Ngaro Alfred: General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeNgaro Alfred: General Debate[Sitting date: 11 May 2016. Volume:713;Page:10985. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]ALFRED NGARO (National): There comes a time in a person’s life when they often have to face the truth. I can say—and I too have got a witness there Mrs Sue Moroney—there were actions in this House that I was not proud of. At that time I took the courage of my convictions. I went up to see the person—and Mrs Sue Moroney will know who that is; I will not name who they were—and I apologised. I apologised because I was wrong. I was wrong in my actions. I was wrong because I took the privilege of the House in a situation that I should not have. So when I stand up here in this House and I say that people should be held to account I do mean it and I back it up by my actions. I believe the fact is that Mr Phil Twyford should apologise. He should say sorry because what he did is he took the privilege of the House he took a leadership position and he turned round and used politicking as a way of making a point.I want to talk about what I think is called the “Ng factor”. We are talking about the whole aspect of Chinese- and Asian-sounding names; it was called the “Ng factor”. So this is what he did: he went searching for evidence that would hopefully put him in a position where he could make a political statement and in his searching he thought that he found the answer. What do we call that? We call it blaming. So what did he do? He began to blame what he thought was a statistic—that over 40 percent of Chinese who were buying houses were to blame for the issues of the Auckland housing affordability crisis. That is what he did. How do we know that? Because Keith Ng who calls himself a Kiwi turned round and wrote an article asking why he was blaming them saying that as Chinese they are not foreigners and have been here for many years. Instead Mr Twyford went along with the line of blaming. That is what he did and what did it lead to? It led to shaming.So how does shaming become real inside the Labour Party? Well when you go to The Daily Blog you do not often hear a lot of stuff that is supportive of where the Government is at but every now and then you get a little gem. Here is where shaming makes a difference for the inside of the Labour Party. Young Labour wrote this:“Oh dear. Late last week Labour Housing spokesperson Phil Twyford caused outrage and upset … This was predictably pretty bad – and justifiably backfired hard on Labour. It’s not that we don’t have a problem … It’s just that a list of Chinese-sounding surnames doesn’t prove anything”—here is the punchline—“except the laziness of Labour’s Parliamentary Research Unit.”That is what happens when you go searching blaming and in the end it becomes shaming. If you have got integrity even in this House—like I said I will back it up; I have done it—then how about Mr Phil Twyford stands up and apologises.But in the short amount of time that I have I want to talk about the “Ng factor”. It is called the “doing”. What are we doing as a Government? I could talk about blaming and shaming and all sorts of things but what are we doing? If we are talking about housing let us talk about the 3000 emergency housing places—and that is right for Māori—under Whānau Ora. And I also want to acknowledge the Hon Te Ururoa Flavell and what he has been putting forward in regard to meeting the needs of Māori in housing. I cannot know all the statistics; I know that he will know what they are. But this Government is doing the things that matter most.What are we doing? Emergency housing: $41.1 million over 4 years to making a difference—3000 places every single year. Yes that is right. The other side can talk about people in houses people in cars people in caravans but guess what? What are you doing? Absolutely nothing.Hon Annette King: We’re in Opposition.ALFRED NGARO: This Government is making the difference. Even if you are in Opposition that is the laziest lamest excuse I have ever heard. That member should know that even if you are in Opposition this is what you can do: you can listen to the people you can advocate to Housing New Zealand. You can make a difference Mrs King even when you are in Opposition.Let us talk about the affordability of housing: the KiwiSaver HomeStart programme that was launched in April at the Henderson Baptist Church in west Auckland in Te Atatū—nearly 12000 New Zealanders spread right throughout the country have been helped into their first home. That truly is making a difference. It is projected that for the $435 million that this Government is putting through 90000 Kiwis will have their first home over the next 5 years.This is not the party that is about blaming or even shaming. I will put it again as I started—here is what it is: if you have the courage of your convictions then stand up and apologise. I have had to do it; how about Mr Phil Twyford does it to the Chinese community. They deserve it.