Brown SimeonSIMEON BROWN (National—Pakuranga): The question on many New Zealanders' minds today is: do I feel better off today than I was six years ago? The answer for the vast majority of New Zealanders is that no they are worse off today after six years of this Government than they were when this Government came to office back in 2017. This Government came to office on the wave of hope and aspiration that there was a better way. This Government was going to say Let's do this." Well they have been let down by a Government where the problem is they forgot about the word "do" and they actually managed to not do anything.So this Government has left the squeezed middle feeling more and more squeezed when it comes to their family budgets. They have got less money in their pockets to pay the bills. They are facing higher and higher rents and interest rates for their mortgages. They are feeling left behind by this Government. They're not able to pay the bills. That is why the National Party has put forward what I think is an outstanding policy to help give the squeezed middle the tax relief that they need and that they deserve so they can deal with this cost of living crisis this Government has put on them over the last six years.This comes home to us when we as members of Parliament hear the stories from people in our electorate. When I was told recently by a mother who said "Well I've just had to refix our mortgage and we're now left with $300 a fortnight to pay for the food the electricity the internet and the petrol—$300 a fortnight is all that's left after we pay the mortgage." That is what many New Zealanders are facing.What New Zealanders need in times like this is not a Government which keeps changing its policies every three minutes. It needs a Government with a plan and a vision to get New Zealanders through it and that is exactly what National's Back Pocket Boost will do for many New Zealanders to help them get through this cost of living crisis and manage to get through and pay the bills that they're facing.As this Parliament comes to a close what we see is a Government which is becoming more and more desperate—more and more desperate by the fact that they have lost their agenda. They don't have an agenda they're going negative against every issue that comes up and they are forgetting what they've campaigned on in the past. We've seen it in transport policy where they came into Government said they were going to transform New Zealand's transport system build light rail and deliver the transport programme that was going to unlock New Zealand.Hon Member: What did they do?SIMEON BROWN: Well what they did was they cancelled all of the roads of national significance failed to get light rail built in Auckland and Wellington and failed to even build a business case. But now six years later they've said "Oh no actually we're going to build some roads again—we're going to build some roads again." When we announced earlier this year that we're going to reduce the amount on consultants and contractors the Government said "That's a terrible idea—you can't do that." Well this Monday they said "Actually no we are a bit bloated in the Public Service and we need to reduce the amount we're spending on consultants and contractors."Today they announced they're going to roll out the mental health co-response plan something they cancelled when they came into office six years ago. These examples after examples give New Zealanders the sense this Government has lost its way. They're not in touch with the reality of New Zealanders' day-to-day lives and now they are desperately trying to find ways to give the public some idea that they've got some ideas for the future but all they're doing is going back to the policies they actually cancelled six years ago.The National Party has a plan. The National Party has the ideas that New Zealand needs for our future whether it's in transport where we'll build the infrastructure that New Zealanders need; whether it's ensuring that our Public Service is not bloated but is actually delivering on outcomes and giving the services that New Zealanders pay for through their own hard-earned taxpayers' money; or whether it's giving tax relief on the basis and the principle that actually we on this side of the House believe that New Zealanders know best how to spend their own hard-earned money not the Government.This Government thinks that fixing the cost of living is by taking that money off New Zealanders and then deciding how we're going to spray it around with band-aid economics. We actually think that New Zealanders know best how to spend their own money and that's why we're going to deliver tax relief to hard-working Kiwi families so they can face this cost of living crisis they can address it pay the bills and we're going to get our country back on track."