Wednesday, 14 December 2022

WEDNESDAY, 14 DECEMBER 2022

WEDNESDAY, 14 DECEMBER 2022

The Speaker took the Chair at 8 a.m.

State Occasion

Address of the President of Ukraine, His Excellency Mr Volodymyr Zelenskyy

SPEAKER: Ata mārie tātou katoa. E noho. I welcome His Excellency Mr Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, joining us online. Good morning, Mr President. Welcome. I invite you to address the Parliament.

His Excellency Mr VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY (President of Ukraine): Kia ora. Дорогі друзі! Пані Прем’єр-міністре! Пане Спікере! Пане лідере опозиції! Пані та панове урядовці й парламентарі! Народе Нової Зеландії! Я вдячний за цю можливість звернутися до вас і хочу запропонувати вам лідерство. Лідерство в захисті миру. Цей рік показав усьому світу, як багато можна зробити, коли маєш достатню рішучість і знаєш, що треба робити. І будемо відвертими: на початку цього року від України ніхто у світі не очікував сенсацій. Коли почалося повномасштабне вторгнення Росії, я чув у голосах багатьох співрозмовників лише співчуття. Але коли вони чули у відповідь рішучість, усе моментально змінювалося. Кожен, у чиєму серці знаходила відгук українська боротьба за свободу, приєднувався до глобальної коаліції на захист свободи.

Сьогодні у нашій антивоєнній коаліції вже більш як сотня держав. Тих, хто підтримує фундаментальні принципи міжнародного права й Статут ООН. Тих, хто в міжнародних інституціях, наприклад у Генеральній Асамблеї ООН, голосує за рішення на користь миру й територіальної цілісності України. Тих, хто надає нашій державі збройну підтримку й тренує наших військових. Тих, хто запровадив санкції проти держави-терориста й постійно підвищує для Росії ціну за агресію та спровоковані нею глобальні кризи. І тих, хто допомагає нам долати ці кризи. Тих, хто робить усе, щоб російські воєнні злочинці відповідали за скоєне ними проти України. За 293 дні цієї страшної війни сам розвиток подій створив можливості для різних країн і лідерів проявити себе – знайти свою функцію в захисті того, що всі ми у світі так чи інакше цінуємо.

І я вдячний вам, дорогі друзі, за те, що Нова Зеландія однією з перших почала підтримувати Україну в боротьбі за незалежність і справедливість. Відчувши особливість морального виклику цієї війни, ви змінили власні підходи до санкційної політики й застосували національні санкції проти причетних до розпалювання агресії. Ви допомогли з фінансами для безпекових потреб, із постачанням амуніції та з навчанням військових. Ви надали нам гуманітарну підтримку й незмінно допомагаєте на міжнародних майданчиках. Ми в Україні все це дуже цінуємо. Я ще раз вам дякую за цю підтримку! Але хочу запропонувати вам іще дещо. Різні диктатори й агресори завжди не усвідомлюють те, що сила вільного світу не в тому, що хтось великий і запасся ракетами, а в тому, що всі вміють об’єднатися й діяти рішучо, щиро і кожен робить свій унікальний внесок у загальну справу. Можливо, настав час і вашій країні зробити саме такий унікальний внесок.

Я говорю зараз про один з пунктів нашої формули миру, яку я запропонував нещодавно на саміті G19, який проходив в Індонезії. Отже, ви напевно чули про десять пунктів, які можуть повернути Україні та всій Європі мир, а світу – безпеку й стабільність, які були розбиті російськими ударами. Це дуже прозорі й логічні пункти. Це радіаційна та ядерна безпека. Продовольча безпека. Енергетична безпека. Звільнення всіх військовополонених і повернення депортованих. Повне виконання Статуту ООН і відновлення територіальної цілісності України. Виведення російських військ із нашої землі і завдяки цьому – припинення бойових дій. Повернення справедливості через притягнення до відповідальності воєнних злочинців. Протидія екоциду. Недопущення ескалації війни та фіксація її закінчення. Кожен із цих пунктів здатен прибрати той чи інший елемент російської агресії. А отже, всі вони гарантують мир.

І я запропонував скликати спеціальний саміт уже найближчими місяцями. Global Peace Formula Summit, на якому держави-партнери могли б визначитись із тим, який із пунктів формули миру вони могли б допомогти реалізувати. Ось так само, як ми реалізуємо другий пункт формули – продовольчу безпеку. Є формат співпраці з ООН, із Туреччиною, з іншими партнерами, і як наслідок – є дві ініціативи, які прибирають зі світового продовольчого ринку дефіцит, що виник через злочинну російську блокаду наших морських портів. Три українські морські порти ми розблокували. Результати цього очевидні. Наша експортна зернова ініціатива та гуманітарна ініціатива Grain from Ukraine тепер працюють разом, щоб подолати проблему глобального голоду. До речі, будь ласка, поцікавтеся ними. Можливо, ви побачите і свою роль у заспокоєнні продовольчої кризи. Але все ж таки насамперед я раджу вам звернути увагу на восьмий пункт нашої формули миру. Пункт щодо екологічної безпеки. Освічені люди добре розуміють, що означає війна для навколишнього природного середовища. Ваше суспільство саме таке – освічене. Зруйновану економіку та інфраструктуру можна відбудувати. На це потрібні роки. Але зруйновану природу не відбудуєш. Як не повернеш знищене життя.

Станом на зараз 174 тисячі квадратних кілометрів української території забруднені мінами та боєприпасами, що не розірвалися. Акваторія Чорного й Азовського морів також забруднена мінами і втратила сотні тисяч живих істот, які загинули внаслідок бойових дій і активності російського військового флоту. Десятки річок забруднені. Сотні вугільних шахт затоплені. Десятки найнебезпечніших підприємств, зокрема хімічних, зруйновані російськими ударами. Три мільйони гектарів лісів в Україні уражені бойовими діями. Усе це та інші прояви російської екоцидної політики матимуть безпосередні негативні наслідки для мільйонів людей, для нашого регіону й сусідніх регіонів. Я впевнений, що ваше суспільство відчуває крихкість нашого світу. Відчуває, наскільки важливо для всіх людей на планеті вести раціональну політику щодо нашого спільного дому. Так само, до речі, як і щодо наших спільних цінностей, на яких базується мирне співжиття народів. І тому я пропоную саме вашій країні, вашим лідерам розглянути можливість взяти до уваги цей екологічний пункт нашої формули миру. Я закликаю вас проявити лідерство в міжнародних інституціях, зокрема в ООН, і на двосторонньому рівні з іншими державами, щоб світ побачив і цей виклик російської війни. Щоб світ побачив, що не буває справжнього миру там, де будь-яка дитина може загинути від прихованої російської протипіхотної міни. Не буває справжнього миру там, де наслідки війни у вигляді отруєних ґрунтових вод можуть знищити нормальне життя в кількох країнах. Не буває справжнього миру там, де відбувся екоцид і його наслідки не подолані.

Можливо, зараз здається, що з такої тематики не буде великих сенсацій. Але до сьогодні у світу немає спільного досвіду подолання руйнівного впливу війни на навколишнє природне середовище. Нашу землю ми звільнимо. Ми переможемо в цій війні – я впевнений у цьому. Ми повернемо свободу й безпеку всім українцям, де би вони не жили. Держави світу вже беруть лідерство в реалізації таких пунктів нашої формули миру, як, наприклад, пункт про справедливість. Вчора Нідерланди заявили про свою готовність розмістити трибунал щодо злочину агресії Росії проти України. І я закликаю вас підтримати у вашому парламенті українську формулу миру й розпочати консолідацію світу заради восьмого пункту формули – заради протидії екоциду. Хай Росія відповідає за всі прояви її агресії. Я дякую вам за увагу! Nga mihi! Слава Україні!

[Interpretation from Ukrainian into English] Thank you, dear friends, Madam Prime Minister, Mr Speaker, and Mr Leader of the Opposition, ladies and gentlemen of the Government and parliamentarians, the peoples of New Zealand. I am grateful for this opportunity to address you, and I would like to offer to you to take a lead in the field of protecting peace. This year has shown the whole world how much can be done with enough determination and knowledge of what needs to be done. Let’s be honest, at the beginning of this year, no one in the world expected sensations from Ukraine when Russia launched their full-scale invasion. I heard only sympathy in the voices of many, but showing the determination of the response tended to change everything instantly. Everyone for whom the Ukrainians’ struggle for freedom resonated and was heard later joined the global coalition in the protection of freedom.

Today, this anti-war coalition has already more than 100 countries—those who support the fundamental principles of international law and the UN Charter; those in the international institutions like the UN General Assembly who vote for decisions in favour of peace and the territorial integrity of Ukraine; those who provide our country with arms support and train our military; those who imposed sanctions against the terrorist State and constantly raised the price that Russia needs to pay for the aggression and the global crisis it has provoked; those who help us to restore and resolve this crisis, and those who do everything possible to make Russia’s war criminals held accountable for what they have done against Ukraine over the course of 293 days of this terrible war. The very course of events has created opportunities for different countries and leaders to prove themselves, to find their role in the protection of what we cherish above all.

I am grateful to you, dear friends, for the fact that New Zealand was one of the first countries to support Ukraine in its struggle for independence and justice. Facing the unique moral challenge of this war, you’ve changed your own approaches to the sanctions policy and imposed national sanctions against those involved in fomenting the aggression. You have helped us with funding to cover security needs with the supply of ammunition and the training of the military. You have provided us with humanitarian assistance and supported us on international platforms. We very much appreciate all this in Ukraine. I thank you once again for this support. But let me offer you one more thing. Various dictators and oppressors always fail to realise that the strength of the free world is not about someone becoming large or big, and becoming full of missiles; it’s in the fact that everyone knows how to unite and act decisively and make its unique contribution to the common cause. Perhaps the time has come for your country to make such a unique contribution.

I’m talking about one of the points of our formula for peace, which I proposed recently at the G19 summit in Indonesia. Maybe you’ve heard about the 10 points that can return peace to Ukraine and the whole of Europe, just as to restore the security and stability in the world that was shattered by Russian strikes. These are very transparent and logical points for radiation and nuclear security; food security; energy security; the release of all prisoners of war and the return of deportees; the full implementation of the UN Charter; restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine; the withdrawal of Russian troops from our territory, which would result in a cessation of hostilities; the return of justice by bringing war criminals to justice; countering ecocide; and preventing the escalation of the war and solidifying the intent. Each of these points can remove one or another element and halt Russia’s aggression. Consequently, all of them would be able to bring peace.

I propose to convene a special summit in the coming month. This would be a global peace formula summit, and the partner States could decide which of the points of this peace formula they could help us to implement, just like we are implementing the point of the formula that is food security. The formative cooperation with the UN, Türkiye, and other partners resulted in two initiatives that allowed us to remove the deficit on the world food market that was caused by the criminal Russian blockade of our seaports. We’ve unblocked three Ukrainian seaports, and there’s already clear and evident results from that. Our grain initiative and the humanitarian initiative, which is called Grain from Ukraine, are now working together to solve the challenge of global hunger. By the way, you may learn more about these initiatives, and maybe you could see a role for yourselves in settling the food crisis. But, at the same time, I would like to ask you to focus on the eighth point of our formula for peace, which is the point about environmental security. Once people understand the impact of war on the environment—and your society is truly a wise one—the economy and infrastructure can be reconstructed. Well, of course, it may take years, but you can’t rebuild destroyed nature, just as you can’t restore destroyed lives.

As of now, 174,000 square kilometres of Ukrainian territory are contaminated with mines and unexploded ordnance. The area of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov are also contaminated with mines, and has lost hundreds of thousands of living creatures: those who died as the result of hostilities and the operations of the Russian naval fleet. Dozens of rivers are polluted, hundreds of coalmines are flooded—dozens of the most dangerous enterprises, including chemical ones, have been destroyed by Russian strikes. Three million hectares of forest in Ukraine are affected by hostilities. Now, all this and other manifestations of Russian ecocidal policy will have a direct negative impact on millions of people, just as on our region and the neighbouring regions as well. I’m sure that your society feels the fragility of our world—it feels how important it is for all people on the planet to resume rational policy towards our common home, just as, by the way, towards our common values on which the peaceful coexistence of the world is based. It’s therefore that I suggest to your country and your leaders to consider taking into account this environmental aspect of our formula for peace. I urge you to demonstrate leadership in international institutions, in particular in the UN and bilaterally with other States, so that the world would see these challenges that were brought by Russia’s war—for the world to see that there is no real peace where any child can die from a hidden Russian anti-personnel mine. There’s no true peace where the consequences of war could be there in the form of poisoned groundwater that may destroy normal life in several countries. There’s no true peace where ecocide has taken place and its consequences have not been neutralised.

Perhaps some might consider this aspect won’t result in any sensations, but until today, the world has no strong experience in overcoming the destructive impact of the war on the environment. We’ll liberate our land. We will win this war. I’m confident that we will return freedom and security to all Ukrainians wherever they live. The countries of the world are already taking leadership in the implementation of certain points of our formula for peace. For example, the point on justice: just yesterday the Netherlands declared their readiness to host a tribunal on the crime of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. I call upon you to support the Ukrainian formula for peace in your Parliament and to start consolidating the world around the eighth point of the formula. That is the countering of ecocide. Let Russia hold responsibility for all the manifestations of its aggression. Thank you for your attention. Ngā mihi and glory to Ukraine.

[Applause]

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): Tēnā koutou katoa, and kia ora, Mr President. On behalf of the people of Aotearoa New Zealand, we say thank you. Yours is a country at war, and you are at the helm, leading your people through a crisis. Sharing time with us under those circumstances is a sacrifice, and one we do not take lightly. But I hope that in response to the address that you have given today, you hear loudly and clearly that yours is not a forgotten war, and nothing could be more emblematic of that, I hope, than so many parties of the New Zealand Parliament, on the other side of the world, coming together to condemn Russia’s war and stand firmly and clearly with you.

Our support for Ukraine was not determined by geography. It was not determined by history or by diplomatic ties or relationships. Our judgment was a simple one. We asked ourselves the question: what if it was us? What if it was us that experienced a breach of our territorial integrity? What if it was us that was the subject of a breach of the international rules-based order, of the blatant misuse of multilateral institutions? We would want the international community to use their voice, regardless of their political system, their distance, or their size, and so that is what we have done, by supporting Ukraine in the most practical ways possible.

Mr President, you have our soldiers from New Zealand training yours in the United Kingdom, and I have heard firsthand the experience of our soldiers in those training exercises and the tenacity and courage of your people. We have provided medical supplies and personal equipment for those in the field. Our assets have helped to move supplies around the region at some of the most critical points of the conflict. But we have also done what we can to hold Russia to account for their actions.

As you acknowledged, we passed the Russia Sanctions Act to implement unilateral sanctions for the first time ever. We have put in place extensive travel bans. We have committed to join Ukraine’s case against Russia at the International Court of Justice and have provided funding to the International Criminal Court to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine. But those who support Russia must also be challenged. Just this morning, we announced sanctions against Iran, who are complicit in the supply of drones to Russia. They will now be the third country sanctioned under the Russia Sanctions Act, alongside Russia and Belarus.

We’ve looked to support citizens in Ukraine with a special visa to ensure our Ukrainian community can bring their families here—of which more than 1,100 have now been granted—and we’ve also provided humanitarian aid to support those who remain in-country, and, with the onset of winter and with energy supply used as a weapon of war, New Zealand today pledges further assistance to the people of Ukraine. We’re committing an additional $3 million through the International Committee of the Red Cross to support your people with basic humanitarian needs at this time—needs like medical supplies and equipment, power transformers and generators to cope with blackouts, and essential winter items for vulnerable families like food, water, sanitation, and hygiene items. This is in addition to the $7.9 million we’ve provided to support Ukrainian communities.

But, Mr President, our ambition remains a region in a world that returns to peace and stability, just as it is your ambition as well, and I acknowledge the peace plan that you’ve set out for the Parliament today. This war, in our view, must not become a gateway to a more polarised and dangerous world for generations to come. Our solidarity with Ukraine is matched by our resolve to strengthen the international institutions that govern us and to accelerate disarmament.

Mr President, I want to acknowledge your further calls for support, especially around the long-term impacts of war, including, as you have pointed out today, the long-term impact on the environment. New Zealand has a history in a space of reconstruction post conflict, and that includes remediation such as dealing with unexploded ordinances. We are with you as you seek peace, but we will also be with you as you rebuild.

President Zelenskyy, we acknowledge the people of Ukraine, those who are fighting and protecting their country, those who are taking care of their families and others. We acknowledge the ongoing hardships of winter, but we also acknowledge you. You have been unrelenting in your ongoing support of your country, of your people, of your army. You continue an ongoing battle with unparalleled determination. You have coordinated an international response. You have united those who act in the interests of the rules-based order. New Zealanders recognise your persistence, your support of your people, your country. We support you. Kia kaha, kia māia, kia manawanui. Слава Україні.

CHRISTOPHER LUXON (Leader of the Opposition): President Zelenskyy, thank you for taking time to talk with us this morning. It is a great honour and a tremendous privilege for all of us to have you address our New Zealand Parliament today. While there is a vast distance between our countries in geography and circumstances, I, like so many New Zealanders, have followed with horror and disbelief the war in Ukraine, and we all appreciate the opportunity to be able to say to you kia kaha, which in our indigenous Māori language means stay strong.

When, 10 months ago, the world learnt that Russian tanks had rolled into Ukraine, there was disbelief and immediate condemnation of Russia’s audacity in the face of international outrage. All countries were at that point forced to choose sides. It was a moment for all nations to stand up and to be counted, but for those nations that value democracy, respect national sovereignty and borders, and uphold the international rule of law, the choice was simple. New Zealand is one of those countries. Confronted with brutality or diplomacy, autocracy or democracy, darkness or light, there was nothing to discuss except how to individually and collectively support Ukraine.

This conflict is described as a war between Ukraine and Russia, but it is far bigger than that. It is a moral as well as a physical battle. It is, frankly, an existential threat to Ukraine, a war that Ukraine cannot and will not lose.

President Zelenskyy, your courageous leadership and moral certitude has been inspiring to us all. You have been our generation’s Winston Churchill, and since those Russian tanks crossed Ukraine’s border, you have been unwavering in your determination that Ukraine will win this war that it did not want and that it did not start. Of all the miscalculations Vladimir Putin has made, and there are many, underestimating your resolve and the impact of the strength of your leadership and the words—your words—would have in rallying Ukraine and the world has perhaps been the biggest.

You said that Ukrainians would fight for Ukraine. You said that they would be willing to die for their country, and in laying down their lives for what they believed in and on behalf of their fellow Ukrainians, they have proved you right. In fighting for Ukraine, they have fought for the democratic values and national sovereignty that so many countries and people all around the world share and believe in, but the burden of that fight has fallen primarily on Ukraine.

Ten months ago, Ukrainian men and women who were accountants and cooks and teachers and mechanics became, almost overnight, soldiers. Their courage, their commitment, and their resilience has amazed and humbled the world. Their sacrifice compels other countries to help. We cannot stand back; we must stand up.

None of us, especially a small country like New Zealand, wants to believe that might is right. We want to believe that moral courage is just as important. But this war has proved that when you have to fight for what you believe in, you need an army, weapons, ammunition, and friends to help defend your interests. This war has again highlighted the shortcomings of the United Nations, whose purpose is noble, but whose impact is weak. This international group could not prevent one authoritarian power launching a war on its neighbour.

