Little AndrewANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition): I move That all the words after That" be deleted and replaced with "this House expresses no confidence in this National-led Government because it is out of ideas and out of touch on the housing crisis because it has cut the health services New Zealanders rely on because it has underfunded education and undermined our children's futures and because New Zealanders are crying out for a leader who will stand up for Kiwi values."Suddenly I am looking forward to this general election campaign way more than I was a wee while ago. This is going to be a fantastic year. I begin by acknowledging you Mr Speaker and all my colleagues and by saying "Welcome back" after what was called in the Prime Minister's adjournment speech the summer recess. He cannot keep even that promise.So we have turned up here now and we turn up in the wake of our national day Waitangi Day. How significant that the first debate in Parliament should come after that day when we have so much to celebrate as a nation in terms of our values—the values that have forged who we are forged our identity as a people. This is a nation built on a covenant based on mutual respect and understanding on national unity on openness and on shared prosperity because that is who we are. That is New Zealand—a new nation whose newest settlers at the time of its founding came here for a better life and to do things differently than in the countries they came from back home.For a long time we all know the Treaty did not live up to the promises made of it and the expectations people had of it. But in 2017 we have much to take pride in: a sense of reconciliation a sense of partial reinstatement and restoration and a renaissance of Te Reo and Māoritanga—a recognition of Māori as our unique and distinctive element. That is what yesterday was about in celebrations right across the country. I saw it for myself when I visited Sydney on Saturday and saw the Sydney Waitangi Festival—that Māori has gone international. I do not quite know what citizenship celebrations they were having in Santa Monica however but I am sure we will hear from our resident citizen there about how he has championed the cause of New Zealand. But right now—right now—New Zealanders are very proud of our values and who we are.But here is the thing. Here is the thing. We expect on our national day of celebration that our country's leaders will front up to the place that is the birthplace of our nation. But what we had was a leader who ran away—scared afraid. He was afraid of a little bit of controversy afraid of a little bit of argument afraid of a little bit of debate—because you see as a nation grows and develops no matter how young or old it is there are always points of debate and disagreement and argument. But right now we have a Prime Minister who is simply not up to engaging with New Zealanders on what we agree on and what we differ on—a Prime Minister who runs away from his own people. Well that ain't no leader. We might have a Prime Minister but we do not have a leader.Ever since the "sales and marketing division" resigned in December last year and has been replaced by the "chief financial officer" it has all gone downhill. We have had no vision and New Zealanders are fast running out of hope. In a world where division and hatred and exclusion are growing in currency we need to assert our values and what we stand for which is a country that talks about openness and engagement and mutual respect. That is the New Zealand spirit. That is the New Zealand spirit. And we should do that not just because that is what the Treaty embodied and gave us to do but because that is who we are as a people.That failure of leadership comes as no surprise because it did not start with the failure to turn up at a place where the Prime Minister might be confronted with people who disagree with him. It started with his failure to front up to people who are aggrieved because the promise that was made to them was breached—the Pike River families. At his first opportunity as Prime Minister to show leadership he failed to do it.He had another opportunity because the thing that New Zealanders are most worried about now is whether or not that Kiwi Dream of homeownership is going to be made real for the generation that is coming through. He could have fronted up to his best mate Nick Smith and said "Nick we might be good mates—nothing personal but you've fluffed it for so long it's time for you to go and I'll put someone else in who can do the job." but he would not even do that. He would not even do that. It is not leadership. It is not leadership if you cannot turn to your failing colleague and say: "Mate it's time to move on." He should have done that. He should have done that.When the Prime Minister's flagship announcement of a policy is something that Labour announced 6 months ago and is something directly contrary to what he signed off 9 months ago—that ain't no leadership. That is a failure of leadership.We all saw that in a time with a rising population and with rising crime freezing police numbers was a failure. That was a failure and Government members know it. They know it. They know he has failed. They know he got it wrong. He has failed. He has failed New Zealanders. To freeze police numbers when crime is going up and the population is going up and New Zealanders are crying out for safer communities—that is not leadership. That is yet another failure. That is yet another failure.Our nation faces great challenges. We face great challenges. There are 15000 more people unemployed today than there were at this time last year. There are 90000—90000—young people not in work education or training—Hon Annette King: It's gone up.ANDREW LITTLE: No hope—it has gone up; it was 70000 people this time last year. Households last year ran up an extra debt of $50 million a day. That is how households are getting by because wages are not good enough. Wages are not good enough and thousands of young New Zealanders are still not able to afford their first homes—not just in Auckland but around the country. There are 