Parmar ParmjeetDr PARMJEET PARMAR (National): We heard about leadership and its impact from one of the members from Labour. I have a very interesting incident to share and this incident will tell the whole story of the leadership competition that is going on between the leader and the deputy leader of the Labour Party. It was a Sunday—from my memory it was 26 March 2017. As always I was listening to an Indian radio station in my car and Jacinda Ardern came on for an interview. I kept listening the interview finished I kept listening to the same radio station and then in just a few minutes—yes in just a few minutes—none other than Andrew Little called and said on air that he was trying to get through to that radio station for a very long time to be interviewed. It tells us who is calling the shots in the Labour Party. It was really interesting to see those dynamics play out on air when he said that. The deputy leader of the party was on air being interviewed and the leader was dialling that number again and again—again and again—to get on air to get that interview.On this side I have to say that I am very proud to be part of this tremendously wonderful Government under the leadership of Bill English. This Government is so good because we understand the needs desires and aspirations of all New Zealanders. We also understand the complexities of these various aspirations. We know the aspirations of a student are very very different from a home-stay mum just like they are very different for a new migrant versus somebody who is born here; just like they are very different for someone who is walking into their first job versus somebody who is retired. My background is very different from my colleagues on this side yes but there is one thing common amongst us and that is that we are very proud to be part of this tremendously wonderful National Government under the leadership of Bill English.Look at our economy—our economy continues to grow and diversify. Children are staying in school for longer and attaining better qualifications. The Better Public Services target shows whether it is early childhood education or 18-year-olds achieving NCEA level 2 or level 4 that we are making great progress. I want to acknowledge the former Minister of Education Hekia Parata for her work and I also want to acknowledge our new Minister of Education Nikki Kaye. Today the Prime Minister announced $321 million for social investment through Minister Amy Adams' portfolio. So we are making great progress in some very difficult areas and this is because of our approach towards public services. Just this morning we saw unemployment numbers—it is at 4.9 percent which is down from 5.2 percent in the previous quarter. Again this is very good news under this National Government. We are investing heavily in various sectors that matter to New Zealanders.Just last week on Thursday I held a public meeting to introduce the new ministry for children that is the Ministry for Vulnerable Children Oranga Tamariki and I was really happy to see that the audience endorsed the work that this National Government is doing to get better outcomes for children. I am also very happy to see that we have increased the minimum wage every year since coming into Government in 2008. Again this year we increased the minimum wage by 50c from 1 April and the starting wage is still 80 percent of the minimum adult wage which is good news for low-income families. Again we know the projection because of the progress that we are seeing under this National Government for the annual average wage is that it will be $66000 by 2021. I am really proud of the progress that we are making under this National Government for various families and businesses.I am also very happy to see that the New Zealand Transport Agency and Auckland Transport have gone ahead and announced a mass transit plan in Auckland and Dominion Road which goes through Mt Roskill is the preferred route. These are the kinds of projects I want to see as a National list MP based in Mt Roskill because these kinds of projects also create numerous local jobs and there is a huge amount of residential construction activity going on as well despite the opposition from the Labour Party. When people are happy the Labour and Green members are not happy but we can see that there is an extraordinary level of work that is going on under this National Government and we will continue to be ambitious for New Zealand. Thank you.