Every country, I think, has learnt that it is a mistake to think that they themselves or their friends can do without firepower. We might wish it to be different, but to support a collective response, we all must be able to contribute.

When the history of this war is written, the greatest condemnation will be for Vladimir Putin. The greatest admiration will be for you, President Zelenskyy, and your courageous leadership. The greatest gratitude will be for the people of Ukraine. Daily, we see images of indiscriminate attacks on civilians that leave broken and burning villages, cities, homes, and schools, and the death of every single Ukrainian is a tragedy.

The greatest regret of this war will be the terrible loss of life that has left tens of thousands of Ukrainian families bereft. But one day, peace will come again to Ukraine. We can’t see how or when, but it will come, and at that point the international community will need to rally to support a reconstruction programme, because while the loss of life is the most terrible toll, the loss of homes and communities and critical infrastructure is also incalculable. I feel confident, even speaking from the Opposition, in saying that New Zealand will be part of that rebuilding effort. I cannot imagine circumstances where we would not be. But for now, in the most bitter winter for Ukraine, and on behalf of the New Zealand National Party, I send to you our deepest condolences, our tremendous respect, and great admiration.

This war is cruel, it is immoral, and it is wrong, but for as long as Russia continues to fight, Ukraine must continue to fight, and we and the rest of the world must continue to back you. We in New Zealand hope and pray that this war ends soon, and until it does, my pledge is that the New Zealand National Party, like the rest of New Zealand, will stand with you. Kia kaha.

Hon JAMES SHAW (Co-Leader—Green): President Zelenskyy, on behalf of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, I do first want to acknowledge the pain and the suffering of the Ukrainian people. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is as barbaric as it is illegal. In the horror of war, it is ordinary people who suffer the most. It is apparent that there have been and continues to be a multitude of war crimes perpetuated on the Ukrainian people by the Russian forces. We condemn this extraordinary violence, we condemn these breaches of international law, and we condemn the violation of fundamental human rights in the strongest possible terms. The priority must be an end to Russia’s aggression, and peace for the Ukrainian people.

President Zelenskyy, I do want to thank you for your address to Parliament, and I do want to acknowledge and thank you for opening your address in the indigenous language of Aotearoa New Zealand. I acknowledge your leadership and the fortitude of your people in the face of the violence visited upon you and your people.

One of the central principles of the charter of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand is a commitment to non-violent conflict resolution. It is quite apparent that were President Putin to be successful, the temporary violence of war would morph into the permanent violence of subjugation, and perhaps even genocide. It is, therefore, vital that Ukraine can defend itself. We have to acknowledge that Ukraine’s response to Russia’s violence will itself involve some violence, not because Ukraine wants that, but because you have little choice against an aggressor so firmly committed to violent means, and I applaud the efforts of you and your administration to minimise harm to civilians and to conduct your war within the norms that we would expect of a civilised nation.

New Zealand’s role in the global response to this conflict must be to support a peaceful resolution however we can, in respect for Ukraine’s territorial integrity as provided for under international law. We are best placed to support humanitarian efforts to deal with the rippling consequences of the conflict. This involves aid relief, corridors, and refugee resettlement. We should increase our work with multilateral institutions and support their attempts to bring about a peaceful solution to this awful conflict and, as you have called upon us to do, to do what we can to restore food security and to address the ecocide that accompanies the genocide. If we can assist with mediation or to encourage larger States to engage in de-escalation, we strongly support that. Whether through diplomatic efforts, humanitarian work, or the use of our respected status on the international stage, New Zealand is well placed to form this contribution.

When it comes to any future military support that New Zealand might provide, we would ask that it comes before this Parliament. The extent to which our efforts further the cause of peace or exacerbate the violence of war is surely a matter for this House, rather than just the Government alone.

President Zelenskyy, as a member of the Green Party, I have a fundamental commitment to non-violence. As a New Zealander, I have an interest in the commitment to a functional international system. The situation in Ukraine remains impossibly difficult in ways that we in Aotearoa New Zealand cannot possibly imagine. It is historic that you, as the head of a Government in a land that is besieged by an invading, colonising power, have addressed this House.

Ukraine is not alone, in the sense that we and many others around the world stand alongside you and are supporting your cause. But you are also not alone, sadly, in the sense that there are many other peoples, still, on every continent who are also suffering from violence and subjugation. I would suggest to this House that perhaps we might look at ourselves and ask ourselves why it is that we don’t extend them the same support that we do to the people of Ukraine. As Dr Martin Luther King said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

I sincerely hope that we do everything in our power to support the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine and peace for her people. I also hope that we might allow ourselves to have you, Mr President, and the people of Ukraine, remind us here how important these principles are for everyone, and to recommit ourselves to these principles and to do everything in our power for all people, everywhere, so that these human rights may one day be truly universal. Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

DAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT): Mr President, thank you for taking the time to address our Parliament. I’ll keep my remarks short because you have many urgent things to do. I want you and the Ukrainian people to know that on the other side of the world, people care deeply about your struggle against evil, and—to echo our Prime Minister—yours is not a forgotten war. We read the news. We see the pictures of what has happened to your people and how you are fighting back for your lives. But I want you to know that we understand that a dictator attacking a democracy matters to New Zealand. Your people are not fighting just for their lives, but for all of our freedom and democracy, and I want you to know that your leadership and courage inspires us.

New Zealanders, I know, are on the ground in Ukraine right now, not with Government, but by their own initiative. In our community, people have come together twice this year to raise money for your effort. At two fundraisers we organised, we raised $80,000 for your UNITED24 fund and to buy warm winter clothes for the defenders of Ukraine, and we’ll keep doing those fundraisers until you win. Our donors were particularly pleased to buy luggage tags made from bits of aluminium from downed Russian jets—what great initiative under fire.

As Opposition MPs, we’ve pressured Government to do more—more sanctions, more refugee places, more lethal aid. We’ll keep pushing them from this side of our Parliament, and if our Government changes before you win, the New Zealand Government will do a lot more than the $3 million you saw today.

I want to finish by quoting the former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. He said recently, in Foreign Affairs, “To prevail in the unfolding ideological war that now stretches before [us] will require a radical reembrace of the principles that distinguish liberal-democratic political systems. Western leaders must defend those ideals in word and deed. They, too, must become true believers.”

For now, please let me say that you are right and you are fighting against evil for all of our freedom, and we back you not only in word but in deed. Слава Україні.

DEBBIE NGAREWA-PACKER (Co-Leader—Te Paati Māori): Kia ora. Tēnā koe e te Rangatira. Ka mihi ki a koe mō tō pōuritanga, ka tū ahau ki te tangi mō tō ao.

[Greetings, Mr President. I stand to acknowledge your sadness and to grieve for the difficulties you and your people are undergoing.]

I stand here on behalf of Te Paati Māori, e te Rangatira, to mihi to you, to cry for you, and to acknowledge the pain and the suffering that you and your people are enduring. Ka tautoko au Te Paati Kākāriki. We also support a lot of the kōrero that was shared from Te Paati Kākāriki—Green. The fragility of our world is no more felt than when we see the suffering of women and children.

I want to be able to keep this call very short and simple. We have little to say today. All the teachings have been learnt on former occasions of war. We have been living together quietly. There’ll be nothing but mate—but death—for generations to come. We are small in numbers, but we are strong. We are fighting for not the part of peace but the whole of peace. It may be dark today and many think that it will be fine tomorrow, but the people are dead and the land is dead.

We today have one role—one role only—and that is to fight for peace. That was something that was shared from Tohu and Te Whiti, our prophets in Taranaki, our leaders who fought for peace.

E te Pirīmia, e te Rangatira, we condemn war. We have nothing at all to share in the perils of war that we can sit there and say that we endorse anyone or anything that has taken the mana motuhake of a community, a world, a country. Our role in this generation is and must be to fight for unity, and, as we did in Parihaka, we—Te Paati Māori—at all costs, no matter who is in this House, will continue to fight to uphold peace and to continue to make sure that there is no suffering and that there is nothing that this legacy in this generation can be ashamed of that we have seen in the past.

So, for us, e te Rangatira, we again mihi to you and to all your people. We share in your pain and we wish you peace, and that is our role today, e te tungane. Rawiri.

Waiata

Kia ora rā. Tēnā koutou katoa.

SPEAKER: Mr President, on behalf of members of the New Zealand Parliament, we would like to thank you for your time this morning. You and the Ukrainian people are in our thoughts, and we wish all the very best to you. That song was a song that was written in the Second World War, and it was an honour for our Parliament to sing it to you this morning. Nō reira, huri rauna huri rauna, tēnā rā tātou katoa.

This session is concluded. The House will sit again at 9 a.m. today. Kia ora.

[Applause]

Session concluded at 8.35 a.m.

WEDNESDAY, 14 DECEMBER 2022

WEDNESDAY, 14 DECEMBER 2022

The Speaker took the Chair at 2 p.m.

Karakia/Prayers

Karakia/Prayers

Hon JENNY SALESA (Assistant Speaker): E te Atua kaha rawa, ka tuku whakamoemiti atu mātou, mō ngā karakia kua waihotia mai ki runga i a mātou. Ka waiho i ō mātou pānga whaiaro katoa ki te taha, ka mihi mātou ki te Kīngi, me te inoi atu mō te ārahitanga i roto i ō mātou whakaaroarohanga, kia mōhio ai, kia whakaiti ai tā mātou whakahaere i ngā take o te Whare nei, mō te oranga, te maungārongo, me te aroha o Aotearoa. Āmene.

[Almighty God, we give thanks for the blessings which have been bestowed upon us. Laying aside all personal interests, we acknowledge the King, and pray for guidance in our deliberations, that we may conduct the affairs of this House with wisdom and humility, for the welfare, peace, and compassion of New Zealand. Amen.]

Visitors

United States—California State Senate

SPEAKER: I’m sure that members would wish to welcome the California State Senate delegation, led by Senator Steven Glazer, who are present in the gallery.

Petitions, Papers, Select Committee Reports, and Introduction of Bills

Petitions, Papers, Select Committee Reports, and Introduction of Bills

SPEAKER: Petitions have been delivered to the Clerk for presentation.

CLERK:

Petition of Deborah Chappell requesting that the House amend section 109 of Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993 to align more closely with section 108

petition of Brett Rawnsley requesting that the House extend the Income Related Rent Subsidy to Wellington City Council housing tenants

petition of Mahi for Ukraine requesting that the House urge the Government to declare Russia a terrorist State

petition of Chlöe Swarbrick requesting that the House urge the Government to match Auckland Council’s contribution towards restoring the St James theatre.

SPEAKER: Those petitions are referred to the Petitions Committee. Ministers have delivered papers.

CLERK:

2021-22 annual report of Fire and Emergency New Zealand

report of the Minister for the Environment on the operation of the Ozone Layer Protection Act 1996 for the period 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021

signed letter to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans Pacific Partnership to exclude investor State dispute settlement between New Zealand and Chile, together with national interest analysis.

SPEAKER: Those papers are published under the authority of the House. Select committee reports have been delivered for presentation.

CLERK:

Reports of the Petitions Committee on the:

petition of Danielle Petrie

petition of Gloria Edward

report of the Primary Production Committee on the Forests (Legal Harvest Assurance) Amendment Bill.

SPEAKER: The bill is set down for second reading. No bills have been introduced.

Personal Explanations

Personal Reflections and Unparliamentary Language—Reflections on Members

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): Point of order, Mr Speaker. I’m aware that comments I made in the House yesterday in regards to the leader of the ACT Party were recorded on the Hansard. On that basis, I wish to formally, in this House, withdraw and apologise for those comments, which I won’t repeat.

Oral Questions

Questions to Ministers

Question No. 1—Prime Minister

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

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): Yes, insults and apologies, but I also stand by, particularly, the Families Package, implemented on this day five years ago. In the first year, around 330,000 families—more than half of all families with children in New Zealand—were, on average, $55 per week better off as a result. By 2021, regular Best Start payments were reaching 78,000 parents and caregivers with children under three years of age. On top of this, 1.2 million New Zealand adults are helped with their heating with the winter energy payment. When we came into Government, we made reducing child poverty a priority, and with that in mind, I’m proud to inform the House that weekly incomes, after housing costs, are now, on average, 43 percent higher in real terms than in 2018 for people supported by a main benefit. We are committed to helping New Zealanders and their families through the global cost of living crisis, and the research shows that we have delivered. There is more to do, and the next stage of this work will kick in from 1 April, with increases to the family tax credit, super, and main benefits. I end this year proud of our record.

Christopher Luxon: Why does she think merging TVNZ and Radio New Zealand is such a good use of taxpayer money?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: As members on his side of the House who may have been exposed to some of the detail of the business case will know, TVNZ has projections they will lose $100 million a year within five years from commercial revenue. If there isn’t some form of intervention, this will continue to increasingly cost taxpayers money, and that is just one of the reasons for this intervention.

Christopher Luxon: What exactly are the benefits of this merger that she is so deeply and personally committed to?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Revenue is declining. There is an expectation that taxpayers, if they wish to still have public broadcasting, will need to invest in both Radio New Zealand—as we already do—but increasingly TVNZ. They need the flexibility to ensure that they are able to reach audiences and grow their revenue, in the case of TVNZ. That is what the merger is focused on.

Christopher Luxon: Isn’t it the case that she’s already decided to cancel the merger and, if so, why won’t she just front up and say so?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I stand by exactly what I’ve said, which is that over the summer period, I’ve asked my colleagues to make sure that as we go into 2023 we have an agenda that is clearly focused, as it has been in 2022, on supporting New Zealanders through the economically volatile situation we’re in. That won’t change the fact that public broadcasting is facing significant challenges, and solutions will be required.

Christopher Luxon: Has she told Willie Jackson that she’s decided to cancel the merger yet?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I’ve already answered that question in my previous answer. I have asked all members of the Cabinet to go away and ensure that we are focused on key priorities for 2023. I’ve made no further statements on any decisions that have been taken because I’ve done just that—given colleagues the summer.

Christopher Luxon: How many times in the last five years has Grant Robertson kept to one of his Budget spending promises?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I would be happy to review this Government’s record when compared to the last economic crisis that we faced. GDP: relative to the global financial crisis (GFC), two years later, we are at 5.2 percent. Unemployment: some of the lowest on record—half of post the GFC. Benefit rates: we are lower, in terms of New Zealanders as a proportion of the population claiming benefits, despite the crisis that we’re in. Māori unemployment: half what it was in the GFC. Pacific: half what it was after the GFC. Female unemployment: 3.3 percent. Wages up. I stand by every Budget decision this Minister has made, including in the COVID response, because that is why we have such a sound economic footing going into the next year.

Hon Grant Robertson: Can the Prime Minister confirm that the extremely modest Minister of Finance has managed, before COVID, to lower debt, run surpluses, and is forecast today in the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update to see the Government’s books come back into surplus in the 2024-25 year, five years after COVID began, compared to the six years that it took the National Party?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I can indeed. That one, the answer therefore, is for me—I can confirm that. I can also confirm that wages are up 17 percent since 2019. It took nearly six years after the GFC for median weekly earnings to hit that similar level. Despite a crisis the likes of which this generation has not seen, the fundamentals, despite being so tested, have remained strong, and I put it down to the sound economic management of the Minister of Finance.

Christopher Luxon: Why should New Zealanders believe his latest Budget spending promise when he’s failed to keep to a single one in the last five years?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I, again, return to the things that New Zealanders will judge us by: low unemployment, low debt, returning to surplus a year earlier than the National Government managed after the GFC despite a significant economic crisis. The fundamentals of our economy are the thing that will make our foundations in 2023 stronger. It will help us weather the storms of what is a very difficult international environment.

Christopher Luxon: Why did she wait five years to ask her Ministers to look for savings and to prioritise spending?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: The member is totally incorrect. As I have already said in this House, despite, again, a significant economic shock, we have seen Government spending reduce down from roughly 34, 35 percent down to closer to 31 percent. That is significant, and it is because we have consistently gone through that exercise.

Question No. 2—Prime Minister

2. RAWIRI WAITITI (Co-Leader—Te Paati Māori) to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all her Government’s statements—even though yesterday’s one was a little bit true—and policies?

SPEAKER: That is not the question that’s written here. It’s very unhelpful. We’ll just take it as read, as printed on the paper.

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): Yes—in particular, our support for Māori housing. Over recent weeks, Ministers have announced housing initiatives in Northland, Lower Hutt, and Muriwai. In Northland, Ministers announced a decision to fund a prototype delivery model that will see 80 to 100 affordable rental homes and up to 110 infrastructure sites by 30 June 2025; in Lower Hutt, $7.1 million was used to purchase town houses in Lower Hutt to be managed as public housing; and in Muriwai, Minister Henare opened 10 new homes built for kaumātua and whānau. In last year’s Budget, we committed $730 million for Māori housing to deliver 1,000 new homes, repairs and maintenance for 700 homes, and infrastructure support for 2,700 homes. I am proud of the support we’re giving to Māori housing to support our Māori communities.

Rawiri Waititi: How can she stand by her comments that there isn’t a cost of living crisis, despite the new stats released yesterday showing food prices are 10.7 percent higher in November 2022 than they were in November 2021, beating last month as the highest annual increase since 2008?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I think rather than get into the tit for tat, I believe that I have acknowledged the crisis that many whānau are in, and that is why, for instance, we have invested in the cost of living payment, the increases to the family tax credit, and the fuel excise reductions that you see now. Even though we are phasing them out, we at the same time are timing it so that, when we hit 1 April, we’ll see another increase in the family tax credit, in main benefits, and in superannuation. We are incredibly mindful that next year and this have been tough, and that is why we’ve provided targeted and timely support, rather than some of the other policies that have been bounced around by other members in this House which would leave our lower and middle income earners with far less in their pockets.

Rawiri Waititi: Why is she standing by the decision not to regulate prices or adopt my member’s bill to remove GST from kai, which would have ensured that whānau can afford to put kai on their table this Christmas?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: This has been a policy that actually, in good faith, the Labour Party have themselves considered before, and in that consideration one of the issues that we had concern over was whether or not you could guarantee that any of those GST reductions would be retained and genuinely passed on to families. What we have instead done is work on what we believe are systemic issues, and what the Commerce Commission have said are systemic issues, in our grocery sector. We do not have a competitive and well-functioning grocery sector. Kiwis are paying the price, to the tune of an extra $1 million a day in additional revenue, and that is why we are undertaking the reform we are to make sure that we fix the system as a whole, regardless of what’s happening with inflation.

Rawiri Waititi: Will she recognise the challenges of surviving through a cost of living crisis by providing a Christmas bonus to families this summer, like her Labour predecessor Michael Joseph Savage once did; if not, why not?

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: As the member will know, I am a huge follower of Michael—I was going to say “Michael Joseph Savage”; him as well—but also Norman Kirk, because of the focus and unrelenting focus they had on the importance of having a safety net to support families. Yes, Norman Kirk did give a Christmas bonus, but our focus has been on lifting main benefit rates on a consistent basis, and we’ve done that. As our review of the Families Package has demonstrated—and you can read the data the Ministry of Social Development has released today—we now have weekly incomes after housing costs, on average, 43 percent higher in real terms since 2018 for people on main benefits. Ours is not a bonus; it is a consistent lift, because that is what has been required.

