Davis Kelvin; Borrows ChesterKELVIN DAVIS (Labour—Te Tai Tokerau): Tēnā koe Mr Deputy Speaker. Ngā mihi o Te Tau Hou ki a tātou katoa. We have just heard a fantastic speech there by Alfred Ngaro just telling us—Fletcher Tabuteau: No too far—too far.KELVIN DAVIS: Well yes I do not want to go too far but I—I overstepped the mark there sorry. He spent the first part of his speech telling us what a great day he had at Waitangi how he spent his time trailing around the country with the Prime Minister and what a fantastic day it was. The trouble is that they were not actually celebrating Waitangi Day at the place where the Treaty was signed. What is the difference between Governor William Hobson in 1840 and Prime Minister William—Su'a William Sio: English.KELVIN DAVIS: —English in 2017? The difference is that Governor Hobson was at Waitangi on 6 February in 1840.Su'a William Sio: He fronted.KELVIN DAVIS: He fronted. Who did he front to? He fronted to a group of angry Māoris. He fronted to the likes of Pōmare my tupuna. He fronted to the likes of Te Kēmara he fronted to the likes of Kāwiti and he fronted to the likes of Te Tirarau—all these great Ngāpuhi ancestors. He had the courage to front like a leader. Kanohi ki te kanohi [Face to face] as we say. I tell you what Māori really love and appreciate when somebody has the courage of a leader to turn up eyeball to eyeball and say what they think. I would not have blamed Andrew Little for not turning up to Waitangi Day. He got the same memo that Bill English did: No you are not going to be able to speak there." But Andrew Little the leader he is said: "Kelvin I'm going to that. I'm going to Te Tii Marae. I'm going there and I'm going to tell those people exactly what I think and I'm going to give them an opportunity to talk to me." Andrew Little fronted up in front of the TV cameras—there were about 10 cameras and a whole heap of other microphones in front of him. Before we went across the river to the marae he said: "I'm going to tell these people that their media ban is wrong." What did Andrew Little do? He stood at the gate of that marae. We got called on and he took the opportunity that he said he would and he told it to them straight—assertively but with respect—that he thought the media ban was wrong. He had the courage as a leader to do what was right. He did not turn up 3 or 4 days in advance and speak to 50 basically pacified placated iwi leaders—0.001 percent of the Māori population in New Zealand—a group of Māori who have got enough crumbs to basically make up seven-tenths of a loaf of bread and who are told: "If you want the other three-tenths of your loaf of bread be nice to me. Say nice things about us." Instead Andrew Little the man he is fronted up. Andrew Little did not have a battalion of Diplomatic Protection Squad (DPS) people around him protecting him—because I have seen what the previous Prime Minister had in terms of DPS support. Walking through the airport there there were four people clearing the way for him with their telephone cords going down their backs and plugged into their ears—four people. That is walking through the airport on the way to the Koru Club so I would hate to think how many DPS staff Bill English might have had at Waitangi if he had been there. Well Andrew Little had I think two maybe three sort of loitering but when he went on to that marae he had on one side of him Willow-Jean Prime and I was on the other side of him. In Andrew Little's words he said: "Thank goodness Willow-Jean was there." Andrew Little heard the edict "You will not be allowed to talk." but he also knows just the nature of the debate on Te Tii Marae and on many marae. Basically when you have got the floor the floor is yours. Andrew Little knew that. He had the guts to stand up and talk to the people of Ngāpuhi and to give them the opportunity to talk to him.Straight after the pō'hiri we went out and we were in the "issues" tent where political issues are raised. There was a crowd of about—I do not know—over 100 or 150 maybe which was able to throw questions at Andrew Little. He stood there and he answered them. Not everyone was going to agree with him and not everyone liked what he had to say. I mean Tukoroirangi Morgan was not happy with what Andrew Little had to say but Andrew Little stood there and he got a great reception from the people. Bill English—where was he when the people of Waitangi wanted to actually direct questions to him? I mean what is the worst that could happen in this day and age on Waitangi? Back in 1840 for William Hobson if my ancestors really did not like what he had to say they could have knocked him on the head and then spread him out in the next hāngi. The worst that could have happened to Bill English going on to Te Tii Marae is maybe getting a tongue-lashing from an 80-year-old nanny in a Zimmer frame. Andrew Little was not afraid of that 80-year-old nanny in a Zimmer frame.So despite being told he could not speak Andrew Little went there and he gained immense respect from the taumata of Te Tii Marae the people of Te Tii Marae and all the thousands of New Zealanders who were there. That was on 5 February. The next day 6 February not only was Andrew Little in the whare rūnanga up on the Treaty grounds there to give a lovely prayer for the country he was also at Hoani Waititi Marae later that afternoon and then also down here in Wellington at another Waitangi Day event. So we have heard Alfred Ngaro talking about how it was great that Bill English went on to Ōrākei Marae and he had this opportunity to talk about the relationship between the Government and iwi and I say: "Well what's wrong with the other 364 days of the year when that sort of thing can happen?" Really Bill English should have fronted should have been at Waitangi and should have given the people of Tai Tokerau the opportunity because that is where the Treaty was signed. There is no point running away from that.Carmel Sepuloni: Gingerbread man.KELVIN DAVIS: Gingerbread man—run run run as fast as you can. It was just like you know—celebrating Waitangi Day elsewhere in the country is like celebrating Rātana down in Gore. You have got to celebrate Waitangi Day up in Waitangi. The Prime Minister could be there in the morning shoot around anywhere else in the middle of the day and get somewhere else in the afternoon just like Andrew Little did. The man is full of energy he is getting around and he is being seen.It is really disappointing that the Prime Minister in his first opportunity to really front and show that he has got some political courage and some political leadership ended up turning tail and running. All we saw of Bill was the back of him. In fact we did not even see that because when he disappeared through the dust cloud it was like he had gone through the back roads of Pipiwai where the dust is blown up and choking the locals there. We did not see Bill English for the dust. What has Bill English inherited—what has he inherited from his predecessor? Well he has inherited a housing crisis that is just spiralling further and further out of control. First-home buyers are locked out of the market 41000 people are homeless—and a lot of those people are up north too I have to say. They are homeless and unemployed. The Prime Minister could have been there to hear from some of these homeless people and some of these unemployed people up in Tai Tokerau but where was he? He was gone—disappeared amongst the dust.The way the Government has decided to address the housing crisis is to remove "housing" from the titles of its Ministers. So really now we do not know who is actually in charge of trying to rectify the—well we believe we know who is in charge but without a "housing" label to their title it is a bit hard. It is a way of the Government just sort of shuffling responsibility so that nobody really gets pinged for the mess that housing is. Our homeownership rate is the lowest it has been since 1951—that is an indictment. My three children aged 18 20 and 22 this year—how are they going to afford a house? They will struggle—they will struggle. They want to move to Auckland. I am not quite sure really that they are going to be able to achieve that because they cannot afford the million dollars that the average house costs in Auckland. They cannot afford that and I do not know how all my other relations' children are going to afford it.One in seven Auckland houses are now sold to major property speculators. As Andrew Little said what is wrong with saying to property speculators overseas: "If you want to come to New Zealand and own a house then build one. Don't come here and increase the housing problem by just buying up houses left right and centre. Build your own. Build your own and then we don't have to worry about trying to find another house for a New Zealander who is having difficulty with their house."?Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: I am sorry to interrupt the member but his time is long gone. A 5-minute call on behalf of the National Party—Chris Bishop."