Simpson ScottHon SCOTT SIMPSON (National—Coromandel): Well if ever there was an example of the Government's non-delivery it's that Minister. He's been dancing on the head of a pin for weeks now—dancing on the head of a pin—trying to explain the woeful performance in terms of police recruitment numbers. What he never speaks about is of course the rate at which police officers are retiring or resigning from the force and it's the net numbers that are important. If there has been an example of incompetence and fumbling and bumbling that Minister represents that in this Government because that's the overall image that the New Zealand public see from this Government: a lack of focus a lack of direction and a lack of delivery. And two years into this Government as they come towards the end of their second year joining very soon their third and final year in office that focus hasn't changed. It's non-delivery non-performance and non-direction in terms of policy delivery. Business confidence keeps getting lower. Farmer confidence keeps getting lower. Delivery on things like environmental promises keeps not happening. That kind of inaction is only leading to massive uncertainty out there in voter land and out there in the real world. In my own electorate in the beautiful Coromandel electorate I was speaking only yesterday to a hard-working business owner who is literally at his wit's end. And I want to share this story with the House because I think it's worth telling. The Coromandel electorate is surrounded by the Hauraki Gulf and there are many hundreds if not thousands of people in my electorate that earn a living from the bounty of the Hauraki Gulf. One in particular is a business called Whangamata Seafoods. They've been operating since the 1970s. It's a family business. They catch fish and process scallops. They do that very effectively very efficiently very sustainably. In the height of the season they employ 40 people and they're busy right now. But the owner has been working this business for nearly 40 years and he's not getting any younger like the rest of us. He's now in his 60s and he wants to retire. He wants to sell the business but such is the uncertainty about the future direction of Government policy in relation to the Hauraki Gulf and their inaction on things like the spatial planning sea-change that the owner of Whangamata Seafoods finds that whenever a prospective buyer wants to come and have a look at his business they back off because they say under due diligence We can't be certain of the future of this business because there's no clarity there's no focus there's no direction about Government policy on what is to become of the Hauraki Gulf." They kicked the spatial plan the sea-change plan to—guess what!—a working group. So a decision on eventual plans for the Hauraki Gulf are another year or two away. Then we come to a much bigger business. Just today the Rio Tinto Aluminium smelter in Invercargill which employs a thousand people is telling the Government that the future of that smelter is uncertain. Why? It's because of lack of direction lack of certainty lack of clarity around Government policy and Government directions for business. So there is now serious talk about that smelter closing. That would be devastating for Southland and the surrounding district—a thousand jobs; to say nothing of the hundreds if not thousands of jobs that are provided by contractors and support and service people supporting that aluminium smelter. So we look at farmers—exactly the same situation: farming confidence low uncertainty around the direction of water quality policies uncertainty around the direction of the zero carbon bill uncertainty about what farmers can and can't do for the future. It's no wonder that farming confidence is at an all-time low. So what has this Government really got to do in the last 12 months or so—probably less—of its term in Government? Well they haven't learnt yet but they really do need to learn quickly that they need to deal with people rather than to people. They need to deal with business rather than dealing to business. Particularly they need to learn to deal with farmers who want to do the right thing who are capable of doing the right thing rather than dealing to them. This is a Government that is directionless rudderless has no focus no clarity and it's hurting New Zealanders. It's hurting hard-working New Zealanders every day of the week. The sooner they are put out of office the better."