Question No. 3—Finance

3. BARBARA EDMONDS (Labour—Mana) to the Minister of Finance: What are the Government’s priorities for Budget 2023?

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): Budget 2023 will continue to prioritise New Zealand’s overall wellbeing and economic security through what will be a difficult year for the global economy, facing the challenge of inflation and also projections of an economic slowdown. The Government’s primary focus at next year’s Budget will be on supporting families and households experiencing cost of living pressures. Alongside that, we will continue to carefully and responsibly manage our finances. Government spending as a percentage of GDP is expected to fall over the forecast period and support the direction of monetary policy to bring inflation down. We will continue our balanced approach in Budget 2023. We will also need to ensure we’re investing in getting our public services and the basics of them right, particularly in areas like health, education, housing, and infrastructure, and also look to the future for an economy that has high wages, low emissions, and provides economic security.

Barbara Edmonds: What other objectives and priorities is the Government focusing on?

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: As I said, the Government’s economic plan is to move New Zealanders towards creating high-wage jobs in a low-emissions economy while providing economic security. In order to do this, we must continue to invest in skills and innovation to get us there while continuing to address climate change issues as well.

Barbara Edmonds: How is the Government prioritising its support for New Zealanders facing cost of living pressures?

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: In the immediate term, the Government is extending the petrol excise duty cut in full to the end of February, and then to the end of March at half that level. Half-price public transport will extend to the end of March. The Government has invested over $1 billion over the past year to reduce fuel prices and extend public transport subsidies. The estimate of the extension announced today was a further $116 million. It is not sustainable to continue to subsidise the cost of petrol indefinitely, for everyone. We have to strike a balance between broad, ongoing support and careful management of the Government’s accounts; that’s why we are transitioning to more targeted support for those most in need. That will begin in the public transport area with the Community Connect policy, giving half-price public transport to community services card holders from 1 April. The extensions that we’ve announced today are also timed to link up with significant income increases on 1 April for seniors, students, beneficiaries, those receiving Working for Families and childcare support. This is all about making sure we take a careful and balanced approach in what will be a difficult year.

Nicola Willis: Can he confirm that from next year the Government will spend more money servicing the interest costs of the Government debt it has accumulated than it will spend on law and order?

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I can’t confirm that in the House. What I can confirm is that, as a percentage of GDP, yes, our financing costs will lift, because it will be obvious to everybody that interests rates around the world are lifting. I invite the member to have a think about what she would do if she wanted to reduce those—for example, put herself back into her fiscal Bermuda Triangle where she thinks she can somehow or other reduce debt, increase spending, and cut taxes—not possible.

Hon Chris Hipkins: Can the Minister of Finance confirm that the Government has no intention of reinstating the freeze on police funding that was in place under the last National Government?

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Yes, indeed, I can confirm that, and I’m very proud of the fact that we have been a Government that is on our way to fulfilling the 1,800 extra police. We see more police on the beat, more money being invested in crime, rather than the freeze and the cuts we saw from the National Party.

Barbara Edmonds: What is the economic environment in which Budget 2023 will be delivered?

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Treasury today released its latest economic and fiscal forecast in the 2022 Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update. The deterioration in global growth will affect New Zealand. We will enter into a shallow slowdown, but we will do this from a strong starting point, with Treasury forecasting that real GDP will increase by 1.8 percent across the second half of 2022, and with unemployment at a near-record low: 3.3 percent. Looking ahead, Treasury is forecasting economic growth will slow in 2023 but there will be a gradual recovery from 2024 onwards.

Barbara Edmonds: What is the impact of economic conditions on the Government’s books?

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The resilience of the economy in the face of the global slowdown will see the Government’s books back in surplus in 2024-25, a year earlier than it took the National Party after the global financial crisis. In the two years between now and surplus, deficits are a combined $5.1 billion smaller than forecast in the May 2022 Budget. Net debt is forecast to peak at 21.4 percent of GDP and then reduce to 14.1 percent by the end of the forecast period. This is well below many of the countries we compare ourselves with. The Government’s strategy of reducing deficits and returning the books to surplus is helping to reduce demand pressure on the economy and will provide us with the flexibility to respond to a testing global environment.

Nicola Willis: Does he think rebranding “recession” in New Zealand as “a speed bump” will make any difference to New Zealanders staring down the barrel of rapidly rising interest rates, a cost of living crisis, plummeting house prices, and rising unemployment?

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: As I’ve said on many occasions in this House, we know that it will be tough and has been tough for many New Zealand households facing cost of living pressures. That’s why we’ve stepped up to support low and middle income families, in particular, to be able to get through that. But I invite the member, tomorrow, when the GDP figures come out, if this is her line of logic, for her to put out the congratulatory press release that she no doubt will do. If she’s going to blame us for it, she might like to look at tomorrow’s numbers. We’re going to see, according to Treasury, 1.8 percent growth in the second half of this year. The New Zealand economy is as well positioned as any economy in the world to deal with the challenges that face us.

Question No. 4—Oceans and Fisheries

4. Hon EUGENIE SAGE (Green) to the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries: Does he agree with the Minister of Conservation that New Zealand supports a global protection target of 30 percent of land and sea areas by 2030; if so, what progress, if any, has the Government made toward achieving this in the Hauraki Gulf/Tīkapa Moana since October 2020?

Hon DAVID PARKER (Minister for Oceans and Fisheries): Yes, and New Zealand, led by the Minister of Conservation, is active in negotiations currently under way in Montreal at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity to support this target. In respect of the Hauraki Gulf, extensive engagement on our proposals has concluded and decisions by Cabinet are imminent.

Hon Eugenie Sage: Does he have any early Christmas gifts and good tidings for the dolphins, seabirds, fish, and marine life of the Hauraki Gulf about protecting them from the impacts of commercial and recreational fishing?

Hon DAVID PARKER: Trawling for bad news though the member may be, I think she’s probably floundering to find it, and I am pleased to say that there’s lots of good news on the way.

Hon Eugenie Sage: When does he expect to be able to make any announcements on the 19 marine protection areas proposed for the Hauraki Gulf in the Government’s Revitalising the Gulf report, when he told this House in March that those decisions were expected later this year?

Hon DAVID PARKER: Well, indeed, I’ve actually got a paper at Cabinet committee tomorrow morning on those very issues and am expecting public announcements to be made early in the new year.

Hon Eugenie Sage: Does he accept the finding in the MartinJenkins Ltd report that commercial fishing in the proposed protection areas accounts for just 1 to 3 percent of the total greenweight of fish caught commercially across all quota-management areas that include the Gulf; if so, will he be more ambitious and seriously consider phasing out bottom trawling across all of the Gulf?

Hon DAVID PARKER: Bottom trawling is already prohibited in a large part of the Gulf. Trawling is proposed to be further limited to some narrower trawl corridors which we are consulting upon. In respect of the data that the member mentioned in her question, I don’t deny it.

Hon Eugenie Sage: Does he agree with Forest & Bird’s description of bottom trawling in the Hauraki Gulf as being the equivalent of driving a bulldozer through the Waitakere Ranges to pick mushrooms; if not, why not?

Hon DAVID PARKER: No, because there are no mushrooms at sea.

Hon Eugenie Sage: Does he agree that, to align with the targets under discussion in Montreal, New Zealand should be protecting at least 30 percent of our own globally significant marine area by 2030; if so, how does he think we are tracking towards that goal?

Hon DAVID PARKER: Yes, and I think this Government’s going to make significant progress in the not too distant future.

Question No. 5—Finance

5. NICOLA WILLIS (Deputy Leader—National) to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by his statement that “every day of the week we look to see what savings and reprioritisations we can make”; if so, what specific savings or reprioritisations has he identified this week?

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): I stand by my full statement that “The Prime Minister issues quite a few instructions, and I have in front of me here the Budget 2021 savings initiatives and the Budget 2022 savings initiatives. We take very seriously our job as responsible fiscal managers, and every day of the week we look to see what savings and reprioritisations we can make.” As we work towards Budget 2023, I can confirm we are doing this. Just today, the Budget Policy Statement has identified how about $3 billion of appropriations marked and forecast for COVID spending have been returned to the centre over the past two years.

Nicola Willis: Does he think that part of the Government’s problem is that the Prime Minister issues so many different instructions from one headline to the next that her Ministers have been unable to properly prioritise spending and focus on getting the basics right?

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Oh, no, I think the Prime Minister’s pretty focused in the instructions that she gives us—savings is one of those areas. The member could probably save us all a bit of time by rolling Chris Luxon now rather than later.

Nicola Willis: Why did the Prime Minister make such a point of asking Ministers to review—[Interruption]

SPEAKER: What’s the rule? Silence.

Nicola Willis: Why did the Prime Minister make such a point of asking Ministers to review their spending priorities over summer if this is, as the Minister of Finance asserts, business as usual from his Government?

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I believe the Prime Minister made the point in a series of interviews—I’m sure if you look back over time, you’ll see that both her and I have been seeking throughout our time in Government to make sure we get value for money and that we reprioritise. As I did say to the member yesterday, I’m more than happy to table for her the savings from Budget 2021 and the savings from Budget 2022—I can’t because they’re in the public domain, but they’re there for her to read.

Nicola Willis: So are New Zealanders meant to believe that despite this being the biggest spending Government ever, with a finance Minister that’s broken every operating allowance he’s ever set, this time—this time—it will be different because the Prime Minister’s read the focus group report and knows she’s got to get the spending under control?

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: A few people might have read the focus group report in this House, and that’s why I answered the way I did in my earlier question.

Nicola Willis: Will he commit, today, to account for all the money from taxpayers that has been spent to date on the TVNZ-RNZ merger, the development of his jobs tax, and any other wasteful projects that the Prime Minister decides to put on the scrap heap after her summer break?

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The Prime Minister’s already answered questions today about what she’s asked Ministers to do over summer. In answer to the first part of the member’s question, there’s a process we have for accounting for the expenditure of the Government; it’s called the Budget.

Hon Stuart Nash: Does the Minister ask his Ministers to review their spending ambitions as part of every Budget process?

Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Yes, I do, with particular focus on the work of the Minister for Economic and Regional Development.

Question No. 6—Education

6. ANGELA ROBERTS (Labour) to the Minister of Education: What support has the Government contributed to help schools to provide learning environments for their students that are warm, dry, and fit for purpose?

Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Minister of Education): Since 2018, this Government has committed $3.8 billion of new capital spending to improve school property. This has included funding for the National Education Growth Plan to build new schools and classrooms for our growing population, the National School Redevelopment Programme to address the poor condition of some of our school buildings that we inherited, and the School Investment Programme, which provided funding to nearly every State school to bring forward and complete much-needed property projects. To put this into perspective, over $5.7 billion has been spent on school property between 2018 and 2020, compared to just $2.9 billion in the preceding five years.

Angela Roberts: What has been delivered in terms of additional student places from the spending?

Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: Thirty thousand and sixty-eight additional student places have been delivered through the building of new schools and new classrooms to the year ending on 30 September 2022. Another 12,968 places are currently under construction, and there are a further 51,564 places that are being planned or designed at the moment.

Angela Roberts: What has been delivered in terms of school redevelopments from this spending?

Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: The level of school redevelopment work up and down the country also continues to increase. Over 70 major redevelopment projects, worth over $528 million, have been completed since 2019—nearly half of those completed in the last year. Another 51 major projects, worth $632 million, are currently in construction, providing much-needed upgrades to our existing school infrastructure.

Angela Roberts: What other support has the Government provided?

Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: We’ve provided funding to improve the internal environments of over 600 State and State-integrated schools that are in small or remote areas. The school investment package was a one-off capital injection to most State schools that helped them to accelerate upgrade and improvement works. Four thousand four hundred and ninety-nine projects have been completed or are in delivery, at over 2,000 schools across New Zealand. The state of the school property portfolio we inherited five years ago was nothing short of disgraceful. We have been taking work and delivering results in improving it.

Question No. 7—Local Government

7. SIMON WATTS (National—North Shore) to the Minister of Local Government: Why did she not send the advice she received on 22 November relating to entrenchment of provisions of the Water Services Entities Bill to any other Ministers, and does she stand by all her statements on entrenchments?

Hon NANAIA MAHUTA (Minister of Local Government): As stated in my personal explanation in the House, the advice sought on Supplementary Order Paper (SOP) 285 in the name of Eugenie Sage was technical in nature and not passed on. To the second part of the question, I also stand by my comment that it was a mistake, it has been resolved through the introduction of SOP 310, and there is no entrenchment clause in the Water Services Entities Bill.

Simon Watts: Why did she not share that advice with the Minister of Justice, given she is required to consult on all constitutional arrangements with that Minister under section 5.14(d) of the Cabinet Manual?

Hon NANAIA MAHUTA: As previously stated in other questions, that SOP was tabled by Eugenie Sage. The advice sought was technical in nature and not passed on.

Simon Watts: Will the Minister table the advice she received on entrenchment on 25 October and 22 November in the House right now; if not, why not?

Hon NANAIA MAHUTA: As previously said in other responses to that member, a mistake has been acknowledged, it has been fixed, there is no constitutional crisis, and there is no entrenchment clause in the Water Services Entities Bill.

Simon Watts: How does she reconcile her statements that entrenchment was, I quote, “a mistake”, when she had received advice twice on it, including on the day of the debate and a month beforehand, and isn’t it really the case that this was no mistake but a deliberate and calculated action?

Hon NANAIA MAHUTA: No, I don’t agree with the member. And, in a charitable spirit, if that member keeps barking up the wrong tree and he wants to keep that dog whistle up, I suggest he choose a Christmas carol.

Hon Dr Megan Woods: Probably got it hanging out of the garage in South Auckland.

SPEAKER: The Hon Dr Megan Woods will stand, withdraw, and apologise.

Hon Dr Megan Woods: I withdraw and apologise.

Simon Watts: Did she know that, prior to the vote on Supplementary Order Paper 285, the Labour Party members would vote in favour of SOP 285?

Hon NANAIA MAHUTA: The vote was placed on the day; it has been subsequently rectified because we’ve acknowledged a mistake was made. The matter has been dealt with: there is no entrenchment clause in the Water Services Entities Bill; there is no constitutional crisis.

Chris Bishop: Point of order. That was a very clear and deliberate question which went to the Minister’s knowledge about a particular matter. It was not addressed.

SPEAKER: I’ll ask the member to ask it again.

Simon Watts: Did she know, prior to the vote on SOP 285, that the Labour Party members would vote in favour of SOP 285?

SPEAKER: I’ll ask the Minister to answer in so far as she has responsibility for that.

Hon NANAIA MAHUTA: I acted in accordance with decisions made by our caucus in relation to SOP 285—it was acknowledged that a mistake was made. It has been rectified: there is no entrenchment clause in the Water Services Entities Bill. There is no constitutional crisis. I suggest that, in a charitable spirit, the member moves positively into Christmas and has a bit of a break.

Question No. 8—Social Development and Employment

8. ANGIE WARREN-CLARK (Labour) to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: What research has she seen on the impact of the Families Package five years after its introduction?

Hon CARMEL SEPULONI (Minister for Social Development and Employment): Five years ago today, we announced the Families Package. The package was an overdue boost to incomes for many families across New Zealand. Ministry of Social Development (MSD) research released today shows it has made a real difference to increasing incomes for New Zealanders. In the first year, around 330,000 families—more than half of all families with children in New Zealand—were, on average, $55 per week better off as a result of the Families Package. By 2021, regular Best Start payments were reaching 78,000 parents and caregivers with children under three years old. On top of this, each year, over 1 million New Zealand adults have been helped with their heating through winter by the winter energy payment. When we first came into Government, we were clear about our priority to support New Zealand families. MSD research shows that through the Families Package, we have delivered on our promise, and we will keep delivering.

Angie Warren-Clark: What other initiatives did the Families Package deliver?

Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: Alongside Best Start and the winter energy payment, the Government increased the family tax credit abatement threshold and support for caregivers through increases to the orphans benefit, unsupported child benefit, and foster care allowance. We increased paid parental leave to 26 weeks, reinstated the independent earner tax credit, and increased the accommodation supplement. Through our changes, which started with the Families Package, child poverty statistics have trended down in all of the nine measures we monitor. Little did we know how important these changes would be for preparing us well for a pandemic and the current globally influenced challenges we face.

Angie Warren-Clark: What other initiatives has the Government undertaken since the Families Package which support New Zealand families?

Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: Since the announcement of the Families Package, we’ve worked hard over our five years in Government to increase incomes and reduce hardship for families. This includes increasing benefits to historic levels, increasing the minimum wage to $21.20 per hour, implementing and expanding our lunches in schools programme, extending free doctors’ visits, building more social housing than any Government since the 1970s, and making significant investments into upskilling and training opportunities to support people into work. Our continued efforts have made a difference. We are supporting New Zealanders to get ahead and realise their potential, evidenced by record numbers of people exiting benefit for work and a near-record low unemployment rate.

Angie Warren-Clark: What will be the focus for 2023?

Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: In the Prime Minister’s Speech from the Throne after the 2017 election, she stated, “People will always be at the heart of this Government.” This continues to be our priority as we move forward. It has guided our decision making and will continue to be what drives us. Five years on from the launch of the Families Package, it is important to recognise how far we’ve come, despite all of the challenges that we’ve had to respond to along the way as a nation. I want to reiterate our Government’s commitment to all New Zealanders. People will always be at the heart of this Government.

Question No. 9—Education

9. PENNY SIMMONDS (National—Invercargill) to the Minister of Education: Is he confident Te Pūkenga is on track to achieve its objectives, and how much, if anything, has been spent to date on redundancy payments for senior executives?

Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Minister of Education): After a difficult year, I am confident that Te Pūkenga are back on track. However, there is still a lot of work to do over the next year and beyond. I do not hold a figure in response to the second part of the question. I have been advised that there have been a number of redundancies across the Te Pūkenga network and that these will be reported in the Te Pūkenga annual report in the normal way.

Penny Simmonds: Why have so many senior executives abandoned the Minister’s Te Pūkenga reforms, and does he accept responsibility for hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money being paid out to senior executives?

Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I would reject the premise in the member’s question. If someone has been made redundant, that doesn’t mean that they are abandoning the network; it means that there is rationalisation going on across the country in order to reduce costs in senior management and gain the greater efficiencies that we have been striving for.

Penny Simmonds: Can he confirm that nearly 500 staff will be made redundant by the end of 2026, according to the Te Pūkenga programme business case version 15, and does the Minister think that these staff will see large payouts of hundreds of thousands of dollars to senior executives as fair?

Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: In terms of whatever payments people who are made redundant receive, that’s a matter for Te Pūkenga to follow employment law—and, of course, good faith—when those decisions are made. But we were absolutely clear when we established the Te Pūkenga organisation that we believe that there are greater efficiencies that can be gained by having one national organisation rather than 16, and, as a result, yes, there are likely to be significant changes. We also need to be upfront about the fact that record-low or near record-low unemployment is meaning that Te Pūkenga and private training establishments and other vocational education providers are facing a softer pattern of enrolments, and that is going to result in them having to look very carefully at their costs to make sure that they don’t run unsustainable deficits, as the system was operating when we became the Government.

