot deliver on its promises; 2019 has, though, I’m pleased to say, been a year of delivery for the New Zealand National Party. We have released 10—10—discussion documents with over 700 proposals, commitments, and questions. [Interruption] Well, they’re getting very excited over there, and I can tell why: it’s the only policy we’ve seen this year—it’s literally the only policy we’ve seen in 2019.

Just some of those commitments: no new taxes—no new fuel tax and no regional fuel tax in Auckland; creating a primary sector visa to help provide workforce certainty for employers in the primary sector; we’ll reopen charter schools and reduce classroom sizes thanks to Nikki Kaye; we will keep our communities safer and disrupt and harass gangs every single day—take that Strike Force Raptor, Iain Lees-Galloway—we’ll reform the Resource Management Act and actually build some house; we’ll repeal the oil and gas ban, the industrial law changes, and the new overseas investment Act rules; we’ll introduce roadside drug testing, and build safer roads; and we will reinstate public sector targets to drive better outcomes for New Zealanders; and we will set up a truly independent cancer agency, and fund more lifesaving cancer drugs.

Whether it be Paul Goldsmith on how we will grow opportunities for New Zealanders, or whether it’s Nikki Kaye on how we will give our kids a world-class education, Mark Mitchell on holding offenders to account and putting victims first, Scott Simpson on how we protect and enhance New Zealand’s environment, or Louise Upston on how to get people out of a cycle of dependency, National has done the work in Opposition so that we don’t have to set up 300-plus working groups and committees.

Hon Member: How many?

Hon SIMON BRIDGES: Three hundred, and about half a billion dollars. We have done the work now so that if we have the privilege of governing next year, we can hit the ground running.

Next year, New Zealanders will have a very clear choice: a choice between a Government that only two years in is tired, out of ideas, and, in just two short years, has taken a whopping great surplus as far as the eye can see and turned it into a $1 billion deficit on Kiwis’ credit cards, or a Government that has the ideas, the track record of delivering, and the ambition to see New Zealand better—much better—than it is now. New Zealanders can’t afford this Government. We are ready. Bring it on.

Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Deputy Prime Minister): We have just been reminded that sleeping pills and Mogadon have a serious competitor. The competitor is Simon Bridges, and if you are having sleepless nights out there in New Zealand, give me a call and I’ll send you a copy of the video of that speech. I guarantee it will work like lightning.

He talked about a whopping great surplus. It can’t be, can it, because his predecessor in finance was saying there was a $11.7 billion fiscal hole.

He can’t hold a commercial thought together for five minutes, and he says, “We’ve got 10 studies out there and we’ve been doing all the work.” Now, doesn’t it strike you as somewhat odd that you had nine years in Government to get the Resource Management Act (RMA) right, but you decided to wait until you had no power and then you’d get it right. You know, this is not even logical—I mean, a kindergarten child could work that out. Here he is, he’s got all these things he’s worked on in the RMA. They had nine long years, did nothing, and all of a sudden they have been seized with a sense of unction and urgency.

First of all, Mr Speaker, I wish you and your staff a very happy Christmas. We extend season’s greetings to all the parliamentary and ministerial staff, the cleaners, the caterers, the maintenance and security staff, the drivers, the library, and the Hansard staff, as well as to the many office staff. Thank you, and enjoy time relaxing with your families and friends over the festive season.

To New Zealand First Ministers, members of Parliament, and both parliamentary and ministerial staff, and around the provinces from Invercargill to Kaitāia, thank you for your hard work. You deserve a great Christmas.

When a year like this one comes to an end, Parliament is duty-bound to consider what shaped it, and there has been no shortage of tragedy. The deadly attack on 51 men, women, and children in Christchurch will be seared into our collective conscience for ever. Only last week, White Island erupted, taking so many lives. We had the Nelson fires in February, and we had the bus crash in Rotorua in September, killing five people. These events were all terrible reminders of how callous the world can be. These events, as you know, though, have one lesson, and they are a lesson in humanity and how meaningful leadership and cooperation can guide us through calamity. Our Prime Minister has exhibited just that. One cannot help but wonder if we could have processed these terrible tragedies with such grace if we were led by others.

2019 has been for New Zealand First a serious year of achievement—this is the great news that you’ve been waiting for, over there—

Hon Gerry Brownlee: Name three.

Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: —for a long time.

Fletcher Tabuteau: Here we go—here we go.

Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Oh, here we go—first in accountability. We were the party that announced in just the last 24 hours that a terrible helicopter crash, after 10 years, is going to be properly investigated—just like Operation Burnham. That’s accountability. Pike River has finally been re-entered, and it is now beyond 170 metres. We are well on the way to lifting our minimum wage to $20 an hour by 2020. Because of us, more young people are getting free doctors visits today than ever before. On your second hand, now, start counting, Mr Speaker—not Mr Speaker. What does he call himself over there? Oh, I know, a casino operator—a casino operator.

Hon Gerry Brownlee: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker.

SPEAKER: A point of order, the Hon Gerry Brownlee.

Hon Gerry Brownlee: Thank you. You’ve covered it off for him.

Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Well, I was going to refer to the—

SPEAKER: Order! No, the member will resume his seat. I just want to make it absolutely clear that we’re not going to have that sort of facetious point of order, going forward. I—

Hon Gerry Brownlee: Well, commentary—the Standing Orders allows it.

SPEAKER: Order! And I’m not going to have interjection while I’m on my feet from the person who should know more than anyone else that it should not occur.

Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: What I was saying was that you’re on to your second hand now, for the counting, and sooner or later, it’ll have to be socks off for 11, 12, 13, to 14.

Our defence force are doing so much humanitarian work as well as their usual responsibilities and are, at last, being funded properly. We have surpassed the target of training of 800 new front-line police already, in just on two years. The Minister of Police can take a lot of pride in that.

Today, in foreign affairs and aid, New Zealand has a new respect, and that’s a fact. Go to the Pacific, go to Japan, go to Indonesia, go to the United States, and—dare I say it—go to the UK, where we are walking into an environment where we’ve got friends. Why? Because we had the presence of mind years ago to see who was going to order the world next—not like them. They followed every bit of advice and have got no idea what they’re talking about, and who have a leader who called the new Prime Minister, the renewed Prime Minister, of the UK—he called him a buffoon. [Interruption] Yeah, that’s what he called him. Then he gets published in the New Zealand Herald advising us on how to get a free-trade agreement with the UK.

Hon Simon Bridges: One all.

Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Your paper coverage, my friend, is stupid, and so is he. Unbelievably naive.

Hon Simon Bridges: Oh, don’t say that about Boris Johnson.

Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: No, no, I’m saying that about you, sunshine. I’m saying it about you.

The Provincial Growth Fund is transforming New Zealand. There’s real hope in the provinces, and out there, from Invercargill to Kaitāia, they are saying, “Thank heaven for certain politicians in Wellington. We are no longer being neglected and no longer being forgotten.” I find it so difficult when I go to these Provincial Growth Fund meetings and announcements, because I have to fight my way through rural National Party members trying to get there first, and all their supporters. They’re trying to get the sort of halo effect from positive Government. Can I just say—

Hon Dr Nick Smith: Tell us about your foundation.

Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Oh, I’m getting to the foundation very shortly—oh, yeah—but I’m not going to take too much time. Like a famous guy in Australia said, I’m going to stew you slowly, son—I’m going to stew you slowly. You are not getting away with this any more. This is a guy—I mean, I want to ask those backbenchers over there: do they really think that that’s what they want from the front bench of the National Party? Oh yeah, you know what I’m saying, don’t you? Deep in your heart, you know you can’t get home with him.

Now, look, I can help. Look, I could help you. You know, I was playing a song for a radio today, and they said “What’s your favourite song for the National Party?”, and I said, “I can’t help but saying that there’s a song by Joan Armatrading called ‘Drop the Pilot’.” Do you know how it sounds? If you get a chance, listen to it. It comes to a theme, and I’d really recommend it to you.

Could I just say that the Climate Change Commission was launched, and 33,000 rural farming stakeholders now know that help’s on its way and that they can transition, that they can make a profit, that they will be sustainable, and that they will be world leaders. Oh yes, one guy over there, one guy there—Mr Muller—knows it. But all the rest know that they’re back-stabbing around the back door all the way.

But one guy that should be in the leadership of the National Party these days—Mr Muller—is showing responsibility, showing forward vision. Oh no, no, no. No, he’s got somebody at the front there. He’s got somebody at the front there who’s never been in business for five seconds. He’s never operated a business for five seconds, and he thinks he understands business—unbelievable. Can I just say that the Global Compact for Migration, which the National Party signed up to, but which then became directed by neo-Nazis in Austria, has not seen the result they said.

Can I say that I want to turn my attention to the National Party and ask Mr Brownlee this: where is the report on bullying with the National Party? When will the Serious Fraud Office report on the National Party’s electoral donations? When will we hear about the $100,000 receipted by National as one sum and then split up later? When are we going to hear the answer to that?

Can I also ask, is it clear that Mr Bridges is facing or not facing a problem with his party’s leadership now? I see it—very, very clear.

Hon Simon Bridges: Count to 10.

Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Oh no. I can count to more than 10. Can I just say: when will we hear about that $160,000 arranged from offshore and funnelled through a shell company in New Zealand into the National Party? When are we going to hear that? Can I just say one thing. Mr Brownlee made a speech recently, and, being the rather simple-minded person he is, he actually dropped them in it. He said that they were living off the National Party’s interests, not the donations and not the capital; just the interest. And he’s going to say that the capital and interest is different where electoral law’s concerned. He was so silly, he dropped them in it, because they have tens and tens and tens of millions, which they’ve got in their fund.

And Mr Nick Smith, can I just say very, very clearly: why would people allow that man to go out there and launch his attack, lead this attack? There’s a guy, for example, that hates Winston Peters. Guess why? Because on 12 March 2012, in a 4½ minute speech, I finished his then ministerial career.

Hon Member: Did too.

Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: I did, in a 4½ minute speech, and, Mr Smith, what I’ve done before, I can do it again, and you make very sure: I’m on it. Tell your pariahs up there in the gallery that write your rubbish that next year we’re coming for you. And guess what? We’re coming for other people here, because the New Zealand First Party has obeyed the law and the National Party has not. The National Party has not.

I can tell you we have got new information about the National Party fundraising. We have new information about National Party fund-raising. [Interruption] And, Mr Bidois, if you knew what you were talking about, I would advise you: I’d hold my nose, keep quiet and hope by hell it doesn’t get to you.

But, last of all, can I say to my friends in the Government, all parties in Government, that you all deserve a great Christmas holiday. Next year, we’ll be back and winning is our specialty.

MARAMA DAVIDSON (Co-Leader—Green): It’s Christmas next week, a time for many New Zealanders, many people in our country, who like to acknowledge and spend time with loved ones and families and friends. I haven’t been able to let go of the fact that I know that many people won’t be spending a happy time next week at all. That’s actually a reason for us to take advantage and celebrate that precious time even more so in the knowledge that we’ve had some tough times this year in Aotearoa and around the world. There are many people who are suffering loss at this time and that is actually why we, those of us who can, take our time seriously, acknowledge and have gratitude for what we have, for the loved ones that we get to spend time with.

I wanted to start off on that note, because all week, as I’ve known I’ve had to stand today in this House and speak and acknowledge the end of this year as the co-leader of the Green Party, it’s been genuinely challenging, trying to find the tone, trying to acknowledge the highs and the lows and recent tragedies and tragedies of this year.

Something I’m really proud of is that just before this adjournment debate started we all here in the House witnessed an incredible display of strength and resilience from ngā uri o Rua Kēnana. Just before this debate started, we had a rousing haka and a beautiful waiata that acknowledged the pain and the celebration of this historical day where this House declared a pardon for their tupuna Rua Kēnana, who had been wronged alongside the community of Maungapōhatu by a Crown invasion in 1916.

I thought that was a most excellent way to start this debate off in the House, to acknowledge the place of tangata whenua and the space that tangata whenua hold for all of us to model dignity and survivability in the face of incredible challenge and injustice. And I thought what an excellent way to start this debate in the House today. What I know from my work, my travels around the country this year, talking with people, meeting in communities, and talking with stakeholders of all backgrounds and all types of work is that it is clear that when people have a warm, secure, affordable, and healthy home, when people have enough money to put healthy kai on their table and feed their whānau, when there is enough income left over to pay all the bills that need to be paid, when people can seek help immediately when they need it, how they need it, when our schools and our health systems and our justice services can cater to everybody equally, can help people as soon as they need it and that we step up and show that help—this is what makes communities and families strong. This is how we build the strength of our Aotearoa nation, our beautiful country with its beautiful people. This is how we provide a platform of enduring justice and wellbeing for our communities, for our people, for our water, our soil, our trees, our birds, our oceans. This, I know, is the work that we have to be doing here in this House.

Last Thursday morning, at an early dawn ceremony, we were hosted by Taranaki whānui to receive the big cruise ship Ovation of the Seas as she came into the Wellington Harbour from Whakatāne. Taranaki whānui and mana whenua held the space, as is their kaitiaki responsibility, for us down on the water’s edge in Seatoun here. And I was very privileged to attend that karakia and the karanga that were gifted to all of us who wanted to go and support their place in role modelling and leading through loss and receiving the big ship, which had lost many people and whose many people had been hurt at Whakaari.

I wanted to mention that, because that is an example of the richness of what tangata whenua offer us all in this work of repairing the injustice and inequality for our people, of repairing the degradation of our plants and our animals and our living systems, of repairing the broken relationships between us so that we can work genuinely together to build what I know can be an incredible nation that welcomes and supports all of us, that makes decisions with our long-lasting environment at the core of everything we do, that understands that uplifting everyone is the richness for all of us.

Mohi Apou that morning, who administered the karakia, said that what happened in Whakātane happens to us all. This is the collective care responsibility that I live for. This is the leadership in our grassroots community that I see every day, that it is simply a duty and responsibility to step up, not just because it was your family or your community, but because as humans, as decent human beings, we all have the opportunity to share our humanity together, and that is for everyone to enjoy and uphold. So I wanted to mihi to Taranaki whānui and to Ngāti Awa in Whakatāne also for holding this space for us to allow a healthy way through loss and grief in a way that will hold us together better.