40000 people still homeless. School funding has been frozen class sizes are getting bigger and parents are having to dig deeper in their pockets. That is not a mark of success. National has had nearly 9 years in Government and that is what it has got to show for it. New Zealanders are demanding a change.There were 60000 people last year—60000 people last year alone—who went to their doctors were told they needed a specialist appointment at their hospital and could not get one. The hospitals told them: "We can't afford to fix you. We don't have the money. The funding has been cut." That is New Zealand today. That is the experience that too many New Zealanders have of their Government services today. It is wrong and it is going to stop in September this year.It is time to have a Government that works for all New Zealanders. That is the difference between Labour and National and it is time to make that change. It is time to have a genuinely comprehensive housing package for all New Zealanders so that once again young New Zealanders can genuinely hope to own their own homes—at the moment a forlorn hope for too many. We have got to get offshore speculators out of our market. We are not alone in that. Six other countries party to the agreement that used to be called the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement—they have got it but under that agreement we signed away our right to legislate for it. Now we have got it back. Now New Zealanders have the opportunity to seize the chance to do what is right for the next generations to pass that law that says that if you want to live overseas—whether in Santa Monica or otherwise—and own a house here then you have got to build a new house. What could be wrong with that? Give New Zealanders a chance. That is all we are saying. That is all we are saying.We will build more homes—100000 more houses over 10 years; half of them in Auckland because that is where the need is most desperate. Affordable homes homes of a range of different sizes and types—that is what New Zealanders need. That is what young New Zealanders are looking for. That is what their parents and their grandparents talk to me about. They talk to me now and they say that they cannot see how those generations coming after them can ever have the chance that they had which they expected when they worked hard and saved hard to own their own home. This Government has sat on its hands year after year after year for the last 8 years and done nothing and ignored the plaintive cries of New Zealanders and it is time to do something.I make no apology about being passionate about the future of young New Zealanders and wanting to do the best for them because they are sick and tired of a complacent smug out-of-touch Government that will just do nothing on the most important issue in New Zealand today. And it does not stop at housing. It does not stop at housing. We want to make sure that those people who have to rent have a decent chance of renting a safe warm dry home and have decent rights as renters because that is what they need now too. That is what they need now too.In education this Government is failing the next generation. It has frozen funding in schools—it somehow claims it is a good thing—and the schools are struggling. The schools are struggling to do the job that parents expect of them. You know we leave our kids in the charge of those schools. It is not too much to ask when we leave our kids at school that the principals and the teachers will have the resources they need to do the job. But they do not have them and it is getting harder. They cannot send the kids on field trips. They cannot put the gear in the classrooms as once upon a time they were able to do. Schools go to parents and say: "Listen you know we can do a little more here. We can look after your kids. We can put a bit more money in. You've got to dig deep though and we will run more cake stalls and we will run more raffles. We just need a little bit of extra help."Well I say this. I say that the Labour Party is the only party in the Commonwealth that has spent the last 2 years talking about the future of work and understanding that what it means is that what we do in education will define this country's future for the next several generations—and that is vital. Parents and grandparents around New Zealand want to know that they have got an education Minister who cares about their future and we have got an education Minister in waiting who has got every reason to care about that future because in 4½ years' time he is going to have a direct stake in it—because we want to see Charlie doing his best. We want to see Charlie doing his best and we want an education system that is going to be fit for Charlie.What this Government has done to the future generations of this country is nothing short of criminal. It is freezing funding when work work demands skill needs and technology are changing so rapidly that we need to be investing in schools education skills skills acquisition and people and young people as much as we can because that is what will give us opportunity in the future and that is what will give them a sense of security and hope for the future. But this Government has run it down and we know what the consequences of that will be: larger class sizes—you can see it happening now—and parents prevailed upon to give more and more and more. Well there is only so long you can bleed the hard-working parents of this country before you have actually got to admit that this Government got it wrong—it got it wrong.In the end it will come down to priorities. Which is the party that cares most about those things that build a foundation that give our people hope that give our people a chance? On housing and on education it is Labour.Look at health. There has been $1.7 billion cut out of the health budget. Do you know who is suffering? Do you know who pays the price for that? It is the 60000 people who go to their doctor and are told: "You need help. You need to go to the hospital. You need your colonoscopy to find out whether you've got bowel cancer. You need to get your hip done because you can't walk