Penny Simmonds: Was any due diligence done on the merger of 16 polytechnics and eight industry training organisations (ITOs) with different IT systems, given his comment on the Nine to Noon radio show that low to mid hundreds of millions of dollars need to be spent on creating common student management and finance systems, on top of the $200 million already spent?

Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: That is the nature of the business case process.

Penny Simmonds: Can the Minister explain how creating new layers of dysfunctional management and bureaucracy on top of our polytechnics has in any way improved the financial sustainability or education performance of the sector, and is he concerned that his legacy as education Minister will be a costly failure that has wasted millions of dollars, distracted the sector, and delivered absolutely nothing for students?

Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: No, I absolutely reject the premise of the member’s question. What I can say is that we are focused on reducing costs within the vocational education system so that we can direct that funding into delivering better outcomes for learners—something the member might have focused on when she was chief executive at Southern Institute of Technology, given they had some of the worst learner outcomes in the country during the time that she was the chief executive of that organisation. The fact that we have a declining pattern of enrolments in provider-based training and an increased number of people going into apprenticeships and work-based learning highlights the benefits of the reform programme in bringing those two systems together to create more sustainable vocational education in New Zealand. If the last Government had been focused on delivering sustainable vocational education, we wouldn’t have the critical skills shortages that we have now.

SPEAKER: Any further supplementaries? Jolly good.

Question No. 10—Immigration

10. JO LUXTON (Labour—Rangitata) to the Minister of Immigration: What reports has he seen regarding migration to New Zealand?

Hon MICHAEL WOOD (Minister of Immigration): This week, I saw reporting from Stats New Zealand showing a net migration gain for the seventh consecutive month, with 11,400 people arriving in the country in October 2022, compared to 8,000 people departing—or a net gain of around 3,300 people. Further to this, I saw data yesterday from Immigration New Zealand that suggested this trend has continued through the month of November as well, with a number of arrivals in the country totalling over 423,000 people, compared to around 374,000 departures—a net figure of 49,470 arrivals, with a positive flow of both New Zealand passport holders and non - New Zealand passport holders. This is reflected in the huge demand we’re seeing for visitor and work visas, in particular, the working holiday scheme, for which we have now granted 40,000 visas and welcomed 22,000 people on shore. This shows that while the domestic and international labour markets do remain very tight, our immigration rebalance is beginning to work well and that while we will need to make changes from time to time, as we did earlier this week, to maintain our competitiveness, our immigration system is well-placed to be responsive to international conditions and support our reconnection to the world.

Jo Luxton: Why is the strong trend in net migration important?

Hon MICHAEL WOOD: New Zealand’s reconnection with the world over recent months has enabled friends and family to reconnect with each other, sometimes after long periods apart. It’s also important in terms of boosting our economy through tourism and getting the skills into New Zealand that we need in different parts of our economy. Our immigration rebalance has been about shifting away from the old low-wage, low-skill, high-exploitation model to a system that values migrants and builds the skills that we need to be a productive and prosperous country. There’s ongoing work to do, we’ll keep listening to sectors who are experiencing challenges, but in amongst that, I’m optimistic that this trend will continue, and we’ll see further positive results in 2023.

Erica Stanford: Has he seen reports from today that have showed Treasury reducing its growth forecast from earlier in the year because of lower levels of expected migration, and does he think this shows the Reserve Bank Governor was right when he said that this Government’s immigration policies have meant that interest rates will have to go higher as a result?

Hon MICHAEL WOOD: In response to the second part of the member’s questions, I don’t think that is a fair reflection on the Reserve Bank Governor’s comments; he, in fact, acknowledged the complexities of immigration and its impact on inflation.

Jo Luxton: What is the Government doing to attract migrants to New Zealand and fill skill shortages?

Hon MICHAEL WOOD: Since our borders opened, the Government has taken a number of steps to support businesses to recruit internationally to fill labour shortages. We’ve approved over 94,000 job positions for international recruitment through the job check process. We’ve reopened the Pacific Access Category Resident Visa and Samoan Quota Resident Visa, delivered the largest increase in a decade to the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme, resumed the Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa and Parent Resident Visa schemes, and, this week, expanded the Green List further to ensure that employers remain highly competitive when recruiting internationally. This complements the significant work that we’ve done to train and upskill New Zealanders to meet skill shortages consistent with the principles of the immigration rebalance, with over 200,000 people having taken up free apprenticeships or trade training since July 2020. We’ve done that at the same time as we’ve continued to look to improve wages for New Zealanders across our economy; that’s important on this side of the House.

Jo Luxton: What recent feedback has he heard regarding the Government’s efforts to attract migrants to New Zealand?

Hon MICHAEL WOOD: I note Business New Zealand chief executive Kirk Hope described the changes we announced yesterday as positive and that they would help in meeting skill shortages across a range of industries. I also note the Motor Trade Association described the addition of skilled motor mechanics to the Green List as a massive boost to the industry. The Civil Contractors New Zealand said that the construction roles that had been added to the Green List would provide a great benefit to communities at a time where skilled tradespeople are in hot demand globally.

Hon Kieran McAnulty: On this, the last day of Parliament and 11 days before Christmas, can the Minister confirm to Kiwi kids that Santa Claus has all necessary documentation to enter New Zealand?

Hon MICHAEL WOOD: I have received one application for a short-term work visa from the North Pole. I can confirm that, as Minister, I have issued a special direction in spite of immigration instructions for him. I’ve spoken to the Minister of Customs about expediting customs clearance for the 12 live animals that will be coming in with him. I’ve also talked with the Minister of Trade and confirmed that the EU free-trade agreement provisions mean that no tariffs will apply to the large cargo that he’s bringing into New Zealand. The Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety has advised that, despite their small size, the elves who are also being sponsored on the visa must be paid the full minimum wage of $21.20 per hour. This visa will be a big boost to New Zealand’s economy and is further evidence that the team in red always delivers.

SPEAKER: Both question and answer would have been better suited for the adjournment debate.

Erica Stanford: Supplementary question, Mr Speaker—supplementary Christmas question, Mr Speaker, in the spirit of—

SPEAKER: Pardon?

Erica Stanford: I said, supplementary Christmas question, in the spirit of the—

SPEAKER: Yeah, why not.

Erica Stanford: Can the Minister confirm that Santa’s family will also be included on this visa, given that so many split families in New Zealand of migrants are still waiting to be separated, nearly three years after our borders were closed.

Hon MICHAEL WOOD: I can confirm that visas have been issued to the whole family group, and I can also confirm that Santa Claus is very aware of the difference between Honolulu and Te Puke, so he won’t get lost on the way.

SPEAKER: Let’s stop there.

Question No. 11—Children

11. KAREN CHHOUR (ACT) to the Minister for Children: Does he stand by his statement that “when a child is identified or apprehended by Police for offending behaviour, information will be shared with Oranga Tamariki within 24 hours, with an agreed plan on how to deal with and support the young person confirmed in 48 hours”; if so, how does he expect this to be delivered while Oranga Tamariki faces more than 500 vacancies?

Hon KELVIN DAVIS (Minister for Children): The circuit-breaker intervention the Government announced last week responds directly to the needs of the areas where the programme is being piloted. We also made sure to focus on areas where we knew this could be rolled out quickly and effectively. During the development of this initiative, Police and Oranga Tamariki (OT) worked together to make sure they had the staff and resources to deliver support for families.

Karen Chhour: Does the Minister truly believe it is feasible for Oranga Tamariki, Police, education, health, social development, iwi Māori, community organisations, and whānau all to cooperate and confirm a plan within 48 hours, as he announced; and, if he pulls this off, will it be the most efficient Government operation ever?

Hon KELVIN DAVIS: It’s already happening in South Auckland.

Karen Chhour: Does the Minister have full confidence in this initiative, considering that multiple reviews, including the Independent Children’s Monitor, could not guarantee OT was meeting national care standards, with cases of staff at breaking point; and, how many action plans are currently being made for young offenders within 48 hours, if any?

Hon KELVIN DAVIS: As I said, it’s already happening in South Auckland. I invite the member to go and visit Kotahi te Whakaaro and she can see for herself.

David Seymour: Point of order. The second leg of the question—the first wasn’t addressed at all, but the second leg was about how many, and there have been previous questions about whether it’s happening. This question was designed to drill deeper and find out how many. The Minister didn’t address that—the number of action plans being put in place—at all.

SPEAKER: The question was definitely addressed. The member has further supplementaries—she can explore that.

Karen Chhour: What advice, if any, has the Minister received on the feasibility of this policy nationwide?

Hon KELVIN DAVIS: As I said, it’s already happening based on Kotahi te Whakaaro in South Auckland. The advice I received actually was from when I went to visit and I spoke with all of the agencies and the NGOs, who were sitting around the table describing how effective it has been. That’s the best form of advice you can get.

Question No. 12—Health

12. TANGI UTIKERE (Labour—Palmerston North) to the Associate Minister of Health: What progress has been made towards a smokefree New Zealand?

Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL (Associate Minister of Health): I’m pleased to say that yesterday this House passed the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill into law. This will see three changes to tobacco in New Zealand: we will reduce the amount of nicotine that is allowed in smoked tobacco products, the number of retailers that sell tobacco will decrease, and we will ensure tobacco is not sold to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009.

Tangi Utikere: What impact is this bill likely to have?

Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL: Changes in this bill will result in thousands of people living longer, healthier lives. An entire generation will be smokefree, which will save thousands of lives, and the health system will be better off for not needing to treat illnesses caused by smoking—such as numerous types of cancer, heart attacks, strokes and amputations—saving an estimated $5 billion in health expenditure. We have been making great strides towards a smokefree future, with our smoking rates now down to 8 percent. However, without this bill, it would have taken decades for Māori to reach the 5 percent goal originally set by the Māori Affairs Committee.

Tangi Utikere: What feedback has she received on this announcement?

Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL: The feedback has been positive. The Cancer Society of New Zealand described this legislation as “bold and brave”, with tobacco being the most harmful consumer product in history. We have seen firsthand the devastating impact it has on individuals and their whānau. Selah Hart, CEO of Hāpai Te Hauora, spoke to BBC News about this world-leading step to addressing the underlying issue of tobacco. And Catherine Manning, regional manager of Takiri Mai Te Ata Regional Stop Smoking Service, said we can now finally protect our mokopuna, and noted the importance of engagement with communities through this transition. These community organisations, such as Takiri Mai Te Ata, are essential in providing stop smoking programmes, which we continue to support through funding from Budget 2021 to scale up services, alongside health promotion.

Tangi Utikere: So how will this bill help our community?

Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL: The measures in this bill aim to create equitable outcomes to make sure that Māori and Pasifika also reach our smokefree goal and share in a better future. The measures will close the life expectancy gap for Māori women by 25 percent, and 10 percent for Māori men. As we look forward to the summer holidays, we all want more time with our whānau, we want time with our families, and friends to live long, healthy lives. We want more summers and Christmases together. For anyone seeking to make a change and quit smoking in 2023, I encourage you to contact Quitline on 0800 778 778. Kia kaha.

Bills

Therapeutic Products Bill

First Reading

Debate resumed from 13 December.

MATT DOOCEY (National—Waimakariri): Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. It’s a privilege to rise and speak on behalf of the National Party in support of the Therapeutic Products Bill.

As this will be the last time I’ll speak in the House for 2022, can I just wish you a merry Christmas. Enjoy a well-deserved break. Also to David Wilson the head Clerk of the House and everyone else who’s helped make it a very good 2022.

This bill in the first reading today that will be passed by the end of the 12 speeches will give the public some homework to do over the summer break—especially if the public is interested in the Therapeutic Products Bill, they’ll have an ability to make their submissions over the summer break. So it gives them a bit of homework. I’ve got a feeling this bill will provoke some response within the public. It’s quite a big bill. It covers a range of areas. It’s quite a substantial bill with 11 parts, four schedules, and over 432 pages.

Hon Chris Hipkins: Hard-working Government.

MATT DOOCEY: This is what the Leader of the House might call an omnibus bill. He would say that they’ve worked hard to get this bill into the House—on the last day, I might add. This is another bill that they’re putting through on the last day, giving the public a lot of work over their hard-earned summer break. I’m not sure whether they want to break up the barbecue conversations. They’re a bit worried about what the public is going to speak about over the barbecue, so they’re trying to task them with a lot of work putting submissions in.

So for the public watching today, if they are interested in making a submission, this bill is about driving up the quality and the efficacy of our medicines. It’s about driving up the quality and performance of medical devices and also the quality of our natural health products.

Now, for those who are avid watchers of the Therapeutic Products Bill, it does come into the House with a very long gestation period. We can track it all the way back to former health Ministers, like the Hon Jonathan Coleman, who kicked off a piece of work in this area in 2014, and, of course, the Hon David Clark, who also kicked off some of the preparatory work for this bill, that has arrived today, in 2018.

Chris Bishop: He started it, and now he’s leaving.

MATT DOOCEY: He has started it, and he has signalled he will be leaving, but he will be here for another year, Mr Bishop, so he will see this bill being passed. But he, like others—I mean, Jamie Strange made it very clear he wasn’t ready for opposition; he would much rather leave than go into opposition. He was better suited to Government than opposition, I think he said, so he’s made his intentions clear that he won’t be here to take the opposition benches in 10 months’ time.

So this bill will replace the current Medicines Act 1981 and the Dietary Supplements Regulations 1985. Overall, it’s a bill that’s looking to modernise. The scheme will, of course, align with international best practice. We’re not a country in isolation, even though we have felt that at times over the last year. The bill will also futureproof to ensure effective control over new technologies.

Look, I won’t take up much more time of the House. We’ve got a few more things to do this afternoon before the House rises for the year, but I will encourage the many Kiwis who are interested in this very important bill around modernising for better devices, better medicines, and better natural products to make their submission over the summer break. Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL (Associate Minister of Health): I’d like to congratulate my colleague Minister Andrew Little on bringing the Therapeutic Products Bill to the House. It has indeed been long in the gestation, as the member who’s just returned to his seat, Matt Doocey, has mentioned. I think my first speech in relation to legislation in this House, or perhaps my second, was on the work we had to do to amend the Medicines Act to enable a provisional approval for the COVID-19 vaccine so that we could use it in the vaccine roll-out in 2021. I think that illustrates the first of four limitations of the Medicines Act that is addressed by this bill that I want to touch on.

The first is that we have no pathway in the Medicines Act to emergency or provisional approvals, and that is created through this bill. There are times in public health emergencies where there are—even though all medicines and medical devices need to be comprehensively assessed, in some emergencies, we’ll need to act quickly and authorise products for immediate use. The harm of waiting for full data must be weighed against potential harm for expedited approval with appropriate safeguards in place, and I think this bill provides an avenue for doing that.

Secondly, I want to talk about the problem of surgical mesh and the suffering and pain that has caused for many people. That arises from the lack of an appropriate regulatory regime for medical devices, that is addressed by this bill. It also creates an avenue for post-market surveillance of devices that are implanted.

Thirdly, it allows for the regulation of innovative forms of medical technology, such as biologics that might be some of the—some used in tissue transplant; and others—for example, the procedure called chimeric antigen receptor T-cells transplant that’s been developed at the Malaghan Institute here in Wellington. These types of biological innovation are really where medical technology is at, and the regulation and safe use of those is enabled by this bill.

And, fourthly, we sometimes have problems with rarely used medicines, and I was familiar with this problem in the area of tuberculosis medicine. We often had to use medicines that had come off patent and there was no pharmaceutical company willing to sponsor their passage through the regulatory process. There is an alternative means created by this bill.

So my congratulations to the Minister for finally bringing this important piece of legislation to the House. I commend this bill to the House.

SIMON WATTS (National—North Shore): Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I’m very proud to rise on behalf of the National Party and as the member of Parliament for North Shore in support of the Therapeutic Products Bill. I do want to use the opportunity to recognise the Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman, former member of Parliament for Northcote, who kicked off this process in 2014. It is good to see that this bill is now in the House. So I acknowledge Minister Little and also the previous Minister of Health David Clark for their work to progress that.

As the prior speaker, the Hon Dr Ayesha Verrall, had noted, this is a bill—and I recall we were on the Health Committee and that was very much on the agenda, but because of the COVID implications, obviously, prioritisation was moved to other areas. But it is pleasing to see that this is back in the House, and we are moving through this process.

I think it will bring significant benefit for a number of players across our sector in New Zealand, particularly in terms of the natural health products industry, which has been continually calling for reform in this space for a long time. I think it is clear that this bill will take and has taken on board, and will continue through the select committee process to take on board, feedback in terms of what is required in order to bring our system up to a standard which is considered best in class.

The inclusion around medical devices and also around gene and tissue therapies is also going to be a positive addition in terms of this, and I think that reflects the important role that medical devices play in, particularly, chronic illness management. That in itself will be a benefit for a number of Kiwis.

I’m looking forward to seeing the progression of this bill through the House and through to select committee. No doubt, there will be a large number of submissions in regards to this, and I’m looking forward to seeing this come back to the House in the new year, 2023, where we will be able to progress that through and move from there. On that basis, we commend this bill to the House.

TANGI UTIKERE (Labour—Palmerston North): Kia orana, Mr Speaker. It’s a pleasure to speak in support of the Therapeutic Products Bill, one that has a rather lengthy journey to this House. It will be the replacement for the Medicines Act 1981, which is over 14 years old, and associated regulations. There are a number of changes that are proposed in this bill, one of which is around labelling requirements to enable consumers to make informed choices when it comes to particular products.

Members have alluded to the fact that it’s suggested that this bill will go to the Health Committee, which has had its final meeting of the year this afternoon. I know that it works extremely diligently and it looks forward to receiving this bill on its agenda. I commend this bill to the House.

Dr ELIZABETH KEREKERE (Green): I rise on behalf of the Green Party to support the Therapeutic Products Bill. We note that this bill is intended to replace the current Medicines Act 1981 and the Dietary Supplements Regulations 1985 to provide for that comprehensive, risk-proportionate regulation of therapeutic products. As my colleagues have outlined, no doubt, this covers medicines made from biological components, gene therapies, and advanced cell and tissue therapies; medical devices that are software, production systems, whole organs, and tissue grafts; active pharmaceutical ingredients; and natural health products that are traditional and herbal medicines, and vitamin and mineral supplements—they’re used by New Zealanders in every part of their life.

It’ll be no surprise that I am a user of such products—shout-out to places like Commonsense Organics that stock quality products. I think this bill is quite important so that anybody who goes into any of these places knows that what they’re buying is quality and that what is on the label and the effects that they are meant to have will be exactly what will happen. So we do hope with this bill that it will improve the health of all New Zealanders. Just making sure that the safety, the quality, and the efficacy or performance of those devices and medicines—everything is as it should be.

It’s been a long time coming, this bill—over a decade of policy work. So shout-out to all of the officials who have worked over a long period of time to get this—and particularly the consultations that were held a few years ago. We know that there are significant gaps in coverage, and this will, I think, go a long way to overhauling these other pieces of law which do not reflect the world we live in today.

Now, the Green Party considers that decisions made relating to health should be made on the best evidence we have available, and this bill enables us to do that, to provide that framework so people can make the best decisions for them, for their personal health or that of their whānau. It looks like this will be a comprehensive and transparent regulatory regime, and we do note that this bill is considerably smaller and tighter than the original draft that went out for consultation a few years ago.