We also had the Christchurch attacks of loss—big internationally known loss. We’ve recently had measles killing many of our families and babies, especially in Samoa and here in Aotearoa. I am going to think of all of those losses and the grief that is being held when I hold all my babies, when I get out of this place very soon and am able to return home.

Today in the House—well, he said he was going to come and sit in here, my son, my beautiful 14-year-old teenager who I was able to bring with me, and I’m never able to do that. Immediately he reminds me about what is good. And I need to be able to—when I ask for everybody to have the same opportunities, when I ask for our rivers and our soils and trees to be put at the heart of our decisions—and have to be able to acknowledge that the National Party cannot simply stand up and pretend that all of the issues they raise, the problems that our people and our planet are having, just started when we got the reins in Government and acknowledge that they actually handed over after nine years degraded health and education and justice and environment departments and systems. I can’t let that stand because I have to name the barriers and the impacts that our people and our earth have been feeling with them at the helm.

And yes, we have got more work to do, but I am proud of the essential direction change that this Government has worked together to do—essential direction change. At least we can say the words “housing crisis” because we are not afraid to confront it and deal with it. And yes, I stand here as the co-leader of the Green Party, knowing and pleading to my Government colleagues, “We need to do more. We need to do it faster. We have to raise core benefits so that everyone has the chance to live their lives with the dignity that we all deserve.”

Lastly, I do wish everyone in this House a very merry Christmas and a close, loving time with your precious-held ones. I absolutely acknowledge that the demands of working in this House—and I want to say very clearly I absolutely support all of the well-wishes to our incredible staff across the whole place that humanise this place for us every day. It is not always a human place, but our people on the doors, our people working everywhere, our people in the cafeteria, the lovely cleaners I get to acknowledge—merry Christmas to all of you. Kia ora koutou katoa.

Hon GERRY BROWNLEE (National—Ilam): I also want to wish everybody in this House, every member, all the best for this season, this time of the year. And I want to acknowledge the first part of the Prime Minister’s speech thanking so many in this place who make our life a little bit easier—including yourself, Mr Speaker, and your attendant officers. But that’s about where it stops, because there is no doubt that the speeches we’ve heard this afternoon from the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and the co-leader of the Green Party indicate that the fantasy that they are living, that a Government is doing things that are extraordinary, has led to some extraordinary delusions by those people.

We saw that piece of paper the Prime Minister pulled out with a list of apparent milestones throughout the year. They are just things that Governments do—nothing extraordinary about that; just things that Governments do.

Hon Member: Except your Government.

Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: The member up there calls out, “What did your Government do?” Well, we did raise spending in all the core services every year that we were in Government, and every year, by the way, was record spending, because that’s what happens in a Budget. It’s unbelievable, isn’t it, that we’ve got a Government now quietly telling the public of New Zealand that the $7 billion surplus they were predicting for the year 2020, just one Budget ago—it’s all gone, all gone, and it’s going to be a billion-dollar deficit. That’s $8 billion worth of spending that has just apparently gone into the ether.

And what’s the difference for anyone’s lives? Well, child poverty on all the measures set up by the Prime Minister has got worse on seven of those indicators. Housing is an absolute mess. The thing they don’t say is that when they talk about, “Oh, it’s a record build for any Government since the 1970s.”, more than half of that programme was approved and started and funded by the previous Government.

Michael Wood shakes his head over there. Go and read the Budget, sonny. It’ll make it very clear. But of course, anyone in the Labour Party would think that reading a Budget is an absolutely abhorrent thing to do, because money apparently just grows on trees. And if you haven’t got enough you just declare a deficit and say, “Oh, but later, later we’ll have a surplus.” This is a trend and it’s a bad one. It’s not good for this country.

Then we have the issue of health and the sudden sort of thing about, “Oh, look, we’re building a whole lot of health services.” Well, why have the delivery end of that in elective surgery and specialist appointments and a range of other things that are done in secondary care all gone backwards—all gone backwards? Apparently, more money is going in, but it’s all gone backwards. And the Minister of Health stands over here today in the House proud of the fact that he’s got no targets. And it’s easy, isn’t it? If there are no targets then you can make any old story up. There’s nothing to test it against.

I think New Zealanders are not silly. They are starting to see this and they are seeing through it. Just go back to housing for a minute. Last year, last year, the first year of this arrangement that we’ve got governing the country at the moment, 25,000 first-home buyers—it could have been couples, so more people—bought houses under HomeStart, 25,000. How many bought KiwiBuild? Well, firstly, the KiwiBuild houses weren’t there and of those that were bought, I think it’s 179 now: 179 versus 25,000; 25,000 from our scheme, a financial instrument, and 179 from their big announcement of 100,000 houses.

Hon Member: Hopeless.

Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: Hopeless. The really interesting thing is, of course, that the surplus KiwiBuild, the ones they can’t sell, were offered to Housing New Zealand. And Housing New Zealand said, “We don’t want them. Their specification is too low.” confirming, as we’ve always said all along, they’re junk. And that’s why there is no market for them. So I think it’s amazing that the Government is insisting they’re going to continue with this particular policy.

And all the time that this is going on homelessness is up. Other colleagues have spoken about the Christchurch City Missioner who’s talking about things and how bad things are there and how much better it was under a National Government. This is a failure of a Government. If this is delivery, then it’s on a dray with no wheels being pulled by dead horses, and I think that will become apparent as next year starts to unfold and there will be a ready audience for a different Government.

CHRIS BISHOP (National—Hutt South): Mr Speaker.

SPEAKER: I have called the member.

CHRIS BISHOP: Apologies. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. Can I echo the remarks of my colleagues and the Prime Minister and say thank you to everyone who helps make us operate in this strange building sometimes. Thank you to you, Mr Speaker, and your attendant officers. Thank you to the cleaners and thank you to the Copperfields staff for keeping me filled up with short blacks as the days go by.

We have truly entered the silly season. Henry Cooke, I kid you not, yesterday tweeted a long series of tweets about the top 10 toilets in Parliament and the Beehive—the top 10 toilets—

SPEAKER: And he got it wrong.

CHRIS BISHOP: And he got it wrong. That’s exactly right. I was going to start a list about the top 10 stuff-ups that Phil Twyford made this year, but it would go to 100 and we’d be here for the rest of the adjournment debate. Andrew Bayly is hoping for a big present from his wife and he’s got a big present for her. It’s what he told Newshub. We’ve really entered the silly season.

I have some awards I want to give out to members around the House, including from my own side. Firstly, the “Kip McGrath Award for Services to Illiteracy and Innumeracy”—Stuart Nash, can’t count to 1,800 police. They’re not there. The “Clare Curran Award” This is a very special award. The “Clare Curran Award for Openness and Transparency in Parliament”—Julie Anne Genter for her secret letter with a special rider: honorary membership of the SIS and the GCSB. She’s done very well for secrecy this year.

