Barry MaggieHon MAGGIE BARRY (National—North Shore): Thank you Madam Assistant Speaker. I rise to talk I guess with some bemusement about the Prime Minister's statement. I listened to it pretty carefully yesterday and then a wash of Groundhog Day dèjá vu came upon me because I heard pretty much the same old same old at Rātana at Waitangi in the state of the nation and sundry other speeches. It's words words high-sounding weasel words and apparently this is the year of delivery. My question is how are they going to deliver?Incidentally it is the Year of the Pig and the Chinese New Year so I should say kung hei fat choy. While the Chinese are looking at prosperity—and in fact it's the Year of the Golden Pig I'm reliably informed and as someone who was born in the Year of the Pig this is very encouraging news—for this Government it will be all about delivery. When I listened to the Prime Minister's speech and didn't hear very much of substance I thought Give her a fair show. Let's have a look at the speech itself." So I went through. I saw "new kind of leadership" mentioned at least six times so I gave up counting after that. It's not clear of course what on earth that means.These people are halfway through their term—what have they been doing for the past 15 months? It is a shambles. The coalition is blaming everybody but themselves for their shambolic and incompetent performance.We had the Minister of Health here barrelling through his usual old lines. "Nine long years."—we've been hearing that for rather a long time. The Minister doesn't appear to understand that he's in Government now. He's in charge and—about delivering—it needs to have much more than just rhetoric. It needs substance.I'm usually quite a fan of recycling but the amount of rhetoric and really waffle that we've been hearing from this Government—and in particular with the Prime Minister's statement—is more at the compostable end of recycling. I think we really do need to look at what's fit for compost and what's fit for modern purpose.Hon Kris Faafoi: You'd know it.Hon MAGGIE BARRY: Yes I would know that and that's exactly true Minister. I know a lot more about recycling than you guys do—or I thought I did—but now of course you're taking over from that because he's dishing out a bit of manure.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): Order! Order! Stop bringing the Speaker into the debate. Thank you both sides.Hon MAGGIE BARRY: A fair bit of manure coming across from the Government benches but nothing new from that member—class clown. Anyway—a lot of virtue signalling a lot of words and not action and a lot of rhetoric and empty promises but again no delivery.So I come back to the tedious repetitive speech that we had to endure listening to yesterday in the House. I look through for a few things—what do I find? The well-being Budget. OK what exactly is that?Rt Hon David Carter: Very good question.Hon MAGGIE BARRY: Yes indeed the Rt Hon David Carter it is a good question. We are told in the same breath that it is going to be the first well-being Budget in the world and it will be delivered in May but that it will not alone guarantee improvements to New Zealanders' living standards. Oh dear—really? What is the purpose of a Budget? What is the purpose of voting for Labour if they are not going to improve New Zealanders' living standards? Apparently Ministers are going to have to change their thinking. They are going to have to think about outcomes for New Zealanders. It's going to be a darn high threshold to prove that you have to have intergenerational benefits.I've been a Minister who has gone to some pretty stingy Ministers of Finance and asked for money for my Budget for my ministries. Bill English God bless him I love him to bits—very short arms very long pockets really hard to convince and prise money out of. If I had to prove to him intergenerational benefits for every bid I put up I wouldn't get very far with him. I doubt very much whether anyone across the House is going to get very much out of their finance Minister either because he's just talked himself into an excuse to not give money where it is needed as opposed to this nebulous stuff around well-being and so forth.So then we read on: "Creating opportunities for transitioning to a sustainable low emissions economy"—yep good. How? I keep coming back to this word "How?". Where is the detail? "Lifting Māori and Pacific incomes skills and opportunities."