Little Andrew: AdjournmentText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeLittle Andrew: Adjournment[Sitting date: 10 December 2014. Volume:702;Page:1347. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]ANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition):Well we have heard it all now in the great spirit of Christmas: “recycling capital” from a deputy leader who has been recycling his political capital for the last several years.I want to begin by thanking all the people around this very important institution for working so hard to not only keep us occupied but keep this House running. I want to thank Mary Harris the Clerk of the House and all the Office of the Clerk staff including the Table Office the Bills Office Hansard interpretation and translation Select Committee Services parliamentary relations policy legal education organisational performance—which I did not know existed until now—and information services. They are all those who make sure that our job is easier to do every day.I want to thank Alan Mumford the buildings team and all the contractors who support buildings. They have been a frequent occupier of the third floor of the parliamentary building—it is true—moving offices around. I want to thank the Serjeant-at-Arms Brent Smith and the security staff who work so hard to keep us safe even when the security risk rises and we have fewer doors to come in and even fewer to leave by. I want to thank Heather Daly and the tireless messengers who have been the focus of attention from at least the Paul Henry Show this year and of course ourselves.I want to thank the research experts the Parliamentary Library the Datacom team who keep us connected and sometimes our computers working the New Zealand Post staff at the post shop and the Epicure staff who keep us fed. I have to say ever since Andrew Williams no longer frequents this place my Epicure bill has halved. I think they had a policy that if it was named Andrew they sent it to Andrew Little but it has got easier. I want to thank the Spotless cleaning team who I might say do genuinely deserve a pay rise for Christmas. I want to thank the General Manager of the Parliamentary Service David Stevenson and his team and in particular Anne Smith Jane McKenzie Shelley Kirk and the relationship team.Finally I would like to thank my chief of staff Matt McCarten the whips’ office manager Emma Williams and the dedicated and talented team of leaders staff executive assistants out-of-office parliamentary staff and issues assistants whom they take care of. I might also thank the chief of staff of the Prime Minister’s office Wayne Eagleson who has provided me with so many opportunities in the last few weeks but that might not be quite in the spirit of things. I believe it is also protocol for me to acknowledge all the former leaders of my caucus but I have only 10 minutes and I do not want to detain the House for too much longer.There is no question that this has not been the easiest year for the Opposition at least in the Labour Party. We have had our ups and downs but I want to say we have ended the year on an up and that is very satisfying. I should as a matter of formality—and genuineness because we are genuine people in this House—congratulate the Government and indeed the Prime Minister on their election victory again. They did receive at least 10 weeks ago a huge vote of trust and confidence from the public. They have a responsibility to live up to that.It is true that we also received a very clear message from the election result. The public felt we had lost touch with them. They want us to keep up with a changing world. I can say we have heard that message. We are reconnecting with New Zealanders. We are on our way. I want to say also that Labour is now on the front foot. We are on the front foot.Hon Member: On your way.ANDREW LITTLE: Yeah we are on our way to make a difference in this country because people are looking for something different. People are looking for something different. They want MPs and politicians who talk straight and who talk to the issues as they are—the issues that New Zealanders care about.We have shown New Zealanders that we can do that and they are concerned about a Government that 10 weeks into the job is now showing that dreadful “third-term-itis” that some Governments show of a bit more arrogance and a bit more contempt for the public. It is starting to creep out. Poor old Paula Bennett has to come down to question time just to find out what the housing policy is because we all know that it is Bill English who controls it and runs it. She is screwing up her face but she knows the truth. She does not know what is going on in housing. She does not know how many houses there are. She does not know how many houses are being sold. The Cabinet decisions are now starting to come out because people are concerned about a Government that itself has lost touch and that is out of touch.Once upon a time New Zealanders looked to the Prime Minister and said: ‘Yeah John—he’s a straight shooter. We understand him. We get him.” But now 10 weeks into the third Government they no longer do. They used to describe him many years ago as a bit slippery. Then he kind of got pretty good—pretty cute. And now they see him as slippery again because he has ended the year covered in whale oil and that is not going to end any time soon—that