Bridges Simon; Dean JacquiHon SIMON BRIDGES (National—Tauranga): I've only got a five-minute split call. I've got so much to say. I've already said at first reading that I don't like this bill one little bit. Legally constitutionally I don't like it. That may sound a bit dramatic to the punters watching at home. But I'll tell you what this is a bill that delays the ordinary provisions of many a law that gets in the way of the ordinary everyday rights of New Zealanders and on that basis alone I say it's wrong. By the way it does that—oftentimes in 2022 and 2023. This Government's just come along and they've said You know we're just gonna put off all this stuff. We're just gonna say 'We don't need to go there we don't want to go there on this.' " I say that's constitutionally high-handed and wrong. I want to just focus on three of the worst bits and David Seymour's talked about a couple of them. There's one though he missed out and that I as I know the other member's in the National Party take seriously.The first is the suspension of local democracy in an election year and that's wrong. Take my city the city I'm privileged to represent of Tauranga. We have already because of Nanaia Mahuta—"trigger-happy Mahuta"—decided to get rid of our council and put in place nice people good people but ultimately unelected people: commissioners. Someone was unkindly saying to me just yesterday "commissars". I think that's a bit unkind. They are running our city now because I tell you what the Government certainly isn't. I don't know that they'd know where Tauranga was if it slapped them in the face. They are running the city and this bill says we don't even get local democracy in a regular election year necessarily. Next year they're going to put it off again. Nanaia Mahuta has taken those powers themselves. I have heard a rumour that's because Angie Warren-Clark is so disillusioned with Parliament and the Labour Party that she's thinking about standing for mayor next year and they don't want to see that happen and so they're putting that off. I've also heard the one about Rongotai of course: "Eddie the Eagle"—I'm sorry Paul Eagle his worship who is thinking about standing and they don't want to see that as well. But I would say it is wrong in all seriousness to suspend local democracy. Actually when all you've got here is a postal ballot it's not as if there are health and safety issues around COVID that require that.The next thing I want to mention is commercial leases. What we've got here—where the Government comes in and rides roughshod over contract law—is the doing away actually with centuries and centuries of precedents and certainty in the name of fairness. Their version of fairness they say—"Well actually we don't like those fat cat landlords so we're going to do something for the retailers." And look there'll be some New Zealanders who say "Oh well that sounds fair enough." I say number one actually it undermines contract law and that in itself and the freedom of people to come together and sign contracts makes it wrong. But even if you say "Well maybe Simon Bridges you're being a bit unfair about that." the reality is that landlords are often mortgage holders as well. They often find it tough to pay their mortgage. And if you take for example—I can think of many examples in the city of Tauranga—chain store lessees where the landlord actually is the one of the two of them that's hard up. In the name of fairness doing away with ordinary principles of contract—and certainly I say that's just not right.But here's the kicker in this bill from a Government that's let's be frank not very good at much: it hasn't delivered in roads it hasn't delivered in housing it hasn't delivered in really anything I can think of that conventional decent Governments have done. You would have thought though for Jacinda Ardern on their nuclear-free moment they might actually deliver something anything maybe in climate change. What does this bill do? It delays their obligations when it comes to climate. It is literally according to Jacinda Ardern the most important issue the world has right now and they've just blithely—is James Shaw too busy? I mean can they only do one thing—and not that well—at once and that's think about COVID and nothing else?I say actually to all those young New Zealanders out there who are worried about this issue who are concerned about this issue—not just young ones actually; let's say that clearly—this Government in this bill is delaying its climate obligations by another year I think it is. It's lazy it's arrogant and the reason ultimately for it is because this Labour Government doesn't actually have a plan. So they just put stuff off. They take the lazy the arrogant approach when they should if they'd had plans on borders vaccines ICU beds and our economy have no need for this wrongful bill.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): The member's time has expired."