2. Question No. 2—Prime MinisterRt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime MinisterQuestion No. 2—Prime MinisterRt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the Opposition): Thank you Mr Speaker. To the Prime Minister: does he stand by all his Government's statements and actions? [Interruption]Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON (Prime Minister): Yes I do. I do stand by our—yes especially the action we've—SPEAKER: Hold on. Wait on. What was that? Where did that come from?Hon Members: Backbenchers.SPEAKER: I'm sorry; it's not a playground for goodness' sake! Just keep your tittle-tattle to yourself. In the meantime just everyone recognise that a question is asked in silence and doesn't require any commentary. Please ask the question again. 2. Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all his Government's statements and actions?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON (Prime Minister): Yes and especially the action that we're taking to fix our healthcare system. The previous Government's botched merger left Health New Zealand with broken governance and poor financial controls. Just to give you a feel for it: if you're a patient you interact with a team member the team member interacts with a team supervisor who reports to a team leader who reports to an assistant manager then a manager then a service manager the service manager reports to the general manager the general manager reports to the group director of operations—[Interruption]SPEAKER: Sorry just a minute. We'll just hear the rest in quiet. It's just ridiculous. Carry on Prime Minister.Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: Well as I was saying the amazing thing with our health system that we inherited from the previous Government is that a patient interacts with a team member the team member reports to the team supervisor who reports to the team leader the team leader reports to the assistant manager the assistant manager reports to the manager who reports to the service manager who then reports to the general manager. The general manager—you might be asking Well who do they report to?" Well they report to the group director of operations and of course they report to the regional director the national director eventually the chief of staff then the chief executive and of course they report to the chair and the board. [Interruption]Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: Has Health New Zealand verified—SPEAKER: Hang on. When someone is standing to ask a question keep quiet.Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: Has Health New Zealand verified that the reporting relationships as the Prime Minister has just set out is exactly what happens?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: Yes and that's what was provided to me by Health New Zealand.Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: Does he stand by his statement that his Government has a laser-like focus on bringing down the cost of living; if so did hiking car registration fees and expanding road-user charges raise or lower the cost of living for New Zealand families?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: Well the great news is that we are a Government that is introducing tax relief for the first time in 14 years. We are lifting the tax thresholds so that people don't get caught in higher tax brackets they don't need to be in. That means they've got more money so they can navigate the cost of living.Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: Point of order Mr Speaker. I asked the Prime Minister whether raising registration fees and expanding road-user charges was raising or lowering the cost of living; I didn't ask him about tax cuts.SPEAKER: Well the Prime Minister I'm sure might want to add to his comments so far.Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: No; I'm fine actually.SPEAKER: Well that's a reasonable position.Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: He couldn't find any notes in his folder there for that one Mr Speaker.SPEAKER: No no hang on.Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: Oh the ventriloquist is away today that's right! Oh there we go!SPEAKER: Comments like that don't help the order of the House and certainly don't help dispose the member asking the question or making the comment to the goodwill of the Speaker. Could you please carry on with your next supplementary.Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: Did that laser-like focus on bringing down the cost of living lead to charging children more for public transport which has resulted in some young families spending hundreds of dollars more per week just to send their children to school?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: Yeah and what I'd say is that a majority of New Zealanders don't use public transport and some of them actually drive and some of them really appreciate the removal of the Auckland regional fuel tax and some of them really appreciate the removal of the ute tax. But what they all certainly appreciate is tax relief for low and middle income workers a group of people who the Labour Party used to care about but has lost its way. David Parker cares about them but the Labour Party doesn't.Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: Did that laser-like focus on bringing down the cost of living compel him to reintroduce prescription co-payments driving people away from preventative care towards hospitals costing more in the long run?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: There's no evidence of that. But what I would say is that it is important isn't it because I saw a Labour Party press release right? They had their numbers wrong which is not surprising because this is actually what has been the issue. They assumed that people would get a prescription every single week but there's actually a $100 cap on those fees per household. So that's wrong.Hon David Seymour: Can the Prime Minister confirm that the Government is committed to spending wisely and cutting waste in order that it can afford to tax hard-working Kiwis less and provide the essential services they rely on?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: Absolutely and that was what was a feature of this last Budget—was that we were able to invest more in front-line services remove wasteful spending give people tax relief and lay out the conditions for growth going forward.Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: Who was that laser focus concentrated on: pensioners who can expect to get just $2.50 a week; minimum wage earners who can expect to get $12.50; or one Philip Morris who just got $216 million in tax cuts?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: I'd just say to the member: are you against low and middle income working New Zealanders getting tax relief?Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: Point of order Mr Speaker. The Prime Minister's asked me a question and I seek leave to answer it.SPEAKER: No he didn't actually; he asked it of me.Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: No he asked it of me.SPEAKER: No he said "you" and you know who "you" is in this case.Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: Oh well I seek leave to answer it on your behalf Mr Speaker.SPEAKER: Well thank you very much but I'm quite capable of answering it myself. This time I'm not going to."