Webb DuncanDr DUNCAN WEBB (Labour—Christchurch Central): Tēnā koe e Te Mana Whakawā. It's a real pleasure to speak today in this general debate and to really celebrate the great achievements that this Government has had over the past month. When I was thinking about and reflecting on them it fell quite nicely to think about what this Government has done for people from cradle to grave. Right from the moment people are born from when a young child is born this Government has taken steps which will look after them right through to their senior years.So if we think about it already right out of the gate so to speak this Government enhanced paid parental leave so that children could be with their parents for longer and those parents would have some financial support there as well. Best Start payments are about to begin—$60 a week for newborns up to two years old just to take an additional amount of that financial pressure off; another step that's really looking at those first two years. And of course in the Budget there was additional funding for midwives—midwives who had been left behind for years and years. So there you have it. In those first months and years that's what this Government has done.Then what about children? Well children as we know are a real focus for this Government and I'm very proud that the Prime Minister has taken on the portfolio for child poverty reduction. What we've done there is to increase access to up to 14 years for free GP visits. We've increased ORS learning support—the ongoing resourcing scheme. And I must say in St Peter's one of my own schools in my own electorate one of the things they have said time and again is that we need more special learning support for those students and also to take the pressure off so that better attention can be given to students who don't need special support but who need to have their teachers paying them ordinary attention. Extending the nurses in schools programme to decile 4 schools and of course an across-the-board increase for early childhood education. So children in preschool and in schools are being looked after by this Government and I really do celebrate that.Young people: well we know that we've got a fantastic fees-free first-year scheme for vocational training polytechs apprenticeships and other training as well. So we're getting people off to a good start so they're not going to be burdened with debt when they leave their tertiary education institution—and of course an increased student allowance and reviewing the eligibility for those students' allowances as well. So that's fantastic. So those young people—and then perhaps they move on and they have families.The Working for Families package is at the centre of what this Government is doing: increasing payments for the eldest child and children under 16; 26000 more families eligible That is absolutely fantastic. Accommodation supplement increases: this is addressing a package which has been languishing for years and needed an absolute review. Extending the community services card. And you know what? I'm really proud to say that we've done things for working young people as well. You know the previous speaker Erica Stanford proudly said that she got her start in life working in The Warehouse for $4.50 an hour. Well I say Good on her." But you know what? I don't want to be in a country where people when they make their way in life look back and say "I was being paid a paltry wage." I want everyone to be paid a decent wage and raising the minimum wage is a part of that—and also reinstating the tax credit the worker tax credit which the National Party would have done away with. That's something which working people on modest incomes get and deserve.And then for other New Zealanders—New Zealanders who are bang in the middle—we've done a whole lot. We've restarted contributions to the national super fund so that we'll be able to afford that into the future. We've moved to address the infrastructure deficit and have started to ensure that New Zealanders will be able to buy a home by banning foreign buyers and by starting KiwiBuild addressing supply and demand both at the same time.And seniors—right through to seniors: winter energy payment keeping our treasured senior people warm in winter and of course we've got the insulation subsidies off again for people in their own homes. We have done a fantastic job for New Zealanders at every stage of their life and I celebrate that here today.The debate having concluded the motion lapsed."