Little Andrew: Debate on Prime Minister’s StatementText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeLittle Andrew: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement[Sitting date: 10 February 2015. Volume:703;Page:1367. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]ANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition): I move That all the words after “That” be deleted and replaced with “this House express no confidence in this National-led Government because this is a government that has lost its moral compass and turned a blind eye to the deplorable actions of its MPs; that is fixated on selling off our state houses rather than building more homes; that is leading us into a war with no clear goals and no exit strategy; that has more Kiwis out of work and in poverty today than when it came to power; and that now has no greater ambition for New Zealand than changing our flag while leaving the real issues to fester.” Apparently that was the speech of a leader of a nation. Apparently that was the sort of speech that we are all meant to be inspired by rise up to and feel good about. But it was typical of this Prime Minister—nasty pettifogging with no direction and nothing to offer. He has had 2 months on the beaches and he has come back with nothing more to offer.Before I go any further I want to say how pleased I am to be back and to wish you Mr Speaker and all my colleagues a happy New Year. It has been a great summer break. Some have had a good holiday. Todd Barclay went on a voyage of discovery. He discovered his electorate—“Oh yes there is a deep south!”—after years of living in Wellington. Chris Bishop went kayaking in the Hutt River and he wound up a bit like his political career: hard up on the rocks with no future. Amy Adams spent her holiday going around and unpicking everything that Judith Collins did not do. So it has been a very successful summer for some.This is a Government that has mastered the art of something very very special. Kirkcaldie and Stains and Smith and Caughey’s would be very proud of them. This is a Government of window dressing. This is a Government that has mastered the art of window dressing: giving the appearance of doing something—giving the appearance of doing something—even though what it is doing is something completely different; or repeatedly promising something that it never delivers on like the fiscal surplus. How many years now Mr English has the Government promised a surplus and not delivered? How many more years are we to go? What is it now—2017 before the surplus before the great fiscal managers of the National Government produce something produce a tangible result? That is the window dressing.Let us talk about housing and housing affordability. Those members talk about housing affordability. Their plan their magic plan for housing affordability—get this—is to sell State houses. Not a single extra house but the selling off of State houses.Hon Dr Nick Smith: What about Homestart?ANDREW LITTLE: Poor old Nick Smith the “Dr Strangelove” of the National Cabinet. Poor old Nick Smith with his great plan to help housing. He is going to reform the Resource Management Act in ways that we do not know about—because he cannot tell us. There is great talk about section 6 and great talk about section 7 but we do not know what it is. What is the change? And if he does have change what difference is it going to make to the people trying to get into a house? What difference is it going to make? Not a single difference. Not a single new house will be built because of their policies on that side of the House—not a single new house.Low-income and middle-income Aucklanders are struggling to get into a house. I heard a story this morning about a professional Auckland couple in their 30s—probably a little younger than Simon Bridges. They have done their OE and they have come back. They have done very well on their OE because they could afford a deposit. That was one thing. They had no help from their parents. But they now have a mortgage. They have a modest Auckland house with three bedrooms and do you know what the mortgage is? It is $750000—$750000 for first-home buyers in Auckland a young professional couple.That is what the National Government has given us when it comes to housing. And it will talk about: “Oh we want more houses. Oh we’re going to change the law to give us more housing.” It is just more window dressing—just more window dressing from the “Dr Strangelove” of the National Cabinet Nick Smith.The Government has done nothing to add housing supply. Oh that is not quite true. It has the special housing areas.Hon Member: How many houses?ANDREW LITTLE: Fifteen houses—Hon Member: 15.ANDREW LITTLE: —or 50? Am I over-estimating it? I might be—15 houses. Oh that will help. That will help the poor old Aucklanders trying to get into their houses. That will help the Aucklanders who can no longer live near where they work and who have to live in the far north north of Auckland or even down in Hamilton now if they want to work in Auckland. That is the product of this Government: just more window dressing. No idea no plan no policy and no plan to do anything that is going to make a difference. It says that selling 8000 State houses will make the difference. And it says and here is the other bit of window dressing in selling the 8000 State houses: “Oh they will all go to the community housing groups.” There is not a single community housing group that can afford 8000 State houses. The community housing groups cannot afford to buy up those 8000 State houses.John Key knows that when he makes that promise he is promising thousands and thousands of State houses to his mates the property developers because that is what this plan is about. It is not about adding houses. It is not about making housing more affordable. It is not about helping those who cannot afford to buy or cannot afford to rent in the private rental market. He is about just flogging them all off because that is what National did last time it was in Government and John Key is no different to the last lot. This mob just sells State houses because that is what it does—looks after its mates. More window dressing.And then we come to unemployment. You know the weird thing is this. You look around the rest of the world—Hon Dr Nick Smith: 80000 new jobs.ANDREW LITTLE: You look around the rest of the world Dr Smith and unemployment is going down. Unemployment is coming down. We all got through the global financial crisis. We all got through it. At the time at the start of the global financial crisis we were No. 1 in the OECD in terms of our unemployment—the lowest level of unemployment at the beginning of the global financial crisis. When I gave my state of the nation speech 