Coleman JonathanHon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN (Minister of Health): This week has been the Tale of Two Parties" the "Tale of Two Poll Results" in fact the "Tale of Two Different Polls"—in other words the best of times and the worst of times. It was the best of times of course for National; the worst of times for Labour. Anyone who was listening to that last speech by Chris Hipkins anyone who had to sit through all those ridiculous points of order at the start of question time today will be wondering "How the hell did Labour manage to score as high as 26 percent in that poll?" because quite frankly these people are not focusing on anything that is relevant to the people of New Zealand and that is a fact. Labour members think that that poll was wrong so they have released their own poll. In that poll they say: "Actually we're doing pretty well. We're scoring 30 percent in Auckland." Well I can tell you what—if they think that scoring 30 percent on their own polling in Auckland is going to get them anywhere and that that is a good thing they have got a lot of work to do. It is all bad on that side. I do not know whether anyone has read the Listener this week but there is a very interesting profile of Nick Leggett that pretty much sums up the situation. He talks about the utopians and the pragmatists and he says: "The Utopians are quite happy to sit in Opposition and have their positions validated by a small echo chamber on social media and in activist groups. They don't really seem interested in the much harder task of actually building a plank for government." I think Nick Leggett has got it absolutely right but I know there are a lot of members over there who agree with Nick Leggett. In that article it talks about the Labour MP who sneaked into the fund-raising dinner. I want to know who that was. I think it was probably David Shearer because David likes a late-night beer. He is a good guy. He knows there are problems on that side but of course he wants to get out of there as quickly as possible and he is chuckling silently away there. I saw him laughing at Chris Hipkins today as Chris was going on about email attachments. I do not know what on earth Chris Hipkins was talking about. One thing I did know—it was totally irrelevant to the people of New Zealand. Of course the chief of staff has gone. He has been sent to Auckland. I do not know why. I mean the poll result is so good up there at 30 percent that I would not have thought they would need him there. Labour press secretaries—well that skill is about to go on the long-term skill-shortage list. All the good people are going or are gone. Nanaia Mahuta—she is definitely out of here. Poor old Kevin Hague—Parliament the Labour Party the left and even the Greens are too boring for Kevin. He is out of here and gone. Phil Goff—he is using blue on his billboards. He knows which side his bread is buttered on. That really just leaves them with Iain Lees-Galloway Rino Tirikatene and Clare Curran: self-importance confusion and wackiness—that is the story of the Labour Party. It is all bad for Labour I can tell you that because Mrs King is in charge at the moment and Mrs King does not suffer fools gladly. She has served under eight different leaders and I can tell you she knows when it is time for a Labour leader to go. If I were Andrew Little—if I were Andrew Little—listen up I would be very very worried because one week you can be the studly rug and the next week the tatty doormat and that is the way it is going. Meanwhile on this side of the House we are getting on with the work that really matters. We had a very important announcement yesterday by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice around the steps that we are taking to tackle domestic violence. That of course is extremely important work indeed. Simon Bridges is up in Auckland today. As Minister of Transport he is announcing the $1.7 billion for the City Rail Link. Of course I can tell you that we get a lot of correspondence in my office from people who have had great experiences with our health system and that is no real surprise when you look at the progress we have made there: an extra 119000 more appointments—those are up 25 percent over the last 8 years—and 54000 more operations. More Kiwis than ever before are getting access to the services that they need. The Healthy Homes Initiatives—we announced yesterday that $18 million from the Budget is helping 25000 vulnerable families into well-insulated homes. Of course we are taking a long view the social investment view. We know that having warm homes means better kids' health. It means they do better in the education system and as a result they are going to come out through the education system with the skills to succeed in the modern economy. In terms of hospital infrastructure we are obviously working hard on the Canterbury rebuild. The West Coast is next and then Dunedin so there is a very clear sequence. The economy is going gangbusters. Wages are growing well ahead of inflation. Unemployment is well down and of course we are all looking forward to those economic statistics that come out tomorrow. But I could not say it better myself than the New Zealand Herald today which says: "Politically and economically New Zealand remains an island of stability in an uncertain world." That is pretty hard to argue with."