Whaitiri MekaHon MEKA WHAITIRI (Associate Minister of Agriculture): Tēnā koe Mr Speaker. Otirā e ngā mema o Te Whare nei. Tēnā tātou katoa. I too want to acknowledge the 27-plus years of the Rt Hon Bill English. I just want to mihi to him for his 27-plus years of service and I also want to send my best wishes to him and to Mary and the family in his next journey of life. We've just come from almost 10 12-odd days of a brilliant Waitangi weekend and I want to talk about the positivity that the Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern with her Cabinet Ministers and colleagues in the Government displayed up in Waitangi. Five long days—the longest any Prime Minister in modern Government has ever contributed to the founding day of our great nation. There she was moving amongst people with ease sending out the positive vision that she with this Government has for this nation. I was proud along with many of the members of the Government to be alongside her as she moved seamlessly amongst groups large and small—iwi chairs rangatahi Māori the Māori wardens and the Māori Women's Welfare League not to mention the many others that she engaged with. So I want to mihi to our Northland members who ensured that we had a successful five days celebrating in Waitangi. But as the Minister in charge of animal welfare I take animal welfare issues very seriously and I have to say that this Opposition will need a good vet at the leadership gallops—or should I say trots"—to make sure none of the horses will have been tampered with who are lining up to take over from the Rt Hon Bill English. It is with regret that we note that "Billy Boy" the old favourite from the South has finally been retired to a paddock outside Winton—good luck and a long life munching on those Southland swedes and watching this race. The first question though is what kind of track is this? Hard and fast? Soft and slow? A bit of bounce? That might let someone keen and unexpected charge through the field like the old show pony "Craven Coleman" bloodline out of "Naked Opportunity" and "Desperation". He may still come out of nowhere to surprise but he will break a leg and will then have to be put down like the last time he ran. Then we have "Crusher Collins" in the blue silks who may also be guilty of interference when that two-year-old "Brylcreem Bridges" tries to pass her on the inside. Look for the illegal use of the whip. And the use of the whip or whips may have to be carefully examined by the stewards of this race. Whatever I hope the stewards have got their eyes peeled for horse tranquillisers by the gallon not for the horses but for us the poor spectators. One thing for sure is there will be endless jockeying before they even hit the last bend. In the last few minutes I do want to return back to the serious notion of governing the nation for all New Zealanders and lay out the plan of Labour with the Greens and New Zealand First in terms of the first 100 days and beyond. I want to particularly acknowledge the restarting of our Superannuation Fund which contributes to ensuring that the age of super stays at 65 which is a big issue for the constituents of Ikaroa-Rāwhiti; the Families Package which my colleague the Hon Chris Hipkins acknowledged; the ban on overseas speculators which is definitely going to help in terms of the house availability in my electorate; and of course the stopping of the mass sell-off of State houses. These policies put in place by this Labour-led Government with our coalition partners is a commitment that this Government is here to do the business. It is here to do the business that nine years of that National Government failed to achieve. Can I also point out that it is very clear that when we come to charter schools we have made it clear that we are not shutting down charter schools. I will say it again: we are not shutting down charter schools. We are actually saying that there won't be any more opened. Like Minister Hipkins has said as we speak Ministry of Education officials are speaking with every single charter school up and down this country on a case by case basis and in an open and transparent way around the future educational needs for their young people. That's a Government committed to doing the right thing by all New Zealanders. Kia ora tātou katoa."