Henare PeeniGENERAL DEBATEHon PEENI HENARE (Minister for ACC): I move That the House take note of miscellaneous business. To start my contribution today I want to say Up the Wahs!" As a true-blue Warriors fan and as a true league fan in this country what I know about league fans and what I know about Warriors fans is they've got a keen eye and they're super smart. They can tell a pretender amongst their midst. They know when there's a pretender saying a half-hearted "Up the Wahs".Warriors supporters are really sharp. Warriors are also sharp and I tell you what: they like every other Kiwi are sharp-minded and have a good hard look at who represents them in this House. I can tell them that what they hate being called is the "squeezed middle". What I actually know is that they are hard-working Kiwis; they are die-hard Warriors fans. They man our streets they work in our streets they work in our buildings they work for this country and they are not the "squeezed middle"; they are hard-working Kiwis.So these hard-working Kiwis always know when there's a pretender amongst their midst and I can tell you that these hard-working Kiwis are saying "Do National and ACT actually truly represent who I am?" "No!" is the answer and if they look across that other side and that other side keep calling them the "squeezed middle" they're saying "Hold on. I'm a hard-working Kiwi and I just want a fair go." So this side of the House and this Government has given them a fair go but we know that there's lots more work to be done.When it comes to the cost of living on that side of the House they continue to call them the "squeezed middle" while on this side of the House we call them "whānau". What we do to support them will make sure that they can push through the challenges that we have with the cost of living crisis. On this side of the House I can name a number of those—and there's so much more but I'm going to name some of them.Earlier this year we boosted our cost of living package by providing over 1.4 million New Zealanders with more support. These are big shifts that demonstrate Labour's commitment to supporting New Zealanders to supporting Kiwis. They don't like being called the "squeezed middle"; they are Kiwis that need our help and we are here to deliver for them. Over 1 million New Zealanders are receiving cost of living relief with the winter energy payment. On that side of the House they're prepared to scrap that. I can tell you our constituents are saying "This is awesome. We are warm during these cold winter days." What we know is that's at risk. We know that on that side of the House when it comes to the cost of living they might talk about the "squeezed middle" but they have never delivered for our people in this country.On this side of the House we've progressed matters such as making sure we lift the minimum wage. On that side of the House they didn't do that. In fact they went so far as to vote against a number of the provisions that this side has pushed to support Kiwi families right around the country. I'm really proud of the Minister of Finance and our Prime Minister. They've done a fantastic job to steer our economy through some very difficult times. Once again another credit agency continues to believe that our leadership and this Government's leadership through these hard times has proven to be the best leadership in the world—once again confirming our strong rating. I want to acknowledge both the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance to make sure that our Government books look good and we are able to continue to support our whānau.Another one of the important kaupapa that our people look towards is actually transport. We know that transport is important to get our country moving. What we have done is we have boosted our regional economies by upgrading roads rail bridges ports around the country making sure that we can support local economies.I want to be very clear: on the other side of the House we have had—over the years I've been in Parliament—ghost bridges. We've had promises of bridges. We've had plans that were never funded. Hot off the press: the latest National Party policy on transport is Mr Simeon Brown standing there with gumboots and a clean shovel. That is not going to deliver the outcomes our people need to fix the potholes in this country. We have a funded plan a well thought out plan that will continue to keep our country moving.In the last 30 seconds I want to briefly touch on education. Why? Because there is an amazing man in the gallery Dr Richard Benton who has led the revitalisation of te reo Māori and tikanga Māori across our education sector. What we've heard today in question time on that side of the House is they want to get rid of those things—the things that the likes of Dr Richard Benton and so many others have fought for in this country. Finally two final things. One "Up the Wahs!" and two "We're in it for you.""