Robertson GrantGRANT ROBERTSON (Labour—Wellington Central): It has certainly been a momentous 24 or 36 hours in politics and the election of Jacinda Ardern and Kelvin Davis as the leadership team of the Labour Party is one of the great political moments I have witnessed in this House. But there has been another enormous moment in New Zealand politics in just the last few hours. Steven Joyce turned down the chance to go on Morning Report and abuse the Labour Party. This was once prophesied by a small Inca tribe many centuries ago and no one ever believed it would come to pass. Over the centuries people have thought it may happen that Steven Joyce may turn down the opportunity to make mindless statements about the Labour Party but it has never occurred. Then this morning he turned down the chance to go on Morning Report and have a crack at the Labour Party.Sue Moroney: Why was that Grant Robertson?GRANT ROBERTSON: My colleague Sue Moroney asks why. It is because they are scared—because they are running scared on that side of the House. Bill English and Jonathan Coleman were sitting there today in the front row with no idea what to do in the face of a Labour Party led by Jacinda Ardern and Kelvin Davis.I want to say something briefly about Andrew Little. Andrew is one of the most honourable people whom I have ever worked with in politics. He is a person who has spent his entire working life trying to advance the causes of working people. Every decision that he made as the leader of the Labour Party and in his former career has been about what is best for working people and I acknowledge his courage and his bravery in the decision that he took yesterday. I also want to speak about Jacinda Ardern. Some people know that I shared a parliamentary office with Jacinda Ardern and I want to put on record today that I apologise to her parents because when she entered that office she had never drunk alcohol and did not swear very much. Now she is a whiskey connoisseur and I am not going to talk about the swearing because it will get me in trouble. She is a person whom I have known for a long time whom I have huge admiration for.One of the reasons for that is that I regard Jacinda as a truly global citizen. Sometimes the members on the other side of the House and in the media like to take the mickey out of the fact that Jacinda led an organisation called the International Union of Socialist Youth but in doing so what she was doing was expressing her values as a global citizen—her commitment to look outwards to how she could work with people from right around this planet to make the world a better place. She has done that from a very very early age and continues to do it now. Philip Matthews I think it was put on Twitter yesterday that Jacinda was a cross between Lorde and Helen Clark. That is what he said yesterday. I do not know whether people have heard Jacinda sing but we will stick with the Helen Clark bit at this stage. But actually that is the kind of inspiration I think people are now feeling from seeing Jacinda in that leadership role.But what I know that Jacinda and Kelvin Davis both believe is that actually it is not about them. It is about the people whom we are all put in here to represent. It is about making sure that we are a country where we are prosperous because we are clever and talented not because we are selling houses to each other; that when we are in Government we know that our job is not just to be the managers of the status quo but to be the builders of the future; and that we take an overwhelmingly positive view of New Zealanders who are resourceful innovative creative just and compassionate—just and compassionate. That is what I think about when I think about Jacinda Ardern and Kelvin Davis and it was my absolute pleasure and my pride to nominate Kelvin to be the deputy leader of the Labour Party yesterday. In Kelvin Davis we have a man of huge mana an educator from the Far North of New Zealand who lives his values who has stood up against violence not only in this House but in the community that he serves.I could not be prouder of the line-up that the Labour Party is taking to this election. I could not be prouder to stand for a party that has for more than 100 years stood for a better and fairer New Zealand. I could not be prouder of this country that we can deliver to New Zealanders a quality of life and an environment that they will enjoy for the future. There might be only 50 days to go in this election campaign. The Labour Party is going to run the campaign of its life for the people of New Zealand.