Simpson ScottHon SCOTT SIMPSON (National—Coromandel): Well thank you Madam Speaker. I rise on behalf of the National Party and the good people of Coromandel to oppose the motion put forward yesterday by the Prime Minister and to support the very good motion of no confidence in this Government and the Prime Minister put forward by the leader of the National Party Christopher Luxon.You can tell when a Government is running out of steam and the best way to tell that is when they get personal and when they start attacking people and individuals not for the quality of their ideas or the passion of their aspirations for New Zealand and New Zealanders but because they don't like them personally. And that's what we've seen so much of in this debate from the Government from Cabinet Ministers from backbenchers who know that this is going to be probably the second-to-last year of their time in this place before they are ejected from it by the voters of New Zealand in 2023.And so we had a speech yesterday from a Prime Minister who was uncharacteristically flat in terms of her presentation. It was a speech that lacked energy that lacked vision that lacked hope and that lacked a sense of purpose or direction for New Zealand at a time when New Zealand does actually need leadership—when it needs inspirational aspirational leadership of the sort that is not being provided by this Government and that so many New Zealanders desperately want and need. And that's kind of sad because I think that we all come to this place as members of Parliament as legislators to provide hope and a brighter future for all New Zealanders no matter how they vote. And to see a Government that is bereft of ideas and running out of steam is I think a sad thing. And we've seen effectively the roll-out of a speech yesterday that was just a rerun of speeches past that delivered no performance that delivered no measures that delivered no sense of direction other than Oh well we'll just manage our way through as best we can. We'll make things up as we go along and we'll change the rules and the parameters on a day-by-day basis as we see fit." And that's just not good enough.Earlier today a colleague of mine Christopher Bishop gave a very good speech and he said that this Government was famous for three things—first of all for their good intentions. And I guess no Government has bad intentions—no politician has bad intentions. But this Government has hung their hat firmly on the hook of good intentions but there they have left it—their hat on the hook of good intentions—and never taken it off. This is a Government that simply doesn't understand that policy and actions are what's important rather than good intentions. Policy actions and delivery are more important.The second point that Chris Bishop said this Government was famous for was the issuing of press releases and announcements. And press releases and announcements are not enough either. Endless announcements endless issuing of press statements simply doesn't cut the mustard. People want results they want delivery and they want to see action. And this is a Government into the fifth year of its term in office and it's tired it's bereft and it's run out of steam.And the third matter that Chris Bishop raised in his speech today that this Government is famous for is that their view is that money is the solution to everything. Other people's money is the solution to everything. And just "Spray and walk away." is some kind of economic or political plan for the future of this country. Well sooner or later someone has to pay. And it's not going to be so many of us in this debating chamber that are going to pay because people with my colour hair are not going to be the ones that pay it. It's going to be my children my grandchildren and their grandchildren who are going to pay for that again. Hon David Bennett: Stop being ageist!Hon SCOTT SIMPSON: Some people like the Hon David Bennett worry a lot about hair. But he knows that it's going to be his children that will pay for the profligate spending the printing of money and the poor quality of decisions of this Government. And so that's a sad indictment on them.There was no mention—I think the Prime Minister mentioned inflation only once in her entire 20 minutes. For 30 years we've had low inflation in New Zealand. And I can remember when inflation was running out of control. There are some members in this House like Nicola Grigg who is far too young to remember when inflation was running in an uncontrolled way but I do and it's a thief in the pocket of all New Zealanders as Simon Bridges has said—a thief in the pocket of all New Zealanders. It's an unlegislated tax and it eats away at people's savings and it makes them less well off at a time when actually the cost of living is increasing out of control.Ordinary Kiwis listening to me speaking in this Chamber tonight as they're driving home in the petrol cars that they have had to pay nearly $3 a litre—in fact over $3 a litre to put petrol in their cars—as they're driving home from their hard-working day trying to keep the economy ticking over they know how much this Government is hurting them. And today we've had released that median rent increases are the highest yearly increases on record—not just the highest in the last few years but the highest median increase in annual rentals on record. Now that's reached a staggering eye-watering nationwide median of $540 a week. And that hurts. That really does hurt. So I listened this morning to the fellow from—I think he's the general manager of the Gull petrol station chain Dave Bodger. He's a good guy and he usually speaks a lot of sense. And he said on the radio this morning just before the Hon Stuart Nash committed political hari-kari on the Mike Hosking show—this guy Dave Bodger said that actually people will still buy petrol. They'll still do that because they need to buy the petrol. But what they will do is actually spend less on other things. They'll spend less on food they'll spend less on clothing they'll spend less on hospitality and they will spend less on other things because they need the petrol. And so I think he's right.But in terms of issues relating to climate and the environment I'm very worried that the $4.5 billion emissions trading scheme fund money that's going to become available to this Government will be spent not on quality practical pragmatic climate issues because we across the Parliament actually agree on the direction of travel but I'm very worried that these funds will be invested and spent on party political pet projects of which this Government is so famous. And they've actually done very little in the area even though the Prime Minister reverts to talking about climate change when she's in trouble. She always does it—always when she's in trouble she's "Oh we're going to talk about climate change. We'll change the subject and talk about something else." But here's what Greenpeace campaigner Christine Rose—not normally known Greenpeace campaigners for being anti-Labour governments—has said: "When it comes to the climate crisis the Ardern Government talks big but spends small." That's what they say in Greenpeace. And in terms of the environment where has been the delivery? A Government that talks big but delivers nothing or little.Where is the progress on our threatened indigenous biodiversity? That progress has been delayed. Why is the Resource Management Act reform—the much-vaunted RMA reform—taking so long? Why was the exposure draft document full of so many gaps? Why were there so many hollow empty spaces in that piece of draft legislation? Where is their work on marine protected areas? And what's more important why haven't we advanced the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary? And to the shame of the Greens who during the first term of this Government if they had decided to support us we would have had a Parliamentary majority for an entire three years to see that sanctuary put in place. It's to the eternal shame of the Greens that they chose not to do it because that speaks volumes about how really the Greens think about the environment. Where's the progress on freshwater quality? It's stalled it's confused—Hon Member: Too hard!Hon SCOTT SIMPSON: It's fraught it's too hard it's not understood and it isn't getting results. Where's their much-vaunted action on reducing the amount of stuff we send to landfill? On waste? Why haven't we got the delivery of their nationwide standardised kerbside recycling programme? They promised us that five years ago. Where is it? And why are we still sending such huge volumes of waste to landfill? Just digging holes in the ground.I read over the summer break a paper by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment about weeds. Where is their progress on noxious weeds that are a blight upon our natural environment? So this is a Government that talks a big game on climate that talks a big game on the environment but simply fails to deliver."