2 weeks ago we were ninth. Two weeks on we are now 10th. We have slipped when it comes to employment. Unemployment in this country is going up. Unemployment in this country is going up because this Government has no plan.Hon Paula Bennett: You left it at No. 11.ANDREW LITTLE: It has got Paula Bennett. She will massage the numbers and she will shove people off the unemployment queue but the Government has got no plan to create jobs to add jobs to reduce unemployment and to get people living in dignity.Unemployment has gone up. Unemployment has gone up by another 3000 peoplein the last 3 months. You know these are the spring and summer months when employers take people on. These are the good months and unemployment has gone up by 3000. That is why the Reserve Bank is holding interest rates. It has no confidence in the future of this economy under this Government. That is what is happening in this country and that Government gives us more window dressing. It will spin the numbers. It will spin the numbers but the people who are living it know what it is like. They cannot afford to make ends meet. They cannot get a job. The families are struggling. That is New Zealand today for far too many New Zealanders and that Government does not care because that is the nature of it. It will just dress it up. It will just make it up as it goes along and hope that nobody notices. Well I have got news for John Key: people are noticing. People are noticing because they are hurting. When unemployment goes up in the prime months when employers take people on then they know something is wrong. When people are struggling to make ends meet they know there is something wrong and there is—and there is.Has this Government given us anything? Is there a single measure it can point to that is going to add more jobs?You see Steven Joyce sitting there and his single biggest contribution as Minister in charge of the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment is zero-hour contracts—the nastiest most brutal form of employment which only ever happened in the time he was the Minister. Even employers come to me and say: “This is appalling. We can’t have this. We shouldn’t have it—zero-hour contracts where people can be obliged to turn up to work and work not be given and no pay be given.” What an appalling state of affairs that Steven Joyce has led the employment market into. People look at it and they are horrified their parents look at it and they are horrified and their grandparents look at it and they are horrified. Employers come to me and say: “How is it that a Government could allow this to happen?” The good responsible employers who are looking for good responsible people say “We would never touch zero-hour contracts but those people down the road they are doing it and this Government shows no interest in doing anything about it.” Well we will in Labour and you will see our member’s bill that will actually deal to that issue. Steven Joyce’s single biggest contribution is zero-hour contracts.Hon Annette King: Then there’s Skycity.ANDREW LITTLE: And then there is Skycity. I am glad you asked Mrs King because the convention centre is very important. Remember how important it was to New Zealanders? We must have a convention centre—we must have one because the market for international conventions down at the bottom of the world is so big apparently. They are falling over themselves to come down here—never mind that Rotorua and Hamilton cannot fill their convention centres. Pay that no mind because the National Party knows best and they went off and did a deal—they went off and did a deal. Who did the deal? Oh John Key. He had a dinner with the Skycity executives and here were all these other people lining up all these other people thinking it was going to be a fair process an open tender and they thought they would have a chance to put up their proposal and say: “Yes we can build a convention centre.” But no. Not under the National Government not under the masters of the universe. The masters of the universe John Key and Steven Joyce—oh dear not them again. They got around the negotiating table and what a deal—what a deal. The masters of the universe John Key and Steven Joyce negotiated the deal of the century. Well it sure was if you are Skycity. But for the taxpayer what have they done? What have they given us? What have they given us?This is what Treasury said when it looked at it. Treasury said that it had “strong concerns that the private benefits to Skycity will exceed public benefits to New Zealanders.” Whoops! The masters of the universe did such a fantastic deal that their own officials have trounced it—their own officials have trounced it. What did the Auditor-General say about the process and about John Key’s negotiating skills and Steven Joyce’s negotiating manner? What did they say about that? They said “we do not consider that the evaluation process was transparent or even-handed.” But that is all right because when you are the Prime Minister promising the nation a free convention centre there are no bounds.But whoops! It is not free. Oh no! The free convention centre is going to cost us. Will it be just a little bit? Oh we can afford the odd million here and there just a little bit just to get it over the line. How much do they want to squeeze out of us? It is $140 million—$140 million for the casino for the gambling experts in Auckland who have had this exclusive licence for so long. The deal that John Key and Steven Joyce the masters of the universe negotiated—the free convention centre—is going to cost us $140 million. Well that is what they call economic development. That is what they call a plan for the future. Well it is a plan for Skycity’s future. It is doing very well. It has got the licence for 2048 and mark my words that mob will not walk away from it. They have put too much into it. There is too much at stake—there is too much at stake. Those are the economic issues.What about the standards of the Government? What about the promise of 2008 that “The Government I lead will be a Government of good standards.” and its chance to do something its chance to demonstrate that National actually is a party of standards in Government? It was confronted with it at the end of last year. One of National’s MPs was under a police investigation. One of its MPs—Mr SPEAKER: Order! I invite members throughout this debate to be very careful. We know that there was a court case and we know that all details were suppressed. [Interruption] Order! There is Standing Order 115. Should any members think I should consider this matter differently I invite them to use that Standing Order and write to me. At this stage no member has done so. I invite Mr Little to continue.ANDREW LITTLE: Thank you Mr