Shaw JamesHon JAMES SHAW (Co-Leader—Green): Firstly meri Kirihimete to the members opposite. I know that some of them may not have understood what I just said but I'm sure they understood the spirit with which I intended it.Mr Speaker I do wish you a very restful summer break and I actually have not yet had the opportunity to congratulate you on your elevation to the role of Speaker.SPEAKER: Oh take your time.Hon JAMES SHAW: Well I've got nine minutes and 34 seconds on the clock so I'll give it a go. I would like to say that it might not be the job that you most wanted but it does seem to be the job that you were really born into. So if the last few weeks have shown us anything it is that you're going to be a terrific Speaker and we're looking forward to working with you over the course of the coming three years as we continue to hold the Coalition of Chaos" to account. For a group of parties that spent the election campaign trying to terrify New Zealanders what a kind of three-headed demon of a Government might look like they're doing a pretty good job of illustrating exactly what it was that they were warning us all about what might happen. I have to say that it's tempting to focus on the leaked Cabinet papers that started appearing largely before the ink was even dry or the classic moment when the Hon Shane Jones waited until the Prime Minister and the climate change Minister were out of the country so that he could put nature on notice that he was going to dig it all up and burn it and do whatever the hell else he wanted as long as there was a buck in it—that that was the policy of this Government and of course without the right of reply of the actual Prime Minister at the time. I would have thought also of course that the Prime Minister—who used to run an airline—would have been in a clearer position about how he was going to fly to Australia but there we go. The games of Truth or Dare that are currently playing out in the Cabinet room really are something to behold. I do want to acknowledge the former Prime Minister the Rt Hon Chris Hipkins for his service to the country as Prime Minister over the course of what has been a challenging year. And I do want to acknowledge what a remarkable year it has been—in fact the last several years. Three hundred and thirty thousand people trusted the Green Party enough with their votes this year and I want to thank every single one of them as well as 8000 volunteers who were the lifeblood of our campaign. I have not yet had an opportunity to put that on the record since the election—that the support that they have shown us has elected the largest Green caucus ever in our history and we still carry their hopes for a better Aotearoa into this House every single day. Our constituents the New Zealanders that we are here to represent do deserve a Government that puts its best foot forward for the interests of everybody in this country not just a few not just those who have inherited their position. And they deserve an Opposition that rises to that with constructive and also honest challenges and that is the role that we intend to take. The things that we fought the campaign on are as relevant now as they were before the election: warm dry affordable homes for everyone in this country—Rt Hon Winston Peters: All talk.Hon JAMES SHAW: —rivers that are clean enough to swim in for everybody in this country; wages that are enough for life's essentials and a decent celebration with friends and whānau over the holidays; the hope for a safe climate for their children and for their grandchildren First Deputy Prime Minister.At the beginning of this year and the former Prime Minister acknowledged this Parliament opened when there were two regions in the country that were in a national state of emergency and half the regions in the country were in a regional state of emergency. Cyclone Gabrielle and the Auckland Anniversary Day floods brought the reality of climate change into our homes and into our doorsteps—in fact over the thresholds of our doorsteps and into the homes of many thousands of New Zealanders. And in response to those crises communities stepped up—communities stepped up neighbours helped neighbours marae opened their doors once again to provide food and shelter for everybody who was affected and I want to acknowledge that there are still thousands of people in this country who are displaced from their homes as a result of those. It should not take the worst of times to bring out the best in us and yet in those worst of times the best of us is demonstrated time and time again.There were two parties that used the word "back" or "backwards" in the election campaign and we can certainly see how that's playing out now that they're in Government where the more backwards component is clearly steering the waka on this occasion.Communities know that when people have enough to get by everyone does better. That's what we know: when everybody has enough to get by we all do well. The fact that we have created a society over the course of the last few decades which favours a few over the many—that is not a sustainable route for a society to go down and the Green Party will continue to work towards a better New Zealand for all of us. Aotearoa we believe will get better despite rather than because of this Government. In this House we will do everything that we can to hold this Government to account day in and day out even when they want to go home early for Christmas despite the fact that it was because of their bills that they put on the Order Paper.Grant McCallum: Do you want to stay?Hon JAMES SHAW: I live here buddy. So I'll tell you what if you want to moan about the fact that it's taking a little bit of time for the House to get through your business that you put on the Order Paper and tried to jam through under urgency then Merry Christmas to you because that's your problem to solve not mine.When they backtrack on policies that are designed to tackle climate pollution we will speak out. The Green Party of Aotearoa will speak out. When they raid the Climate Emergency Response Fund whilst squeezing social support for those who need it the most we will hold them to account. For a Government that campaigned primarily on reducing the cost of living they haven't yet done a single thing over the course of this Government that will actually help to reduce the cost of living. If anything they've made things more expensive more precarious for the New Zealanders who need that support the most. They have overturned the basic protections for working people. They've signalled that next year the cost of public transport is going to go up child support is going to go up. All of those things that New Zealanders actually depend on are going to become more expensive as a result. I do want to acknowledge that people are feeling anxious therefore about the direction. The people who actually wanted to plan to make their wages go further to keep their rents lower instead got a gift-wrapped carton of cigarettes from the Marlborough man.Amongst the people—I mean they have been acknowledged as well and I do want to add the Green Party's voice to this. As this year comes to a close I do want to acknowledge on our behalf the people who make this place tick: the library researchers the security guards cleaners the Copperfields team drivers the maintenance team the travel team IST messengers Chamber staff the House Office the Office of the Clerk the finance payroll HR—all of those people who make this place tick and many of whom are in a more precarious position at the end of this year than they were at the beginning of this year. I do want to acknowledge those people. I want to thank them for their service as we always do and to acknowledge any anxiety that they may be feeling going into this Christmas.I do also want to acknowledge the press gallery and the work that they do to hold all of us to account and to the standards that we ought to observe. From Marama and myself from our larger-than-ever Green Party caucus we do wish you all a very restful Christmas. I do want to acknowledge the Green Party team that support us every day.To our colleagues in the House please do have a good break. We will be working alongside you next year as we try to work on behalf of all New Zealanders here in the green city of Pōneke next year. Merry Christmas."