4. Question No. 4—Prime MinisterDAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT) to the Prime MinisterQuestion No. 4—Prime Minister4. DAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT) to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by her commitment to foundational" change; if so is this different from "transformational" change?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): I stand by my comments. I was referring to a suite of policies like the introduction for instance of Matariki as a public holiday in New Zealand the introduction of the learning of New Zealand history in schools that will make a long-term difference to how we see ourselves as a nation. That in no way detracts from the work we're doing on longstanding policy issues like for instance housing child poverty and climate change.David Seymour: Is the fall in homeownership rates to a 70-year low under her Government an example of foundational or transformational change?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: The member is making some kind of assumption that housing is no longer a priority—that is wrong for the very reason that the member has quoted those statistics: they are not acceptable to us as a Government. It's one of the reasons they remain an absolute focus and you will have heard them feature in this question time already.David Seymour: How is the addition of more than 2000 new gang members to the national gang list under her Government an example of transformational change or will foundational change make matters better?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: The member appears to have pored over words as if they are a trade-off. I've already rejected that premise. If you wish to debate the issue of gang-related crime in New Zealand let's have that discussion. We all know the origins of that track well back from well beyond the last three years. This has been consecutive years' worth of issue exacerbated unfortunately by some of the decisions made by Australia to export their gang problem to New Zealand.David Seymour: Is the progress to date on Auckland light rail an example of the kind of foundational change that New Zealanders can look forward to in the next three years?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Shall I take that as the member based in Auckland's support then for a significant infrastructure project that will make a huge difference for Aucklanders? And that's why we're going to make sure that in the long run it's something that has as wide support as possible and I'd welcome his.David Seymour: What sort of transformational or foundational effect will falling maths and science scores have for future generations?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Again I share the member's focus on ensuring that we have a lift in achievement. One of the concerns we had when we came in was that the focus on national standards was not the way to lift the achievement across literacy and numeracy. We are at the moment working alongside Minister Tinetti and making sure that through our curriculum work we have a very clear set of expectations around what the curriculum is in those early years in schools giving much more direction to teachers as well.Hon Chris Hipkins: Can the Prime Minister confirm that the falling literacy and numeracy standards that the member just mentioned reflect the first cohort of students who did the majority of their schooling under national standards?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I can which in my view only further justifies our view that that policy was wrong. We are also of the view that we have to look at the totality of a child's life to ensure that they are learning well. That is why for instance I don't underestimate the long-term impact alongside curriculum of things like Food in Schools for making sure that children are learning in an environment where they are ready to learn.David Seymour: Why should anybody believe the next three years of "foundational" change will be better than the last three years of "transformational" change where nearly every measure the Prime Minister talks about went backwards?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I utterly reject the premise of that member's question. Let's take for instance—of the nine child poverty indicators seven of them improved and we had only just begun. On this side of the House we are very open about the decades-old problems that we have in this nation but that does not reduce our ambition."