Now, most of the correspondence that I have received about this bill has been in the area of rongoā, that’s holistic healing practices based on tikanga and mātauranga Māori. So that’s our traditional, ancient knowledges based in our connection with the whenua, with the environment, and flora and fauna of Aotearoa.

Now, the Greens acknowledge the value of rongoā and affirm that iwi and hapū have intellectual property over that. So we know that there’s no specific reference to rongoā in this bill—the regulation of natural health products will impact on it, and it will also capture ingredients which are used in rongoā, such as rākau plant-based remedies.

Now, Te Aka Whai Ora, our Māori Health Authority, as part of the consultation identified that they supported stronger Te Tiriti clauses in this bill, including references to the articles and the specific exclusion of rongoā in this bill. Te Puni Kōkiri, when they were consulted on this, supported that approach just because there’s a long history of the Crown seeking to control and limit Māori culture, including mātauranga Māori that informs our rongoā practices.

So this was particularly disrupted by the Tohunga Suppression Act 1907, which criminalised tohunga practices, and it’s just one of the many ways the Crown behaved in such a way that fuelled the distrust of Māori and further exacerbated the loss of mātauranga Māori. So we know that the Government will take some care in considering how rongoā is considered within and in relation to this bill, and I understand there’s going to be further work and further consultation on this so that we can all support the sustainability of rongoā going forward.

The concerns, though, that were raised by rongoā practitioners about this bill were about limiting the tino rangatiratanga of tangata whenua over their taonga, possibly leading to a Treaty breach, but feeling that their voices hadn’t been heard in this discussion and just worrying about the impact of the framing of this legislation and Crown enforcement on tikanga Māori.

As I conclude, I want to do a shout-out to the Aotearoa Rongoā Māori Collective Charitable Trust. They’ve set up a petition, which is on the Parliament website, to prevent rongoā Māori being monitored under this bill. It’s been signed, so far, by over 4,700 people, and the purpose of this petition is, and I quote, “that the Crown keep its promise to tangata whenua to exercise tino rangatiratanga over their taonga as per Te Tiriti o Waitangi Article 2 … After the lifting of the Tohunga Suppression Act … we believe Maaori have exercised absolute sovereignty over traditional forms of iwi, hapu and whanau healing knowledge, spiritual rituals and ethical practices. In our view, the proposed therapeutic products regulatory regime denigrates Rongoaa Maaori.”

Now they have spoken, we look forward to hearing from the wider community and the experts in this area, right across all of the issues that are being addressed by this bill, and just how this bill is going to affect them. So today, we support this bill this bill to select committee. I’m one of the members of the Health Committee, where I assume it will come, and I look forward to helping shepherd this bill through the House. Kia ora.

BROOKE VAN VELDEN (Deputy Leader—ACT): Thank you, Mr Speaker. It’s a pleasure to rise this afternoon on behalf of my ACT Party colleagues in support of the first reading of the Therapeutic Products Bill, and we do so at the first reading to send the bill to select committee so that we can have proper scrutiny of this piece of legislation.

This bill is a huge piece of legislation. I believe it requires at least six months at the select committee, because if you look at it just in physical form, you can see how much it wants to change our regulatory and legislative environment. But I really want to stress the point that’s raised in Part 1, that in the equivalent jurisdiction of Australia, where they have a regulator for medical products and all other therapeutic products, there are approximately 2,500 pages of secondary legislation plus regulations of 100 to 150 pages under each of the Australian State’s Acts. So getting this bill right is crucial because it will lead to a huge regulatory compliance regime that will have flow-on effects for anybody involved in therapeutic products throughout New Zealand. So we need proper scrutiny of this new regulator through select committee.

We also need to make sure there is adequate time for submissions to be made. I don’t want to see this being rushed through at any point. I want submitters to have a full submission process. There will be people shutting down for Christmas. There will be people who have been really stressed with COVID in the pharmacy and medical space and have been really under the pump for the last few years, and they will need a lot of time to actually look through this huge piece of legislation, get their thoughts on paper, submit them to the select committee, and then have adequate time to then come and put their voice to Parliament.

It’s crucial that we get this right for everybody and not just the big players that you can expect to see come before the select committee. This touches on natural health products, people who might sell at their local farmers markets, people who might be involved in Chinese medicine in our community, people who might be involved in Rongoā Māori in our community. Everybody needs to know that this is actually happening and they have adequate time to come and submit, because it will change the way that people get their natural health products, all the way up to how you get your hip-joint replacement. So it’s very, very important that we have adequate time to scrutinise this legislation.

So what does the bill actually want to do? Well, it’s trying to get rid of the Medicines Act and the Dietary Supplements Regulations 1985 to put in place a comprehensive regulatory regime to regulate therapeutic products, which are medicines, medical devices, natural health products, and active pharmaceutical ingredients. That includes medicines made from biological components, gene therapies, and advanced cell and tissue therapies, all the way through to medical devices that are software, production systems, whole organs, and tissue grafts; and natural health products that are traditional and herbal in nature, and all vitamins and minerals supplements. And so, as you can see, it’s extremely comprehensive and requires the full time of this House.

I believe, though, that it has missed a trick in one aspect. And we’ve already seen this play out in the media where the Minister of Health has acknowledged that while the Ministry of Health wanted to see pharmacy ownership regulations changed and liberated, the Minister has no desire to change pharmacy ownership and hasn’t put that forward in this bill, even though the Ministry of Health said that it should be, because under the current status quo, pharmacists must own pharmacies. They have to have a majority share in a pharmacy. I don’t think that’s right. And the ACT Party doesn’t believe that’s right, because if you look at an equivalent in the medical space of general practice clinics, there is no requirement for a general practice clinic to be majority owned by a general practitioner or somebody with a medical licence. It is perfectly acceptable that you should be able to have the ability for a pharmacy to be owned commercially and operated by pharmacists in the same way that general practice clinics can be owned commercially and operated by general practitioners, and I think that’s right. There needs to be more flexibility—because without that flexibility, we don’t have innovation. And if we’re having people in our communities wanting access to different forms of therapeutic products, we need to know that they are getting them in a way that works in their best interests. So I would hope that at select committee, we will have the ability to talk through that issue and have the pharmacists and other people involved in that industry have the ability to submit.

I also hope that at select committee, we go into depth on a couple of issues that have already been raised with me from people with concern in the industry, and that’s the concern of natural justice. You see, this regulatory regime puts in place some pretty serious fines, some pretty serious infringements—up to $1,000,000 if somebody doesn’t get it right. And there’s the issue of natural justice. Now, people within the industry have asked that there is an ability for a discussion to be had, so that it’s not that you have just unknowingly not met all your requirements and you have no ability to explain, and you’re lumped with a huge, massive fine of $1,000,000 or five years’ imprisonment when you didn’t think that you were doing anything wrong, but that you have that ability to have a discussion with the regulator and say that you’re sorry, you didn’t realise that you had messed up, and you have an ability to make things right. So I think we need to go through that process at select committee and see whether or not there is natural justice in this bill.

The second one is advertising. This one has been a bit of concern because clause 193 talks about not allowing some forms of advertising, and it says, “(1) An advertisement for a therapeutic product means a communication made for the purpose of promoting the product. (2) A communication means a communication made in any way whatsoever (including, for example, by an individual in person, using a physical object, in print, or using any kind of information or communications technology).” And you’re not allowed to communicate about therapeutic products that aren’t regulated in New Zealand already, and the only people who have carve-out are the Ministry of Health, Medsafe, and Pharmac.

Now, if you think about it from the perspective of a patient advocacy group, what impact will this really have on them? I hope we can flesh this out in select committee. We can think of people who have been, in the last few years, advocating for Trikafta for cystic fibrosis. That hasn’t been regulated in New Zealand. We can think of the different types of Spinraza medications or spinal muscular atrophy or ustekinumab for people with Crohn’s disease and colitis. These types of medications weren’t funded by Pharmac. Is it possible that people who’re trying to advocate, for their own lives and their own children’s lives, for drugs that have been regulated overseas and not yet in New Zealand to find themselves in breach because they’re communicating and advertising for their right to have those drugs and products in New Zealand? I think we need to hear from the select committee and the Government that that won’t be the case, because I don’t believe that would be right.

The third thing is: whether the costs outweigh the benefits, and we need to make sure with any new regulatory body that we’re not imposing such a heavy burden on anybody and, essentially, saying to them that they don’t actually want to come to New Zealand and regulate their products here. In the case of some medical technology devices, there might be only a few that get sold in New Zealand, and we want to make sure that we’re not putting in place such a burden that they decide to miss our market completely and that all New Zealanders miss out.

So, in conclusion, the ACT Party will be supporting this bill at the first reading, because we believe it needs a say. All New Zealanders need to have their voices heard, and I hope that we have an adequate time at select committee and, hopefully, more than six months.

Dr TRACEY McLELLAN (Labour—Banks Peninsula): Thank you, Mr Speaker. I rise to take a call as a member of the Health Committee, who will be happy to receive this Therapeutic Products Bill.

As we’ve heard, the bill replaces the Medicines Act 1981, which is an old bill that both industry and successive Governments have agreed is out of date and requires modernisation, mainly because it doesn’t cover many of the products that we now use in modern healthcare delivery.

The bill also makes a clear distinction between natural health products and medicines, it establishes a regulator, and, interestingly, it enables a streamlined regime for clinical trials with greater emphasis on safety and efficacy oversight without increasing administration burden. That is good. This bill is good. I commend this bill to the House.

SPEAKER: This is a split call. I call Nicola Grigg—five minutes.

NICOLA GRIGG (National—Selwyn): Thank you, Mr Speaker. I rise along with my colleagues in support of the Therapeutic Products Bill. It is important, we think, to modernise legislation as technology and science evolves to match, and, in this case, we have seen the evolution of modern medicines, medical products and devices and, indeed, practices over the decades. And, as has been pointed out, the current regulatory environment is only one year younger than I am, which is significant. So it is indeed time for it to be updated, particularly with the advent and, indeed, the rise of modern therapeutic products and, indeed, natural products.

A lot has been said about around the intention of this new legislation, in that it aims to provide New Zealanders with assurances that they can be guaranteed the quality and safety and efficacy of whatever the product is that they are using or is being used on them. The bill also intends to regulate how the products are manufactured, how they are tested, how they’re imported, and how they’re promoted and supplied and also exported. Because we know that the nutraceutical industry, particularly here in New Zealand, is a hugely growing industry and has the potential to become a large export earner for us.

I do look forward to hearing the report back from the select committee as it teases out these issues. We hope that whatever is reported back to the Parliament will align with international best practice and will be futureproofed to continue to evolve with those emerging and new technologies and medicines that I mentioned at the outset. Importantly, this bill aims to help deliver health outcomes for New Zealanders and, of course, to ensure consumer safety and to ensure consumer trust in those products. And with that, I commend this bill to the House.

LEMAUGA LYDIA SOSENE (Labour): Thank you, Mr Speaker. I rise to take a short call on the Therapeutic Products Bill. As a member of the Health Committee, I look forward to receiving the bill so that we are able to have our deliberations.

The Therapeutic Products Bill is intended to replace the Medicines Act 1981 and the Dietary Supplements Regulations 1985 to provide for comprehensive risk-proportionate medicines, medical devices, natural health products, and active pharmaceutical ingredients.

We understand and look forward to the changes that are being proposed and specifically for the public to make informed choices around labelling. We do look forward to hearing best-practice safety, technology, and innovation. To that, I commend this bill to the House.

Dr ANAE NERU LEAVASA (Labour—Takanini): Fa’afetai lava, Mr Speaker. I rise as the MP for Takanini in support of the first reading of the Therapeutic Products Bill, and also as a member who has grown up in my South Auckland garage contemplating with my brothers how we’re going to make a difference in our community. This bill will make a difference, and so I am quite happy—I pay homage to my South Auckland garage.

So, as a clinician that still prescribes, I’m happy to see this long overdue bill come to the House. Medicines, medical devices, and natural health products need better regulation and a modernised legislation to sit on.

So, on that note, before I close, I just want to wish everyone a merry Christmas—manuia le Kerisimasi ma le tausaga fou. I commend this bill to the House.

DEBBIE NGAREWA-PACKER (Co-Leader—Te Paati Māori): Tēnā koe e te Pīka.

SPEAKER: Are you taking a point of order?

DEBBIE NGAREWA-PACKER: No, I was wanting to take a call.

SPEAKER: That call has already been taken. However, it’s not too late to organise—

Dr DUNCAN WEBB (Chief Whip—Labour): Point of order. I seek leave for the Māori Party to be given an additional call.

SPEAKER: No. Well—

Hon LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupō): The Labour Party still has one call. So I suggest the Māori Party picks that up.

SPEAKER: That is the only way that that can happen. So—

Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the House): Point of order. I’m happy to indicate the Labour Party will split its last call and we’re happy to offer half of it to the Māori Party.

SPEAKER: OK. I call Penny Simmonds.

PENNY SIMMONDS (National—Invercargill): Thank you, Mr Speaker. I rise to speak in support of the Therapeutic Products Bill. Many speakers before me have said that this bill has had a long and somewhat tortuous gestation period spanning not just years but, in fact, decades. I congratulate the Minister on his fortitude in tackling the matter. I know it’s not going to be an easy one for him, nor will it be an easy task for the Health Committee, because, as we know, there will be great public interest in this.

I was in the Health Committee when Todd Muller’s sunscreen bill went through, and, at that time, there was, of course, much discussion and much anticipation of this wider Therapeutic Products Bill. So I’m pleased to be able to speak on it at this, its first reading.

The bill, of course, will regulate how products are manufactured, tested, imported, promoted, supplied, and exported. So this legislation will aim to provide New Zealanders with assurances that they can expect about the quality, safety, and efficacy of the therapeutic products.

New Zealand has come late to this, so we will have the benefit of being able to align with international best practice. Of course, the assurance of the safety of products that we use in any form of healthcare is incredibly important to the consumer. Natural health products, as the Minister has said, will be included under this bill to ensure that consumers have the information they need to make those informed decisions when purchasing and using those products. Natural products are not risk-free, and it’s important that, although they are lower risk than medicines, they are regulated and people can have assurances about their safety, assurances that the products contain safe ingredients at a safe dose, and assurances that the products are not contaminated and product information is clear and recommended doses are clear and that any health claims that might be made about natural health products can in fact be based on evidence.

So New Zealanders are likely to have a strong interest in the matters that are covered by this bill, and I look forward to how the Health Committee negotiates through the submissions, and I look forward to seeing the bill back in the House. The National Party, of course, supports this Therapeutic Products Bill. Thank you.

SPEAKER: This is a split call. I call Debbie Ngarewa-Packer—five minutes.

DEBBIE NGAREWA-PACKER (Co-Leader—Te Paati Māori): Tēnā koe. Tēnā koe e te Māngai, tēnā tātou e te Whare. Ngā mihi kei a koutou mō te tautoko.

[Greetings, Mr Speaker, and greetings to you all in the House. I want to acknowledge you all for your support.]

We stand to rise to speak to the first reading of the Therapeutic Products Bill. Te Paati Māori opposes this bill as it currently is and has concerns, mainly because of the failing, to date, to engage with tangata whenua, particularly, in any meaningful way. We have concerns that the regulation of the rongoā poses huge risk to the protection and restoration of mātauranga Māori and would remove the powerful decisions relating to rongoā from whānau, hapū, and iwi perspectives to the State.

We’ve been contacted by many of our people over recent months who also are deeply concerned with these reforms and have communicated that to the Government, yet they feel they’ve failed to listen. Rongoā Māori is a Tiriti-protected taonga. Despite this, aside from requiring the regulator to have the capacity and capability to give effect to the principles of the Treaty, there are no other Tiriti protections in this legislation. If Māori rights under the Tiriti were being acknowledged and reflected in this process, then engagement with tangata whenua could have and should have occurred before the bill was introduced to Parliament, and this would be reflected by Treaty-based protections in the bill.

Minister Little’s press release suggests this bill is the result of 10 years of work and a work programme in Government, and yet they’ve failed to work with tangata whenua on rongoā regulations. This was followed up with another press release from Minister Henare announcing a process to consult with Māori during the summer, while people won’t even be paying attention, and told people to submit at select committee.

This only shows that the Government failed to do anything about rongoā until right before this bill being introduced. While we are open to discussions about protecting rongoā through regulation, this needs to be driven by tangata whenua, including rongoā practitioners, kaimahi, or those who have the active consent of our people, at the very least. This bill doesn’t protect rongoā at all, but brings civil and criminal penalties into practice, which concerns us. The Crown, from our perspective, has ignored its Treaty partner in this way, which creates, sadly, mistrust amongst our people. It’s 2022—nearly 2023. We have the largest Māori caucus ever in Government. We have a Māori Crown Relations unit, and we’ve had outrage communicated by our people.

So what we want to do is make sure that we have more emphasis on the engagement. There is room to make these amendments, and we do call on this bill to be withdrawn, and, certainly the Order Paper to go back to the drawing board, and to listen to and learn from those who are the tohunga and the experts of rongoā, and I’m not too sure that many of us can take that claim.

So Te Paati Māori, again, don’t support this bill, and we encourage that it’s changed to protect rongoā Māori, and, most importantly, its tohunga and practitioners. Kia ora koutou.

SPEAKER: I call Sarah Pallett—five minutes.

SARAH PALLETT (Labour—Ilam): Thank you, Mr Speaker. I rise for the final time this year in support of the Therapeutic Products Bill, and, as a member of the Health Committee, I am eagerly anticipating the many submissions that we will be receiving. I am looking forward to hearing in great detail from tāngata whenua, who will be able to guide us so that we can support and protect rongoā, as we have indicated is the intention of the committee and of this House.

Before I end for the year, I would just like to take this opportunity to thank the Health Committee for its hard work through the year. Across the House, it’s been a collegial and hard-working team. But I’d also like to thank the people who don’t so often get thanked: our clerks and officials and advisers; everybody who works with us here in the House: Ivan, Peter, Jenny, and the team; and the press gallery, who work so hard. And I would like to wish you, Mr Speaker, a very happy Christmas, and hope that everybody here has a restful, rejuvenating break this year. I commend this bill to the House.

A party vote was called for on the question, That the Therapeutic Products Bill be now read a first time.

Ayes 117

New Zealand Labour 64; New Zealand National 33; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 10; ACT New Zealand 10.

Noes 2

Te Paati Māori 2.

Motion agreed to.

Bill read a first time.

SPEAKER: The question is, That the Therapeutic Products Bill be considered by the Health Committee.

Motion agreed to.

Bill referred to the Health Committee.

Bills

Secondary Legislation Confirmation Bill

Second Reading

Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the House): I present a legislative statement on the Secondary Legislation Confirmation Bill.

SPEAKER: That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.

Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I move, That the Secondary Legislation Confirmation Bill be now read a second time.

There are few things in the parliamentary sitting calendar that indicate that Christmas is coming more than the passage of the Secondary Legislation Confirmation Bill. It is a sign that Christmas is approaching and the House’s sitting programme for the year is drawing to a close.

Hon Grant Robertson: Brilliant speech. Well done!

Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I do have some obligation to indicate to the House what’s in the bill, Minister Robertson, but I will keep it very snappy!

