3. Question No. 3—Prime MinisterNICOLA WILLIS (Deputy Leader—National) to the Prime MinisterQuestion No. 3—Prime Minister3. NICOLA WILLIS (Deputy Leader—National) to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all of his Government's statements and actions?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Acting Prime Minister): Yes. I particularly stand by the Government's statements and actions yesterday which saw the passing of the historic Fair Pay Agreements Bill. This bill unwinds a 30-year failed experiment to erode the pay rights and conditions of hard-working New Zealanders. The bill is about stopping the race to the bottom for the workers in this country who have for too long had minimal bargaining power. Those workers are among the likes of our cleaners bus drivers supermarket workers and security guards—the people who keep our economy ticking and looked after us through COVID. The legislation is also positive for good employers as it seeks to stop the race to the bottom from other employers who are not so well-minded. I am proud to be part of a Government who backs fair pay and conditions for these workers. These are the type of policies that will make a difference to the lives of Kiwis doing it tough right now.Nicola Willis: Well can he confirm that despite talking the talk on wages the fact is that real wages have declined by 3.5 percent since Labour came to office?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Unfortunately the member is wrong. She is using the adjusted labour cost index which most experts would tell you is not actually a good reflection of the actual take-home pay. [Interruption] It's important to learn lessons Mr Bishop in life. And I would refer the member to the fact that in fact in every year in our forecast—in every year—between 2017 and 2025-26 average earnings are forecast to grow faster than inflation with the exception of the year just gone. In the four June years from 2019 to 2022 wage growth measured by the best estimate of ordinary-time hourly earnings averaged 5.1 percent a year compared to inflation averaging 3.5 percent.Nicola Willis: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I seek leave to table the Parliamentary Library's real-wage index which the Minister of Finance doesn't appear to have access to.SPEAKER: No—the end comment was unnecessary. Leave is sought for that purpose. Is there any objection? There appears to be none. It may be tabled.Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.Nicola Willis: Will he rule out adjusting tax brackets in the 2023 Budget and if so why?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The Government has been very clear about our policy that the tax work programme that we've had which included lifting the top rate of tax from 33c to 39c is the extent of the programme of tax for this Government in this term. In terms of Budget 2023 the member will be well aware that that has not yet been finalised.Nicola Willis: Does the Prime Minister believe that ploughing billions of taxpayer dollars into a merger of TVNZ and RNZ Tesla subsidies backroom bureaucrats and Government consultants is the best use of money in a cost of living crisis?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Among the man assertions in that question is the continuation of the National Party's description of the front-line workers who got New Zealand through COVID as backroom bureaucrats". Once again the National Party is running down the role of the people who work very hard every day to deliver things like the wage subsidy scheme to make sure people are looked after in our health system—that is typical of the attitude of the National Party towards working people.Nicola Willis: [Holds up graph] If extra spending is the answer to every problem then why under Labour has the number of people getting timely emergency department care plummeted while it stayed consistently high under National?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: As the member knows and as we traversed in the House yesterday this has been an extremely difficult winter for our emergency departments. We have seen tens of thousands of people a week showing up to emergency departments seeking care in a period of time through COVID when there were staffing shortages as well. There are many graphs that I can hold up about the health system but two spring to mind: the failure of the previous National Government to fund health to keep up with inflation year on year on year and the two years where the National Party decided that it was appropriate to put zero dollars into health capital and health infrastructure. That is the graph the member should be showing.Nicola Willis: Will Labour heed the call of emergency doctors calling for the return of health targets which delivered results under National or will it stick to its no-targets no-accountability no-results approach?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The approach that we will stick to is the one that's seen more than a 40 percent increase in the funding for health a 20 percent increase in the number of doctors and a 20 percent increase in the number of nurses. We are actually investing in the health system. We are in part making up for the failures of the last nine years and we've had to deal with a small matter called COVID. The New Zealand health system and the dedicated professionals within it deserve this Parliament's support—and not being run down by that member.Nicola Willis: Is he concerned that only 2 percent of New Zealand's decile 1 students achieved the numeracy standard in a recent NCEA assessment or does he share the Associate Minister of Education's view that the assessment wasn't culturally appropriate?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: With respect to the second part of the question I have sat through the House and listened to the Associate Minister carefully and she was reflecting the view of experts with respect to that last comment. More broadly when it comes to the way in which we choose to assess our students I back the Associate Minister of Education any day over the Opposition when it comes to what is best for students within our schools.Nicola Willis: Will his Government continue to listen to the excuses of experts or will it reassert its view—or the view it should have—that New Zealand students no matter their socio-economic or cultural background should be equipped by their schooling with the literacy and numeracy skills needed to succeed in modern life?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: It's an interesting phrase "the excuses of experts". That tells you a lot about the National Party's view about evidence and the National Party's view about what actually works in the education system. What this Government's going to keep doing is investing in our education system making sure teachers are paid properly and making sure that they've got the support in their classrooms; not going down the failed experiment of national standards which many of the people within the education system blame for the issues that might be there today.Hon Stuart Nash: Under National's tax proposal how much money would a McDonald's worker on the minimum wage get?SPEAKER: No. He's not responsible for that."