Robertson GrantGENERAL DEBATEHon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): I move That the House take note of miscellaneous business. What a great day for the Government as we come towards the end of the first 100 days of this Government. On this side of the House we see a Government cohesive and united in our desire to improve the well-being of New Zealanders. One hundred days of success: a Families Package that'll boost incomes for 385000 families; an extension of paid parental leave; a minimum wage of $16.50 starting on 1 April; KiwiBuild being set up; contributions to the Superannuation Fund restarted nine years after that Opposition stopped them; a mental health inquiry established; free first-year training and education for secondary school students and for those who have never had that before; the end of national standards; the increase of student support; the establishment of the Pike River Recovery Agency alongside those families; the setting of a zero-carbon emission goal; and even things that might not seem significant to the great majority of New Zealanders like justice for Teina Pora to make sure that he finally got the payment that he deserved. A huge amount has been achieved by this Government in 100 days and we are proud of that. But then we look across to the other side of the House to the desperate and divided Opposition. The problem with the seven stages of grief is that they affect people at different times. For instance one of the stages of grief is shock. I believe that Sarah Dowie is exhibiting that at the moment when she told Newshub today that there'd been a bit of talk" about who would replace Mr English as leader—"a bit of talk" from Sarah Dowie. Perhaps a slightly career-limited meaning. Who is it that she is talking to? Another one of the seven stages of grief is guilt and I believe that that is currently being carried by Steven Joyce. He is the man. He's done the numbers to see if he can become the leader and he's counted 11.7 billion votes. So we know for sure that he's in the running. But the person who we all know is mainly in the running here is Simon Bridges. Now there is to be a National Party caucus meeting in Tauranga or as Simon calls it home advantage. That's what he's got at the moment. All summer we saw the behaviour of Simon Bridges. It didn't exactly look like a loyal servant. He popped up in all kinds of puff pieces. He was on Matinee Idle talking about Nina Simone coming to him recently—whatever that might mean. But the sure sign when you're in Opposition as to whether something might be going on: Simon Bridges grew a beard over summer. On this side of the House we know all about that. I want to clarify that Kieran McAnulty has grown a beard recently but that's only so he can get into pubs. But Simon Bridges he grew a beard over summer and we know for sure what that means: that the manoeuvring has started. Simon Bridges is also suffering from another stage of the seven stages of grief and that is anger. Anger is what we're seeing from Simon Bridges on a daily basis. But the other seven stages of grief particularly the ones around depression reflection and loneliness belong only to Bill English. Today we heard a state of the nation speech from that member that actually wasn't about the state of the nation. The state of the nation is positive and optimistic and ready to see the impact of the Government's policies. The speech we heard today was about the state of the Opposition: desperate divided in denial tired out of ideas and carping about things that New Zealanders know are going to eventually lead to their wages rising and to their well-being increasing. This is an Opposition falling apart. To be perfectly honest I didn't think it would happen this quickly but it has. And Sarah Dowie is right—there's a little bit of talk going on right now. I'm going to suggest to her there's going to be a lot of talk going on in her direction sometime soon. But what I can assure New Zealanders is that this Government is committed to implementing our 100-day plan and then in the next 1000 days to improving healthcare improving education raising living standards lifting wages—Hon Phil Twyford: Building houses. Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: —building houses Mr Twyford and giving New Zealanders the confidence to know they have a Government that backs them 100 percent. We're united; they're divided—end of story."