O'Connor DamienHon DAMIEN O'CONNOR (Labour—West Coast - Tasman): To the previous National speaker Jono Naylor who said he felt upbeat because he was leaving Parliament I can say to him that we have got a deal for the whole lot of you. We are going to do our best to get rid of the whole lot of you—you can all feel upbeat. This is a Government that says we should be celebrating growth. The question I ask is for whom? At a time when the world is asking about perpetual growth and about what it is doing to the environment and what it is doing to the world's population New Zealanders are asking the question What's all this growth done for me?" and I could not say it in any better way than it was said in an email that I received today. It said: "Traditionally I've been an avid National supporter. However I've lost all confidence in National. I've finally seen through my own eyes the extent of the gap that is growing between the wealthy elite and the rest of New Zealand. I've always considered myself"—Hon Dr Nick Smith: "Yours sincerely Damien O'Connor." Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: That member should read it because it is one of his constituents. "I've always considered myself to fit into the category of upper echelon income earners. However the realisation that it is the tier below the wealthy elite that is being thrashed the very hardest—the good old Kiwi business person working hard taking risks investing everything they have financially and emotionally into their business only to be constantly beaten down by the elitist policies that have been implemented over the past 8 years by John Key and his band of self-serving merry men. Accordingly Labour can count on my support at the next election." That is one of your constituents. Hon Dr Nick Smith: Name them. Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: No I am not going to do that. I am not going to do that. That is backed up by the release today from the Salvation Army—Hon Dr Nick Smith: Won't name them. Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: Oh he is going to discredit the Salvation Army. This is an organisation entrenched in our society and in societies around the world as looking after the most needy. The subtitle of the report is Off the Track because it says that all the economic reports cannot fully capture what is happening in the lives of ordinary New Zealanders at a social and personal level. I respect this organisation and it has given us a report here saying three key things—"seemingly entrenched rates of child poverty and child abuse". Over 200000 children in this country are in poverty after 8 years of a National Government. The second thing is "the burgeoning incarceration rates of prisoners along with high recidivism rates". Over 10200 prisoners are in our prisons and the National Government is going to spend a billion dollars—a billion dollars—on new prisons but it will not support Salisbury School in Nelson to look after the kids who are at risk. Over 70 percent of the prisoners in our prisons are illiterate because the National Government refuses to spend money in special education and look after those children and give them an opportunity. When parents are expected to pay more for education and many of them cannot those kids have no hope. And the National Government is prepared to grow employment in prisons not out in the real world. It crows about growing employment but it knows that a 3-hour-a-week job is so-called employment. It is an outrageous indictment on any Government that we should end up with these statistics. The third thing that the Salvation Army has said is that "an alarming lack of safe affordable housing that has resulted in a level of homelessness not seen in New Zealand in the lifetime of most Kiwis." Forty-one thousand Kiwis are homeless and tens of thousands are in overcrowded cold and damp houses through this country and the Minister over there would blame the councils while National sells off State houses to its mates to flog them off for a big fat profit and then turns around and says: "Oh well the market will decide." It is an outrage what this Government has done to New Zealand under the premise of growth and the trickle-down theory of the rich pissing on the poor. These guys are prepared to endorse that and then turn around and try—The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard): Order! I think the tone of the member's comments could improve. Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: I withdraw. I cannot say my speech in a strong enough way to endorse what is a very comprehensive report from the organisation that is expected to time and time again pick up people literally off the streets and look after them because this Government—The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard): Order! Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR: —has trampled on them in its 8 years—The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard): Order!"