Andersen GinnyGINNY ANDERSEN (Labour—Hutt South): Thank you very much Madam Speaker. As we enter into this our third challenging year of confronting a global pandemic we may be better prepared than many other countries in the world but we must always continue to make progress. We must continue to make progress for the wellbeing of our people and for the wellbeing of the next generation. I often look at my kids and I think about how they will look back at this chapter in our history—how they will be proud or not of what has been achieved—and I look at what's been created and I think that they will be proud of what we have achieved.We have committed to putting the wellbeing of not only current New Zealanders but also those future New Zealanders as well putting that at the heart of everything that we do. And this goes well beyond having one of the highest vaccination rates one of the lowest rates for the second year running in the OECD for both hospitalisations and COVID-related deaths. It goes well beyond that. It goes into things like our education on a daily basis—the very structures that our kids go to school in. Well before this Government came in the structures that we're putting our kids in classrooms were dilapidated. We had asbestos leaks kids learning in libraries. We had school infrastructure that was well underdone. In the Hutt Valley alone not only are all primary schools receiving a much-needed injection to help those infrastructure costs but our three major public high schools have all received a major rebuild—Taita College Wainuiomata High School and also Hutt Valley High School—and this underpins the belief that it does not matter where you come from or how much your family earns you have the right to get a good quality education and you have the right to learn in a warm dry modern fit-for-purpose classroom. And that is exactly what this Government is delivering.It's not just about the buildings though; it's also about what we're learning inside those classrooms and what's being taught. New Zealand takes pride in teaching its own history and I'm pleased to be able to see that implemented across schools in New Zealand. I am extremely proud that schools will have the resources available for them to teach New Zealand history in school. New Zealand is a country that takes pride in our heritage a small island nation in the Pacific with voyaging routes from both Hawaiki and Europe. I'm pleased that our kids will be learning all about that. Matariki—how exciting is it for our young people to not only learn about our history but to be able to celebrate that in a brand new public holiday. I've learnt about that from my children for the first time.But it goes further than that. It also goes into what happens after school with one of the lowest unemployment rates that New Zealand has seen for an incredibly long time. It is so good to be able to see young people going straight into employment and being proud to come home and help pay for groceries and to help pay for some of those costs that they need to. When this Government took office it was faced with a vocational education system that was pretty much stuffed—fragmented uncoordinated and lacking strategic direction. Right now we see skills training and employment with businesses all lining up. I have to acknowledge in my own area the great role that the local Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce has done in coordinating from high school to training to employment to make sure that we are keeping all our young people engaged employed and skilled-up as much as they possibly can to earn the highest wages possible when they're in the workforce. Free trades training—that's been a huge boost as well. Our investment in fees-free apprenticeships and targeted training has seen more than 175000 people take up that opportunity since July 2020—and that includes over 80000 apprentices who are out there right now working.This has been great but also there's more to be done as well and that's in the space of keeping our communities safe. Feeling safe is crucial for young New Zealanders as well as the rest of our community and the huge injection in keeping communities safe has been well received. At a local level we see the reopening of the Wainuiomata community police station after nearly a decade with a full-time senior sergeant two community youth aid officers and two community constables providing on-the-job local policing that has been well overdue in an area that's needed it. We have the largest Police workforce ever with huge numbers of officers focused on community and also organised crime. I'm proud to be part of a Government that's delivering safety and security right across the board. This is not just about surviving the pandemic; it's about building back better and giving our children a better future. I'm proud to be part of a Government that's doing that every step of the way.