This year’s bill includes the confirmation of 27 legislative instruments—I will spare the House from reading through what they all are, but I will give a very brief summary of the matters covered by this year’s confirmation bill. The bill includes reducing the size of security levies for domestic and international air travel, as a Government that reduces levies; prohibiting the importation of motor vehicles with inaccurate odometers without the consent of the Minister of Customs; altering fees and levies charged to the dairy industry; establishing a new levy for wineries payable to the Fruit Wine and Cider Makers Association of New Zealand Inc.; amending various fees and levies for animal products, such as increasing the annual levy for the export of processed honey products; broadening the definition of “assistance dogs”; establishing new railway track user charges for rail freight operators; and imposing carbon dioxide charges on new registrations of a certain light vehicle.

I want to thank the Regulations Review Committee for their diligent work as usual. This year, unusually, the committee has added an additional instrument that needs to be confirmed. I don’t think that that’s happened in recent history, but it shows how diligent and conscientious they are in their undertakings. I commend the bill to the House.

SPEAKER: The question is that the motion be agreed to.

Hon JUDITH COLLINS (National—Papakura): Unaccustomed as I am to speaking on these matters, I’m particularly enjoying being the chair of the Regulations Review Committee and I find the work very interesting.

Hon Chris Hipkins: Once more with sincerity.

Hon JUDITH COLLINS: No, I actually do, Mr Hipkins. And I suggest that perhaps other people should put the same diligence into their work.

In the spirit of Christmas, I’d like to take the opportunity to wish everyone a very merry Christmas. For those of you who don’t believe in Christmas, I wish you the best as well, and hope that everyone has a great break and comes back in the new year just as friendly and perky as I am.

I’d like to obviously acknowledge the wonderful staff that work with us in the Regulations Review Committee, and obviously acknowledge my predecessor Chris Penk and my deputy chair Rachel over there. She’s sure to be promoted in the dying days of the current Government, but not for long. And what we have though is this is actually a process bill. I mean, basically, regulations have to either come back to the House to get confirmed or else they fail.

There is one part of this bill that the National Party does not agree with, and that is actually the ute tax. And it is there, carefully hidden as some sort of clean vehicle discount scheme charge, utterly disingenuous—utterly disingenuous. What it actually is is a tax; it’s the “ute tax”. And the other thing is, how can this possibly be a levy when it’s a charge made not for anything that’s actually being done but it’s actually a tax on people who need to buy a vehicle which at the moment is going to emit carbon dioxide above the particular clean car levels. Now, that’s actually everybody who owns a ute, because I who have a huge interest in cars and love them immensely—

Chris Bishop: Oh, do you?

Hon JUDITH COLLINS: I do, actually. I absolutely love cars. Fortunately, by the way, in their ute tax they did actually give an exemption for those of us who also have classic cars in our collections, so that is a good thing. But this is actually a tax. So it is something which really should never have come through as a levy.

We are, however, going to support, obviously, this piece of legislation—not all the ins and outs of it; certainly not the ute tax; certainly not that absolute ridiculous tax that was put on every tradesperson in New Zealand who has a ute, every farmer in New Zealand who has a ute, and every would-be tradesperson and farmer in New Zealand who has a ute. It is absolutely disgraceful. But this is a process thing, and obviously everything has to come back to the House as secondary legislation for confirmation. And on that basis, we will support it.

TONI SEVERIN (ACT): Thank you, Mr Speaker. On behalf of the ACT Party I’d like to speak on the Secondary Legislation Confirmation Bill. This secondary legislation is a law that is made by others than Parliament. It’s made under a power that Parliament has formally delegated, in particular to the Acts. So every year our lovely different ministries and our lovely clerks and Parliamentary Counsel Office brings us a huge list of different bills that have changes in them. And as my honoured member across the road said, there were 27 instruments that we had to confirm, and they go over about 14 different Acts. Most of the people that are watching this would find it very difficult to understand what these all are, but when you deep dive you really find what a lot of this is actually doing is actually going to be taking money out of people’s pockets, the likes of the ute tax—the ute tax that they say is not a ute tax but is a ute tax. They say it is a levy and we’re still waiting to find out all the details, so it’s one of the matters that we are still waiting to hear back from around that.

And the thing is that we are in a cost of living crisis and whatever you put on businesses, where does that cost go to? It goes to the consumer, and they are the ones that are feeling it in their pockets. It’s the red tape that you put on businesses, and where do they put those charges when they have to work extra time to make sure they are meeting these secondary rules that have been put on them? And where, again, does that end up? It ends up in the pocket of the consumers. Now, the other thing that we found when we were going through this bill is the tax on trucks. They’re raising the distance travelled on trucks. Yes, we don’t mind paying user charges if it is fixing our roads. We have got too many potholes around this country.

SPEAKER: Order! I’m very sorry to interrupt the member. Can I just tell members it’s really difficult to hear. The member has a right to be heard, so if we can lower the volume, that’d be great.

TONI SEVERIN: Thank you, Mr Speaker. Now, we like road-user charges to fix the potholes. But then again, when you look at this, this is heavy-duty trucks. What is carried on these heavy-duty trucks? Our goods; our goods to the market, our goods around New Zealand. Again, the freight costs will be added to different businesses and then those businesses will be passing that—yet again—to who? Consumers—the everyday consumer whose cost of living crisis is occurring to them. Now, as we said, we don’t mind you fixing our roads, we just don’t need the bridges coming out of those taxes, especially for the cycle bridges. Give us good roads because we do need them to get around New Zealand.

Now, we had to ask questions of the Minister for Food Safety, the Minister for Biosecurity, the Minister of Customs, the Minister of Transport, and the Minister of Agriculture. Yes, I appreciate you for responding to our letters because I am, myself, on the Regulations Review Committee and it is great to have explanations for us to understand this secondary legislation that is being forced on to New Zealanders. Now, there is over, as we said, 27 different instruments for confirmation. This bill, as we are saying, has to be passed so these instruments can be confirmed and, of course, they’ve only got a small time frame to be able to confirm it so this is why today they are going to be rushing this one through so that we can confirm it for them.

But again, most of all, I’m going to go back and thank the lovely clerks of our select committee, and the Parliamentary Counsel Office, because they have to draft this bill and they also have to help us through all these different 27 confirmable instruments that we have to go through and explain whether or not they have any concerns or not. And this is a big thing, to make sure we are dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s to make sure things don’t get through that shouldn’t get through. So even though this seems like a little bill, it’s very important that we do cross those i’s and dot the t’s.

But, most of all, we oppose this bill, because in the end this is going to affect the consumer and this is going to cost people more in the long run: whoever owns a ute, whoever has to have goods taken by truck over our roads that aren’t fit for purpose. And, overall, the consumers are the ones that are going to hurt because of the cost of living crisis. Thank you, Mr Speaker.

A party vote was called for on the question, That the Secondary Legislation Confirmation Bill be now read a second time.

Ayes 109

New Zealand Labour 64; New Zealand National 33; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 10; Te Paati Māori 2.

Noes 10

ACT New Zealand 10.

Motion agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Third Reading

Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the House): I move, That the Secondary Legislation Confirmation Bill be now read a third time.

A party vote was called for on the question, That the Secondary Legislation Confirmation Bill be now read a third time.

Ayes 109

New Zealand Labour 64; New Zealand National 33; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 10; Te Paati Māori 2.

Noes 10

ACT New Zealand 10.

Motion agreed to.

Bill read a third time.

Adjournment

Adjournment

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister) on behalf of the Leader of the House: I move, That the sitting programme for 2023 be:

February 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, and 23;

March 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 28, 29, and 30;

April 4, 5, and 6;

May 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 30, and 31;

June 1, 6, 7, 8, 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, and 29;

July 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, and 27;

August 1, 2, 3, 15, 16, 17, 22, 23, 24, 29, 30, and 31;

September 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, and 21;

October 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19, and 31;

November 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 28, 29, and 30;

December 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, and 21;

and that the House do now adjourn until 2pm on Tuesday, 14 February 2023.

Mr Speaker, usually an adjournment debate might begin with a commentary on the Speaker and his performance over the year, but since Trevor has departed, so has our material. Instead, I will simply thank you for your role.

Before I move on to giving a precis, as it were, for the year and saying the many thanks that must be issued across the House and across this precinct, I do want to acknowledge the MPs who sit alongside me and who sit beside me. They are fantastic advocates, they are incredible representatives of their communities, and I personally feel so well supported by each and every one of them. I thought the Deputy Prime Minister was taking it a bit far, though, when he took to standing every time I came into a room, until I realised he had actually slipped a disc. But that is indicative of the way in which many of our members have conducted themselves, putting themselves on the line at every single stage—Jamie Strange, sitting with his leg propped up in a brace, phone-calling with Georgie Dansey, our candidate who had dislocated her shoulder door-knocking. Literally, these MPs will give it their all, and I thank you—each and every one of you—for that.

As we come to the end of 2022, it would be fair to assume that the world has almost spun off its axis. We are still dealing with the impact of a pandemic as it moves from a health crisis on to being an economic one, we lost our head of State, war broke out in Ukraine, the climate crisis continues to confront us, and there was a punch-up at the Oscars. And while the magnitude of all of those events is of course vastly different, they all speak to one theme: this year has been hard. And while politics is always about solving problems, there’s never been quite so many problems presenting themselves all at once, very loudly, very impatiently—like an open bar at a parliamentary dinner break. And when faced with problems like that in politics, you have four choices. Those choices are: you can ignore them; you can blame someone else for them and then ignore them; or the National party’s preferred option, create the problems, ignore them, and then blame someone else for them; or you can do something about it. And I’m proud that this Government has never shied away from taking on issues, addressing problems that others would ignore for political expediency, finally resolving, for instance, persistent under-investment in this country.

That is why, over the course of this year and, indeed, over the course of this term, we have ticked off some major reform. We’re reforming the Resource Management Act to make our planning system faster, cheaper, and better—and I acknowledge you, Minister Parker, for the huge amount of work that has gone into that. We’ve taken on decade-old infrastructure problems—that is not a metaphor for having a debate with Damien O’Connor. We introduced fair pay agreements to make sure workers in the most vulnerable sectors get the pay and conditions they deserve without a race to the bottom.

We continued with the climate change agenda, policies that are predicted by 2030 to reduce emissions equivalent to 1.7 million cars, because, shockingly, climate change doesn’t just end if you do nothing, no matter how large your surrounding ocean is.

We’ve shaken up our health system, introducing Health New Zealand to make sure that the healthcare you receive isn’t based on where you live. We’ve increased Pharmac funding by 43 percent. We’ve kept rebuilding our health workforce, including hiring over 4,200 more nurses.

We’ve worked on our skills gap, and productivity issues, with nearly 250,000 people in trades training. Minister Hipkins has been busy, and some might say the similarities to Steve Maharey are uncanny. We have supported our exporters to build in greater resilience, with new trade agreements set to cover almost 75 percent of our exports, and we reached No. 1 on the Sustainable Trade Index.

While addressing these persistent issues, we’ve also supported Kiwis through what has been an incredibly tough time and a cost of living crisis, with increases to the family tax credit, the introduction of the cost of living payment, and easing pressure at the pump. We’ve expanded childcare subsidies and, of course, halved the cost of public transport, and while we don’t know what 2023 will bring, we are ready for what will come our way, because we knew COVID would carry an economic price, and we prepared for it.

But while we’re ready, I will also concede that with a busy year does come the need for a bit of a break, and a word of thanks. And so, then, to all those who work so hard to support all of us, I take this opportunity on behalf of the Labour Party to thank the many people who have supported each and every one of us.

Let me start with our electorate office teams. They do incredible work. They are our faces when we are not in our offices, and it is fair to say that in recent times they have faced greater antagonism. They do it with a smile and with a focus on service, and I know we’d all wish to acknowledge them.

We thank our parliamentary support crews: the Office of the Clerk; the team at Parliamentary Service; Ministerial Services; the Hansard team, who record the things we mean to say and the things we don’t; the cleaners; the buildings team; the staff at Bellamy’s and Copperfields, who are always there with a smile; the security staff, and the messengers—who, I’ve noticed of late, and I want to acknowledge, not only bring glasses of water and messages for MPs but deliver our babies into this House, and for this extension to the job description, I acknowledge you and thank you for your care of each of us.

Our executive support team: the sign language interpreters, who are so patient on a Monday afternoon waiting for that post-Cabinet script that comes five minutes before delivery—they are always here, ensuring that all New Zealanders hear our messages, our debate, our kōrero—the IT and sound technicians, the press gallery. We acknowledge you and thank you for your work—and of course, Mr Speaker, to you and the role that you play.

And one final special mention to the near constant companion on overseas trade missions that I’m not sure I wanted or deserved: two human-sized kiwifruit, otherwise known as the “Kiwi Brothers”, because perhaps we all need a few more humans dressed as fruit in our lives. To all of you—to all of you—I say thank you, and I wish you a wonderful break.

I want to finish by ending with a memory that will be a highlight for me this year. We’re always asked, “What were your highs and what were your lows?” Politics is about addressing problems, but sometimes it is also about progress too. One of my abiding memories of this year will be standing on the balcony at Te Papa on a morning that I can only describe as a fresh morning, to welcome in the Māori New Year. This is not a new event or occasion for many, but it was the first time we marked it as a nation together. As I saw people gathered together on the forecourt of that place and then congregating later that evening for the many fireworks displays that occurred around the country, including here in Wellington, it felt like we were both taking a moment of pause in a long journey that is building and recognising our unique place in this world and who we are as people.

So, as we close out the year, my final reflection is this: we are an amazing country on a journey. We have faced our fair share of challenges, but we rise to them every time and we keep making progress. And next year, we will do the same; 2023 is full of uncertainty, but we know enough about our position and our resolve to know we will come through stronger than most—and we will, and continue to have, a focus on our people throughout. As we launch into 2023 clear-eyed on what lies ahead, I can assure you, you will have a team on this side of the House that has never lost sight, and will never lose sight, of why we are here and who we are here for, and who has never ever shied away from a challenge, whether our bodies are broken or not. But for now, to every New Zealander and to every member of Parliament in this House, I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year. Kia ora.

SPEAKER: The question is that the motion be agreed to.

CHRISTOPHER LUXON (Leader of the Opposition): Mr Speaker, I have to say that, actually, Christmas for the National Party came early for us this year, and that was your appointment to the speakership being that very reason. It’s not because you’re partisan; it’s because you’re not partisan that we like you so much. I want to say thank you to you for the way that you’ve presided over this House and thank you for your belief that grown-up MPs can actually have a little bit more robustness in this House. You have certainly brought back a lot of mana and a lot of life to this great House, that is so important to New Zealand. So thank you.

On behalf of National MPs, I also want to join with the Prime Minister to thank your presiding officers and all the messengers. I want to thank the Clerk of the House and his team and all the select committee staff, all of the Parliamentary Service, including IT, payroll, and the travel office, the great folk at Copperfields—here’s hoping that the new catering arrangements continue with cheese scones, because this place, frankly, runs on them. I do want to thank all of our cleaners, I want to thank all of our VIP drivers who do an incredible job. A big thankyou to the press gallery as well. It’s not every day that I get to express my gratitude to you, but can I say thank you for your efforts in doing an important job, which is explaining what happens in this place to the good people of New Zealand. Thank you to the Parliamentary Library staff who are so diligent and so helpful. Thank you to the security teams that are here, and also a very special thank you to the security, police, and other personnel that kept us safe and managed the unprecedented protest outside this place earlier in the year.

To my incredibly hard-working deputy, Nicola Willis, can I just say thank you very much for everything that you do for me and for our party. To all of the National Party caucus, to all of our amazing staff in this building and across our electorate offices, thank you for your commitment and all of your hard work. It has certainly been a great year for the National Party.

And to all the partners and to all the families of all the MPs here in Parliament, merry Christmas, because you alone understand the sacrifices that your role involves and that allows each and every one of us actually to be here in this place. So, finally, let me say to all National, Labour, ACT, Green, and Te Paati Māori MPs, I wish you all a very merry Christmas.

Now, I can’t promise, on this side of the House, that, as we think about New Year’s resolutions, we will be quieter in this House—especially when I think about Simeon Brown. But I have a few New Year’s resolutions that I thought some other MPs might consider for 2023. And I wanted to start with the Prime Minister, because I wondered what Jacinda Ardern would make as her New Year’s resolution. And I think yesterday she showed us the way. She showed us that she rightfully gets a bit of a bad rap for being all spin, no delivery. But yesterday she showed us she can be refreshingly to the point, and we want to encourage her to keep that up in 2023 because this year we truly would have loved to have heard what she really thought about Gaurav Sharma, what she really thought about Nanaia Mahuta’s entrenchment provisions, and what she really thought about Grant Robertson’s cost of living payment going to dead people.

The next resolution is really to the leader of my fan club, Grant Robertson. I just want to say I am so flattered and it is so thoughtful that you care so much about me. And I do want to say, please do keep up the name checking of me in 2023, because the more you’ve done it, the better we’ve done in the polls. Just keep it going, please. That would be fantastic. And, of course, everyone makes a New Year’s resolution about sticking to their budget, and I just would encourage Grant to try that again. He hasn’t done it for the first six years, but, hopefully, this is his last and first time to be able to do it.

Of course, Chris Hipkins will be resolving to become the Labour Party’s next leader, Kiri Allan will be resolving to become Labour’s next leader, and Michael Wood will be resolving to become Labour’s next leader too, and I think Michael has the jump on everyone because he started his campaign by pork-barrelling his Labour MPs with transport funding. The question is: have I missed anyone? And, of course I’ve missed Kelvin Davis, the deputy leader of the Labour Party. He’ll be resolving to get noticed in 2023. I’d say to you that Nanaia Mahuta doesn’t need to resolve to be Labour’s next leader because she’s already running the caucus—at least until the next reshuffle. And to Ingrid Leary and to Glen Bennett and to Shanan Halbert and to Anna Lorck and to Helen White, they’ll be resolving to be on select committees that don’t involve any legislation from Nanaia Mahuta.

Andrew Little will be resolving to get a new phone because every overworked emergency department nurse has been giving out the number for the old one, and Jan Tinetti is resolving to make every school day a big day. Of course, the biggest day would be if we could actually get our kids to school, so keep working on that. Willie Jackson, I have to say thank you so much for the entertainment this year. We have absolutely loved it on this side of the House. And we know, on your side, your colleagues have privately loved it too. And I thought that in 2023, you should resolve to come up with just one good reason why the Government should merge RNZ and TVNZ. But I think we’ve got to be honest; Jacinda Ardern’s going to shoot it before you even attempt to try and sell it again. To Damien O’Connor in 2023, how about resolving to stand up for the farming sector instead of destroying it? Just a thought. To Stuart Nash, I hope that in 2023 you find a political party where you can finally truly feel at home.

Now, David Seymour—I was thinking about a New Year’s resolution for David, but I have to say, after the savagery from the Prime Minister yesterday, I think all you need, mate, is a big hug and some kindness.

And, I guess, over at the Green Party, James Shaw’s going to be resolving to change the Greens’ rules for 2023 so that next year, even though he supports reusing and recycling, he doesn’t have to be thrown out before he’s reappointed as the co-leader again.

And to Rawiri and Debbie, can we just say that you may have seen that National’s now on TikTok. We’re much nicer than you on social media, but you still beat us in the dancing stakes, so keep it up for 2023.

