White HelenHELEN WHITE (Labour): Madam Speaker I rise in support of the Prime Minister's statement wholeheartedly. Earlier today I heard David Bennett say that this Government is led by ideology—as if that is a bad thing.Hon David Bennett: It is; you're socialists.HELEN WHITE: That is what leadership is Mr Bennett. It is a way of making decisions that are actually comprehensive that are cohesive and that are driven by a set of values. Without this you are left with negativity no ideas and no direction and unfortunately that is the state your party is in at the moment. You are lost; you are in the weeds. The statement that the Prime Minister put to us the other day is one that is expressive of strong clear direction and values at a time of great challenges. We face the pandemic we face climate change and this statement seeks to address those very real and critical things. I also would like to mention the Hon David Parker's speech because he was very interesting and I'm proud to be part of a Government of which he is part because he talks about how well we have done and he talks very compellingly and accurately about the things that have been done.I have the privilege in Auckland Central of seeing people doing that work and they are doing it not for money but because they are actually well aware of their obligations to each other. The police force is one of those groups that I am very impressed by. They have been doing exemplary work and they have been doing it alongside mental health workers and health workers and the Ministry of Social Development and they have been doing it alongside voluntary organisations. There is a group that I'm involved with called the rough sleepers steering group and all these groups come together and they talk about how they're going to cope with Omicron and how they're going to look after people in community care. Body corporate groups have been busy contributing to make sure that the rules and the connections that are in place in our apartment blocks actually work and make people's lives better when they have Omicron. These are really important things.I want to mention our small businesses which are suffering under the current situation—our hospitality and retail sector our arts sector. These are the sectors that we will now need to focus on supporting. I would also like to mention those groups that I think really need a shout-out: one is our elderly. They are actually in a situation where there will be a lot of trepidation there will be a lot of fear. I'd also like to mention those people who got vaccinated despite hesitancy—I have one of those in my own family my mother. It took a lot of arguing to get her to take up the vaccinations and it was a real lesson for us all in the fact that it didn't just matter to her it mattered to us that she got that vaccination. It was such a great relief and for me it reinforced the fact that we are all connected. I am now relieved to say my mother has had her booster and I thank her for doing that. And I thank all the people who may have been hesitant but they have stepped out of their comfort zone and they have adapted because they can see the connection between people.I'd like to talk about those greater connections because the connections that this Government has been making between transport and housing and wellbeing are very real and they have directed the policies that will happen in the next year: things like actually light rail; things like intensification of housing; things like electric buses; things like the infrastructure that allows affordable housing. These are very very real things that will connect us as a society.Finally I'd just like to talk about renting for a minute. Today there was an announcement that we would be looking at the regulation of property managers. Actually affordable rent is an incredibly important thing but so is a rental situation where you're not subject to damp where your children won't get rheumatic fever. These are important settings and this is part of the puzzle. And so it's not just a case of the price of rental—that is important—but it's also the case of not turning our backs on that becoming an affordable and sensible choice not only for our young people but also for our elderly and for people who simply choose it because they want to. So I commend this Government and I am very supportive of the Prime Minister's statement.