3. Question No. 3—Prime MinisterHon SIMON BRIDGES (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime MinisterQuestion No. 3—Prime Minister3. Hon SIMON BRIDGES (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all her Government's statements and actions?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): Yes.Hon Simon Bridges: Why have median rents gone up $55 since she's been Prime Minister?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: As was discussed in the House yesterday there is some dispute over the figures that the member tends to continue to use. He doesn't for instance take into account the outliers in some of those numbers and use what is commonly used as a geometric mean. On those figures my understanding is that some of those increases are more like $16.Hon Simon Bridges: What effect does she think the significant increases in rent are having on poverty in New Zealand?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Of course this is a Government absolutely committed to making sure that rather than things like tax cuts which do not have a measurable impact on benefiting those in the same way that we can with targeted tax credits the same impact on low and middle income earners—that's of course why as a Government we prioritise the Families Package over tax cuts. On the housing market and on rents in particular the biggest difference we can make is to supply. We have invested heavily in increasing the amount of State housing stock; several thousand houses are currently under construction over 3000 places created under this Government—we're building more than any other Government since the 1970s. Those are things that do have a measurable impact. We acknowledge we of course do want to see those rents much more stable than they have been.Hon Simon Bridges: When will we see the 18c to 32c decreases in petrol prices that Kris Faafoi spoke of last week?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Again this is something I traversed yesterday. The Minister responding to the Commerce Commission has acknowledged—as I would hope the Opposition would—that the Commerce Commission has done a piece of work that shows that consumers are paying more than they should be and that there are things that we as a Government can do to rectify what's going on in the market. So whilst I'm not going to predict the final impact of that for consumers it's far better than doing nothing and I don't suppose that the member would support us leaving it as the status quo.Hon Simon Bridges: Will we see any meaningful changes and decreases in petrol prices given changes her Government may make before the election?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: As the member well knows we have already heard from the Commerce Commission that they believe a difference will be made by a more transparent wholesale pricing regime through greater contractual freedoms—and there are terms to facilitate wholesale competition—they believe even that transparency around pricing of premium products will make a difference and in introducing an enforceable industry code of conduct. So those are all things that we as a Government are pursuing and we intend to expedite that. I look forward to the member's support.Hon Simon Bridges: How can we trust her Government when petrol prices have gone from $1.91 to $2.13 a litre on her watch?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Because we have brought in the Commerce Commission to analyse what's gone on in the market; they have pointed to the fact that we have seen changes over the last decade that are inexplicable to the pricing. So that's why not only can they focus on the fact that we've done something about that via the Commerce Commission we then intend to implement the recommendations they've made. I do note that the last Government chose not to do that and we didn't therefore see the impacts that I hope these changes will make.Hon Simon Bridges: So will we see price decreases before the election?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: What we'll see is a response and an implementation of the Commerce Commission's recommendation which again is more—is more—than what we saw under the last Government.