So our own resolution, of course, in the National Party for 2023 is pretty simple. It’s about keeping talking about our plans to help New Zealanders and their families be able to get ahead. What I can tell you is that it doesn’t include supporting Labour’s pet ideological projects, whether it’s the merger of TVNZ and RNZ, whether it’s building light rail in Auckland, or whether it’s about building mega-bureaucracies for three waters—sorry, five waters, as it currently is.

Simeon Brown: Six if you count they’ve been drinking.

CHRISTOPHER LUXON: Yeah. It will be about talking about the things that frankly matter most to Kiwis, and there are five things.

The first is we’ve got an economy going backwards. It is alarming to think that inflation is going to get higher, interest rates are going to continue to go through the roof, we’re facing a recession, and ultimately we’ve got rising unemployment. But don’t worry; apparently it’s going to get sorted next year, because the Prime Minister, now, is going to focus exclusively on the economy and that will be just great.

We’ve got a health system literally falling apart before our eyes. Every single health metric in this country has gone backwards over the last five years, and we’ve had a Government that’s frankly too stubborn and too arrogant to admit that it got it wrong on migrant nurses. The questions you’ve got to ask are: how many nurses went to other countries? How many nurses left our healthcare sector because they were overstretched and overworked? And how many Kiwis had to wait longer to get on an emergency department wait-list, a surgery wait-list, or to see a first specialist?

We’ve got record-low education attendance and academic achievement. How do we call this a developed country with only 40 percent of our kids going to school regularly and 100,000 chronically absent from school? And we know the difference being at school makes in terms of academic achievement, and that’s been woeful this year as well.

We have a housing crisis that, frankly, is much, much worse under this Government, lower homeownership, weekly rents up $150, a fourfold increase in people on the State house wait-list, 4,000 kids waking up in motels today, and a fourfold increase in people living in cars.

We have rapidly rising levels of crime, where people are feeling unsafe in their own homes and their own businesses and their own communities. And we’ve got a soft-on-crime Government whose only justice metric is to reduce the prison population by 30 percent, and that would be fine if crime was going down, but it’s not. Violent crime is up 20 percent, we’ve got gang membership up 50 percent, and we have a ram raid happening in this country every 15 hours.

So, Mr Speaker, what I say to you is these are the things that matter most to New Zealanders; these are the things that they care about—not Wellington beltway ideological things that the Labour Party spends too much time talking about and debating and infighting about inside their party. But New Zealanders see through it. They know the country is totally, utterly, completely going in the wrong direction, they know they need a National–led Government to turn New Zealand around, and they know they need to get things done.

But, first of all, we have a holiday in front of us, and I want to say to all of us, may the sun shine on you wherever you are. Enjoy your break. Merry Christmas. We look forward to seeing you back here in 2023.

Hon MARAMA DAVIDSON (Co-Leader—Green): I just texted my whānau to ask if they would watch this speech, and my daughter told me that the granddaughter doesn’t want to stop watching Cocomelon, so, hopefully, they’ll watch the replay.

I’ve been sitting here listening to Mr Luxon and thinking how unusual it is to have an end-of-year speech delivered by the same National Party leader who was in place last year. Like the buffet at Copperfields, the National Party’s ever-changing leadership has become a feature of this Parliament, and I hope the chefs upstairs in the Opposition offices do come up with a new menu soon. If they need inspiration, if they need recipes that reflect the true flavour of Aotearoa in 2022, I am very happy to invite them to a proper Christmas barbecue in my South Auckland garage.

But, actually, with all respect to the catering staff here at Parliament, thank you for keeping us fed. Thank you to the cleaners, the library researchers, the messengers, the Chamber staff, the travel booking team, finance, the maintenance team, the IT support team, our esteemed press gallery, and all who keep this place running for us and for the country. Thank you to the people in our offices who work tirelessly and passionately to keep the Green Party parliamentary machine going.

I want to make special mention of the security team and everyone who worked alongside them at the start of this year as they kept us safe through what was an extremely difficult period of protests here at Parliament. And a mihi to the gardeners who are always looking after our nature outside and our plants inside our offices, and who painstakingly replanted all of that lawn. The Green Party is not usually a huge fan of imported vegetation monocultures, but seeing tamariki playing out there in the sun yesterday warmed even our steely conservationist hearts. To be serious for a moment, I hope we never again see that kind of surface violence at the centre of our democracy, and I realise that we have deep mahi to do together to address underlying systemic issues for a more cohesive Aotearoa.

But, despite all its challenges, 2022 has also had some moments worth celebrating, especially in this place. It’s important to look to what is awesome. As we rise for the summer break, it is super cool that this year we finally put into law the respect and recognition that Matariki deserves as our indigenous public holiday for Aotearoa. Congratulations to everyone getting that across the line.

And as I look around the Chamber today, I want to acknowledge that this is the year that for the first time ever, 50 percent of this House are wāhine. Now, this is an important step towards 75 percent women; we, the Greens, would even settle for 60 percent, at which point the Greens would entrench it. [Laughter] I thought that might get a bigger laugh, but that’s OK. You know, this is us literally making fun of ourselves, whānau, go ahead.

In the Green Party’s ministerial portfolios, there have been milestone achievements with far-reaching consequences. We have delivered Aotearoa New Zealand’s first ever intergenerational plan to eliminate family violence and sexual violence, a plan that brings together Government agencies, tangata whenua, service providers, and communities to create a stronger, violence-free reality for everyone.

We have delivered the very first emissions reduction plan, a plan that will drive the many changes we need to make in the transition to a stable, thriving Papatūānuku for our mokopuna. The emissions reduction plan is symbolic of the Green Party vision: people, nature, and climate. In so many cases, the actions in the plan come with the happy coincidence of also making people’s lives better: cleaner air, warmer homes, safer and cheaper transport, more-liveable cities—the list goes on. When it comes to climate change action, the kōrero, the conversation, in Aotearoa has moved from “Why do we need to do this?” to “What is the strongest way we can do this?”, and the Green Party in Government has contributed to that shift, fighting for what we believe in for decades now.

We are constantly innovating in this Parliament, and constantly learning. This year, I learnt that life is like a block of Whittaker’s Miraka Kirīmi chocolate: you never know what racism you’re going to get. And I learnt what it’s like to be a solo co-leader—or, as other parties say, just a leader. By the way, congratulations James Shaw for making it quite clearly back in.

Other parties are often learning too, and we encourage all of them to keep copying our homework. From alcohol harm minimisation, to restrictions on seabed mining, to electoral reform, to protecting the Hauraki Gulf, to extending ACC cover to birth injuries, and supporting migrant workers, the Government and all political parties are more than welcome to keep picking up longstanding Green Party priorities. Next up, surely, must be no new mines on conservation land [Cheers] Yes, thank you, my colleagues—thank you.

So then, from good ideas to bad ones. I thought about basing this speech on the twelve unwanted gifts of Christmas, beginning with:

On the first day of Christmas, Chris Luxon sent to me

A boot camp for tamariki

Or perhaps:

A tax cut for the very wealthy

Or even:

A badly timed holiday in Hawai’i

I could go on, but then I wondered if these speeches are supposed to be, you know, reflecting a Christmassy time of joy and good cheer. And based on the speech that that leader just covered, I’ll stop talking about the National Party.

Speaking of good cheer, the list of good things we’ve done that ACT want to undo grows longer by the month, so thank you so much, ACT, for affirming that Aotearoa is heading in exactly the right direction! It also shows that with a strong Green presence in Government, there are more voices for people, nature, and climate, and we need more Greens in this place to keep building on that progress.

You know, if Rudolph had a green nose, I reckon Santa would do a lot better than just delivering toys to all the children in the world. He might be able to fix persistent poverty and material hardship while he’s at it, starting with a guaranteed minimum income and a warm, dry home for everyone. [Pauses to wait for a reaction] Yay! [Applause] OK.

Mr Speaker, before I conclude, I want to acknowledge the contribution you have made and continue to make in this House. Since taking on the Speakership, you have shown the strength of character and judgment that made your appointment such an obvious one for us. I want to acknowledge that you continue with the tradition already started of making sure this House is also for whānau and especially our beautiful babies and mokopuna. Have we still got that beautiful baby in here? That’s exactly what this House needs to represent.

No doubt, next year, as we approach the election, your even temperament and steady resolve will be needed all the more. In the meantime, we wish you a calm and restful summer break. And, indeed, I do extend the same good wishes to all members of the House and everyone out in our communities. This is a time of year when I hope we can all take a step back from the political cliff-face and focus on our whānau, our families, our homes, our communities, those special people and places that make this wonderful country what it is to us—I will be in Hokianga, the Hawai’i of Tai Tokerau—and let us bring the energy and spirit we draw from Papatūānuku back into this building for another year. Until then, I wish you all good health and a very happy holiday. Kia ora.

DAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT): Thank you, Mr Speaker, and I really mean thank you. Normally, at this time of year I have to devote the last minute of my adjournment debate speech to castigating the Speaker for the erosion of the mana of this great House. This year, I can start my speech by genuinely thanking you for the extraordinary mana restoration project that you have carried out, making this House a place where we are very happy to be members again.

In that spirit, I now present, fresh off the press, new literature penned by somebody, shall we say, with far too much humility and far too much kindness to claim authorship. It reads:

‘Twas was the night before Christmas and all through the house,

Kiwis now can sleep easy, politicians clear out.

With our heads on our pillows, we all sigh, “At last!

For this Christmas no single new law will be passed.

No more tax on our income, no more tax on our homes.

For the first time this year, Labour leaves us alone.

We can rest in our homes and hold on to our things,

With no fear of new tax grabs this Government brings.”

But this year, Santa’s sack maybe feels slightly lighter,

With a year of new laws Labour’s signed in just to spite ya.

With the cost of our living gone up the wazoo,

We’re all doing it tough, and we feel it too.

But, this Christmas, one sack is the biggest of all:

“Greedy Grinch Grabby Grant” and his record tax haul.

When you’re squeezed at the petrol pump, though it sounds daft,

For each litre you buy, the “Grinch Labour” takes half.

For each purchase you make, they take 15 percent,

At least 15 percent of each dollar you’ve spent.

“But that’s not enough,” they say, “We must ensure

If you want booze or ciggies, you’ll pay even more.”

They scheme up new taxes, with greedy eyes shrewd;

“Our farmers make carbon, so let’s tax the food.”

It’s no wonder you’ve got so little left,

With the steep price of carbon, they’ll soon tax your breath.

So our hard-working Kiwis must learn to be tight

While the “Grinch Labour” spends on whatever’s in sight,

Bike lanes and bus lanes and Teslas for a few,

And the hard workers footing these bills—they are you.

Like the cycle bridge pipedream, which cost $50 million,

Paid for by overtaxed, suffering civilians.

And what’s your reward for this spending fixation?

Wrapped up under the tree, you’ll find record inflation.

When ACT brings this up, we get circumlocution.

The “Grinch” finds excuses where ACT finds solutions.

“But Putin, but COVID!”, the Government drools,

And are they the Grinch who stole Christmas, or the boy who cried wolf?

But Kiwis, rest easy, they’re taking a break.

This summer, your freedom is not theirs to take.

And if it seems this is too dark a reflection,

There’s one great silver lining: next year’s an election.

I give that new literature as a gift to this Parliament in the spirit of Christmas, and I’d like to now thank all of those who make our democracy possible, starting with those here in Parliament, with ACT’s fantastic staff. If you were at Harmony in the House last night, you would have seen some wonderful contributions that reflect the culture of our team: our comms team, outreach, research, and, most of all, the A-team. We have had a fantastic year with a highly engaged team, of which I’m enormously proud, not to mention those in my Epsom electorate office, who I believe are running the best electorate and community office in the country.

There are all those who work across Parliament and in the library, the messengers, the cleaners, security, the clerks, the House Office, the select committee staff, and—often forgotten—the Auditor-General, the Ombudsman, and the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment. All those people contribute to this democracy through our Parliament.

Then there are those who make our democracy possible outside the parliamentary apparatus. I want to thank my electorate committee, particularly the likes of John Windsor, the kind of person without whom democracy is not possible. I want to thank our board, our council—not paid positions, but people that volunteer to make political parties function. Finally, our members, our volunteers, our donors—all those people that make the ACT Party not only survive but thrive and grow year after year.

I particularly want to thank those in the press gallery. It is a thankless job. This is a tough time for democracy around the world. It is a time when people are very quick to blame and too slow to believe, and, as Mark Twain, I think, once said, often it’s easier to fool someone than show that they’ve been fooled.

I believe—and I say this up and down the country—that our press gallery, under trying circumstances, are doing their best and are contributing to our democracy. However, I do have at least one gripe. For a gallery journalist who shall remain nameless for reasons that will become obvious, when reporting on ACT’s MPs, I want to make something clear: this is Nicole McKee, and this is Karen Chhour. Now, some people might understand the mistake, but, actually, I don’t, because they’ve performed extensively well, and that particular journalist—who then said, “Well, it’s hard to tell the difference.”—ought to pay a bit more attention to telling the difference. They will remain nameless for ever. Their secret is safe with me. I’m so proud of these two, and we thought we needed to point it out.

Actually, ACT’s whole team—Brooke van Velden, the No. 1 first-term MP, according to our most senior journalist. Hasn’t she grown into the role as our deputy and whip?

Nicole: tough, diligent, and also a top 10 rookie. A first termer and someone who has stood up for licensed firearm owners, in spite of onerous and technical regulations.

Chris Baillie: a teacher, a former cop, and a small-business owner, standing up with deep and intimate knowledge for each of those areas of society.

Simon Court produced serious policy proposals. It took a year, and it’s a big deal in terms of a genuine alternative approach to resource management in New Zealand.

James McDowall—what an effort. I’ve always recommended a bit of door-knocking, and that Hamilton West result shows that he has come of age as a politician, and ACT will be here to play next year.

Karen Chhour: her fierce, passionate defence of the welfare of children is something to behold, and I’m so proud of what she has done.

And out in the country, out on the farms, out by the fence posts up and down New Zealand, there is no harder-travelling or harder-working backbench MP in New Zealand, in my view, than Mark Cameron. He will show up for the opening of a woolshed, and he frequently does.

Then there’s Toni Severin, who is quietly torpedoing numerous things that Kelvin Davis has done or, often, not done when it comes to running corrections correctly.

Then there’s Damien Smith, the Renaissance man, who is not only the best singer but one of the best financial commentators in Parliament.

I think, most importantly, that when it comes to people who make our democracy possible, I want to thank the people of New Zealand—the people who, at the moment, are facing serious challenge. Even the Prime Minister accepted it. Terrible roads, rising prices, spiralling lawlessness—the overwhelming majority of New Zealanders now tell the pollsters this country is going in the wrong direction under this country, and I want to say to those people that we hear you. We understand those challenges.

We don’t just criticise the other side, who would like to say that it’s all someone else’s fault, but we actually propose a better way forward. That is our proposition to you in 2023—not just change, because we hear you and we know that you need change, but we are proposing real change. It’s not just the same old, but a New Zealand where, once again, people who wake up to make a difference in their own lives and a difference in the lives of those that they care about can actually achieve and make and build a better tomorrow, and not be beaten down endlessly for trying to make that difference. That is the promise of ACT and our team, of which I am so proud.

All that remains is to wish all of Parliament a very merry Christmas: those I agree with, those I disagree with, those who speak to me kindly, and those who don’t. At the end of the day, there is something enormously Kiwi about the intimacy and proximity of our politics—the fact that we are ultimately all New Zealanders who put aside all personal and private interests to make sure that this great liberal, democratic, First World nation in an Island paradise has a future. To all of those people who come to work towards that dream, I wish you a very merry Christmas, time and sun with your family and friends, and all the best of luck for 2023. Thank you, Mr Speaker.

DEBBIE NGAREWA-PACKER (Co-Leader—Te Paati Māori): Tēnā koe e te Māngai. Is it wrong that all I heard David talk about was the intimacy of Santa’s big sack?

Anyway, as we prepare to rise and go off into the sunset; to unplug; get some sleep; pat our partners, hug our dogs—or the other way around, I’m so tired I can’t remember; have mornings where we don’t have to listen to each other on the news—or worse, check out what Rawiri has just said on the news; first, I’d like to mihi to all my colleagues and their whānau.

I know you all work crazy hours and are usually committed to your communities. I see your children in here late at night—especially your newborns—your partners dropping off kai, your red-eye flights, being at kaupapa through the weekends and recess, putting your vulnerabilities into your debates, bringing your reo, your whakapapa, and growing your mātauranga Maori, your partners scrutinised—some whose partners I even reported missing.

While we can be poles apart in our policies, there is no doubt I have the privilege to be in a House full of people who truly care to serve. Our subtle changes we see being made daily, such as wearing Air Jordans and taonga instead of our ties. But how we dress is not just a fashion statement. People need to be able to see themselves reflected in their leaders, regardless of our class or culture. And I want to give a special mihi to our Speaker, Adrian Rurawhe, who wears his korowai daily, normalising our culture in the highest seat of Parliament, showing our mokopuna that they too, belong in this House. Sometimes, people forget we are human, that we are mothers, nans, fathers, papas, aunties, uncles—all of them if you’re Rawiri—and that there were times this year when we needed to look after each other, and look after each other for misinformation extremism, and I hope both Rawiri and I showed manaaki and aroha when it was needed most.

I want to also take a moment to reflect on what made the headlines. No, not bottom feeders or garages in South Auckland—although that could have been it—but New Zealand considers changing its name to Aotearoa to confront its past. The tired versus the vibe. The rise and rise of the Māori Party; kingmaking Māori Party who want to divorce the Crown—I don’t quite know how that came on. Rawiri Waititi becomes Deputy Prime Minister—I made that one up.

But, seriously, there are real headlines and I think one thing that is a privilege of being an MP, that I love about this place, is being reminded that politicians are not the be-all and end-all. Meditation teaches us that change starts within, but actually in Parliament, change comes from outside. And it must continue to come from outside, because it is those people who got us here and those who must keep us focused on kaupapa.

We must use these platforms to amplify the marginalised voices, to bring to rise the ones who write, who submit, who march, who protest, who lobby for change. So I actually want to spend the next five to six minutes celebrating those champions of change—those who hold us accountable, those who ring me at 5 a.m., 10 p.m., midnight, and those who I’m sure many of you know because most of the advocates out here are people who talk to us all.

So Whānau Ora. Over 30 Whānau Ora partners across 16 collectives delivered 240,000 Whānau Ora packs to 138,000 whānau—more than 400,000 individuals—covering more than 10 percent of the North Island. This included servicing and looking after Māori and non-Māori. And hauora, such as Te Rōpū Whakakaupapa Urutā, who advocated for Māori communities to be supported when our public health system actually ignored them.

To those that we’ve seen within our Patient Voice Aotearoa, a small group who take on the large Goliaths—the Pharmacs—advocating for life-saving drugs, for those such as we met this afternoon, young Harper, James, Brianna, those who we actually agreed with and worked really hard to make sure that we don’t see our children’s health declining while the world around them gets access to treatments they can’t get.

To justice advocates like JustSpeak to those fighting to protect our ocean, to ban seabed mining, Ngāti Ruanui, Ngā Rauru, fisheries, Pacific parliamentarians, Kiwis Against Seabed Mining, Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, Pacific Parliamentarians’ Alliance on Deep Sea Mining, Greenpeace, Child Poverty Action Group, Auckland Action Against Poverty.

