Upston LouiseHon LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupō): As we gather in Parliament for the first day of the sitting in 2022 as tradition has it we listen to the Prime Minister of the day's statement and we will debate this for 13 hours. So what did we hear today? Well actually another year another list of hollow statements and empty promises—feels a bit like Groundhog Day actually for those of us who've been here before. We had the year of delivery. Can anyone actually remember anything that was delivered? Then of course we had last year which was heralded as the year of the vaccine. And how did that go? So you know on this side of the House we acknowledge that in the first year of the COVID outbreak the Government did a good job. But to take credit for outstanding results last year is quite frankly appalling. I want to use the words of the Prime Minister's own speech to challenge that: New Zealand enters a third challenging year confronting the global pandemic better prepared than many other countries". Really? Sixty-eight billion dollars of additional spending higher levels of debt—but it won't be those of us sitting around the Chamber today that have to worry about it; it's our children and grandchildren that will bear the price for that. The highest spend per capita than any other country and are New Zealanders feeling better off? No they're not. And the words in here: "to chart a path through the disruption and beyond into the recovery"—well I thought the Minister of Finance had already started spending the billions of dollars for the recovery. No one out there feels better off and that's actually how people measure it. So what's it going to be this year? Is it going to be the year of central command and control? Is it going to be the year of spin and self-congratulations? Or perhaps the year of an alternate reality? The Prime Minister talks about preparing for winter. I think for the Labour Government it will be a very long winter a winter of discontent and a winter that never ends as the chills of public frustration at the decisions they are making come to roost. Because the reality is when the Prime Minister talks about the fact that the last two years have tested New Zealanders in ways we have not seen for many decades they've been tested Prime Minister because of the very decisions you have made or the decisions you haven't made the plans you haven't made the actions that weren't in place fast enough. So the damage has been done and much of that damage could have been avoided. I think about the families in my electorate. I think about the businesses in hospitality in tourism and events that are absolutely decimated because of the decisions and the lack of planning and preparation by this Government. But no we sit here on a happy sunny day in February and hear the Prime Minister spread out some more empty promises some more empty ideas of how wonderful it is right now. It is so far from many New Zealanders' reality it is a joke. So I invite the Prime Minister to actually get amongst and listen to the people she represents. I was talking to one of her constituents the other day who said "How do I get to go and meet my MP? How do I raise an issue with my MP?" And they can't. Well they should have every same access to her as an MP that any other member of the public does. But let's have a look at what this four years of failure—four years of failure—of a Labour Government has done to people. What has that meant in the area of social policy? Well unfortunately I agree with the former ACT speaker about the fact that many New Zealand families are struggling each and every day. We talk about the increase in petrol prices to $3 a litre. That's a massive increase for households who are already struggling. The increase of $125 a week in rent—well where does that come from? When the Consumers Price Index is nearly twice what the wage inflation is that means New Zealand households have got less to spend in real terms. So yep Prime Minister when you talk about the last two years testing New Zealanders well I actually think under your decisions and the decisions this Government's making more New Zealand families more individuals will be tested further in the weeks months and years ahead. There's nothing kind. There's nothing caring or compassionate about many of the decisions that have been made under her watch and invariably over the summer you have all of the barbecue conversations and the resounding comment has been that New Zealanders hate how divided we have become. And they never thought they would see a country with that level of division. Well on this side of the House actually we see greater opportunities for people and one of the opportunities comes through work and our leader Christopher Luxon clearly stated that in his response to the Prime Minister's statement. Labour will crow about the fact that there are record numbers of New Zealanders moving off a main benefit. Guess what? There are record numbers going on. There are 90000 more on benefit than there were four years ago. That's four years of failure for those individuals and their families. And what's worse we've seen a dramatic increase in the length of time that people are staying on benefit. So for the jobseeker benefit previously called the dole there's been a 59 percent increase in the number of people who are on it for more than a year at the very same time we have record levels of unemployment—something doesn't add up—and at the very same time that just about every second business you walk past whether it's a supermarket whether it's a manufacturing plant is advertising for jobs with posters. Go through the Hawke's Bay as I did with the leader a couple of weeks ago. It was astounding—quite shocking in fact—just how many signs there were with businesses desperate for workers. So it doesn't add up Prime Minister. It's clearly a failure of the welfare system to have a 59 percent increase in the number of people on the jobseeker benefit who've been stuck there for more than a year. Because the sad hard facts are the longer you are on a benefit and disconnected from employment the harder it is to connect. Oh so then of course we come out with this wonderful thing called social insurance. Guess what? The best thing that people can do is get back to work as quickly as possible after losing one. We've seen economists already saying this is Labour who have an intent to spend another $3 billion or $4 billion. And what do they get as an outcome? Not much—not much. People are saying "Oh well actually in between jobs I could just have a bit of a holiday. I could have a bit of a break." because that's what you can do if you're getting 80 percent of what you would have been earning previously. Oh but actually who pays for it? The very same hard-working family that is already struggling to meet the costs day to day week to week because it's going to be an extra tax on them. So I thought the Prime Minister promised no new taxes. Well this is clearly a tax. It's a job tax at the very time households can't afford it. The Prime Minister also talked about New Zealanders that have been tested. Well there's a particular group that has seen no kindness or caring from her and that is superannuitants who have been stuck overseas and can't get a managed isolation and quarantine slot. Not only have they had their pension cut they're now getting bills to pay that back—$10000 $12000 $18000 in debt to the Ministry of Social Development when as the National Opposition we offered them the solution months ago. We offered them the solution requested that exemptions be granted but no the Government refused to support superannuitants who through no fault of their own have been stuck overseas and the Government want to cut them off. That's not kind or caring.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): Rino Tirikatene—five minutes."