Hipkins Chris; Brownlee GerryRt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the Opposition): When Christopher Luxon's fishing around looking for a theme song to enter his next conference with he might look to Split Enz's Six Months in a Leaky Boat" because that definitely sums up this Government's beginning in office. It's a Government of broken promises and it is a Government of wrong priorities. Remember the rock-solid reassurance that Christopher Luxon Nicola Willis and all of their MPs gave before the election that there would be no cuts to front-line public services—no cuts to front-line public services. And yet what have we seen day after day? More evidence of exactly that happening police hiring freezes in place because they can't be assured that they're going to get the funding from the Government that they need to be able to do the job that they have in front of them.But actually the one that I want to devote my time to today is talking about the cuts to front-line disability support services. Because what we've seen in the last few days is a Government penny-pinching when it comes to the support for some of the most vulnerable in our communities whilst dishing out literally billions of dollars to the country's landlords. They decided that tax breaks for landlords were so important that they needed to be decided before the Budget process had even begun but those who have real issues around disability support on a day-to-day basis now are going to have to wait for longer and in fact in the meantime they are having support cut off from them. I think that says everything about this Government's priorities but actually it gets worse than that because I think one of the most reprehensible things that we saw here in this House yesterday was when the Minister for Disability Issues came into the House and belittled the disability support carers who are accessing that support suggesting that they are living the high life using that funding that is provided for those with disabilities on themselves instead of caring for those who have the disabilities. I think that was absolutely reprehensible and I hope that when the Minister goes away and reflects on that she will actually apologise to those carers because those carers are people who devote their lives to providing support for some of the most vulnerable members in our community. I know that I've spoken to a number of parents who have kids with severe and complex needs and they will tell us that it is a 24/7 job. There is no break. Even when the rest of us think we can have a bit of a break at bedtime when we go to sleep they don't even get that. Some of those kids are up all night with their needs and some days those parents do not get one minute of respite. The fact that we changed the funding criteria when we were in Government to give those parents the ability to access respite was not a mistake. It was totally and utterly justified. And let's look at the examples that the Minister gave yesterday of parents supposedly getting massages and pedicures using the funding provided for disability support. Well I want to talk to the Minister about what those pedicures actually help to prevent: ingrown toenails fungal nail infections corns and calluses athlete's foot; people who are dealing with disability support face those very ailments. Back issues: getting physiotherapy or yes a massage because you are lifting someone heavy all day every day is not an unreasonable thing for those communities to ask for. It's not unreasonable for parents who have non-verbal children to be asking for things like iPads to use so that that child has a way of communicating. That's exactly what the introduction of flexible funding was designed to achieve.I don't think that a Minister for Disability Issues should be belittling the parents who are accessing those very supports. Talk about punching down; these are some of the most vulnerable people in our communities and the people who are supporting them are vulnerable as well. They are giving up their lives in many cases to supporting people with disabilities and to see the Minister who is supposed to be their champion belittling them in the way that she was in the House yesterday is absolutely shameful. I think the Minister should take the time to reflect on that and should apologise. But not only that she should put it right and make sure they're getting the support they deserve. SPEAKER: The Hon Chris Hipkins."