Strange JamieJAMIE STRANGE (Labour—Hamilton East): Madam Speaker thanks for the opportunity to take a call on this bill. I think that there is a reason why the ACT Party are languishing in the polls because there was no clear understanding of a plan to deal with the issues that are facing New Zealanders. Whereas—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jenny Salesa): I remind the member to come back to the bill.JAMIE STRANGE: —I'm proud to be part of a Government who are supporting New Zealanders—hard-working New Zealanders—supporting middle New Zealand as they go about their lives. And the reality is—as we have heard in this debate from all sides of the House we all acknowledge it—there are challenges with the cost of living. There are inflationary pressures happening around the globe. We do have a strong economy here in New Zealand. We have an economy that is very much export-led primarily based on producing food for the world. The world will always need food and we do that very well. We're growing we're diversifying our economy into areas like tech various manufacturing forms and we are continuing to grow our economy. And as we heard from the Minister previously in this debate we have had many years of positive GDP under Labour Governments. All through the early 2000s—high levels of GDP growth. And that growth has continued.Obviously COVID was a challenge. At the moment we're faced with a particular challenge in terms of the cost of inflation. Even though we do have a strong economy we are not immune to the pressures that are faced around the world. This is a Government who are listening to the people on the streets. We're in touch with New Zealanders. We're not out of touch with New Zealanders like some members opposite. We have a plan to support New Zealanders because we understand the challenges that we're going through.Clearly this plan to fuel money into the economy to support New Zealanders—a $350 payment for those earning under $70000. When we compare that to the National Party the National Party have some sort of vague plan around tax cuts for those at the top. And the National Party have said previously there's this trickle down philosophy and hopefully one of the next speakers from the National Party can enlighten us a bit more about that because the idea of giving money giving tax cuts to those at the top and expecting that money to trickle down to those in the middle and those at the bottom is a fallacy—it's a fallacy—it does not work. Those at the top they'll spend their money overseas they'll go on overseas holidays they might buy another five houses or something. Whereas if you support middle New Zealand and those at the lower end like we did on 1 April—Damien Smith: You didn't get the memo about this bill.JAMIE STRANGE: —I'm trying to hear the member—that money will go directly into the economy; it will support businesses. Now some people will say Well won't that fuel inflation?" Well we've been told by Treasury because it's a short-term payment of $350 over three payments it won't negatively affect inflation. However it will have the impact of supporting New Zealanders as they go to the supermarket as they go to the petrol pump because certainly there are challenges here.I'd like to acknowledge the Minister Grant Robertson for his speech today. He has delivered a Budget that strikes the right balance in terms of supporting New Zealanders now and looking long term. This bill here is a part of that Budget. This bill plays an important role in supporting New Zealanders right now because we're hearing what people are saying. We're out there on the streets listening—we're not sitting in our ivory towers locked away; we're on the streets listening to New Zealanders. New Zealanders have clearly told us that they're struggling with the cost of living and we're listening and we're responding. I'm proud to be a part of a Government that listens to New Zealanders and that is supporting them.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jenny Salesa): The next call is a split call. I call on Matt Doocey—five minutes."