Goldsmith PaulHon PAUL GOLDSMITH (National): Thank you Mr Speaker for the opportunity to talk. Eighteen months roughly into this Government's second term we see a confused and scrambling Government everywhere we look. We hear on the one hand the Minister of Police saying there's not an issue with gangs in Auckland and then of course we hear from the local list MP in Auckland Central saying maybe there is a problem and she reflects I think the many backbench Labour MPs who are looking at the polls and figuring out where they're at. Mrs White knows that she's not going to be a list MP in 18 months' time the way things are going and maybe it's time to talk about the things that actually matter to the people in Auckland Central and one of the things that matters in Auckland Central is whether you feel safe walking around in the city and whether you feel safe from the massive increase in gang intimidation and crime. So she spoke the truth and no doubt has been told off.I'm sure we'll be getting similar statements from Vanushi Walters for example in Upper Hutt. She'll be working out that she won't be back in Parliament in 18 months' time and I fully expect that we'll hear about the problems with gangs up in Upper Hutt before too long. What about in the Hawke's Bay? Anna Lorck I'm sure will be doing the calculations and knows she's got no chance of winning Tukituki next year. She's got no chance of coming back on the list and so maybe it's time to sneak up on some of the people of Hawke's Bay and talk about the massive influence that gang intimidation is having down there.Then we've heard about the move to red. We can't get out of red in this country because the hospital system isn't ready yet. After two years of preparation and dealing with COVID we're still not ready. The problem of course that people are asking themselves is When will we ever be ready by that measure? When will we get back to normal?" When the winter comes on and we've got flu we'll be under pressure in the health system and we'll still be in red the way things are going. So I'm hoping to hear some sense of forward momentum.And then yesterday we had the scramble over the road-user charges. The Government comes in in a panic after the polls and reduces the petrol prices and then suddenly realises that it doesn't know what to do with diesel and comes back a few weeks later with a plan which is very slow very late and very confused. Instead of "ready aim fire" when it comes to their legislation and dealing with the issues that this country faces it's "fire" and then "ready" and then "aim" and that's what we've got with this Government.Then there's the inconsistency around tax. We hear the Minister of Finance going on about how terrible it is to have tax relief and how it is not focused or targeted and yet in the same breath he gives half-price public transport to everybody. I mean consider it: there will be people from Remuera there will be people from high-income parts of the city using this public transport. How targeted is that? I can't quite work out the system the logic behind the way they're thinking.Then we finally come to the fair pay agreements so-called introduced after four years of preparation from Michael Wood and two days after they introduce it they have to bring in a change because they've actually changed their mind because they didn't figure out how it's going to work and they're going to have a backstop because you've got to have two partners: an employee partner and an employer partner. The employer partner Business New Zealand told the Government to "Stuff off. We don't agree with it. We're not going to be playing your game." So they still introduced the bill and then two days later they have to change the bill they introduced.This is a Government that is confused and scrambling and everywhere New Zealanders look they see examples of waste from this Government. My colleague Simeon Brown just outlined the most obvious example: the Te Huia train. How much is it? It's $100 million they've spent on a train with a handful of passengers on a good day taking much longer to get to Auckland. Is it not possible that they could've used that money wisely and better to actually help people get around which is the purpose of transport policy—to help people get around quicker?Finally I come to the fair pay agreements. They're not about fair pay; they're about imposing mandatory union deals on Kiwi workplaces. That is exactly what they're about and the question is: will it make New Zealand's economy stronger? No because they will make it less agile less flexible at the very time New Zealand businesses and people that are providing the jobs and opportunities to New Zealanders need to be as agile as they can. Just look around the world and see what's going on—the changes the pressure the technology; everything is in a state of flux and this Government wants our workplaces to be less flexible and less agile to respond to that. It makes no sense and it will make us poorer if it ever carries on."