The Judge Dredd award—“I am the law”—goes to Clayton Mitchell from New Zealand First. The Milton Friedman award for freedom goes to David Seymour for the end of life choice success. The Oscar, the Walter Mitty award for grandiloquence and bloviation: no other winner than the Hon Shane Jones. The Jenny Craig award for a shrinking waistline, something that many of us could take after: Matua Paul Eagle—doing a great job; well done, matua. The Brexit award for Nigel Farage impersonation: there’s no other winner than Andrew Bayly, a double winner.

I want many things for Christmas. Firstly, I want New Zealand to beat Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground when I’m there in a few days’ time. But I actually want the Government to get on with building roads. I want them to start addressing our infrastructure deficit and our infrastructure crisis. I see the Leader of the House there, the member of Parliament for Rimutaka. I want a new Melling interchange for Christmas, and I know that if he puts his shoulder to the wheel, he might be able to deliver it, and we’re looking forward to that. I want a new Mt Vic tunnel, alongside Nicola Willis, so get on with it. Wellingtonians have waited far too long, and we don’t want Julie Anne Genter to put the kibosh on it any further. I want Ōtaki to north Levin to start for Nathan Guy and Tim Costley—

Matt King: Northland—Northland.

CHRIS BISHOP: —our great candidate in that part of the world. I want four lanes to Whangarei, Matt King—

Matt King: What about Mill Road?

CHRIS BISHOP: —because that’s what we need. Mill Road, Andrew Bayly. I want the Tauranga Northern Link, Todd Muller, which was out for procurement when the Government changed.

Dan Bidois: East-West Link.

CHRIS BISHOP: I want the East-West Link in Auckland, Dan Bidois. I want Mill Road, Judith Collins. I want the Tauranga to Katikati, Scott Simpson. I just want roads started. It’s actually not that hard.

We just want some stuff to happen, because we spent two years with the Government telling us “We don’t want to invest in roads.” Actually, 94 percent of trips in New Zealand happen on private cars on the road, and we have to get on with it. I want 2020 to be a better year, because 2019 has been a tough year for many New Zealanders. When Whakaari / White Island happened the other day, many of us reflected on just what else was going to happen this year. In the Hutt today, as I’m sure you probably have noticed, there was an issue with a lift in a building, which plummeted some flights of stairs in a building in Lower Hutt. You just sometimes reflect back on the year and wonder. Hopefully, 2020 will be better. But we have got through it together as a community. We have got through it together as a Parliament, and extraordinary bravery and determination have actually been shown by both the Government and the Opposition in so many ways in response to some of the tragic events this year. So on that sober note, can I wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

DAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT): Thank you, Mr Speaker. I want to thank my parliamentary colleagues for what has been quite an incredible year for our Parliament and our country. I want to thank all of the staff in the different offices—Bills, Table, Hansard, the Clerk—that make this place tick and work. I particularly want to thank my own staff here in Parliament but also in my office in the Epsom electorate. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find that I’ve got the best staff of the entire Parliament. I’m grateful to them and those that work in the ACT Party as well.

I realise that if I was to be remembered for anything this year, it would be the passage of the End of Life Choice Bill. I particularly want to thank the Office of the Clerk, the Parliamentary Counsel Office, and some of the people around the House—the Minister of Justice—who have been particularly helpful in allowing that to happen. I want to thank certain opponents, whom I won’t name. We couldn’t have done it without you, to be really honest. That bill will go to referendum next year, and the question will be whether we become, as Chris Bishop so ably put it, a more humane society that is more compassionate, more understanding, and more free.

It’s a time of year to reflect on what sort of country we are and who we are. It’s occurred to me this year, as we’ve gone through various tragedies, that our country is a country where everybody has one thing in common, and we’re so diverse that it’s probably the only thing: each and every one of us has travelled further, or our ancestors have travelled further, for a better life than anyone else on this planet. The runners-up are the Australians, but they didn’t come as far and, in many cases, not quite as freely. But we are pioneers or children of pioneers, and we shouldn’t be here settling for second best. If that’s what we wanted, we’d still be living most probably in Asia or Europe.

Yet when we ask ourselves what the real metrics say, not the puffery from the Government, we see, in the Programme for International Student Assessment, 20 percent of 15-year-olds testing functionally innumerate and illiterate for the 21st century. That’s not good enough. Productivity growth—what really matters for people being able to work less and consume more and enjoy life—is in the tank. It remains there, and it has been for some time. This Government promised to fix housing. The truth is that rents have gone up and homelessness has gone up and KiwiBuild has become a kind of joke and a byword for failure. Even child poverty, something the Government made its flagship—they passed the measures, and we know it didn’t work, and I said it wouldn’t work at all, because, actually, it’s gone up even by those measures.

The quality of lawmaking is evident in all of those failings. Our nation, after the tragedy in Christchurch, deserved a sober and effective response to make us safer. It gives me no pleasure to stand here, vindicated by the objective failure of the gun buy-back, to say that this Parliament failed in that objective, and I’m pleased to have stood against it. We won’t be any safer by the Government cracking down on freedom of expression in the wake of that tragedy. It will make us less of a place that is able to reason through its differences and more likely to settle them violently—a sad irony.

Time and again, the ACT Party has stood alone in this Parliament opposing low-quality lawmaking. One only has to look at the market studies into petrol companies. Last week, we had the absurdity of the responsible Minister saying he was going to drop petrol prices by 32c. He must have forgotten the importer margin is 25c. How he thinks he’s going to make petrol 32c a litre cheaper, by targeting something that costs 25c, I have no idea.

But our ancestors, and in many cases ourselves as New Zealanders, did not come so far for a better life to put up with such mediocrity in lawmaking. We must do better, and, for that reason, I’m very much looking forward to 2020 and putting forward the case that we all prosper better in a freer society that makes high-quality laws.

Mr Speaker, finally, with the exception of your presiding over question time in relation to me, I’d like to thank you very much for the contribution you’ve made to the integrity and honour of this House and wish you a very merry Christmas. Thank you.

MICHAEL WOOD (Labour—Mt Roskill): I want to start my adjournment comments with some free hot Yuletide tips for friends on the other side of the Chamber as we head into 2020. The very first one is to say that I don’t think we’ve heard enough about slushies in recent times. We heard a lot about slushies earlier in the year—in fact, the Hansard was practically drenched in them—but then it went very quiet on the slushy front. The tip that I’ve got for them is that it could be very, very popular over summer. Sweet, cool, refreshing—a little bit retro 1990s—and they’ll go very well at the barbecues at Judith’s house over the summer.

The other one that I think we haven’t heard enough about recently is Strike Force Raptor. We heard an awful lot about it at the beginning, and then things went very, very quiet. We think it bombed in the focus groups, but I reckon part of it was just about the branding. One of the top branding guys that I’ve talked to has told me that alliteration can help with these things. So here’s my big idea for the National Party: change Strike Force Raptor to “Strike Force Stegosaurus”. It’s completely on brand as well: lumbering, Jurassic, pea-brained, and extinct.

I want to acknowledge all colleagues in this House for the contribution that they’ve made to the working of our parliamentary democracy this year. We disagree on a lot of things, but we do have a functional Parliament, and that comes down to the good will of members, of parties, and of other colleagues in this House. That’s important to acknowledge.

