Dunne PeterHon PETER DUNNE (Leader—United Future): When we resumed in February if anyone had said that by December the British would have voted to leave the European Union David Cameron would have resigned Donald Trump would have been the President-Elect of the United States and John Key would have resigned—Rt Hon Winston Peters: I said all of that.Hon PETER DUNNE: —apart from the self-delusioned to my right—we would have said: Take them out and shoot them because they don't know what they're talking about." This has been an extraordinary year. I think what it does is remind all of us that politics these days is a remarkably fluid and unstable business.As I came into the Chamber the Māori Party waiata was concluding. I wondered whether that was de rigueur for this debate. I have got to say to the House I am not going to join in song at the conclusion of this remark. But if you want to see me do so you can actually watch Newshub's video of the "Christmas in New Zealand" carol which I appeared in and which went to No. 1 on the day that it came out. So you are looking at a No. 1 artist here. The only problem is that I have been waiting for contract offers; they haven't come in yet. So anyone who is out there who saw that song voted it to be No. 1 and thought there is a real—David Seymour: Give us a sample.Hon PETER DUNNE: Well the member wants a sample. I cannot actually remember the line that I sang but it was very good. Anyway as I said at the beginning this has been a remarkable year for New Zealand. We celebrated the triumphs of our sportspeople throughout the year. We celebrated a lot of achievements in terms of various areas of activity.In my portfolios I was delighted to have seen a lot of major change occur. The Fire Service reform which has stalled so many times over so many years is now beyond the point of no return and the legislation will pass next year and will be in place. The second area where we are moving on is in the huge work around the transformation of the recognition the storage and the home for our constitutional and other important national documents. We have got work going on in the health area relating to ambulance services relating to the national drug policy and so on and so forth. And just today I released a consultative document regarding the new game animal trophy levy to apply to fund the Game Animal Council.I want to thank all of the officials who have worked with me during the year to bring these policies to fruition. I want to thank the members of my own office team for their dedication their loyalty and their commitment. I want to acknowledge all the people who make this institution run—the people who are here when we are not here—who clean offices who make sure everything is ready for us when we come here. I acknowledge our library staff our research staff the news media in the gallery—who are somewhat peripatetic at the moment but hopefully will get a permanent home before too long. Everyone who makes this democracy function effectively deserves to be remembered at this time of year. The ministerial drivers the ministerial support staff—again people who make the process of democracy function effectively. I want to acknowledge them.I am not going to indulge in a political diatribe but there has been plenty of time for that during the year. I think that the thing that strikes one about this Parliament is that there is the passion and the intensity of argument that flows but at the end of the day there is always—and I hate to be borrowing a phrase—a camaraderie that stands out about the essence of democracy and the respect for freedom that all of us enjoy.Shortly we will all retire to our various parts of the country to celebrate Christmas with our families and our friends—those who are important to us. I hope that every member is able to spend time in that vein over the next few weeks. I hope that Christmas 2016 is a peaceful one and a successful one for you all and that the year 2017 brings you if not all of your dreams then some of your dreams. But I also hope that as a nation and as individuals we can just use a bit of time in the next few weeks to think about those for whom the Christmas season and the end of the year are not actually moments of highlight—the lonely the elderly the sick and the dispossessed. These will be times of struggle for them and just some sympathy and some empathy with their situation I think is the least we can owe to them.But Mr Speaker I hope every member has a very relaxing and peaceful holiday and comes back under your wise leadership of this House next year to fight what will be a remarkable year in an even more remarkable election campaign to come. Merry Christmas to everyone."