Little AndrewANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition): I agree with the Deputy Prime Minister and aspiring Prime Minister about one thing at least and that is that on the occasion of the resignation of the Prime Minister it is appropriate to be generous in one's offerings about not only the departing Prime Minister but one's colleagues in Parliament. But the aspiring Prime Minister could not even do that. It did not take long for Mr English to descend into the usual bitter angry nasty tirade that he is reputed for.In answer to the question What do Governments most fear?" Harold Macmillan said: "Events dear boy events." Yesterday we had an event and today we have seen the faces of the Government and they are in fear. They are in fear. They do not know what is going to happen they do not know who is going to win and they do not know what the outcome is going to be. So on the occasion of the resignation of the Prime Minister who has served for 8 years let us acknowledge that that is a significant event: constitutionally politically and in a variety of other ways. Let us accept that serving in high public office is tough. Let us also recall that having checks and balances in our constitutional system is meant to constrain and that being under daily if not hourly scrutiny is meant to enlighten and call to account. That is our system. That is what makes it tough—and it is tough.It is right sometimes to put political differences aside and say to a political opponent: "Thank you for the service that you have given to our country." It is not for me to conduct some sort of panegyric; that is for the historians—the real historians—who will have the benefit of the distance of time at some point in the future to decide what John Key's legacy is and how that has served New Zealand. I just say that it is right for the House to acknowledge the leadership that John Key has given over the last 8 years. But right now in the present circumstances who replaces John Key is a question for only the National Government members. They sit over there; it is their choice. It is not necessarily what New Zealanders expected. They expected that having elected a party to Government with a Prime Minister he would serve out the full term but now that is a matter entirely in the hands of the National caucus.One thing remains unchanged throughout all of this and that is that too many New Zealanders are still missing out. John Key was quoted in a Listener article in June this year as saying that voters only really care about four things: health education law and order and the economy. So let us have a look at health education law and order and the economy because the track record ain't that flattering.When we have a look at health $1.7 billion was cut effectively from the health budget: the health budget that has failed to keep up with population growth and a changing population profile; the 45000 mainly elderly New Zealanders last year alone who were told by their GPs: "You need hospital treatment skedaddle up there quickly get up to your hospital and get your treatment done." They turned up to their local hospital and the hospital said: "We can't afford to treat you." That is what they were told—45000 New Zealanders who needed hips replaced knees done and other minor surgeries. We have a health system that can no longer afford to treat New Zealanders when they need it. We have got surgeons now being told by their hospital management: "Don't do follow-up appointments." What is that about? How can you have surgery and not have a follow-up appointment to see how it is going to see whether there is an infection and to see whether you need other treatment? That is the state of health in New Zealand today and it ain't good enough.That was health—what about education? Well what we have seen now is a freeze on education funding. Schools are struggling to do the job we expect of them struggling to give our kids a chance to succeed in a rapidly changing world. We saw the report last week the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study report that sees New Zealand going backwards: larger class sizes more pressure on teachers and—would you believe—a freeze in funding. How does that happen with a Government that says to New Zealanders that it is committed to a brave new world of the future but will not give a chance will not give opportunity to young New Zealanders when they need it?So what about law and order? At a time of the most rapidly growing population in New Zealand and at a time when crime is rising—now 2 years in a row with burglaries assaults robberies and serious crime—we have a freeze on police numbers. We have declining police morale. How does that work in a country that is on the cusp of something special?Then there is the economy. How is it that in this great economy of ours which the Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister says is now burgeoning and doing well one out of every five wage and salary earners—get that one out of five—earns only enough to mean that more than 50 percent of their income goes on either paying their rent or the mortgage. That is how expensive the cost of living has become. That is why so many families are struggling—working families people out there toiling away trying to get every hour of work they can: terrified when they have to renew the warrant of fitness because they are terrified they might have to replace the tyres or the brake linings; terrified when that winter power bill comes because they do not know how many hundreds of dollars bigger it is than the summer ones. That is the lived existence of too many New Zealand families these days. That is not a successful economy. That is not success for New Zealand.Labour has a plan and Labour is ready. Labour has a plan for New Zealand. We are going to build houses. For all those New Zealanders who do not have their own roof over their heads—the 41000 homeless—Labour has a plan. For the thousands of young couples who cannot afford to buy their own home Labour has a plan: we are going to put you in a home; you are going to be able to afford to buy your own home. For the parents wondering how much more they are going to have to fork out for their kids at school we have got a plan: we are going to restore that funding for education and we are going to have an education system that is modern fit and equipped for the modern world.Labour has a plan for health and it is about restoring that funding. We will not be able to do it straight away but we will over time put back that funding—so that if you are elderly and your hips have given out and you cannot walk and you cannot do the shopping we will give you a chance. You will get your hip operation. You will live a decent life a dignified life because that is what New Zealand stands for. Labour has a plan.We have a plan for law and order. We will put more police on the beat. We are going to put an extra 1000 cops over 3 years and New Zealanders will feel safe in their communities again. That is our pledge. We have costed it out; we can do it. The Government could do it now. I am going to give you a bet—I am prepared to put money on it—that between now and the next election the next Prime Minister whomever that may be will announce that they will put more cops on the beat because they know they have got it wrong. The truth is this is a Government that is out of touch arrogant and tired. It has lost touch; it does not know what to do any more. Everything it does now is responding to Labour's plan to lift New Zealand and make it better.Here is the thing. We are a country that has always celebrated the chance for its people to get ahead. When you do the right thing when you work hard and you pay your taxes the least you expect is the Government to be there to back you to make sure you can have a roof over your head; that if you cannot afford to buy one that if you cannot afford to rent one there is a Housing New Zealand house there for you—not being sold down the river by the current Minister responsible for Housing New Zealand.We are a country that believes that if you do all the right things we will have an education system there that will make sure that your kids are prepared for success. We are a country that believes that if you want a chance to get ahead—to do well to work well—we will have a health system that is there to make you get better when you fall sick. That is what we stand for. That is what New Zealand is about.We are a land of opportunity; we have always celebrated that but for far too many New Zealanders that opportunity is going. We can do better and Labour is about a better New Zealand. It is about harnessing the resources of Government of backing our people of backing them in their dreams and their ambitions for themselves their children their families and for their communities. Labour is about stronger families and better communities. That is what we are going to go to the country on next year.Labour has a plan and Labour is ready. We have known this was going to come. We have been prepared for this. It does not matter when the election is; we have a plan for New Zealand. New Zealand deserves better they are going to get better and New Zealand is going to be a great country with Labour backing hard-working Kiwis every step of the way."