I acknowledge all the staff in this place who make our Parliament work—the people who clean, cook, deliver, keep us safe, and tend to the grounds.

I acknowledge you too, Mr Speaker. There’s a lot I could say but won’t say, but I will say that you have made real efforts this year that I think will be seen as important in years to come to make this a safer, more inclusive, and more humane House of Representatives.

This is a year of pride for members of this Government. I speak particularly as a Labour member. We believe that our parliamentary democracy can be harnessed to deliver social and economic justice for the people of our country. The progress that we have made in this area has been significant.

I want to have a big call out to the Hon James Shaw and the achievement of the zero carbon Act this year—world-leading legislation that takes on one of the great intergenerational issues of our time. We can also note that our Parliament did do that together. That’s an achievement we can be proud of.

I’m proud of the fact this has been a Government that has stood up for the dignity of decent work by lifting the minimum wage this year, by improving workers’ rights, by improving rights to equal pay, and by improving people’s access to the living wage. Those are the values of this Government: dignified decent work for all New Zealanders.

I want to shout out to the Minister of Justice, the Hon Andrew Little, for an achievement that was actually, I think, a bit overlooked, and that was the passing of the Criminal Cases Review Commission Bill earlier this year—a bill, and an Act now, that is fundamentally about ensuring that we have access to justice for those who are being wrongly imprisoned in our system and face deep injustices.

The Child Poverty Reduction Act—we now have a Budget in New Zealand that every year will hold this Parliament to account for what we are doing for the most vulnerable children in our country and will drive action to reduce child poverty. And under this Government, we are on track to lift tens of thousands of children out of poverty. We are very proud of that on this side of the House.

Finally, I am incredibly proud of the work that has gone on to follow through on the commitments that we have made to the communities and the families of the men from Pike River. That work has been incredibly important. We deserve to know what happened there. Once again, I acknowledge the Minister, the Pike families, and the Pike River Recovery Agency for all of the work that they have done in that area.

Finally, I acknowledge our Prime Minister, whose leadership this year has been inspiring, has been positive, and has taken us through some very dark times. I will never forget 16 March, when a cross-party delegation of MPs from this Parliament journeyed down to Christchurch. She walked with us into a room—500 or 600 families of those in the two mosques; people whose grief and emotion and confusion and fear was bouncing off the walls; people who just did not know what had happened. She stood there, and they knew that they had a leader who was with them and would walk with them. That is the leadership that we need.

Next year is an election year, and, on this side of the House, we are here to win for the people that we represent. We intend to go out and campaign and win with a focus on truth, with a belief that it is our vision for the future that counts, and with a conviction that it is right for all of us to go hard to win but that we must also hold to decent standards and human values as we undertake that general election campaign next year. By God, we are going to go hard to win, and win we will, but we will do it on the right way on this side of the House.

Merry Christmas to all, and may the Advent values of hope, peace, joy, and love be with all members of this House and your families this season. Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH (National): Thank you, Mr Speaker. My pleasure to speak in this debate and to start with thanking the many people across this building and this institution of Parliament, whether it’s you, Mr Speaker, and your team, the many people that support us in the Bills Office and the Order Paper deliveries and the cleaners and the security people that keep us safe and the many people that make this a wonderful place to work and an institution that many New Zealanders can be proud of.

I want to also thank the many staff. My staff—my one executive assistant here in Wellington—is in Guadalajara, I think, in Mexico at the moment. I hope he’s safe. Hamish, I wish you all the best. And the many people that help on the National side to put all our lines and work together, I want to acknowledge your hard work this year.

It’s good to be a New Zealander. It’s good to live in this country. We have a great country. We’ve had some real challenges this year, and it is right that we look back and reflect on those who have suffered loss this year, and there have been many instances of that but also ongoing, through sickness and through traffic accidents and the many challenges that families have faced right across the country. But we also acknowledge there are wonderful things that we have in this country. We’re all heading off for summer. I’m looking forward to spending time with my family on the beach around the country, and that is the most important part of experiencing wellbeing in this country. It starts in the home and in our loving relationships across our family.

And so we’re all looking forward to that and we’re looking forward to a good break and getting back into an election year next year where we’ll hope to drive this Government out of office. Frankly, we’d be doing the country a service, because we should and we could be doing better in this country.

It’s easy to forget the highlights of this year. For me, it started off in February when I pointed out that Shane Jones, for all his talk, for all his huffing and puffing, could actually only come up with 54 jobs so far out of the Provincial Growth Fund in February, which rather annoyed him. But I do have to thank Mr Jones; he’s done great things for my career and he provided me very many opportunities at the start of the year. So I’ll be grateful to him for that. I’m not sure, however, that New Zealanders will be so thankful when they consider that $3 billion will have been allocated and we won’t see very much for it, apart from a few things up in Northland.

What about the capital gains? Remember we had that. They were going to bring a transformational change to the tax system in New Zealand, and I can remember that for David Parker there wasn’t a problem in the world that couldn’t be solved by a capital gains tax. It was going to fix everything, and he was passionate about it, the Prime Minister was passionate about, it was what she came into politics for. Grant Robertson was passionate about it. Everybody was passionate about it, and yet they just threw in the towel when things got a bit rough. They looked at the polling and decided, “No, we’re not going to do that.”

Then, of course, we’ve had KiwiBuild; it was going to solve all the housing problems. If ever there is an example of political hubris, then Phil Twyford is it: “Oh yep, I’m going to fix it all.”, and then, “Oh no, it’s all a bit difficult.” We’re still, actually, in negative territory on houses built, because if you factor in the fact that we’ve lost 480 houses at Ihumātao that Fletchers were going to build, because the Prime Minister blundered in and gave a platform and an opportunity for that group to put up a tent and stop houses being built, we’re still in negative territory on houses.

Then we think of the Treasury leak—don’t forget that—the Treasury leak. Remember the botched Budget? We still haven’t received—perhaps somebody’s missed it, I don’t know—an apology from the Minister of Finance for smearing us with the hacking of the Treasury Budget. Remember, we were supposed to have been there. We were sort of almost in cahoots with the Russians, apparently, but we hacked in, and then it turned out that we just looked at the website, and that was the botched Budget of 2019. So it was the first of many fake news elements that came across from that side of the House. The sad reality of that Budget was that there was an enormous amount of money that was spent and so little that we’ve got from it.

To take a country that was growing strongly, with surpluses as far as the eye could see, opportunities, terms of trade, our export prices as high as they’d been for a generation—to turn that in two short years into an economy that is growing at less than a third of the speed, when you look at per person growth, and in deficit in two years is monumental. It’s economic mismanagement. This Government, I think, will have the notoriety of being the first one-term Government in 50 years, and it’s our job to prosecute that next year. Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Hon JUDITH COLLINS (National—Papakura): Oh, thank you, Mr Speaker. Can I start by thanking you, Mr Speaker, for your courtesy towards me this year and also, too, I’d like to thank all of our parliamentary staff here within the complex and also the contractors. I’d particularly like to thank my own staff and also my family for the support that they give me. Can I thank also my electorate of Papakura. Thank you for continuing to vote for me and may this continue well into the future. Thank you very much.

