King Annette: Annual Review Debate — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeKing Annette: Annual Review Debate — In Committee[Sitting date: 28 April 2015. Volume:704;Page:2963. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon ANNETTE KING (Deputy Leader—Labour):The member who has just resumed his seat Mark Mitchell was disappointed that we have not spoken in the language of aspiration—that members on this side of the Chamber have been pointing out that we believe that the Government has become arrogant and out of touch that it has lost its way and that it has been breaking promises. We do not resile from that Mr Mitchell. That is our job—to point out the failures of this Government. It gets plenty of sycophantic endorsements from its own members of Parliament who can find absolutely nothing wrong in what it does. I just have to remind Mr Mitchell when he asked what we have had in leadership over here—well let me just say: Jim Bolger Jenny Shipley Bill English Don Brash John Key. I can say that there were five leaders of the National Party before you got this Prime Minister. So when you quote history you need to just look a little bit further back because you will find it might come to bite you in the bottom.I would say to the member thank you for recognising some of the work that a Labour Government did including free-trade deals but I would have also appreciated it if the Government opposite could one day acknowledge the work that Labour did in terms of the management of this economy through Michael Cullen the very man you have made chair of the New Zealand Post Group because he was so terrible as Minister of Finance you wanted him to run New Zealand Post. Of course we know the reason he was made the chair of New Zealand Post is that he was such a good manager of the economy.I want to point out to the members opposite where I think there is a real problem in this annual review and that is in the area of health. I am very concerned about what is happening in health. I have sat through the annual reviews—The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch): Order! That is the next debate. Health does not come under this one.Hon ANNETTE KING: This is the general debate on—The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch): No no—health comes next in theme No. 2.Hon ANNETTE KING: I thought we could do any theme under the one heading.The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch): No I have already indicated to the Committee what is included in this debate—health does not come under this one. It is in the next one.Hon ANNETTE KING: In that case Mr Chairperson—Hon Member: The party that was in touch with the people would do a better job.Hon ANNETTE KING: I beg your pardon? Sorry Mr Chairman I never heard your ruling. The understanding we had was that under the themes that we are doing—The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch): No no—[Interruption] Order! When we started this debate at 20 past 5 I indicated clearly the seven themes. There are going to be seven themes. We are on theme No. 1. When we started after dinner at 7.30 I actually read out once again what those themes were. We are debating the relevant services for business: accident compensation commerce and consumer affairs customs economic development foreign affairs and trade immigration labour science and innovation and tourism. Those are the themes that we are on. Health comes into the next debate.Hon ANNETTE KING: Thank you Mr Chairman. Unfortunately not everybody sits listening to every word that is said in the Chamber at 5.20 and at 7.30—some of us actually were at other functions. So I apologise to the Committee for not speaking on the right area.I would like to speak about labour and that is under this area I am told. We know that when we left Government we had one of the lowest unemployment rates in the world. We did that through sheer hard work and good management of the economy. We acknowledge the Government went through a global financial crisis but we are now talking about our seventh year on. This Government cannot continue to blame the global financial crisis for everything that is wrong in New Zealand. Whenever it goes wrong it says: “Oh but there was a global financial crisis.” Remember the Prime Minister told us 5 years ago that the global financial crisis was over—that it was finished. But John Key has not delivered on his promise for jobs in this country. He has not delivered.What worries us is that when you look at those unemployment figures and you look in the regions of New Zealand you have to be concerned about those who are not getting jobs particularly our young people. You need only to see some of the figures—the number of young people who are missing out because this Government will not focus on the fact that the concentration should be on getting our young people into work. The Government talks about what it has done but I have to say that it has been abysmal particularly for Māori and Pasifika youth in this country. We ought to worry about that. That is a generation that is going to miss out unless there is a greater focus put on it.We also know that under the labour portfolio this Government has been very miserly when it comes to the minimum wage. When we promoted a minimum wage that was close to the living wage this Government had plenty of excuses why people should not be paid enough to live on. I would tell those members to go and spend a day with home-care workers in this country who are paid the minimum wage looking after our old folk doing work that is difficult—Reports noted.