Lees-Galloway IainHon IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY (Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety): Well that was certainly a better contribution from Todd Muller than we got from the so-called Leader of the Opposition Simon Bridges. Simon Bridges came to the House and said Give me a fair go please." It was a plea to his caucus colleagues: "Please give me a fair go just one more week one more month as leader. I promise I can turn it around guys." Then you get Mr Todd Muller stand up and give an excellent dissertation like that. I say to Mr Muller "Pace yourself sunshine pace yourself because I don't think you want to take over the leadership of the National Party right now." And honestly as good as it was—well it was better than Simon Bridges—it was just more relentless negativity from the fogies in the National Party. I get it—it's tough. Simon Bridges has been—what's was his name? Simon Bridges. Simon Bridges has been up and down the country and the people have seen him and his popularity has gone down. It's getting tough for Simon out there. He's been all across the country. People have seen and they don't like it. They don't like what they see. What he is up against is a positive stable Government—one Government three parties and considerably more stable than that one party with five factions over there. We are one Government three parties stable focused on the things that matter: running surpluses paying off the debt that was accumulated under the previous Government and getting down to focusing on the critical issues that people want Governments to work on and those issues are health education housing and police. We are making sure that those things are fit for purpose now and that they are here for future generations. People know that we've got a big mess to fix up. Nine years of neglect does take time to fix but this is a Government of action. We have been relentlessly and positively focused on making sure that we deal with the cost of living pressures that New Zealanders are facing. We increased the minimum wage to $16.50 an hour and there will be further increases in the future so that people on the minimum wage have enough money to make ends meet. We've got an employment relations bill before the House right now that is designed to put working people into a stronger bargaining position so that people can get a fair share of a prosperous economy. We are focusing on the things that will make our economy more productive because goodness knows we have inherited a huge mess from the previous Government.The Global Innovation Index says that New Zealand has gone from in 2012 the 13th most innovative economy in the world to in 2017 the 22nd most innovative economy in the world. The innovation and productivity in New Zealand are plummeting and that is what drives wages. That is how we will get people's incomes up that is how we will deal with the cost of living and that is why this Government needs to fix up the mistakes of the previous lot. We are going to reintroduce R & D tax credits so that our innovative businesses have a chance to get ahead. We need to turn around some of these issues that the National Government created. The number of locally generated patents per billion dollars of GDP fell to 6.1—it was 13.1 when National took over and it fell to 6.1 under their watch. Productivity and innovation have gone backwards—that is why this Government is focused on productivity and driving wages up.Of course we also need to make sure that those who are in greatest need get support from the Government as well. The Families Package will see 384000 families with children better off by an average of $75 per week when it is fully implemented. The Best Start payments have begun: people with new babies are getting $60 a week in the first year and people on low and moderate incomes will be getting that money for years two and three as well. The winter energy payment has arrived. It's freezing out there. We all know how cold it is in New Zealand right now. It's fantastic that people on benefits and superannuitants are getting more money in their pockets so that they can keep their homes warm and dry. We've expanded Working for Families. We've extended paid parental leave so that people—working families—have the money in their pockets the money in their bank accounts to meet the cost of living.And of course we need to focus on driving down the cost of living. That's why we are focused on building 100000 affordable homes over the next 10 years. And congratulations to Phil Twyford for the amazing progress that he's making on that front. We're removing pressure on the rental market. We're increasing the number of State houses. In my electorate of Palmerston North we had the first new purpose-built State house in 25 years so that people on low incomes can have a warm dry home to live in.This is a Government of action. This is a Government of positivity and it's no wonder the National Party is flailing."