I’m also going to break with tradition and thank the Government. I do this because the Government helps us so much every day to do our job. Might I particularly thank the Hon Phil Twyford, my very close and dear friend who everybody knows now is really one of us and on our side. So I promised Simon Bridges, when he took over as Leader of the Opposition a mere 20 months ago, “Give me housing and I tell you the Government will not want to crow about it and we will.” Well, have I delivered, team? Have I delivered? Yes I have, and, by the way, delivered an awful lot more than the current Labour Government.

I think it is really important that a Government does, particularly in its first term—and, hopefully, only term—have some pretty big ideas, and what have we got from this Government today? Can’t build houses but, by goodness, can they ban those cotton buds. The cotton buds and the plastic forks are on their way out. The world is safe! And the stickers on the fruit? Mind you, I quite like getting the stickers off the fruit, because it is irritating. But I thought we also had a Government that wanted us all to know where our food came from. I don’t know how that got past the Greens.

What we are seeing is a Government that is making our job every day in Opposition absolutely sweet, because we know there’s good stuff coming next year for us. We’ve got a Government that has learnt nothing from Boris Johnson and the brilliant win in the United Kingdom for the Conservatives. We have a Government whose Prime Minister, when you go back through the tweets, is very, very uncomplimentary about the Prime Minister of the UK—or, by the way, the President of the United States.

I think it’s important, though, to remember that we are an Opposition that does not intend to stay in Opposition, and that is why we have been producing policy discussion documents—the sorts of things that if only the Labour Party, in particular, had done in Opposition, they might not have had to set up 312 working groups within their first two years. We have a Government that has achieved little apart from banning plastic bags and 312 working groups, with lots of jobs for their mates.

Over Christmas, I’m going to be spending my time working on finishing the last few chapters of my first book. And note the way I said “first book”, because, I must say, I think you’re going to like it. I think you’re all going to like it. There’s the odd one that ain’t going to like it quite so much, but I actually figured most of those people have gone anyway, so who cares! I think, hopefully, you’ll have some laughs in it, and hopefully you’ll still talk to me afterwards.

I think it is really important, though, that we remember what a privileged position we are in here in Parliament, and I actually am very much reminded of that as I’m looking through from the days of my maiden speech, a few years ago, to now to realise that we’re still talking about the same issues. In that maiden speech, I was talking about the need to reform the Resource Management Act (RMA) and, by goodness, we are going to get the chance to do that, because the policy work that I’ve been doing is so important—the first time that I’ve had the opportunity to take the RMA by the scruff of the neck. I’m really relishing it.

We talked also in the maiden speeches—what was it we were all talking about? I was talking about methamphetamine and the scourge of it and the gangs. And today, what are we talking about under a Labour Government? The same thing. Why weren’t we talking about it much when we were in Government? Why? Because we were dealing with it. Now, soft on crime, back again, no delivery, experimenting around prisons, unable to actually make decisions except for things like banning cotton buds. I mean, these are clearly the issues!

What happened to child poverty—what happened to child poverty? Oh, no, that’s right—we’re not going to do that now. One of the things that I see is so stunning with this Government is their inability to understand that just spending money doesn’t always bring results. That is what we know from this Government. No delivery; experimentation only.

Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the House): Mr Speaker, it is a great pleasure to take a brief call in this very important adjournment debate, and I will keep it brief because I know the members of the parliamentary press gallery are hanging on my every word, eager to file their coverage of this very important debate before they finish up for the political year and head off to have a few beverages with their colleagues. I know that they’ll be keen to get that over and done with.

It’s been quite a debate here. I have to say Simon Bridges’ speech was probably one of the better ones that he’s delivered so far this year. He clearly didn’t write it himself, but it was one of the better ones. Mr Bishop told us about all of the roads that he wants for Christmas. That was quite interesting, because he may as well ask Santa Claus for them, because the last National Government certainly didn’t fund them. But this Government, unlike the last Government, is actually focused on filling the infrastructure deficit that we inherited.

So here comes the graph; I thought it needed one more outing before the end of the year, because on this side of the House we are very proud to be the infrastructure Government, the infrastructure Government that New Zealand has been lacking. Now, for the members opposite, I thought I’d give them a little lesson. The global financial crisis happened in 2008 and 2009—the first bar of the graph, where there’s still a reasonable level of infrastructure spending, National’s first year in office. Of course, the Budget for 2009 was set by the last Labour Government. Then we see the global financial crisis winds up, and it officially was declared over in 2011, the global financial crisis. Then we see at the end of the global financial crisis that capital spending for the Government continues to be cut. Of course, the Christchurch earthquake was the other excuse. One would think that the Christchurch earthquake might’ve prompted an increase in the Government’s capital spending, but, no, we see the numbers—they keep going down. They went down in 2011, they went down in 2012, down again in 2013, down again in 2014, and then finally National realised “Actually, maybe we might’ve made a few mistakes here.”, and you see a little bit of spending going up in 2015-2016, but then it goes down again in 2017.

And what do we see in 2018 with the advent of a Labour Government? Oh, infrastructure spending starts going up. It goes up in 2019, it goes up in 2020, and it goes up in 2021. This is the infrastructure Government, delivering the infrastructure that New Zealanders have been asking for and that New Zealanders have needed.

But, of course, this is the season to be kind, so I do want to say a few words of thanks to the Opposition. I want to thank the Opposition for their wholehearted endorsement of the Government’s legislative programme this year. How else to explain the fact that this Parliament has passed more legislation than in any other year on recent record? Seventy-four bills have gone through this House. Now, that’s a number slightly different from the number that I know Mr Speaker will probably use, because for consistency’s sake we’ve treated cognate bills or bills that are subsequently divided as one bill, for the purposes of consistency. We went back and had a look at National’s record in Government. The highest point they ever got was in their second year in Government, where they managed to pass 63. So I do want to thank the Opposition for their wholehearted cooperation with the Government to pass this record level of legislation.

Of course, they must have huge confidence in our in our legislative programme, because our legislative programme received half the degree of scrutiny in the committee stages of this House than the bills passed by National in their last full year in Government. I think that that shows they’ve got huge confidence. Despite their public rhetoric, they know, actually, in their heart of hearts that this Government is doing the right thing by New Zealand, and so I thank them for their support. They know that we are tackling the big long-term issues facing New Zealand. They know that we are lifting children out of poverty, they know that we are dealing with the underinvestment that there has been in infrastructure, and they know that we are getting serious about mental health.

You see evidence of the Government’s enormous progress and the fact that we’re getting on with the job in my own portfolio in the education sector: $1.2 billion injected in this year’s Budget for school infrastructure, new schools and classrooms throughout the country. Todd Muller’s been bashing down my door, demanding more and more for his electorate, because he knows that his own Government didn’t deliver the new schools and classrooms that his electorate so desperately needs.

But it gets better—there’s more—because another $400 million has just now been pumped into a capital injection for school maintenance so we can bring schools up to standards. Of course, this builds on our work earlier in the year. We gave most teachers in the country an average pay rise of $12,000. We had the first across-the-board increases in early childhood education funding, not once but twice. We did it last year, and we’ve done it this year as well. We’ve put extra funding into schools so they don’t have to ask parents for donations, resulting in a lot of families feeling the squeeze not quite so much at the beginning of the next school year. We’ve scrapped fees for NCEA to level the playing field. We have delivered a living wage for school support staff—that’s teacher-aides, caretakers, ground staff, the people that may keep our schools running on a daily basis. They are getting a living wage under this Government.

