O'Connor GregGREG O'CONNOR (Labour—Ōhāriu): Thank you Madam Chair.CHAIRPERSON (Poto Williams): Excuse me—sorry to interrupt the member. Just before I ask you to resume you are going to speak on this particular sector? I'm just wanting to make that clear.GREG O'CONNOR: Yes Madam Chair. I'll be careful to make sure that my words are directed there.CHAIRPERSON (Poto Williams): Thank you.GREG O'CONNOR: In fact I just talked about as a new member going through the first year of all the milestones that it was actually a great pleasure to sit through these and examine the Government departments the various very hard-working public servants that came through. As I did so and heard people who were essentially answering questions—and I'm reminded of what I've heard today here in the House from my colleagues—I sort of almost thought I'm living in somewhat of a parallel existence. You know the people over there they're good people and I hang on their every word. I'm sure they believe everything they have said today and if you sat there to listen you would think we do live in paradise that we do live in a rock star economy. So my previous training just makes me think perhaps we should look a little through that. The reason they do believe that is that there was only one goal from that previous Government. The rock star economy—unfortunately it's fine to have a concert where the rock star's paying but if no one can afford a ticket to the concert or no one is welcome then it's going to be a pretty small sad elite concert. And I think that's what has actually happened—goals where we talked about things like Better Public Services (BPS). Well my experience of Better Public Services was simply cheaper public services and while we did speak to the chief executives while we did speak to the various public servants that came through one of the questions that very much came through from those on the other side of the table was to ask about Better Public Services about targets. The general theme of the questioning was that nothing will happen without these very strict stipulated targets—the whole world would stop. As we sort of asked those questions of the various public servants that came through there was something of a look that came on their faces—a look of Are we allowed to tell the truth here?" When we did dig down further clearly there was a belief that those Better Public Services by breaking down everything that the Public Service does into something measurable—something we can feed back something we can all feel good about something we can believe where we've achieved that little target and therefore the world is a wonderful place—it was quite clear that the achieving of those Better Public Services targets became the end in itself. As I sat there listening to those fine members on the other side they do believe that by looking at what the targets achieve then it must be all good; we must be in the state of nirvana. Unfortunately I then sit and look at the figures that have come through. I won't go through them all because they've been spoken about several times today. But can they believe that we're not short of houses that we aren't 71000 short? Well we are 71000 short. The Hon Nick Smith talked about how wonderful the figures were. Well again if you sat back and listened to those figures you'd say "What am I worried about? I might as well go and have an early tea now because things are fine. We'll leave it to the Opposition to run this because we don't need a change of Government." However it became apparent as the various departments came through—and I talk about housing; I talk about those who came through from the Ministry of Social Development the Ministry for Vulnerable Children Oranga Tamariki—as we questioned further down and saw a release from the strict BPS targets that there was the realisation that this Government is going to require outcomes. It's not going to be as a friend of mine who started a business believed that if he just worked really hard it wouldn't matter; the hard work in itself would result in success. Well it didn't. You have to be clever about what you're doing and BPS weren't clever. I know in my own department that I was working in before I came here that by what they did by focusing on things that the Minister wanted and ignoring the important things then we have a result. For example in police the methamphetamine and gang problem is a direct result today of not actually allowing those who knew what they were doing to actually do what needed doing but to give them fine and specific targets. So again as I sat listening as part of the whole appropriations I am confident that next year you'll see a range of public servants coming through empowered and confident that it's the result that matters."