Dean JacquiHon JACQUI DEAN (Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs): So focused on America! Labour seems to be focused on everything but the future of New Zealand and its negativity is washing across the House but it is not landing on this side of the House and it is certainly not landing amongst the benches of the Government.I rise proudly in support of the motion of Prime Minister Bill English and I stand here very proud to be part of the National-led Government in 2017. Although this might be the first sitting week in what is going to be a very busy parliamentary year—and I send my compliments to the House and to Mr Speaker and to all of those in the parliamentary precinct who look after us so well—there have been many of us on the Government side who have been here in Parliament working hard those of us with new roles coming to grips with our new responsibilities. But Bill English has been all around New Zealand except when he was overseas since January meeting people going to events getting interested and wanting to know what is going on and being connected with New Zealanders which is what Bill English has been doing for many many years on our behalf.I was proud to accompany the Prime Minister to Rātana together with a number of Ministers and members of Parliament. The day was cold and the wind was chill but the warmth was very very welcome. The speech that the Prime Minister gave was thoughtful the speech was considered and Bill English outlined his plan for all New Zealanders and also for the emergence and potential of Māori enterprise. The member David Parker who just resumed his seat selectively pulled out a quote from Prime Minister Bill English's speech at Rātana which effectively said that Government cannot do everything in people's lives. That was a message that was very well received because he then went on to acknowledge the work of Tariana Turia and the work that she has done over a number of years with Whānau Ora. The Prime Minister's message was in acknowledging Tariana Turia and the work that she has done that the answer for Māori lies with Māori with whānau and he said that it is the aunties working from whānau to whānau to whānau. That is a very strong message of hope. It is a message of belief in Māori and the term Māori enterprise" is I think a term we will hear a lot more of. I was with Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett—and I tell you I feel really good to be able to say that: "Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett". I was so proud to be with the Deputy Prime Minister and again a large contingent of MPs and Ministers at Waitangi where the Deputy Prime Minister's message was an elegant speech at the dawn service where she spoke of aspiration living a good life and aspiration for all New Zealanders.I am excited to be back in the House here in what is going to be a very busy year and I am very excited to have new roles—roles in which I can make a contribution to the Prime Minister's ambitious vision for New Zealand. I will play my part in programmes such as the Business Growth Agenda. Look we want to continue to build on the good work in previous years of building a productive and competitive economy and we will continue to deliver more jobs higher incomes and higher living standards for all New Zealanders.I want to talk about my role as Associate Minister for ACC where I will be working with Minister Woodhouse and just to note at these early stages of my work in this portfolio that ACC is on a decent and good track to deliver for New Zealanders. The levies will drop this year by $126 million. Over the last few years since 2012 there has been a total deduction of $2 billion. That is great news for individuals. It is also great news for small business and for the whole economy. So I look forward very much to continuing the good work of the Minister Michael Woodhouse at ACC. Small business is a role that I am particularly interested in. Make no mistake; I make no apology for being a very parochial MP of a very special part of New Zealand. It is a mixture of high growth: we have got Wanaka which is very high growth in Central Otago and we have got eastern Otago which is also experiencing growth. It is rural it is provincial and I proudly represent that part of New Zealand. Small business which makes up a large part of the New Zealand economy is made up of New Zealanders who are hard-working. They are innovative. They are not afraid to do the long hours. Our role in the Government is to absolutely support them in doing that.I have a particular interest in tourism. It is now of course New Zealand's largest income earner and all throughout New Zealand there are emerging start-up businesses that are getting into tourism. We will support them. I want to be able to direct people to the business.govt.nz—we will find a better name for that—website which gives good information for small business so that it can go about its business with us out of its way as much as possible.I also want to mention that I will get out and talk to small business and the first place I intend to go—when I am not in my own home territory—Iain Lees-Galloway: Please do. Talk to as many of them as you can.Hon JACQUI DEAN: —is going to be Kaikōura. You see the Opposition going "Ah ha ha!" but actually Kaikōura is being very well supported after the earthquake and I want to make sure that this Government connects with small business in places not only like Kaikōura but all around New Zealand. I intend to get down to Southland—probably during the oyster season. I plan to go up to Northland.Grant Robertson: This just sounds like your holidays. What are you talking about?Hon JACQUI DEAN: I want to talk to the small business community. Yes it does sound like a holiday and that is because New Zealand is such a wonderful place and this Government cares a lot for regional New Zealand and all New Zealand.Very closely related to small business is local government. I am very pleased to be working with Minister Tolley in that regard. We will continue the good work on building relationships with the local government sector. A couple of years ago I undertook with a group of New Zealanders an investigation into the rules that get in the way of doing business with local authorities. It was called the Rules Reduction Taskforce. The Government is responding to that. Already we are seeing legislative change as a result of that. I will be picking up that work in local government and working with it so that we deliver better services to New Zealanders and particularly those New Zealanders who are trying to go about being innovative and small business.In the commerce and consumer affairs portfolio I am very keen to continue the good work in lifting performance in the financial and commercial sector. There are a number of work streams in that area where we are lifting the performance of those professionals who are providing services in the financial and the commercial sector as I say.I just want to say that in terms of KiwiSaver we are very focused on delivering better outcomes for New Zealand and how New Zealander investors in KiwiSaver can make good choices about the funds that they invest in. So we are doing some work around changes to make it more transparent around fees and around the disclosure of fees and annual statements. It might just sound like a small thing but if we can empower New Zealanders who are making significant investments in their own futures to better understand their investment then that has got to be a good thing. And if we can then go on to empower New Zealanders to make good choices around money and general decisions around budgeting and how they spend their money then that has got to be a good thing and that is going to be a strong focus of mine.I just want to finish on one very exciting announcement that I was a part of last week and that was around the roll-out of ultra-fast broadband. It was great news for small businesses and great news for regional New Zealand. I was in Te Ānau for the launch—a very small fast-growing tourism town in New Zealand. They were very excited about the potential this Government brings for the growth of that region. I am very proud to be part of this National-led Government. Thank you."