And to our kīngitanga, to our National Iwi Chairs Forum. For those who have advisers such as the recently passed Tā Toby Curtis, for those in the Resource Management Act space like Dayle Takitimu, Tina Porou in the Waitangi Tribunal.

To our kapa haka leaders and those that we saw in Te Matatini who continue to spearhead and advise us to fight—Kiritapu, are you listening?—to increase the funding for Te Matatini. Those are all important kaupapa that come across all our thresholds.

Māori musicians like Stan Walker, Rob Ruha, Kāhui Rangatahi group, Ria Hall—all who fought to increase funding for musicians when COVID-cancelled events affected their ability to survive and thrive. To Māori artists, activists, creators, writers, orators, historians, the Tāme Iti who are forced to write, “I will not speak Māori” on the blackboard for their reo to be championed 50 years later. Hori artists, the talent and grace whānau.

To our tūpuna who navigated the stars for their knowledge to be recognised as a public holiday this year. To every petition that has come across the front steps, like pō Ngā Tamatoa, who championed our reo and mana motuhake to be recognised 50 years later. These are some of the true champions, activists, and politicians, and I mihi to them all so that we can remember—as we go and celebrate the year that was—how we got to be here in this place.

There are some things I do want to leave. I’m not going to sing a song. I really am impressed with some of the talent that I keep coming across here. But I would like to depart you all with a Christmas gift from Te Paati Māori, and the greatest gift a political party can possibly receive from Te Paati Māori is a compliment.

So to our Green Party, thank you for being our proxy in Parliament. Thank you for casting our votes even if you didn’t agree with them. Our apologies for turning down to vote when we didn’t tell you that we were voting. Thank you for supporting my seabed mining bill. But most importantly, thank you for being bold.

To our ACT Party, thank you for giving people reasons to vote for us and for amplifying our voices, especially in your party’s campaign to collect donations to keep us out of Parliament. But seriously, thank you for your solidarity that you have shown in Oranga Tamariki and holding Pharmac to account.

To National—where are you?—thank you for inspiring my TikTok content. It’s actually been great to be able to have something to keep TikTok-ing to. Seriously though, my last video about you, Chris, got me banned, so I’m not quite sure if I’m going to get back in. But I also have to join in congratulating you for having the same leader for the same year. So that’s a good thing for you. And also I’m happy to share parties and gift Rawiri’s garage, should you need to have that experience.

To Labour, thank you for adopting our policies—you know we’re going to say this every year. Matariki, Māori Health Authority, just to name a few. But seriously, thank you for backing kaupapa Māori to advance our cause. And the gift to our Speaker—and I think you’re going to be so excited to hear this one—Rawiri has had a year of not being kicked out of the House, and I cannot think of a better gift to give you.

I send huge aroha to our teams, and they are our teams that are upstairs. They watch TV hoping that we don’t do a Willie Jackson and talk out of line. They move to the side when the school bell rings, they do late nights, they text furiously when they tell us that we’re actually live when Rawiri’s son is telling everyone he’s in his undies. But I do mihi to you all that help us to be here. Like those champions of change, you are just as important as everyone else. And I don’t know that we ever tell you how important and valued you are.

My favourite memories for the year: one of them is at the kīngitanga and the koroneihana watching that same son who told everybody that his father was in his undies ditch us to go across the ātea and sit on the lap of the Prime Minister for a photoshoot. We are not sure whose team he’s in—we are on one team.

But also probably the most heart-warming memory that I have for this year is sitting upstairs and watching the cross-party youth MPs in this House all mihi te reo Māori and refer to honouring Te Tiriti. That’s our future.

So in the āhuatanga or tā tātou tūpuna, I hope you all rest up. I hope that you all get time and the gift of time to be with your whānau, to be able to reflect on the year, and to get ready for next year—because there’s quite a high likelihood that there’ll be more of Rawiri Waititi in 2023.

So we look forward to working with you all the next year and I’ve got a surfboard with my name on it, so do not get in my way—I am so out of shape. So ngā mihi aroha ki a koutou katoa.

SPEAKER: Members, this is a split call. I call Chris Penk—five minutes.

CHRIS PENK (National—Kaipara ki Mahurangi): Thank you very much, Mr Speaker, and good afternoon to you all. I’d like to start by thanking those who have done most to make likely National’s election next year: Christopher Luxon, Nicola Willis, all of the National caucus in fact, and most of Labour’s Cabinet.

It’s been a hard year for many in this country. Doing their best to ensure Labour remain on track is an army of spin doctors, even as the number of actual doctors and the actual army get smaller and smaller. But I do want to acknowledge, actually, on a serious note, the men and women of the New Zealand Defence Force; along with police; Surf Life Saving New Zealand; St John Ambulance; firefighters, professional and volunteer alike; Coastguard; and all those others who help to keep Kiwis safe, including over the summer that we are all, hopefully, about to enjoy.

The lessons that we can learn on this side of the House from the performance of the Labour Government, these five years of failure, as we say, date back to the nine long years that they spent in Opposition—I don’t think spent very well. They were a dog chasing the car, and now it’s dogma chasing karma as the ideological chickens come home to roost.

The laws that have fared best in this place haven’t been those passed by the Government but Murphy’s law, as everything that could have gone wrong has indeed gone wrong. I think particularly, of their claim that inflation would be transitory. We were assured by the Minister of Finance that is was caused by the war in Ukraine but also that it was transitory, making us wonder how he could possibly have known that. It turned out he didn’t. In echoing Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s maxim that the only thing we need fear is fear itself, the only thing that proved transitory about inflation was Grant Robertson’s claim that inflation was transitory.

We’ve heard much, particularly from our colleague and friend Melissa Lee, about a certain merger due to take place. She’s been asking diligently all year why TVNZ and RNZ should be merged. As she has continued to ask that question and it has continued not to be answered, we grow used to the idea of a different merger taking place late next year, the new entity to be known as the left-wing Opposition. While the Government’s focused its attention on anti-competitive practices, it seems determined to make the election more competitive, and we thank them for that.

I’m at the halfway mark and I’ve got a lot of people to thank so I’ll move on quickly. I was going to say something about pot holes, but if anyone wants to hear my line on pot holes, I’ll fill them in later.

I will conclude, however, with—

Simeon Brown: That’s the pot hole of the week.

CHRIS PENK: —remarks—pot hole of the week, there we go. I thought very deeply about that.

I do want to thank everyone in Parliament; others, from the Prime Minister to the Leader of the Opposition onwards, have done so. It’s right to thank the cleaners; the House staff; security; buildings, as they’re known; IT; and all those others who support our endeavours in this place—you are important in allowing our democracy to function at least as well as it does. I want to thank—again, as others have done—the staff who work for our members of Parliament, the electorate and community offices no less so, you are part of Parliament, notwithstanding that you are spread across the country, of course. I’ll ask the House to indulge me by mentioning by name Cheryl, Emily, Mel, Jo, and Louis being those who I’ve worked with most closely myself. They will understand, even if no one else does, when I say that this place isn’t perfect but very often it is utopia—good show that, Utopia, by the way, I recommend binge watching that over summer.

To whips and musterers from other parties, I say thank you very much for the opportunity to work with you. To each of those people, I have greatly enjoyed that, I’ve learnt a lot about the institution of Parliament as well as a lot about the way that parties can work behind the scenes—we keep it as well-guarded a secret as possible from the public that politicians can get on behind the scenes and actually commit to making the place work as well, as it’s in the Opposition’s interest to allow it to work at least.

I also want to thank the staff and also the members of the Regulations Review Committee. Again, on a somewhat personal note, I had the privilege of serving on that important body. I think it performs a hugely important constitutional function. I also look forward to the ongoing work of the Standing Orders Committee. I think next year it would be great to have MPs around the House continue to commit to making this place the best place that it can be on behalf of the people of New Zealand.

I want to thank you, Mr Speaker, and the Office of the Clerk and all those wonderful people who work in it and for it and, therefore, for New Zealanders. You have, as others have remarked, restored great mana to and dignity the role, and we thank you for it. We wish you and all other MPs, indeed, all New Zealanders, a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

Hon LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupō): Mr Speaker, I want to start with acknowledgments to you as the Speaker, and just remark on how incredibly different the tone of this place is with you sitting in that Chair, and, on a personal note, say how fantastic it was to promote the South Waikato as MPs for the district earlier this year.

In this adjournment debate, it’s very easy to talk about promises not kept, like the 100,000 KiwiBuild homes—what are we at, 1,600?—the 100,000 children that were meant to be lifted out of poverty—and, actually, the number has gone up; the protests that are unlike anything New Zealand has seen. I could talk about all of the things and areas in which New Zealand is going backwards under this Government, but, actually, I think Christopher Luxon did an incredible job of laying out those areas.

So, instead, I want to focus on the areas that should unite us rather than divide us, because if anything stands out for 2022, it has been a year of divisions—fractures in our country, fractures in our communities, fractures in our families—that I think have been incredibly distressing for many, not only in this House but across our land. And I don’t think we could have a day without acknowledging the hurt and anguish that has come from those times. So I think, instead, I want to just challenge this House to think about how we can lead better, how we can unite better, how we can learn and lead the way for others.

I think one of the things that has not been something we should be proud of is the significant way that this House has resorted to playing the man and not the ball, and I don’t think that is a good measure of our democracy. We sat here in this House at 8 o’clock this morning joined by a speaker, a leader of a country that is embroiled in the fight of its life, literally. We should be reflecting on what democracy is all about, so petty politics, playing the man and not the ball, I don’t think does us any service.

Instead, if you think about what happened in Parliament last night—Harmony in the House, the many parliamentary sports that we engage in together, the cross-party groups, the friendship groups, the international visitors, the international visits that many go on—those are the parts of our Parliament that I wish more New Zealanders could see, because that is the functioning of a strong democracy and we must do everything possible to protect it.

I think it also speaks to the unique situation we have at the moment of a majority party in Government for the first time ever. I think that raises the bar and the expectations about the role of Labour in protecting our democracy as we go into the election next year. I would suggest that we should be collectively lifting the bar, and I challenge Labour to make sure it is a fair fight, because New Zealanders deserve that. So my challenge is that we play the ball and not the man next year, and we focus on protecting our democracy and focus on the people that we all individually serve, because every single one in this House came to serve the people of New Zealand. We couldn’t do it without all of the people in this building—all of our staff in the electorate offices, and, as others have mentioned, actually the volunteers in the political parties that we are all respectively part of. We can’t serve anyone without the support of those people and the families, who miss out on many occasions because we are serving our community and our country.

I want to finish by saying the cost of living crisis hurts real people, so I want to finish with a heartfelt thankyou to all of the people who are at the front line of social services, whether they work in public agencies, Government departments, or whether they work in the community, because they are the people that will be dealing with the New Zealanders who are hurt the most and challenged the most by this cost of living crisis. So I do wish everyone in this House a merry Christmas and a happy New Year, and I look forward to a challenging 2023, but a fair fight, as we go into election 2023.

Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the House): Mr Speaker, as I rise as the penultimate speaker in the adjournment debate for 2022 I’m reminded of the words of my good friend and colleague, Aupito William Sio, who says, “When you can smell the pork, keep it short.” So, Mr Speaker, I will endeavour to do just that.

This time last year I reflected on the year that had been 2021 and predicted that 2022 would be a better year for New Zealand than 2021 had been. This year I will make no such predictions, having learnt from my experience of last year. It is useful, though, to remember where we were this time last year as a country. Aucklanders were looking forward to the freedom of having the Auckland boundary removed. The international border was still closed and we were all looking forward to seeing it reopened. Our COVID-19 vaccination drive was continuing, this time with a focus on boosters, and Delta was still the dominant variant of COVID-19 circulating only in one part of the country at that point. A year can feel like a very long time when we reflect on where we were this time last year. COVID-19 is now with us, circulating in the community and it will continue to do so. Omicron replaced Delta early in the new year as the dominant variant. The border is now fully reopened and we are welcoming people back to New Zealand.

Importantly, I want to reflect on a few key successes from our COVID-19 response. New Zealand continues to have one of the lowest case mortality rates from COVID-19 in the world. That was not an achievement of the Government. It was not an achievement of the health system. It was an achievement of all New Zealanders, and we should acknowledge everyone who made a sacrifice in order for that to be the case. New Zealanders literally saved lives through the pandemic, like very few other countries did, and all New Zealanders played a role in that.

In fact, it’s not just COVID-19. New Zealand overall, in the last three years, during the global pandemic, has had a lower mortality rate than we have had in pre - COVID-19 times, and, again, that is a tribute to New Zealanders and what they have done. While we started 2022 with COVID-19 firmly in the minds of all New Zealanders, that is certainly not the way we are ending the year. I think that New Zealanders by the middle of the year were well and truly over the global pandemic, and that is very, very understandable.

Our economy remains very resilient despite the global effect that COVID-19 has had. We have very low unemployment—people are in work—and in the global pandemic it could easily have gone the other way. We have low Government debt—certainly lower than most of the other countries that we compare ourselves to. Government spending as a percentage of GDP is more or less back to the level that it was when we became the Government.

The Government is returning to surplus faster than last Government did after the global financial crisis. Wages continue to increase. But we do as a Government acknowledge the effect that global inflation is having on New Zealand families. In that regard we’ve boosted Working for Families helping 346,000 New Zealand families in the process. We’ve boosted superannuation to ensure that older New Zealanders can weather the storm. We deliver on a weekly basis over 1 million free school lunches every week in our schools that are helping families to get through and ensuring that kids don’t miss out on their valuable learning opportunities.

We’ve eased the pain at the pump through reductions in fuel excise. We’ve boosted student allowances. We have started the difficult job of tackling the lack of competition in our grocery market. It is not acceptable that grocery companies are profiting over a million dollars a day in excess profits and that is something that New Zealanders shouldn’t have to tolerate. We’ve backed low-paid workers, including boosting the minimum wage, and in targeted areas—for example, bus drivers to name just one area. We’ve supported a million Kiwis with the winter energy payment and we’ve rolled out the cost of living payment. Our Government is absolutely committed to supporting New Zealanders through the difficult economic cycle we are at the moment.

As the Minister of Education, I want to take a moment to reflect on the contribution of our education system and the difficulties that they have encountered this year. And I particularly want to start by thanking the parents of children who did the right thing and kept their children home when they had COVID-19 or when there were people in their household who were being asked to isolate. They followed the rules. And while there are some in this House who would now attack them for doing that, I think they did the right thing and we should all thank them for doing so.

The impact of COVID 19 on our education system this year has been immense. I’ve spoken to countless teachers, head teachers, principals, and other leaders who say they wake up in the morning many days and they count. They count the number of kids who are going to be coming and they count the number of staff that they’ve got available, and they try and make those two things match up. I acknowledge the pressure that has placed them under. And so I want to thank them for their ongoing resilience and their perseverance.

We’ve continued our record investment in school property to make sure that we are giving our learners and our teachers the types of learning conditions that they deserve. We’ve got record numbers of people in apprenticeships across the country. We’re rebuilding our international education system, and we are working on ensuring we have enough teachers in our classroom.

In terms of police, we are on track to deliver 1,800 extra police on the beat, and we’re backing the police to tackle gang crime and to deal with the recent surge in youth offending.

It’s been a busy year for Parliament, We have sat on 89 calendar days, which represents 85 sitting days in the parliamentary calendar, and we have sent for 443 normal sitting hours, 63 extended-sitting hours, and 62 hours under urgency—a total of 569 hours and 37 minutes that we have been sitting in the Chamber.

The Government’s introduced 75 bills and passed 74 bills. In terms of members’ bills, 14 have been introduced, 20 were voted down, and eight were passed. Two local bills were introduced and two were passed. Three private bills were introduced and one was passed. Ministers answered 981 oral questions, and there were seven questions to members. Ministers have also answered 47,004 written questions so far, the second highest year on record.

On a personal note, I want to reflect that this year ends very differently for me than last year. I’m about 10 kilos lighter. I’m pleased everybody noticed. I finally had to succumb to some of the pressures of middle age and get some reading glasses so that I could actually see what it is that I am reading. But I am looking forward to my first proper summer holiday in three years. I can promise there will be no press conferences walking out of the bush this year. My Christmas resolution is to create no memorable content for the next three or four weeks.

A year is a very long time in politics, and I reflect back to the end of 2019, the last time we ended Parliament the year before a general election. The National Opposition may like to recall that at that point Simon Bridges was practically measuring up the drapes for Premier House, such was the gap in polling between Labour and National at that point. A year is a very long time in politics, and I can promise the Opposition one thing: they will find a Government next year very, very focussed, very committed to delivering for New Zealanders, and very committed to a vigorous election campaign, one that is a campaign of ideas, one in which facts matter an awful lot. We are looking forward to the campaign.

To the members of the press gallery, I certainly look forward to the ongoing engagement that we have next year. I’m certainly looking forward to the engagement we’re going to have in a few moments, and I want to thank them for the ongoing work that they do, those of them that are left up there, to protect our democracy and ensure that New Zealanders are informed about the work that we do.

Finally, I want to wish members right the way across the House a very merry Christmas. I do hope that everyone across the House has a very enjoyable summer holiday period. It is actually—and I take all politics aside from this—one of the times of the year where members of Parliament, regardless of what party they are from, can actually go and have a holiday and have a genuine break without people coming up to them and saying, “Are you having a day off?” Enjoy it. No matter which party you are in, enjoy the fact that this is the time of year we can actually have a decent break. I hope people make the most of it and I am looking forward to 2023.

SPEAKER: Kāti rā, tēnā rā tātou katoa. E tika ana kia tū ake kia whakahokia te reo mihi ka tuku mai ki ahau i roto i tōku tūranga o tēnei Whare, nō reira ka mihi atu ki a koutou.

[Well then, greetings one and all. It is appropriate that I stand and reply to the kind words expressed concerning me in my role in this House, so thank you to you all.]

I’m going to have a very short speech. What I’d like to do is acknowledge everyone that has said some fairly kind things to me in the position that I hold—thank you very much. I do want to thank all of the party leaders and whips for their cooperation in the time that I’ve been Speaker; it’s been much appreciated. In particular, the members of the Business Committee—I want to acknowledge them.

The Office of the Speaker has a very close relationship with the Office of the Clerk, and it’s really important that I acknowledge all of the staff in the Office of the Clerk: from committee clerks—all of the staff that do a lot of things that quite frankly make the Speaker look good, and so I’d like to acknowledge that. One member of the Office of the Clerk, though, I will mention, is the Speaker’s Assistant, Mr Roland Todd—an institution of knowledge for a new Speaker coming into the role, an extraordinary amount of institutional knowledge of the role of Speaker, and he was very kind to share that with me, so I’d like to thank him.

I’d like to thank all of my staff in the Office of the Speaker and my electorate office, and thank—as all speakers today have thanked—all of the employees that make this place a better place for us to work. And so I’ll leave it there.

Nō reira, taku mihi atu anō ki a tātou i runga i te tukunga iho o rātou mā te wāhi ngaro, Matua, Tama, Wairua Tapu me ngā Anahera Pono, Māngai e tautoko mai āia nei āke nei, āe.

[My thanks once again to one and all, under the guidance from above, from the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Faithful Angels, and the Mouthpiece, who uphold us now and for evermore.]

Motion agreed to.

SPEAKER (Rt Hon Adrian Rurawhe): The House stands adjourned until 2 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February, 2023.

The House adjourned at 5.02 p.m.