Luxton Jo; Rurawhe AdrianJO LUXTON (Labour): Thank you Mr Speaker. And wow that member who just took his seat Chris Bishop spent the last 10 minutes talking about roading. And do you know what? That pretty much sums up what that side of the House cares about—it is roading. I didn't hear that speaker mention people education or health unlike this side of the House. I am extremely proud to be part of a Government that prioritises people health and education—and yes we do care about infrastructure too. I'm proud to be part of a Government under the leadership of our Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern who is tackling the infrastructure deficit that we have been left with after nine years of neglect from that previous Government. I feel that that side of the House is just constantly negative for the sake of being negative. They even bagged the Provincial Growth Fund yet are quite happy to sidle up to the Minister when he's in town making announcements and celebrating what they are getting for their electorates. So negative for the sake of being negative. Well I want to talk about education. I want to talk about all the good things that have been happening under this Government for education and it's something I'm especially passionate about. I want to talk about the removal of NCEA fees and what that means to people. Now the fee is around $75 and people may scoff that that's actually not a lot of money but when you are a person who is struggling financially—perhaps a sole parent beneficiary—that is a lot of money to come up with. I can recall when I was a single parent when I cleaned an early childhood centre and I got $20—$20 for doing that. Someone said to me Why would you bother? I would never do that for $20." Well $20 was the difference between having milk and bread or not. So I say congratulations to the Minister involved in getting the removal of NCEA fees happening for our students and also the re-issuing of those credits for those students who didn't pay the fees back in the day. They are now going to be acknowledged for that. I'm very proud of the fact that we are having a huge spend on infrastructure for our schools where every State school across New Zealand is receiving up to $400000. That is outstanding. I recall a school that I visited last year. The principal was really upset with the fact that he had a child at the school who had mobility issues couldn't walk on their own required sticks etc. to help them walk but he couldn't afford to replace the playground surfacing. This child was not able to participate with his peers with his friends like he so rightly should have been. What this funding means is that principal can now resurface the playground so that their child can participate with his peers. I also visited a school in Waimate last week. This school wants to modernise and has really good projects in mind which they had decided that they were just going to have to put to the side because the money wasn't there. Well actually the money they are going to receive from this funding means that this is back on track. They can start this project and they've even invited me back to open it once it's complete. They are so happy and so excited. I also want to talk about school donations and the fact that schools are receiving more funding from this Government so parents do not have to pay fees because there is nothing worse as a parent the feeling that you cannot afford to pay those fees and whilst you do not necessarily have the finger pointed at you as a parent you feel like teachers are going to know that you didn't pay your fees. And you do feel that. I felt that in the past and I am so excited that parents are not going to have to feel that. They are not going to feel stigmatised by the fact that they have not been able to pay their fees. I want to talk about the Provincial Growth Fund for a minute and what that has meant for the neglected regions of New Zealand. In particular I want to talk about the money that is coming into the electorate where I live for the Ōpuke Thermal Pools and Spa in Methven which is going to be completed around Christmas 2020 and which I invite everyone here to come along and enjoy. It's going to mean 120 extra jobs and an estimated $162 million for our local economy. We know there's more work to do but we are up for it.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Adrian Rurawhe): Jamie Strange—five minutes."