Robertson GrantGRANT ROBERTSON (Labour—Wellington Central): They say that leadership is about priorities and I am not 100 percent sure the Prime Minister has got his priorities right because he devoted 10 minutes of his time to listening to Steven Joyce. If there is any indication that the Prime Minister of New Zealand has his priorities wrong it is that.But it was an interesting thing that happened in New Zealand towards the beginning of last week. New Zealanders recoiled in horror at the sight of the President of a great country the United States of America instituting a policy—the so-called Muslim ban—that runs absolutely counter to what this country stands for: a spirit of tolerance and acceptance and a spirit of inclusion of openness and of accepting the world's most vulnerable people into your nation.New Zealanders right across the political spectrum including people who are not even that interested in politics recoiled in horror at seeing that kind of policy implemented and they looked to their new Prime Minister and what did he do? He blinked. He froze. For 2 days there was nothing—not a word. The media had to chase him down. He was on holiday for Auckland Anniversary Day. It is a hell of a long way from Dipton and even further from Messines Road in Karori in some ways. He froze. He was not there. He did not stand up.In contrast here is what somebody else said: In a world of turmoil when we seem to be going backwards at an alarming speed New Zealand must stand up and be counted amongst the mature and civilised nations who know that the only way forward is tolerance." That was Andrew Little. That is leadership. Andrew Little stood up and said that New Zealand can do two things in the face of this. We can fulfil our destiny as a country that stands up to bullies and welcomes people by doubling our refugee quota. He also said that we could stand up stick our neck up and say something to world leaders. Bill English was not there and that is because New Zealand has got a Prime Minister at the moment but it does not have a leader.Just imagine what would have happened with Norman Kirk when he faced down French nuclear testing David Lange when it came to warship visits and a nuclear-free New Zealand or even Helen Clark when it came to the very issue of refugees on the Tampa or be it with Iraq. That is New Zealand leaders standing up. Bill English faced with his first challenge on that blinks freezes takes a focus group comes back a few days later and finally says something. That is not leadership. It is not standing up for New Zealand's values. To paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen the former American politician he ain't no John Key.Bill English ain't no John Key and that is clear every single day to New Zealanders who have backed John Key—and we have to acknowledge that they have—for the last few elections because they backed a leader they believed in. That is not the person I saw here today. The person I saw here today was weak and without vision and without a plan for New Zealand for the future and that question of leadership is what New Zealanders will look for. They will look for a leader who stands up and does not run away and "Run Away Bill" is what we are seeing.Andrew Little stood up at Waitangi; Bill English ran away. We have got a Mt Albert by-election going on and the National Party under Bill English ran away—does not want to be part of it. The Pike River families came here as they had been promised by the National Government that somebody would look after them and would do everything that it took. They came here and Bill English ran away.We cannot have a "run away" Prime Minister. We need a leader. The only signs of leadership I have seen this year have come from Andrew Little with our support partners in the Greens. What we have seen from Bill English is that he has failed that key test of leadership.In his speech today Bill English talked about the long-term interests of New Zealand. Hon Dr Nick Smith: That's right.GRANT ROBERTSON: That is right Dr Smith. What is it about the long-term interests of New Zealand that sees $1.7 billion cut from the health budget? What is it about the long-term interests of New Zealand that sees education funding for schools frozen and parents having to reach deeper and deeper into their pockets? What is it about the long-term interests of New Zealand that means that since 2009 the National Government has not put one cent into the Superannuation Fund?Those members are stealing from future generations. They made a promise that when the books got back into surplus—and that took them a bit longer than they thought—they would restart contributions to the Superannuation Fund. They have not and future generations are now $18 billion worse off because this Government has not restarted contributions to the Superannuation Fund—$18 billion has been stolen from the next generation of New Zealanders. We hear line after line from the National Government about its amazing management of the economy. I will tell you what is irresponsible about managing the economy: $18 billion taken off the next generation. Pushing a problem away is not looking after the long-term interests of New Zealand. Those members are looking after their own short-term interests.What we need is a Government that is prepared to invest in our future and that is the priority for a Labour Government. We are not prepared to sit around relying on an economy built on a sandcastle of record household debt and speculation in the housing market and chasing the gold rush. Now it is tourism; it was dairy. We actually need an economy that is founded on a sustainable long-term plan for New Zealand an economy that recognises—let us just start with this—that education and investment in education is the most critical indicator of economic success for a country.Look around the world and you will see that the countries that succeed the countries that have wealth and the countries that have good quality of life are those that invest heavily in education. If you wanted any lesson about how this is not a Government for the long-term interests of New Zealand take a look at the figures for those young people not in employment not in education and not in training—the so-called "neets": it is 90000. That is more people than the population of Palmerston North. These are 15 to 24-year-olds who are not working who are not earning or who are not learning—Kris Faafoi: And what did he say about them?GRANT ROBERTSON: —he told us they were "pretty damn hopeless" those people—but the Government ignored that. Unemployment went up last week: it is at 5.2 percent. That is not success. There are 90000 young people not earning or learning. That is not success.Hon Dr Nick Smith: 130000 new jobs.GRANT ROBERTSON: We have the plan Dr Smith to do something about it. We have spent the last 2 years listening to New Zealanders about what is needed to make sure that young people have success in the future. That means 3 years' free post - secondary school training and education. No one will leave school not knowing what they are going to be able to do next. Every young person in New Zealand will have the training and will have the opportunities to adapt to and be part of a new economy.We are going to make sure that there is proper career guidance in every single school. We are going to make sure that there are programmes like Ready for Work and Gateway which are targeted and tailored to people who are struggling to work out what to do next and struggling to get the training and the skills they need to get a job. We are going to invest properly in that and we are going to make sure that apprenticeships are available through our Dole for Apprenticeships scheme. Why not take that up today? Why does the National Government not take that up today? If you are a young person on the dole let us take that money and give it to an employer as a subsidy to take on an apprentice. We are not prepared to sit back and let 90000 young people do nothing. This Labour Party is going to prioritise that kind of investment in the future.Our plan for housing means that all New Zealanders can expect the security that comes with housing. Sometimes when we have the debate about housing it is about the technicalities of how many homes we are going to build—100000 over 10 years. It is about cracking down on speculators through getting rid of negative gearing through making sure that those people who are not prepared to come and live here cannot buy an existing house. Let us be clear about what housing really is about: having a home that is yours or where you are secure in your tenancy is about building a strong community. Without that people do feel insecure.Housing is at the core of what the next Labour Government will do because it will help provide security. Education and training are at the core of what we will do because that is about providing opportunity as is a properly funded public health system. We will make sure that New Zealanders' values are stood up for and that real leadership comes—and that will come with an Andrew Little - led Government."