around much longer in that state you're going to put your back out." And what happens? Those 60000 New Zealanders last year turned up to their hospital and were told: "We can't see you. We can't see you because we can't afford to see you. We want to see you we'd like to help you but we are starved of funds. We're running a deficit and we can't do it anymore." That is what they are doing. That is what the hospitals are doing and the people paying the price are the New Zealanders who live in chronic pain and with chronic conditions and who cannot get the care they need. If is not them it is—in a country with the highest teen suicide rate in the developed world—the mental health services. They are the ones being starved as well. They are the ones being starved.We can do better. We can do better than that. We can look after our people. We can provide a foundation that gives families and people a sense of certainty and security that help will be there when they need it. Because that ain't there any more—that Government has taken it away. Oh Government members are very good at talking about how well they have done. They are very good at talking about their ambition and what they do for themselves and their mates but for hard-working New Zealanders right around the country—the people who want a school for their kids that can just do the job and prepare them for success for the future; the people who just want the healthcare that they need to stop their being in chronic pain—they do not care about them. They are being written off. They are just a cost saving.Well we can do better. We have a plan for all of that. After our housing plan where we give people a sense of security and certainty and hope for the future of those young generations—that they can live the Kiwi Dream—we will get to work on education so that we have an education system that is fit for purpose and will give our kids a chance of success for the future. Whether it is early childhood whether it is primary whether it is secondary or tertiary we will have our 3 years' free post-school education and training because that is what we have to do to make sure that we have got the skills for the future. Every business I talk to knows that and understands it and cannot wait any longer for it. That is why we will do it. These opportunities face us in September. These choices will face New Zealanders in September.In health we will start the long hard slow task of putting back together a health system that is there for people when they need it. For the elderly who cannot get their hip operations their knee operations their eye operations ophthalmology—they have got to get help as well. We are going to give it to those people. You see when they get that health treatment it does not just give them back quality of life; it means that they can do stuff and that they are not a burden on other parts of Government-funded services. It just makes sense. That is why its needs to be done and that is why the next Labour-led Government is going to do it. That is why we are committed to doing that—because it is about making a positive difference for all New Zealanders.In the end it comes down to this. What this country is crying out for after 8 years of not seeing much of it—any of it in the last 2 months—is a leader who cares about the people of this country and the chances and opportunities they have got. Right now we do not have that leader. We have had Punch and Judy we have had dog and pony shows and we have had all the entertainment but right now 8½ years of this Government have left 90000 young New Zealanders with no hope 60000 New Zealanders with no healthcare 40000 New Zealanders without even a roof over their head tens of thousands of New Zealanders on low incomes and one in five wage and salary earners now paying more than half their take-home pay to pay the rent or the mortgage. That is not success. That is not success and we can do better.A real leader gives all New Zealanders a sense of opportunity and a sense of hope. A real leader steps up to the hard questions steps up to the New Zealanders who just want to ask questions at places like Waitangi talks to people debates respects difference and respects disagreement but comes up with solutions that are about building a nation that is there for all people and draws upon the spirit of the Treaty of Waitangi which is about unity and mutual respect and building a nation of shared prosperity. We do not have that right now. Far too many New Zealanders are missing out wanting more and wanting better.Well this is their year. This is their year and so many of them have spoken to me over the holidays just over the last weekend. The Kiwis I met in Sydney explained to me why it is that they were there. There was the young family from Porirua who went there only 4 years ago. They went only 4 years ago and they said the job opportunity the level of pay the school for their kids—it was more than what they could have expected back here. That is the sad story. They did not say it with any glee. They did not say it with any happiness. They have had to leave whānau and friends behind. There was the truck driver who told me that his base level of pay for driving the same hours the same work with the same skills as in New Zealand—$40000 more there than he was getting here. That is the difference.We are a great country. We are a great people. That is why we celebrate the day we did yesterday in the way that we did. We are never afraid of hard decisions. We are never afraid of rising to the challenges. But as a country we get to do that only when we have a leader prepared to step up and stand up and speak up for the things that matter and the people who matter.September is fast approaching and New Zealanders will have a choice to make. Are we going to be that country that is prepared to rise to those challenges of the future? Are we prepared to pave the way and chart the course for the next generation? Are we prepared to have a leader who will do just that—engage with New Zealanders and restore their sense of hope again? That is the Labour Party. That is me. It is time for new leadership."