Willis NicolaNICOLA WILLIS (National): I want to take a moment to remind the members opposite about what is happening today in New Zealand because today in New Zealand for the first time in 24 years primary teachers and principals are striking. So up and down this country from the very north to the very south there are families whose lives have been disrupted. There are parents who have had to get the day off work—and yes granted some employers have been very good about that but some have been less able to do so. There are mums and dads who are stressed out and there are mums and dads who have had to call for help from family members who have had to spend the money that was meant for a new pair of shoes on after-school care or a babysitter.What we are supposed to do in this House today according the members opposite is ignore that disruption. Well I want to take a moment to say thank you to teachers for what you do because I know that that's the sentiment parents have today. They're not sitting at home saying this is the fault of teachers—no. They appreciate—we appreciate—the work that teachers do for our children. We appreciate the effort they put in for them and we appreciate the value they provide our country.But what do members opposite want us to do? Well first of all we have had the utter disgrace of a Government that had the Minister of Finance at the beginning of this debate—what did he see fit to do? He asked the members of the House to congratulate the Minister of Education—to congratulate! And there was a round of applause. They all burst into clapping. Why did they do that? Oh because there's a strike? Great! I'll tell you what members opposite: parents in this country teachers in this country weren't joining you in the round of applause for the Minister of Education. No they were not and they also weren't wanting two minutes to talk about cats being spayed and people forgetting their to-do lists.Then we had the Minister of Education deciding that it was an opportune moment to list his achievements. What did he start by listing? Oh well there were some very significant achievements. There was the fact that he had renamed the Education Council the Teaching Council. And no no no but he's done more than that: he's changed the way that people are appointed to the Teaching Council. You know what? If he yells that from the rooftops the teachers will say You know what Chris Hipkins? You're right. We should be applauding too! And actually we're going to think twice about the strike now because now you've renamed the Teaching Council we can see that actually you're in the right here and we should just put our heads down." Well it's not good enough.We also had the Minister of Education decide that today was the day that he would show the young people of New Zealand—he'd show the children of New Zealand—how you should react when you have an opponent. The way he chose to react was to describe that opponent as a barnyard animal and I think that's not a very good example. Here is a Government that is more interested in playing—Hon Chris Hipkins: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. I know the member is a new member. When the Speaker has made a ruling on a matter and required a member to withdraw and apologise for it there can be no further debate or discussion in the House on the matter.DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member is correct.NICOLA WILLIS: This is a Government that doesn't want to talk about the strike outside and when they do talk about it they want to play the blame game. What they are asking New Zealanders to believe is that the Opposition is to blame for their failure to reach a settlement that somehow the Opposition is responsible for the instructions to the negotiators sitting at the table. Well I want to take a moment to educate the Ministers and educate the members opposite about what powers you have as a Government because here are a few of the powers that you have: actually you're a Government—DEPUTY SPEAKER: Don't bring me—don't bring me.NICOLA WILLIS: Sorry. I apologise Madam Deputy Speaker but this is a Government that has inherited the best financial books that they could possibly hope for. This is a Government whose very own finance Minister talks day after day about the strong economic foundations that he is working from. This is a Government that has the power to budget and prioritise the biggest revenues in our country's history that's taxing more and that's borrowing more.And despite this largesse despite these great books this great financial position what do they choose to prioritise? That is the business of Government: it is about prioritising the things that matter and the things that matter to this Government are $2.8 billion for free fees hundreds of millions of dollars for diplomats and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and billions of dollars for a slush fund for Shane Jones. These are the things that this Government prioritises and it's not good enough to say to the teachers that there isn't enough money. The teachers are brave; they won't have the wool pulled over their eyes. They know that what they are asking for pales in comparison to the student promise that the members opposite said was their priority and signed up to in the campaign.Here we are: the lowest business confidence since the global financial crisis and teachers striking. Take some responsibility."