Speaker. I understand and appreciate the caution you are expressing. I make no reference at all and make no comment beyond the fact that it is on the record that a MP was under a police investigation. He is not the first. That Government well knows because it has drawn the attention of the public to other MPs under a police investigation—a police investigation that led to no outcome at all.But here is the point. We had an MP under investigation who was then allowed by this Government to chair the parliamentary committee—Mr SPEAKER: Order! [Interruption] Order! I have given a ruling that I had given considerable consideration to. If the member continues in this vein I will have no choice but to terminate his speech. I have given a ruling whereby we acknowledge there is a court case of which all details were suppressed. [Interruption] Order! This is a time when this Parliament has a responsibility a duty to respect the jurisdiction of the court and I expect that to occur today. I invite Mr Little to continue.ANDREW LITTLE: I absolutely understand the principle of comity between Parliament and other branches of government. That is absolutely crucial. I have made no reference to any core process. I just want that to be on the record—none whatsoever—but standards of public life are important. Standards of public life are important and the way we as MPs in this House conduct ourselves is important. Whether or not we are party to a conflict of interest and whether or not our parties and our party leaders know we are subject to a conflict of interest—that is important to every citizen in New Zealand. Every single one of us is required to exercise proper and appropriate standards of conduct including when we are in conflicts of interest to declare that and act appropriately. If our leaders know that we are in a conflict of interest it is incumbent on the leader to act appropriately and properly. I just say this to Michael Woodhouse and Anne Tolley: the truth will set you free. We will come back to this. The truth will set you free.I want to go on to this very important issue that the Prime Minister has correctly raised although in rather an unfortunate manner and that is the challenge that the world faces in dealing with an outfit like Islamic State or ISIS as it is known. It is brutal it is horrific it is ugly it is revolting and it has appalled every single citizen who has seen it. Every person who respects democracy is appalled by it. The challenge is this: after 10 years of training of the Iraqi army by the best-trained best-equipped best-resourced army in the world what is it that we can do now that is going to make a difference? After US$25 billion of training for the Iraqi army what is it that our people and those around the world who are invited to join might do? Let us not be panicked. Let us not be panicked into a response to deal with the most brutal and the worst outfit which does not operate to any rules does not operate with any borders and does not observe any conventions but is nasty and brutal. Japan tried it and dealt with them and their hostages were killed brutally. Jordan tried to deal with them and their pilot was brutally killed in the ugliest most appalling fashion. What is it we are going to do? What is the mission Mr Key? What are you asking New Zealanders to agree to—to put our people in harm’s way—that is going to make the difference? That is the question.New Zealanders are sensible practical people. We all see it. We all feel the urge to do something but we want to know that what we do is going to make a difference. That is the challenge that the world faces: not to rush in there hoping that we might find out what to do when we get up there but to know what it is before we get there and to understand that the most and only effective measure so far has been air strikes by other forces which is something we cannot do.Labour’s focus is very clear. We are about an economy that is going to generate jobs—real jobs good jobs jobs that mean good living standards and good incomes for people. The right laughs at us. The members laugh at us because they do not care about the people who are struggling to get jobs at the moment. They do not care about those who are on the unemployment queue because it is going up because this Government does nothing about it. We will take that challenge on. We will work with the sector that is generating the most jobs at the moment the small business sector—the most ignored business sector in the country. It is funny how you talk to members of that sector and they say: “This Government has done nothing.” What do they want? They want access to easy readily available education—stuff that tells them how to get started and what to do. For those who have been in business for a while and are wondering how to take advantage of better economic conditions and how to expand they want some assistance to do that readily accessible. Those dealing with the multitude of Government agencies want to know how to do that efficiently—to have one point of contact to do it. It is all possible. It is all achievable. This Government does not care. It does not care about the small business sector because that is not where its mates and the donations come from. That is the truth of it.We will be a party that is serious about housing about affordable housing and about adding to housing—10000 houses a year over 10 years.That is our policy. That is our measure. That will make a difference. That young professional couple in Auckland are now saddled with a $750000 mortgage and are terrified if either of them loses their job because that will be it that will be their lives gone. But no one else will be put in that position.We will address the single biggest issue that New Zealanders are concerned about: the growing inequality. If the Prime Minister wants to talk about separatism I will talk about it to him. I will talk about those who are being kicked out of the housing market—obstructed—and those who are living in palatial residences. That is the separatism that I am concerned about: those whose incomes are getting less and those whose incomes are getting stratospheric. That is the separatism I am concerned about not the stuff that the Prime Minister is concerned about.New Zealand deserves better. New Zealand deserves leadership a real leader who is prepared to confront the real issues prepared to deal with the issues that New Zealanders have with respect and with dignity and to deal with them in a way that is going to make a difference generate jobs and give dignity to people who need it most. That is the challenge facing New Zealand not what this Government is talking about: fiddling and faddling and more window-dressing which is what we have got under this mob.