Parmar ParmjeetDr PARMJEET PARMAR (National): Thank you for the opportunity to take part in this debate to support the Prime Minister's statement. I wish a very happy New Year to you Mr Assistant Speaker. I know it is already February but just recently I was at a function and a gentleman came to me and said it is OK to wish people a happy New Year until June because it is after that that we start going towards the other end of the year. So keeping that advice in mind I wish you a very happy New Year.I have had a great start to 2017 attending varied events in Mount Roskill and a multitude of ethnic events up and down the country. I am very proud to be part of this fabulous Government. This Government is bold and ambitious for New Zealanders. The Safer Communities package which was announced by the Prime Minister Bill English to add 1125 police officers which includes 880 front-line police officers is a great announcement and the best part of that package is that all districts are going to receive extra front-line officers.Making communities safer is not just about police numbers which is hard for the Opposition to understand because in our package we have a targeted approach that is targeting our regions. We are targeting ethnic communities. For the regions there are going to be 140 additional police officers. For ethnic communities we are adding another 20 ethnic liaison officers as we know that currently our ethnic liaison officers are doing a great job supporting migrant communities in various ways. That is why we are listening to people and want to add another 20 ethnic liaison officers. There is also going to be a 24 hour 7 day non-emergency number which is great. People will have access to this number which is going to be easy to remember.We are about delivering results. We are about outcomes. We are about doing things that are effective. To see the effectiveness of the work that we do this National Government is known for setting Better Public Services targets. Even within this package the Safer Communities package we have targets. For example home burglaries have been a concern that has come to me several times. We know that 96 percent of them are already attended and 86 percent of them are attended within 48 hours. We want to increase that rate to 98 percent because that is what people want. We are listening to people and we are acting accordingly.We also know that there is a market for stolen goods and there is a market for drugs. That is why that kind of crime happens and that is why we are setting another target which is to seize assets and cash worth $400 million from gangs and other organised criminal groups. The current figure is $230 million.As I said making communities safer is not just about police officers. We are also investing $150 million in our justice system because that is important to provide additional support to victims and also to hold offenders responsible. Making communities safer is a much much deeper issue than just police numbers and that is what we are doing. We understand what communities want and that is what the Safer Communities package is about.I know that the other issue as the National list MP based in Mount Roskill and in Auckland is housing. That is why we are reminding high-growth councils to apply for funding from the $1 billion Housing Infrastructure Fund. We have taken several measures to improve the supply of new houses and slowly we are starting to see some results. Yes we are starting to see some results in our housing market which is great news.We know that New Zealanders know that there are more people in employment under this National Government. It is a record number of 2.5 million in employment. Wages are increasing in a steady way. The minimum wage is being increased under this National Government all the time and again we are increasing the minimum wage from $15.25 to $15.75 an hour. That is a 3.3 percent increase. This is a big contrast to the previous Labour Government. Kiwis from all around the world now want to come to New Zealand because we have better opportunities here within New Zealand under this National Government whereas under the previous Labour Government Kiwis were leaving New Zealand looking for better opportunities overseas. They were leaving at an alarming rate. This National Government under the leadership of Bill English is in action. We know what the demand is of a changing and also increasing population. Thank you.