We are getting serious about tackling the skills shortages that have been holding New Zealand back, making sure that we’re focused on learning that’s relevant, learning that’s future-focused, and that’s going to ensure that people can participate fully in our productive economy. Bringing together on-job learning, off-job learning, online learning into a seamless form of vocational education so that New Zealanders can access, anywhere, any time, the learning that they need in that area. It is long overdue, and it is something this Government is very proud to be delivering.

A brief word, before I end, about the coming election campaign. We will come back to this House, no doubt, all guns blazing next year as we head into election year. Political leaders at their best inspire hope, they bring people together, they show compassion, and they are willing to have open and honest conversations about long-term and complex challenges. At their worst, political leaders stoke fear and resentment, they set out to divide people, they pull up the ladder of opportunity behind themselves, they attack those who dare greatly and who have the audacity to believe that better is possible.

I believe that New Zealand at its best punches well above its weight. It is clear from their behaviour in recent months that the members opposite are intent on punching down in election year. My message to them is: if they want to be political leaders at their best, if they want to inspire hope, if they want to bring people together, if they want to show compassion, if they want to tackle the big long-term challenges facing New Zealand, we will go toe to toe with them on all of those issues. If they want to drag the campaign into the gutter, they will be down there by themselves because we will not follow them along that dark corridor. They may be inspired by others around the world who have been successful in doing that; well, I believe that New Zealanders are better than that.

I believe that New Zealand is given a choice between a Government that inspires hope, that wants to bring people together, that’s open and honest about the challenges that our country faces, that’s not afraid to dare greatly, and an Opposition that wants everything to be a small target, that thinks better isn’t possible, that we should just settle for what we’ve got now, and that we should give up on hope. I think New Zealanders will choose the right path. I’ve got huge faith in this side of the House, going into election year. It’s going to be a fantastic campaign. Let’s bring it on.

MATT DOOCEY (National—Waimakariri): Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. That speech from the party that gave us “Chinese-sounding names”, the party that bagged migrants in the last election, and now they’re lecturing us—fascinating, isn’t it? I do want to acknowledge the Leader of the House, Chris Hipkins, for acknowledging the role that the Opposition has played in helping them keep their legislative process on track. Many here will remember Minister after Minister coming down into the House filibustering their own bills, taking 10 minutes a call. You know who I felt sorry for? It was the Government backbenchers—they weren’t even trusted to filibust their own bills; they had to bring the Ministers down.

The adjournment debate is about endings. I think, ironically this side of the House would probably feel like the year should last another three or four months—

Hon Member: What?

MATT DOOCEY: We could go another three of four months, the momentum is there. But then you have a Government that’s happy to pull up sticks. The Ministers’ Crown cars are waiting in Museum Street, they’re waiting for the adjournment debate to end because they’ve had enough.

This has been a year of a failed socialist experiment. It’s been littered, the whole year, with this failed socialist experiment. The people that are going to suffer are the hard-working New Zealanders; the quiet hard-working New Zealanders who see all their hard-earned gains taxed increasingly by that party, and then they go and spend like a drunken sailor. Fees-free: didn’t even meet its targets. KiwBuild: less than 300,000. We had a development in my electorate of Waimakariri, private builders building high-spec four - double bedroom, internal garage houses right next to KiwiBuild houses. The private market was selling them cheaper than KiwiBuild. This Government has failed at every step of this year in this failed socialist experiment.

I’ll tell you what, their internal polling will be showing what ours is showing for the region of Canterbury, and they’ll be worried. I’ll tell you what, in Canterbury we’ve been fleeced and forgotten. You won’t find a Government Minister coming into Canterbury.

And then what was Chris Lynch told by the Prime Minister’s press secretary? You’d need another 15 March to get her back on the Chris Lynch show. There’s nothing that winds up Cantabrians worse than $5.5 billion that was stolen out of State highway funding and redirected to Auckland public transport. Cantabrians, the grafters of this country that punches well above its weight for GDP, and we are funding to go to Auckland. Cantabrians don’t like that, and that’s why your polling for Canterbury will be showing the same as well. Cantabrians are feeling fleeced and forgotten.

I do want to finish on some positive notes. First, I want to acknowledge the senior whip for the Opposition and the National Party, Barbara Kuriger—huge leadership she has shown over the last year to navigate our way through what’s been quite a treacherous Parliament over the last 12 months.

I want to acknowledge also my colleague down the road there, Todd Muller, for the work he’s doing in the agricultural space. I represent a semi-rural and peri-urban area, and I know how tough farmers are getting it at the moment. They’re getting kicked by this Government. Todd Muller’s been out there for months on end, public meeting after public meeting—good old-fashioned politics. He’s getting out there and getting in front of the people that he’s serves, and I know that at each farmers’ meeting he’s getting 100 to 150 farmers. They’re the ones that are delivering this economy in New Zealand. They’re the ones that this Government is kicking.

Finally, I want to acknowledge you and wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year. I have been in a role where I’ve had to interpret the ups and downs of how you allocate supplementary questions. At times, I have reflected and I have wondered what the Opposition attack dog Trevor Mallard would have done with a Speaker like you, and I have questioned and thought about how he would respond and whether there were any lessons for the Opposition maybe in early next year about how we respond to your refereeing of question time.

To all the parliamentary staff, thank you very much for enabling us parliamentarians to serve the country, and what a great country it is. Thank you, Mr Speaker.

BARBARA KURIGER (National—Taranaki - King Country): Thank you, Mr Speaker. Look, I want to start by acknowledging everyone in this place because this place is an ecosystem—Parliament is an ecosystem. Being a whip, I believe, gives you a greater understanding of just all the things that tick over in this place. So a big mention to those that feed us, those that provide our security, the people who work in our offices. Often I’m asked about this adverse, you know, place of Parliament where we’re all having a go at each other all the time, and I often have to say to people: “Actually, it’s not a place where we are all having a go at each other all the time. Most of us get on quite well most of the time.” I believe everyone in here is a good person; some people just don’t have as good ideas as other people. So that is where the adversary comes in.

Look, in most ways it’s been a year of non-delivery, but in a year of non-delivery, a lot of heartache has been delivered. I think this whole ideological failed experiment has been very, very difficult for some people in our rural areas and some of our farmers. Minister Hipkins said that in this country we punch above our weight, and New Zealand farmers definitely punch above our weight. It’s a big request from me for this Government going forward, that, actually, we start to recognise that we have some of the best farmers in the world in terms of, you know—planting trees: I have to tell New Zealand First that planting trees is not a new phenomenon. Farmers have been planting trees in Taranaki for 30 years. The water quality is improving and it’s happening.

