Seymour DavidDAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT): Thank you Mr Speaker. I heard the Prime Minister say something I agreed with the other day. It's something I agreed with so much ACT has been saying it for a long time. The Prime Minister of New Zealand Chris Hipkins from the Labour Party said it's not right for families to have to tighten their belt up and down New Zealand if the Government isn't doing it too and I thought Amen to that." because I hear it every day—or actually not quite every day.You see people don't talk about the cost of living crisis because they're often a bit embarrassed. People who are honest who work hard and who do the right thing day in day out find themselves through those days at the end of the week a bit short and can't make ends meet. They don't understand why that is. They don't understand why people who do the right thing should actually not get the dignity of being able to pay their bills on time.I hear people say "When my tyres fail a warrant well it's at least $200 a quarter I have to juggle for week after week pay day after pay day to get back on an even keel." I talk to business owners—I won't say who—who tell me "I'm aware of employees that I have to give a petrol voucher to or else they can't afford to actually drive to work and keep earning money." So it goes on. People are having to tighten their belts up and down this country and the Prime Minister says that's not right if the Government's not tightening its belt. But take a look at what this Government has been up to: it has an insatiable appetite for your and my tax money and the way it spends it doesn't do justice to the money it's taking.Just think for a moment about education. Over the past five years under this Labour Government we've gone from spending about $13.6 billion to $18.7 billion—in five years. That is a 38 percent increase in spending on education. But are more kids going to school? Are they learning more? Do they feel that they're being prepared to be skilled and talented citizens able to navigate the 21st century? Is there a place in every community where a kid can go—whether they're boy or girl rich or poor Māori or Pākehā—where a knowledgeable adult will transfer them valuable academic knowledge that they want to go to that they regularly go to? No; we've got a hundred thousand kids regularly not attending school and as we found out from Newstalk ZB last week 10000 that aren't even enrolled in the system. That's with a 38 percent increase in taxpayer money into education.What about health? Well in 2018 this Government inherited a health budget of $17 billion; in 2023-24 it will be $28.8 billion. They say it's all because of COVID. I predict if this Labour Government is re-elected with its Māori Party and Green Party crutches—heaven forbid—they'll be blaming COVID through to the next decade. But the truth is that the pandemic's over. We've got an extra $10 billion in education expenditure; 68 percent increase in education spending by the end of COVID in spite of only 20 percent inflation generally—and that's high. For 68 percent are people getting their operations faster can they get into their GP quicker can they get their medication and are people really looked after better with a 68 percent increase in expenditure? No they are not.What does this Government do? It comes up with bogus studies suggesting that some people who pay the most tax aren't paying enough and goes on a witch hunt—or should that be a rich hunt?—suggesting if only the Government had more money then it could solve all our problems. Well how's that working out? Things are not good in the New Zealand economy they are not good in New Zealand under labour. Real change is required and that means careful use of Government finances to get practical results for the people who pay the bills and real tax relief for those taxpayers so that they can keep more of the hard-earned money that they earned in order to fight the price rises that they already see at the checkout and the pump making it harder for them to get by week to week in dignity. That is the real change and the real solution a party vote for ACT will give you this October. Thank you Mr Speaker."