Henare PeeniHon PEENI HENARE (Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector): Tēnā koe e Te Māngai o Te Whare. Tuatahi māku e tangi mōteatea ana te iwi Māori; te kahurangi Lady June Mead kua ngaro atu ki te pō. Ngā whakaaro nui ki a ia ā ko tana hoa me te whānau pani i tēnei wā. [Thank you Mr Speaker. Firstly for me the Māori people are grieving; the distinguished Lady June Mead has passed away. High regards to her and to her husband and the grieving family at this time.]First off I just wanted to pay our collective tribute to Lady June Mead who passed away in recent days. Not only a backbone for her great husband and academic Sir Hirini Moko Mead but also an educationalist in her own right—a wahine toa who raised her family and indeed a community to stand up for what is right to represent Māoridom within the education system. I want to express our condolences to the family today. It was interesting when we heard the debate from across the other side of the House and we listened to the Leader of the Opposition who talked about a boat. He said that this side of the House is slowing the boat down and when they were in charge the boat was going really fast. I'm always reminded of the viral YouTube clip of seven individuals in a speedboat all of a sudden coming to a crashing halt. Now if you haven't seen it simply YouTube it and you will find it there because it reminds me of what happened when they were in control. When that side of the House was in control of the Government purse strings what happened? Sure they celebrated what they termed a rock star economy. What we've seen in our time in Government was that actually there was a festering social issue here in this country and it certainly was more was pertinent to the inequities that are realised in our communities the inequities that are realised in our society and on this side of the House we want to address those first and foremost. For what is the point of a productive economy without a productive nation or a productive people? If we want to sit with regarding issues to mental health and to many of the inequities in our community then we would have continued to travel on the path that the National Government took us upon. But we've picked up the challenge one that deals with the serious issues—the festering issues as my colleague has mentioned—that have been ignored for far too long. In a more positive light—in recent times the lifting of the minimum wage. Now as Minister for Youth this is important. Why? Because our young people right up and down this country are looking for opportunities not just in education but in employment. They didn't feel valued in the work that they did. They felt that they were being taken advantage of. Now we have a pathway that actually says We value the work that you do in your community and for yourself and for your family and for your future prosperity." We want to lift the minimum wage to make sure that those who are working are paid fairly. Now Mr Bridges he mentioned that we don't believe in fair pay. Well if ever there was a signal that we do believe in fair pay it is that we have a plan to continue to lift the minimum wage in this country whereby people can live successful lives can live lives of purpose and meaning and I think that's only fair. As Minister for Youth it is one of the biggest issues that continues to be raised with me as I travel up and down the country as young people mention to me that they want to be valued in the community that they live in and I believe lifting the minimum wage is a way to do that. Another thing they mention to me is around secondary tax. We know that young people those at university those in their senior years at college often work numerous jobs—numerous jobs. Not just one job at the local fish and chip shop but numerous jobs whether it be in the orchards whether it be in supermarkets whether it be in takeaways—anywhere in the community they work numerous jobs and they've always had an issue trying to understand what secondary tax means. We've got the answer for them. In fact on Monday just gone we've made that far clearer for them and we have a plan to make sure that those who are working in secondary jobs can actually clearly understand their tax obligations and make sure that they aren't paying more than they need to. I'm excited about that because as Minister for Youth I've heard it up and down the country. Finally they talk about business confidence. I want to just remind the House that actually business and the self-employed will be better off through our reductions to the ACC levies and that's an important one. In fact around $100 million over the next two years will be of benefit to business and the positions that they have in caring for and employing New Zealanders right up and down this country. On this side of the House our leader has shown that we can lead the country in a different direction and a positive one and I want to commend her."