—I don't think there's been a Government in New Zealand for probably 40 years that hasn't had that as its priority but again there is no detail. Virtue signalling on its own is not enough—15 months in and halfway through your term we would expect a whole lot better. And "supporting mental well-being"—well hold the front page. It's a revelation is it not?I thought the educational stuff was really light: "An important focus will be [on] ensuring our education system is better prepared for the disruption we are facing [with] increasing technology and climate change." Wow! It doesn't get much broader than that. Instead on our side of the House we see the Hon Nikki Kaye running 41 education meetings on the future of education and actually engaging with communities. I'm holding one in my North Shore electorate on Friday 8 March. Members opposite are very welcome to come along and learn something of the misgivings and the concerns of teachers boards of trustees and parents as well as children. We will be taking the temperature. We will be asking people in a genuine way to have input into the task force. Again not high-sounding rhetoric that delivers nothing but something that is a very important element that we are very keen on doing.What's missing in this statement? Lots actually. Let me start with seniors which I know a fair bit about not only because I'm fast approaching the age—Rt Hon David Carter: I don't believe that.Hon MAGGIE BARRY: —but also because I was the Minister for three years. Thanks very much but there it is. Thanks David Carter there interjecting.It is fair to say that we are an ageing population and it is at a great rate. Therefore I would have expected in a document and a speech of substance that we would have heard what's being done about elder abuse. What level of resourcing is being applied to this very important area? What I know for sure is that my office was contacted by somebody who rang an 0800 elder abuse line which I set up last July. They rang my office on the advice of the person who was on the other end of the line. They said "Well we don't know what to do. You'd better ring Maggie Barry. She might be able to help." This is a person on the other side of the country from my electorate who rang an 0800 number expecting assistance. They were given none and instead given some pretty odd advice I think.This shows me a number of things. One of them is that the funding and the energy that was put into that 0800 number which is available 24 hours a day 7 days a week—or should be—has now been downgraded. I think that's deplorable. I think it's regrettable. I think that anyone who's ever listened to the aged care sector would know that what they've been after for a very long time is a helpline that is available for them when they need it with some solid advice about how they can get out of an abusive—either physical financial or psychological—relationship. Often unfortunately it is from members of their own family. I was personally very disappointed to hear that that service has been run down and also disappointed that there is nothing of substance for seniors in what this Government are talking about.KiwiBuild of course has been mentioned endlessly—only 47 houses completed out of the 10000 that were promised. The capital gains tax that's coming up is going to be a tax on every small-business owner every farmer lifestyle block owner KiwiSaver account mum and dad investor bach owner—you name it it's going to hit hard. I mean tax and spend tax and spend—nothing has changed with this Government.So while it builds itself up with the idea that the Greens have somehow made them more green they are not. Banning plastic bags is not going to save the world; that starts in your own backyard. It starts and is a very important thing to engage hearts and minds of people. I don't believe that this Government has done this well with environmental and conservation issues. Predator Free 2050 which is a goal that many many New Zealanders have bought into again remains way below the radar. Why? Because of political pettiness? Because it was instigated under National? Do I see Ron Mark nod? No but we see before us a Government that hasn't delivered on its promises in this area.On the other hand in a couple of weekends' time the National Party with its Bluegreens focus group—which has been around now for 21 years—will be getting together at Raglan on 23 February. [Interruption] Yeah National have been doing blue-green for 21 years. We are across this and we do what we do very well and the very first of our nine discussion documents is going to be on the environment. That's how important we think it is.So we'll put out this year nine discussion papers—eight discussion papers. The people across the House did nothing in nine years—not a single discussion paper. What on earth were they doing in Opposition? What on earth were they doing to formulate policy? There were 233 reviews working groups and inquiries. They've spent nearly $300 million on asking other people what they should think and what they should do while in Government. They were not prepared but we are.We have the kinds of policies and the kinds of plans that New Zealanders can rely on. We are a safe pair of hands. We will ensure that what New Zealanders earn through their hard-earned wages they will be able to spend more of. We will look at adjusting the tax brackets as our excellent leader Simon Bridges outlined a couple of weeks ago. We are a strong and united Opposition. We have ideas we have stamina and we will prevail. So I think the Prime Minister's speech is a woeful example."