is not going to end any time soon.I want to say in the spirit of the occasion—there are a couple of announcements that I want to make. I have been leaked a copy of the New Zealand Film Commission’s recent list of movies that it has funded. In fact it is about to release the list. These movies might make useful stocking fillers for many people—looking at those who are interested in politics. The commission has released to me the list of movies which are adaptations of favourite New Zealand movies but with a political context applied. Those movie-makers know where their funding has come from.I will just go through a random selection of movies from the list. For example there is the newly titled “The Whale Oil Rider”. It is a touching story of two New Zealanders in search of bromance a spiritual bond a clean environment for blue whales and a decent mobile package with free text messaging—filmed on location in the heart of Wellington and suburban North Shore. Then we have “Goodbye Pork Barrel”. It is a road movie in which a Minister of Transport turned Minister of Defence undergoes a road to Damascus conversion and realises that grandiose public works projects designed to win votes actually take money away from other areas like defence spending.Then there is “The End of the Golden Weather”. No it is not the press gallery Christmas party. It is the story of an economy where commodity prices fall income tax receipts fall the Government deficit grows and the marginal character in the whole story is left to mindlessly run up and down Parnell Rise wishing he was important. Finally we have “Heavenly Features”. It is the story of a Leader of the Opposition who armed only with his rugged good looks and a new pair of glasses takes on a Government that is tired out of touch out of ideas and out of time—and wins.Hon Member: Who’s in that?ANDREW LITTLE: The mystery guest star in that one is—we will soon find out.Hon Annette King: What about “The Return of the King”?ANDREW LITTLE: Oh! There is a special extra one a Lord of the Rings movie called “The Return of the King”. And she is sitting next to me. We are on our way back. This has been as I say a very difficult year.We are on the cusp of course of a very important year—2015. If I could just take a moment because 2015 is a year in which we will celebrate and observe two very very critical moments of history for this country. One is of course the centenary of Anzac and the disaster at Gallipoli. We of course will take time as a nation and indeed as a Parliament to observe that. That was the old campaign of the Dardanelles led by of course Winston Churchill—that Winston. It was such a huge cost to this country. One-tenth of our population of young men was lost over there. This will be a very important time for us.There is another very serious and I think solemn observance that we have to make next year and that is the 800th anniversary of a very important document that sits at the heart of our constitution the Magna Carta. I do not know what plans the Government has got to celebrate the Magna Carta but I am looking forward to those celebrations. As anybody interested in the law and the constitution knows it is a document that is about establishing the rights and freedoms of citizens in relation to the Government. We should always be concerned about that as indeed this House was yesterday—Hon Hekia Parata: Thought you were gonna talk about the 175th anniversary of the Treaty of Waitangi.ANDREW LITTLE: No point in heckling now Minister. It was your Government that passed a piece of legislation that was very frightening to many citizens of this country. We should never forget the importance of those principles in that very important document. I want to know Minister of Finance how much you have allocated for that particular celebration because it is going to be very important to us.The other piece of news that I want to release too because we have had a very interesting time in the last several weeks—we have had releases of text messages between the Prime Minister and Cameron Slater. But what we have discovered through our very arduous research is that there are some text messages that were not released at the time. We have now found them—we have now found them. For example here is one from the night of 14 June at 11.55 p.m. It is from John Key to Cameron Slater and says: “Just putting out Moonbeam. Night night Camcam.” And then we have one from Cameron Slater to John Key on 31 August: “John can I get some advice again? Girl problems. Judith’s not talking to me any more.” Then here is one from just a couple of weeks ago: “John I haven’t heard from you in 2 hours. You OK?”.So we end this year from this side of the House very pleased very happy. We have a direction. We know what the issues are for New Zealanders. They are concerned about what this Government is doing and more important what it is not doing. We have been reminded just in the last 24 hours about the issues of inequality in this country and we stand ready to take on that fight and to take on that battle.Mr Speaker I want to conclude with a very important message. The spirit of the occasion leaves me to say to all members and indeed to yourself in the words of the great crooner: “If you can’t beat them join them.” And in terms of making fun of your own surname: “Have yourselves a Merry Little Christmas.” Thank you.