So we are here and we are delivering the food that you’re all going to eat for Christmas. So I, on this side of the House, and the National Party, want to acknowledge our food producers, because we’re all going to go out of here after this adjournment debate—over the next few weeks, we’re probably all going to eat too much. Some of us may, at times, have one drink too many. But, you know, there are people out there who are producing our ham, our veggies, our wine, cheese, our beef, and lamb. Just think about that cream on that pavlova. Oh, pavlova. That’s right—chickens, eggs. So just forget all of the agriculture, horticulture—you know, the Kiwifruit on top of the pav. I see there’s a new variety of red Kiwifruit out now—R & D. I just really, really want to thank our producers for everything that they do for us. National says thank you. So let’s cut these people some space. Let’s understand that there’s a transition needed. I’ve seen it where some of the targets coming out are far too heavy. People need time and space and tools to get to where they need to go. So one request I have of this Government is to understand what just transition means in relation to our constituents and our farmers out there.

But I also want them to understand transition very, very carefully, because 2020 will be a very good transition to a new Government, and I have no doubt that my team and Simon Bridges’ team on this side of the House have worked extremely hard. We’ve had a great year. We’re prepared. We are ready to go.

Mr Speaker, I’d like to thank you for your presiding over this House—sometimes it’s easier than others—but also over the precinct. I know you take your role very seriously. So thank you for all that you do. And just to finish off, I would like to thank our families, because people quite often ask about the sacrifices that we make to be in this place and I say to them, actually, we don’t make the sacrifice; our families do. We have most of what we need done for us. We have our EAs, we have our research people, we all have our staff in Parliament and out of Parliament that work extremely hard for us, get us to where we need to go, and I thank them for that. But our families are the ones who actually make the sacrifices. They do without us for several days a week while we’re in here. They often do without us while we’re out and about doing our job. So I want to acknowledge them and I want to wish them and everyone else a very merry Christmas and a very successful 2020. Thank you.

SPEAKER: Thank you, members. I’d like to make a few brief comments—some statistics interspersed with some other comments. The first is that we have sat on 90 sitting days this year. There’s been very nearly 30 hours of urgency, and I want to make the point that probably having 28 hours of urgency was unnecessary if proper organisation and planning had occurred. I want to say that there were only four hours of extended sittings, which, in my view, is a wasted opportunity to give better consideration of bills.

There were 1,005 oral questions asked. They were all addressed and a proportion of them were answered. There were no questions to members. There were no urgent questions, both of which are pretty unusual. There were, however, I understand, 45,653 written questions lodged. I will make the point that going forward as proactive release occurs it is my expectation that there will be fewer such questions asked, because the material will be available not only to members of Parliament, but to the public.

I’m not going to go through the entire list of people, but there are some people who I do want to thank: both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. They have extremely important and extremely difficult jobs and both give it their all. I want to acknowledge the catering staff and the cleaners, and just underline the fact that we came in more than a year early within the Parliamentary Service and the Office of the Clerk to paying the living wage, both for the employed staff and the contractors in this building.

For the people who do some of the most socially undesirable hours and sometimes have to work with people who might be described as a bit grumpy, I want to thank them very much. I want to thank members of the Business Committee: the Hon Gerry Brownlee, who, notwithstanding the attitude that he sometimes displays in the House, is actually someone who I find very easy to work with; the Hon Chris Hipkins as the Leader of the House. I think now that he’s got two children and a dog, I can probably consider him—

Hon Chris Hipkins: Two dogs.

SPEAKER: Sorry?

Hon Chris Hipkins: Two children, two dogs.

SPEAKER: Two children and two dogs—I can now consider him as a grown up and no longer the head prefect at Petone College. I want to give special thanks to the new whips and, in particular, the senior Opposition whip, who I have found a pleasure to work with. Normally, the things we work on—in fact, everything that we work on together without other people—is something which is difficult. We don’t bring to each other easy problems. And I just want to thank you for your integrity, your compassion, and your attempts to make the place a better place for people to work.

I want to thank my fellow presiding officers. I will say a little bit more about the Hon Anne Tolley soon, but also the Hon Ruth Dyson and Adrian Rurawhe. They do a hard job, and, frankly, as a team assisting the Speaker, I think that they have commanded more respect than any other group of people assisting a presiding officer than I have seen in my time at Parliament. And I want to thank them for that.

I want to thank the small team in my office, Jessie Manning and Roland Todd, who continues with the challenges beside me. He sometimes has trouble working out whether I’m putting one finger up or two fingers up to the Opposition, but he manages generally. He manages generally to get there. I also want to think Ainsley McGrath, who has joined our team. She is one who has come across the Tasman voluntarily and she has in a relatively short time seen some of the best and some of the worst of the behaviour of members of Parliament. But I do want her to thank her for that and to tell her that our members of Parliament behave much better than hers do.

I want to thank David Wilson and his team and also Raf Gonzalez-Montero for his team, and to say that they are working together better than they have ever worked together before. There’s some areas which I think used to be badly duplicated and I think we’ve made some progress in stopping that overlap. I want to thank members for passing the legislation necessary, both to do that and to properly recognise, I think, in a constitutional sense, the role of the former general manager and now the chief executive of the Parliamentary Service. I want to thank Andie Lindsay for being the glue that holds a lot of that together and who reminds the three of us of the things that we should be doing, and that is very, very important.

I want to make special personal thanks to a couple of people who are part of the Labour team, but are not here. They are Dr Megan Woods and Damien O’Connor, who at caucus where I allegedly wore a bit of a loud shirt did a double-team on me in order to convince me to get some hearing aids. That was very important. And it’s only through what they’ve done that I’ve been able to recognise, regrettably inside the House, but especially outside the House what I was missing previously. It mightn’t be that good on occasions for members on my left, but it has emphasised to me the importance of hearing for social inclusion, and I do want to thank them both sincerely for that.

Members, in some ways, it has been a hard year. Debbie Francis did a report which pulled a few punches but was still extremely hard-hitting and emphasised that we have a long way to go to develop a workplace that we can be proud of. I’ve had quite a discussion about it on a couple of occasions with Dame Margaret Bazley, who is probably the expert in reform of this sort, and what she has said to me is that about five years is how long it takes to do the sort of culture change that is required. We have made some progress. We will make a lot more progress next year.

In that context, I want to say thank you very much to the Hon Anne Tolley. Anne has had a year which, personally and as far as her electorate is concerned, has been just awful. Notwithstanding that, she has put in tremendous work, over and above the normal expectations of a Deputy Speaker, in order to attempt to bring the Parliament together around a way of working which will make this place a better place. It’s something that I think it was important that an Opposition MP lead, and to have someone of the character of Anne leading that work is something which I very much value.

Members, I think—well, I know—there’s only the Rt Hon Winston Peters who has been through more election campaigns than me. He started in 1975, and I started in 1984. I’ve gone through them as a marginal seat backbencher, as a safe seat member; I’ve gone through them as a Minister, and once as a list candidate. I want to say to members that those years, no matter what your role is, are never easy, and it is exceptionally important to all of us that we do get the rest, that we get the recuperation, and that we come back to Parliament in good form so that we can handle the pressure that will inevitably come on every one of us during that year.

Members, I want to wish everyone all the best for the festive season. Have a good time with the people who you are close to, and be safe.

Motion agreed to.

The House adjourned at 6.23 p.m.