Hipkins ChrisGENERAL DEBATEHon CHRIS HIPKINS (Minister of Education): I move That the House take note of miscellaneous business. New Zealand is booming. Unemployment is down to 3.9 percent. We have strong wage growth of almost 4.5 percent a year. The minimum wage is up to $17.70. The news just keeps getting better. Over the next two years New Zealand is projected to grow faster than Australia. We are projected to grow faster than Canada. We are projected to grow faster than the United States. We are projected to grow faster than the United Kingdom. We are projected to grow faster than the European Union. We are projected to grow faster than Norway Japan Singapore—the list goes on.The New Zealand economy despite the global headwinds is performing exceptionally well under this Government. Interest rates are down. Debt is heading down. Unemployment is low and our books are balanced—much to the bemusement of the members opposite who never really understood what it takes to balance the Government's books because it wasn't something they managed very often in the nine long years that they were in Government.Of course our Government has restarted contributions to the New Zealand Superannuation Fund. We are saving for the future and we are reducing debt. We are reducing the debt that was clocked up by members on the other side of the House. New Zealand is doing very very well under this Government.We are tackling the long-term challenges that face this country. We have gotten serious about dealing with mental health; this year's Budget and the action taken since this year's Budget is the most comprehensive programme of action taken on mental health by a New Zealand Government ever and we are incredibly proud of that. We are taking action to ensure that New Zealanders get a consistent standard of cancer care wherever they live in the country. We're cleaning up our rivers and we're making schools and other forms of education more affordable and we are incredibly proud of that.Today at question time though—I do want to step back just a little bit—I was reminded of one of the darkest days that we had when we were in Opposition where there was a bit of a contest going on for the leadership and we decided that to be even-handed we would give everyone the opportunity to ask the Prime Minister a question. It didn't go well for us that day just as it didn't go well for the National Party today.It appears from question time today that there are more contestants to be leader of the National Party than there are people seeking the National Party nomination for Botany—and that is quite an extensive list. It would appear today the National Party who desperately need their white knight to fly in on his plane can't even jack up a selection for him in a safe National Party seat. Such is the desperate nature of the National Opposition. The only path to power they seem to see ahead of them at the moment is to talk New Zealand down—to talk down the New Zealand economy because they know it's not going in their favour at the moment because under this Government New Zealand is going well. The economy is in good shape. New Zealand is holding up very very well despite the global economic headwinds that we face. We are getting ahead and tackling the issues that New Zealanders care about.You know what the National Party are focused on? They are focused exclusively on themselves—on fighting petty internal battles. I remember those days in Opposition because it's the only thing that there is some days when they're in Opposition and the National Party seem firmly trapped in that particular space.In the meantime we're getting on and dealing with the housing crisis that we were left by the National Party. We have banned offshore speculators from buying New Zealand homes and shutting New Zealanders out of the housing market. What were we told about that by the last Government? It couldn't be done. We have done that. We have increased the number of State houses—2000 new State houses this year alone and the year's not even over yet because there is more to come. We've increased funding for schools so they don't have to rely on parental donations as they were increasingly reliant under the last Government. We have scrapped fees for NCEA so that every student can have access to our national qualification system. We've delivered a lot and—I tell you what—we're just getting started.