1. Question No. 1—Prime MinisterCHRISTOPHER LUXON (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime MinisterORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSQuestion No. 1—Prime Minister1. CHRISTOPHER LUXON (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all of his Government's statements and actions?Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Prime Minister): Yes in particular this Government's actions that mean from the end of this week around 1.4 million New Zealanders will have a bit more money in their pockets to help deal with the cost of living. While the measures that we've taken alone won't fix everything—and we've still got more work to do to bring down inflation and the cost of living—they will make a difference and right now I know that every little bit helps when it comes to making ends meet.Christopher Luxon: Does he agree with his new education Minister that no progress has been made lifting achievement for kids about to enter high school in the last five years and is this acceptable when half are below expectation in reading writing and maths?Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I reject that that's what the Minister of Education said. What we have done as a Government is remove national standards and replaced it with a system where progression and student progress can be better measured and reported to parents. That is a stark contrast with national standards which set our education system back. Christopher Luxon: Will he join National in committing to a target of 80 percent of year 8s being at or above curriculum by 2030?Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: The member can set all sorts of targets. The reality is—what we want to make sure—that students are making progress that that progress is visible to their parents and that our performance in these areas does improve. I would note that the primary measure that the member has been using—and many others have been using—are our results in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) which measure the results of our 15-year-olds when it comes to literacy and numeracy. Those 15-year-olds were at primary school during their formative years for literacy and numeracy while national standards were in place.Christopher Luxon: Why did he reject the Royal Society's recommendation to require primary and intermediate students to do at least an hour of maths each day?Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: Schools make decisions around how they structure the school learning day and actually I trust the judgment of teachers to create an environment that's stimulating for young people so that they are learning the curriculum that they need to. Christopher Luxon: If the status quo is so good why after five years of this Government did two-thirds of our year 10 students fail a basic writing reading and maths test?Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: That was a pilot test that was being put in place to test the new literacy and numeracy standards that this Government is putting in place because we're not satisfied that the literacy and numeracy requirements for the NCEA—that were put in place under the last Government—are actually resulting in our school leavers leaving school with the literacy and numeracy skills that they need.Christopher Luxon: Does he stand by his 2019 statement that the curriculum needs a stronger focus on wellbeing identity language and culture or does he now agree that the number one priority must be teaching the basics of maths reading and writing?Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: Unlike that member I don't think those two things are incompatible. I think if you create an environment where students want to be where their wellbeing is well catered for then they'll do better in those core areas of the curriculum. There is an abundance of evidence that will suggest that.Christopher Luxon: How do you spend $5 billion more and hire 1400 more staff and not improve the outcomes for reading writing or maths?Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I note that a significant proportion of that money has gone on salaries of teachers. I note that the Opposition seems to be saying we should be paying teachers more. Christopher Luxon: Does he agree it takes a very very special skill to spend more to hire more and yet deliver worse education outcomes?Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I completely reject the premise of the member's question. This Government is spending more; we are paying our teachers better—unlike the salary freeze that they experienced under the time of the last National Government. We are increasing the support that we've got in specialist learning areas where we know that young people have been left behind. I make no apology for putting more increases into learning support in the five years we've been in Government than the last Government did in the nine years that they were in Government. Some of our most vulnerable kids—that they chose to ignore—deserve the support that they've been getting under our Government. I also make no apology for the significant investment that we have made in cleaning up the infrastructure deficit in our education system that we inherited from his Government. SPEAKER: Question No. 2. Oh sorry supplementary—David Seymour. David Seymour: Thank you Mr Speaker. Does the Prime Minister stand by his earlier statement that his Government's policy is to raise pensions main benefits student allowances and the minimum wage by the rate of inflation this April Fool's Day and if so why?Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: Yes I do. I'm not sure whether April Fool's Day comes into it. Hon Kelvin Davis: He's exhibit A.David Seymour: Later. Is there an equivalent policy that will raise the incomes of roughly 2.8 million New Zealanders whose after-tax income is falling behind inflation because they get their money from an old-fashioned thing called working or are they the real April fools?Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: The member might want to look at the statistics around wage growth which shows that New Zealanders' wages continue to grow and in fact they've grown more quickly in the last couple of years than they have prior to that. We've got work to do to ensure that we're making work pay. I note that the measures that this Government has put in place to increase workers' wages have all been opposed by that member and his party.David Seymour: Is the Prime Minister aware then in light of what he just said that taxes paid by working people have risen faster than inflation and their after-tax income has fallen behind inflation in the last year; and if he doesn't know why not?Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: As I indicated workers' incomes have been growing under this Government. That is something that we are very proud of. And I note that the measures that we put in place that have helped that such as increasing the minimum wage such as improving the ability of workers to bargain to get better pay and the measures that we've taken to increase the pay of some of our most essential workers—like our teachers our nurses our doctors our police our firefighters—have all been opposed by that member and his party.David Seymour: Does the Prime Minister not understand that if people's after-tax incomes are growing slower than inflation then none of those policies have worked?Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I do accept that the inflationary environment that we are in at the moment is putting households under pressure. That's one of the reasons that I've made cost of living one of the central focuses of the work of this Government. We want to get inflation back down again. And one of the things—the only solution the Opposition parties National and ACT seem to be able to come up with has the potential to stoke inflation higher.David Seymour: What does it say that this Government's tax and benefit policies have made sure that working for a living is less rewarding while getting money transferred from other taxpayers via his Government has become more rewarding—in other words does he know why his party's called Labour?Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I completely reject the premise of the member's question. On this side of the House we are focused on making sure that people who work hard can get ahead.Christopher Luxon: If national standards are to blame why did the former Minister of Education Chris Hipkins say in this House—and does he stand by his statement still today—I don't think national standards are to blame for it. I don't think they fixed it but I don't think they are to blame for it."Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I say the member should read the whole quote."