Wood Michael; Salesa JennyHon MICHAEL WOOD (Minister of Transport): We've just spent 10 minutes looking back to the glory days of housebuilding in New Zealand under the Key Government and here's a simple question for the member who just resumed his seat the Hon Gerry Brownlee: which Government built more year-on-year that Government or this Government? It's a very simple answer. By thousands per year it is this Government which wins that prize. This is a Government which acknowledges—which actually acknowledges—something that that Government never ever did: that we have a long-run housing problem in the country. It is actually getting on with the job of increasing housing supply like the hundreds of new public KiwiBuild and private houses that are being built right now in my electorate of Mt Roskill something that has been replicated in seats across the country.We had 10 minutes of looking back from that member and we're going to now move to 10 minutes of looking forward to the future of New Zealand under this Government which has a confident positive and inclusive vision for the future of New Zealand. I want to start off with a very very positive announcement which speaks to that today and that is the confirmation that the new Te Huia rail service between Auckland and Hamilton will open for business on 6 April—fantastic news for the fastest-growing economic corridor in New Zealand between Auckland and Hamilton. As I confirm this announcement I just want to acknowledge the work of our two very hard-working MPs in Hamilton Dr Gaurav Sharma and Jamie Strange our new MPs for Hamilton East and West who have pushed hard for this project—this region-shaping project—for years and years and years and also to acknowledge my predecessor as Minister of Transport Phil Twyford who championed this project from the beginning. Now we are seeing the fruits of that hard work.The Te Huia rail service really does speak to the vision that this Government has and our priorities for the three years ahead. We're focused on keeping New Zealanders safe on accelerating the economic recovery and tackling our long-term challenges. In every way the Te Huia service speaks to that. It's actually incredible and we take it for granted that we can gather together here in this House at sporting and cultural events at the wonderful opening we'll have for Te Huia in a couple of months and we can do so safely in New Zealand when so many people around the world cannot do that. That is because of the relentless focus that our Government has had on putting the health of New Zealanders first over this past year and the incredible work that our team of 5 million has done to make that a reality.We have freedoms and health and safety in this country that are the envy of the world and in international study after international study the quality of New Zealand's response to COVID is consistently ranked right at the top of the world. That is something that all Kiwis can be immensely proud of. That response was and will continue to be centred on the principle that we put people first. From day one that has been the approach that our Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has put right at the centre of the COVID response and it is what will continue to guide us. But it's also a response which is humble which acknowledges that we're always learning. It acknowledges that we don't always get things 100 percent right the first time and that we actually listen to the science and the experts and we make adjustments as we go along to keep Kiwis as safe as possible. I think that has been absolutely central to the success we have achieved as a country and that will be important in the year ahead as well.It's also been about calm and focused leadership. I look across those Ministers and the Prime Minister who have led our response: our Prime Minister who I think has really for our team of 5 million been someone that people have been able to look to with confidence as someone who does put people first as someone who clearly and calmly thinks through the way ahead and then lays out the plans; our Minister for COVID-19 Response Chris Hipkins; our Minister of Finance Grant Robertson who has handled our economic response to COVID the biggest economic shock since the Second World War and has done such a fine job of that. As we move ahead into the coming term this will continue to be our number one focus: keeping Kiwis safe.I remember at the beginning of last year as the threat of COVID began to loom those sort of false arguments that were made: that we either had to choose the health of New Zealanders or looking after the economy. What this Government consistently said and what will continue to guide us is that simple maxim that the best economic response is also the best health response. We only have to look around the world to see the evidence of that fairly and squarely because as this virus continues to rage in countries around the world who still are having to enter and re-enter lockdowns and major restrictions on social and economic activity the fact that we did that health response well and put people's health first and eliminated COVID-19 and continue to exercise an elimination strategy—that is what has meant that we have been able to rebound economically so strongly. That is why we were so thrilled last week to hear that New Zealand has achieved 4.9 percent unemployment—an absolutely incredible result when we consider the scale of the economic disruption that our country has had to endure this year and the incredibly difficult international economic circumstances that we continue to navigate.It's been about Kiwis coming together. It's been about businesses and workers working together showing extraordinary resilience and it has been about active leadership from Government and I think this is important to recognise. It's very important to recognise that active leadership from Government has made a difference in terms of New Zealand's economic position. We've been able to keep Kiwis in work because of that fast work in terms of getting that wage subsidy in keeping people connected to work and employment. We've been able to support young New Zealanders who otherwise might have fallen through the cracks by bringing in those free apprenticeships which have got thousands and thousands of young Kiwis into the trades with a bright future ahead of them. It's been about our massive infrastructure investment up and down New Zealand in the towns and cities and the regions creating the infrastructure of the future and employing tens of thousands of New Zealanders in that national work that we have got ahead of us there.I paid a visit last week to the work that's going on constructing the Third Main rail line in Auckland an extremely important project that's going to enable us to free up Auckland's roads get freight moving around more efficiently get more Aucklanders on to rail and is also employing 200 New Zealanders in the construction of that important line—another 200 employed electrifying the line between Papakura and Pukekohe and thousands more across the country as we roll out a record infrastructure package. Currently Waka Kotahi has $20 billion of capital work happening around our country employing Kiwis and giving us the infrastructure that will support good-quality lives and economic growth in the years ahead.Other great interventions that have been very important that show the value of active Government in helping our economy to deal with the crisis: the international airfreight capacity scheme a $300 million very carefully designed scheme which has ensured that we have retained airfreight capacity with countries around the world ensuring that critical freight from our imports and exports that otherwise might not have got through with the massive disruption to international aviation have continued to flow. Eighty percent of our freight at normal times actually sits below passengers in those flights we take to Australia the US China and Europe. That would have dried up completely without a smart active Government that engaged with the sector to keep that freight moving.This Government is also focused on the long-term challenges. Just because we faced the immediate challenge of COVID-19 doesn't mean we're going to take our eye off the ball. None can be bigger than the climate emergency that we face. It is a challenge which is not just a challenge to this generation but a challenge to the wellbeing and interests of our children our grandchildren and future generations and few things can be more important. It was a signal moment earlier this year when the independent climate commission tabled its draft report. That process came out of legislation that went through this House almost unanimously something we can be proud of which has set up that independent climate commission to provide science-led advice to guide our Government and guide our country towards net carbon zero by 2050 and giving us a pathway to do that.In transport we are already taking the lead. Transport is currently 47 percent of our carbon dioxide emissions and we know that if we want to meet those ambitious targets that the commission has set out that we need to meet our Paris commitments we're going to have to take fast action. We've already started that off very early this year. I was pleased to join the Prime Minister the Minister of Climate Change James Shaw earlier this year to announce that finally New Zealand is going to have emissions standards for our light vehicle fleet. We're one of the only countries in the world alongside Russia and Australia who doesn't have one of these and it's one of the quickest most effective ways that we can get our carbon emissions from our light vehicle fleet down.This is a Government that's got a clear vision for the next three years. We're going to ensure that New Zealanders are kept safe as we continue to live in a COVID world. We're going to accelerate that economic recovery so that there's equity and opportunity for all New Zealanders and we're going to keep our eye on those long-term challenges: housing climate change making sure people get a fair deal at work and that's something I'll have a lot more to say about this year as well. It's a bright three years ahead and I'm very proud to be part of this Government.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jenny Salesa): The next call is a split call. I call Jan Logie.