1. Question No. 1—Prime MinisterHon SIMON BRIDGES (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime MinisterORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSQuestion No. 1—Prime Minister1. Hon SIMON BRIDGES (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all her Government's statements and actions?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): I thank the member for his question. Yes I'm extremely proud of the actions we have taken this year as the Government some of which include extending paid parental leave stopping foreign purchasing of Kiwi homes making the first year of tertiary study free stopping the State house sell-off building that first KiwiBuild home restarting super fund contributions increasing the minimum wage passing the Child Poverty Reduction Bill in my name implementing the Families Package making GP visits cheaper for many New Zealanders investing in fixing hospitals and schools funding more teachers beginning to plant one billion trees investing in the regions through the Provincial Growth Fund beginning to recruit 1800 more police—SPEAKER: All right. I think we've—Rt Hon Winston Peters: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. When such a question is asked surely the Prime Minister should be given time or afforded time to answer it completely. So I move an extension of time to the answering of that question.SPEAKER: Well are we seriously going to have a Government motion without notice? No we're not. Hon Simon Bridges: Does she accept that Kiwis are facing a higher cost of living this Christmas; if not why not?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I accept as has been listed in our long list of achievements that we as a Government are working hard to make sure that New Zealanders have an increase in their incomes be it through increases in the minimum wage; be it through increases in Working for Families; be it for instance through the winter energy payment helping over 700000 New Zealanders when their cost of living goes up during the winter; be it through the extra $75 on average that families are getting every week once the Working for Families package is rolled out. If we want to talk about some of the biggest costs of living that would be housing. That last Government did absolutely nothing and this side of the House is. Hon Simon Bridges: Does she accept responsibility for the increase in rents under her Government by $30 a week or $1500 a year for the typical New Zealand family?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Because it's Christmas I'm going to park my dispute with the member's numbers and get to the substantive issue here. We have seen increases in rent continually for a number of years. The reason for that is simple: supply. There are not enough houses in New Zealand. The last Government did absolutely nothing. We have not only brought in KiwiBuild; we stopped the State house sell-off that started under them we brought in 1200 more public housing places and we've started building 6400 State houses.Hon Simon Bridges: Does she still hope that rents won't go up given that all the data suggests they already are and property agents and landlords all over New Zealand have explicitly told renters their rent will now increase due to Government policy?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Let's actually get into the detail of what that Government policy is. The member is referring to I imagine the Government's plan to ban letting fees because they are hurting our most vulnerable and our plan to bring in standards to make sure that a rental property is healthy to live in—that it's not damp that it is warm and dry. And on this side of the House we're quite proud of each of those initiatives. Hon Simon Bridges: Did her officials advise her Government that it's preferable that her upcoming cannabis referendum should not be at the same time as the general election?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I don't recall seeing such advice but what I can say is that on this side of the House we've long flagged an intention around a referendum by 2020 because we're not afraid of asking New Zealanders what they think.Hon Simon Bridges: What specific question then will New Zealanders be asked in the Government's binding referendum on the personal use of cannabis in 2020?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: We'll be using a process to determine the question in the lead-up to the 2020 election. Can I just say I was on the select committee that determined the flag question and I can tell you that that last Government had no idea what to ask how to ask it or how much money it was going to cost and that's probably why we've got the same flag now.Hon Simon Bridges: Why is it that New Zealanders will be asked whether personal use of cannabis should be legalised but the Government unilaterally decided last week to start the process to decriminalise possession of class A drugs?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: For a lawyer I'm somewhat surprised at the way he has characterised that bill.Hon Simon Bridges: Has she been open and transparent about all her associations with Karel Sroubek and his associates and if so why?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: This is around the houses. I have continually outlined in this House that I had no involvement in that case that my knowledge of the case arose at the time it was put in the public domain and that the Minister—which the other side of the House previously criticised him for—made the decision in a room with officials on the spot with the information in front of him and had no conversation with any other member of Parliament. So that is where my ministerial responsibility begins and ends.Hon Simon Bridges: Have any staff from her office been briefing the media against the estranged wife of Karel Sroubek after yesterday's revelations trying to discredit her side of the story?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: As I have said in this House—and I absolutely take responsibility for the actions that I have taken in this regard—as soon as we were advised of concerns about safety we raised those with the appropriate channels which was via the Minister of Immigration and I absolutely stand by that.Hon Simon Bridges: Have any staff from her office been briefing the media against the estranged wife of Karel Sroubek after yesterday's revelations to try to discredit her side of the story?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Again why would there be any interest in engaging in that manner? As I've said—I've been very clear—when concerns were raised I directly raised it with the Minister of Immigration and that was how it was dealt with. When I was advised that there is an issue that Mark Mitchell raised I checked in with the Minister to check on their activities. That was the appropriate thing to do and we stand by that.Hon Simon Bridges: Will she do the right thing and check and instruct them to stop?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Of course I would need to take the member at his word but I after question time will ask the question.Hon Simon Bridges: You know it's true.SPEAKER: Order! I think I sort of nodded at the member about four times during previous interjections but I am getting more than a little unhappy with the Leader of the Opposition and his continual breaches of one particular convention.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Could I ask the Prime Minister as to whether in regards to the last question her inquiry could be seriously advantaged by the Leader of the Opposition giving over the evidence he claimed in his questions to have?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I'm always open to the member coming directly to me to raise such concerns. I'd like it to have been evident in my response in the House. Of course I take issues of someone's safety seriously and if he wished to raise those issues with me directly I would encourage him to.Hon Simon Bridges: If she knew about threats to Karel Sroubek's estranged wife on 31 October why did she allow the Rt Hon Winston Peters to say on her behalf in the House on 6 December that the estranged wife did not want protection;"?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I believe he was making reference to what was already in the public domain around Mr Sroubek's ex-wife's willingness to engage with the process."