2. Question No. 2—Prime MinisterRAWIRI WAITITI (Co-Leader—Te Paati Māori) to the Prime MinisterQuestion No. 2—Prime Minister2. RAWIRI WAITITI (Co-Leader—Te Paati Māori) to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all her Government's statements—even though yesterday's one was a little bit true—and policies?SPEAKER: That is not the question that's written here. It's very unhelpful. We'll just take it as read as printed on the paper.Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): Yes—in particular our support for Māori housing. Over recent weeks Ministers have announced housing initiatives in Northland Lower Hutt and Muriwai. In Northland Ministers announced a decision to fund a prototype delivery model that will see 80 to 100 affordable rental homes and up to 110 infrastructure sites by 30 June 2025; in Lower Hutt $7.1 million was used to purchase town houses in Lower Hutt to be managed as public housing; and in Muriwai Minister Henare opened 10 new homes built for kaumātua and whānau. In last year's Budget we committed $730 million for Māori housing to deliver 1000 new homes repairs and maintenance for 700 homes and infrastructure support for 2700 homes. I am proud of the support we're giving to Māori housing to support our Māori communities.Rawiri Waititi: How can she stand by her comments that there isn't a cost of living crisis despite the new stats released yesterday showing food prices are 10.7 percent higher in November 2022 than they were in November 2021 beating last month as the highest annual increase since 2008?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I think rather than get into the tit for tat I believe that I have acknowledged the crisis that many whānau are in and that is why for instance we have invested in the cost of living payment the increases to the family tax credit and the fuel excise reductions that you see now. Even though we are phasing them out we at the same time are timing it so that when we hit 1 April we'll see another increase in the family tax credit in main benefits and in superannuation. We are incredibly mindful that next year and this have been tough and that is why we've provided targeted and timely support rather than some of the other policies that have been bounced around by other members in this House which would leave our lower and middle income earners with far less in their pockets.Rawiri Waititi: Why is she standing by the decision not to regulate prices or adopt my member's bill to remove GST from kai which would have ensured that whānau can afford to put kai on their table this Christmas? Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: This has been a policy that actually in good faith the Labour Party have themselves considered before and in that consideration one of the issues that we had concern over was whether or not you could guarantee that any of those GST reductions would be retained and genuinely passed on to families. What we have instead done is work on what we believe are systemic issues and what the Commerce Commission have said are systemic issues in our grocery sector. We do not have a competitive and well-functioning grocery sector. Kiwis are paying the price to the tune of an extra $1 million a day in additional revenue and that is why we are undertaking the reform we are to make sure that we fix the system as a whole regardless of what's happening with inflation.Rawiri Waititi: Will she recognise the challenges of surviving through a cost of living crisis by providing a Christmas bonus to families this summer like her Labour predecessor Michael Joseph Savage once did; if not why not?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: As the member will know I am a huge follower of Michael—I was going to say Michael Joseph Savage"; him as well—but also Norman Kirk because of the focus and unrelenting focus they had on the importance of having a safety net to support families. Yes Norman Kirk did give a Christmas bonus but our focus has been on lifting main benefit rates on a consistent basis and we've done that. As our review of the Families Package has demonstrated—and you can read the data the Ministry of Social Development has released today—we now have weekly incomes after housing costs on average 43 percent higher in real terms since 2018 for people on main benefits. Ours is not a bonus; it is a consistent lift because that is what has been required."