Bennett GlenGLEN BENNETT (Labour—New Plymouth): Kia ora Madam Speaker. I want to reflect on the sun and the sun that shines down upon us as a nation but I also want to focus on the sunniest city in Aotearoa for 2021. Of course I see the Hon Kiritapu Allan is in the House this afternoon and she would say Whakatāne right? She would say this is her place this is her spot and you probably think about that as well but it is not. I'm sorry it is not the Labour stronghold of Whakatāne.Then of course Rachel Boyack the MP for Nelson a wonderful Labour member of Parliament and often we think of Nelson as the sunniest place; unfortunately not. Well actually fortunately not because of course—it is not my place of birth—it is New Plymouth! The wonderful Labour stronghold of New Plymouth and for another year running we are the sunniest place and it is wonderful. But then this morning I did get a text message from a friend of mine with Maunga Taranaki with a light dusting of snow that came on overnight. We feel the temperature beginning to drop and we are beginning to feel the effects of autumn that is upon us.Of course when autumn hits the temperature drops and when the temperature drops we turn our heaters on we light our fires we close our windows and we're sure that we are cosy and warm. But this isn't the experience for some people. For many people within our communities and in our nation there are people who don't turn their heaters on or light their fires during winter. There are those that don't have double-glazed windows don't have insulation don't have all those mod cons of modern housing—those who do it tough and those who suffer because of that because of health and respiratory issues. That's why I'm glad that as of the first of this month of May yet again we as Government have brought in the winter energy payment running from May through to October to ensure that families aren't stressed about turning that heater on to make sure that people are warm. I was in the wonderful small and sunny town of Ōpunake on the weekend and got to catch up with Bev who's a 94-year-old constituent still lives in her own home a little old State house that's been converted. I know that she was grateful for the fact that she isn't worried about turning a heater on this winter because she has got the support of the winter energy payment. There's also of course what we brought in earlier this year in terms of making sure that there's an increase to the main benefit. There's obviously an increase to the New Zealand superannuation Working for Families and of course raising the minimum wage ensuring that people are looked after. Now I know we've got further to go. I understand this is no silver bullet. This will not fix everything that is happening in our society at the moment but this is a step. This is a way forward for us and we will continue as we always have in Government to support people in terms of those who are going without. Which of course brings us to the cuts in fuel tax and the half-price public transport. Since this has come in—you hear news of the big urban centres obviously with their buses and their fleets of public transport but out in the provinces we have them as well. I can say that the Connector bus which takes people from Hāwera up to New Plymouth and back again in terms of those using the bus service on those half-price bus tickets it has been going gangbusters in the last few months with these half-price fairs. I own a little Bee Card. I know I live in the provinces but we have the tap on tap off and we're able to use the same amenities that many people in the urban centres have. So I'm proud to know that as Government we're doing things that are ensuring that people are better off; we're making sure that people are cared for. Finally this afternoon I want to talk about apprenticeships. And again we've been having so much going on in this space and again Minister Robertson and Hipkins announced in terms of boosting the apprenticeship programme. We were supporting around 38000 apprentices 24000 of whom are likely to be new apprentices and the 14000 whom will continue to benefit from the programme beyond August of this year. Now I know a young person Jayden who used to live with me and he is an apprentice. Recently I was at an event and it was a competition for young apprentices. He was so excited because after spending years and years of coming and going from jobs and unemployment to now being working with Cleveland Construction as an apprentice he is excited about his future and even said to me Next year I'm going to be in this competition and next year you're going to be giving me the award for the top apprentice." For me this is what this Government is about. It's about empowering people. It's about lifting people up and it's ensuring that people have a place to work and a warm home to live in."