Menéndez March RicardoRICARDO MENÉNDEZ MARCH (Green): Thank you Madam Speaker. This is quite the Inequality and War on Poor Budget" and this legislation makes it incredibly incredibly clear. This is shambles legislation and fiscal irresponsibility from this Government because they're just looking after those who are already doing it well rather than looking after those struggling to make ends meet. They will cut costs at any expense even if it means throwing people in poverty down a cliff who are criminalised as a result of not being able to afford fines. And for all their complaining on the other side—don't trust me; trust the advice; trust the legislation and the pieces of paper they've put in front of us. They've written it themselves. The Government worked on this legislation and now they're shaking their heads and effectively telling the public that they're delivering for everyone when they're leaving behind those doing it the toughest. This legislation was a result of a desperate attempt at finding ways to put the burden on the poor to pay for tax cuts for those doing it well.So throughout the debate it's been clear that the Minister in the chair for all his talk about localism and his commitment to actually put in place solutions that would work for local communities doesn't take his own words seriously. If we look at the pieces of paper in front of us there was no consultation with key stakeholders impacted by this legislation and this includes local authorities Local Government New Zealand the judiciary—this is absolutely irresponsible and a betrayal by the Minister himself who's supposedly committed to localism. It reeks of desperation for a Government that talks about things like localism to put forward legislation that directly impacts local government without even bothering to consult with them because they don't care. They tell us that they care about localism but they don't care. They simply care about holding true to their promise that they hate people in poverty.And let's make something clear too: this is a Government that does not care about criminalising people who are struggling to make ends meet. At the end of the day those who cannot afford to pay fines will end up being criminalised and will end up with higher costs due to the enforcement fee increases. I've seen this myself as somebody who worked at the front line with people who are being criminalised as a result of unpaid fines. I've seen people facing benefit sanctions like the warrant to arrest sanction which Minister Louise Upston multiple times talked about in the media. She talked about how she thought that those people who had unpaid fines who then faced sanctions were a threat to the public. Then she had to face the truth in the media and was embarrassed by having to admit that actually that wasn't the case and that she was factually incorrect. [Interruption] And the members yelling on this side fail to connect the dots. While this may be a small bill it's connected to so many parts of the system. The impact of the criminalisation of people in poverty who cannot afford to pay fines is clear and has ramifications in other parts of the system.This is a bill that will lead I tell you to higher warrant to arrest benefit sanctions. [Interruption] And the members on the other side would do well to turn their faces from this echo chamber back to the streets and the communities who this bill affects. But they've shown us time and time again they don't care about the people who are out in the communities doing it the toughest. They will talk rhetoric and make no action and clearly the pieces of paper in front of us show that this bill was produced hastily with no evidence. [Interruption] They just want to go home and not do the work. It's their fault. It is absolutely their fault that we're here in the House debating this piece of trash legislation because it was them who put us in this position to begin with. We didn't want this. If it was up to me we would be debating a bill that would be ending poverty and tackling the climate crisis not a bill that criminalises people in poverty—come on—and not a bill that betrays the Government's own supposed commitment to localism. Let's be real here.Look they may be complaining about what I am saying but ultimately it's all in the regulatory impact statement. Do they not believe the advice that they themselves put in front of us? Come on; let's get real. Those members like I said need to turn their faces back to the street. The advice itself made it incredibly clear that it will be young people particularly those under 45 who will face the burden of the negative impacts of this legislation. And this is a Government that—let's be real—when they talk about the advice around fines changing behaviour it actually doesn't change the behaviour of people who are on our salaries and the wealthy few. It doesn't because the fines that people often face are a free pass for those who are doing it well. A parking fine doesn't mean much for someone who owns multiple properties and is on a six-figure salary. It doesn't have good enough consequences. But for someone who's actually on the bread line it has a massive impact. As I've said before it's the difference between them paying their rent and putting food on the table. It doesn't actually change behaviours in the end—Hon Member: That's why we gave them a tax cut.RICARDO MENÉNDEZ MARCH: —if you're someone who's struggling to make ends meet. This is a Government that is frankly—yeah tax cuts. They spoke about tax cuts. Want to talk about tax cuts in the context of this legislation Mr Speaker? Well let me tell you Mr Speaker. They talk about tax cuts but the people who will be criminalised for not being able to pay fines also happen to be the ones benefiting the least from the tax cuts.Let's get real. There's nothing in this Budget or this legislation for the disabled people on income support or for people who have been living homeless—it's breadcrumbs. They've told their communities that they deserve breadcrumbs and they effectively deserve higher fees higher punishments for unpaid fines as a result of this bill at the same time depriving local government of key resources at a time where actually the Government should be putting in far more resources to local government to address our infrastructure challenges of today. We should actually be supporting and passing resources.Hon Member: Three minutes—three more minutes.RICARDO MENÉNDEZ MARCH: They're saying "three minutes". They're complaining about the fact that we are actually holding them to account. You know I challenge them to make a substantive contribution beyond their 12-second calls that make a mockery of this piece of legislation. But you know what? The circus is run by people who themselves admit that this whole thing is just a show; it's a theatre for them. It's a performance for the people on the other side. This is not about serving our communities. This is about the theatre of Parliament. It takes a lot for people to come here and claim that they're here to serve our communities when they clearly make a whole circus out of serious issues.Once again when I call this Government fiscally irresponsible and illiterate it's because trickle-down economics has not been shown to work. It is not based on evidence. In fact we have decades of research and facts—and younger people such as myself grew up in times affected by the impacts of failed policies such as these ones that claim to deliver for the many but all they end up doing is increasing inequality.So this bill while it may not have the name explicitly in and of itself around increasing inequality it will do exactly that. I challenge the members to talk to people in poverty who because of poverty level benefits haven't been able to pay their fines where they find themselves in court potentially transient through multiple addresses unable to present themselves to the criminal justice system.I think Parmjeet Parmar to my left who is shaking her head and looking confused—but if I look at her contribution throughout multiple debates she has constantly failed to actually speak to the heart of the bill that she speaks to. Again this goes back to a Government that is deeply unserious that will go to such dramatic lengths to orchestrate and fabricate tax cuts—Hon Member: One minute!RICARDO MENÉNDEZ MARCH: —for the wealthy few—and they'll continue yelling at me and saying "One minute" and "I hear the bell" but the truth is they've landed us in this fiscal mess. At the end of the day the cuts to public services and the inability to address poverty will have costs beyond what they can imagine in the long term costs in our healthcare system costs in our public housing system and emergency housing and then people getting more into debt just to make ends meet. Their short-term thinking will land us into long-term problems. This is a Government that has its head in the sand and refuses to see the truth which is actually in front of us. This is a bill that will punish the poor. All it requires is the members to read their own advice they've received to see the truth. The Green Party will continue opposing this and fighting for a system that works for all of us not this Government's wealthy mates."