Russell DeborahDr DEBORAH RUSSELL (Labour—New Lynn): May the Fourth be with you. As well as being International Firefighters Day today is also international Star Wars Day though to be honest I'm actually more of a Star Trek fan than a Star Wars fan. And particularly I'm a fan of the Star Trek the old series. And I think that's because it's a fundamentally optimistic show full of the joy of discovery the belief that we can do well and the constant search for ways to do better.Look times are tough in New Zealand at the moment and along with my colleagues I acknowledge that but there are also reasons for optimism. We have received two world-leading AAA credit ratings GDP is up 5.6 percent from a year ago and our economic activity is higher than it was before COVID-19. Unemployment is at a record low of 3.2 percent. Wages have outpaced inflation up until very recently and are forecast to rise above inflation again for every year after this one. Our debt will peak at about half of Australia's around a third of the UK's and a fifth of the US's and that's according to the IMF's forecast and we're going to get the books back into surplus in 2024-25—that's a year faster than National did after the global financial crisis.But what do we hear from the Opposition? Nothing but a litany of complaints verging on scaremongering and misinformation. The Popinjay of Epsom" squawking from his perch claims that taxes are too high and people would be much better off if we cut taxes because then they'd be more free because they could make more choices. It's hard to see how many choices can be made if you can't get decent healthcare. It's hard to see how many more choices can be made if your children cannot get a good education. It's hard to see how many more choices can be made if you don't have a warm dry secure home. Freedom is not just about making choices; it's also about being enabled to live securely without constant worries about health and education and housing. It is about being secure because people have jobs they have the social services they need. It's because they know that they are highly regarded and valued as citizens not just as units of production. That's the kind of freedom we value on this side of the House. And it's the freedom that is being secured by our recovery from COVID and by our strong economy.Meanwhile the official Leader of the Opposition skippity-jumps and flippity-flops from one thing to another leaving us all guessing about what his real intentions are. One day he's all for cancelling Labour Day and the next day he's backtracking. One day his deputy supports the increase in the minimum wage the next day he backtracks. One day he thinks public transport should stand on its own two legs—although that money should be spent on roads not footpaths—the next he mumbles that perhaps a National Government would keep on funding public transport after all. One day he's talking about bottom feeders—clue: that's anyone who hasn't done quite so well in society—the next he's "clarifying" that he means only a certain very small set of people. "Skippity-jumpity-flippity-floppity Mr Fluffy" jumbles from one gaff to the next and we're supposed to just write them off as newbie mistakes. They are not just mistakes; they reveal exactly the kind of leadership the National Party is offering us: jumbled inconsistent and walking all over the little people.Contrast that to the leadership on this side of the House that puts people first. We led out our response to COVID by putting in place a world-leading health response and we followed that up with a strong economic response that focused on keeping people in jobs and businesses going. And the results show for themselves. Our economic stats are going really well. We are working on helping people with the cost of living. We're getting through the Omicron wave. We're keeping our health and education going and making them better. We are securing our recovery and building for the future. And it's all because of the clear consistent and principled leadership from our Prime Minister and her team. We're in a good place and we're looking forward optimistically to what we can achieve together as we explore new ways of doing things as we seek out new opportunities and new thinking as we boldly go to ensure that every New Zealander is valued. "Live long and prosper" Madam Speaker.The debate having concluded the motion lapsed."