Little AndrewGENERAL DEBATEHon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Justice): I move That the House take note of miscellaneous business.It's a great pleasure to speak. On average 384000 families are now better off by $65 a week 64000 children have been lifted out of poverty and 26000 more families now benefit from Working for Families. Under the Best Start scheme there is $60 a week for newborn babies born from Sunday—actually born a little earlier if they were expected after Sunday but because of the nature of these things sometimes they come a little earlier. One million New Zealanders are now benefiting from a winter energy payment all because of this side of the House. This Government believes that elderly and low-income people should not go cold during the worst months of winter. That's the difference between members on this side of the House—this coalition Government—and members on that side of the House who did not care when they were told month after month of people in poverty people deprived and people not in their own homes. They did nothing. I want to say how very proud I am to be part of a Government that has in a very short space of time exhibited what it means to be compassionate in Government what it means to be caring and what it means to understand the plight of so many ordinary New Zealanders who have only ever asked for a chance to get ahead who have only ever asked for the rules to let them have a chance to look after themselves and their families—that's what this Government is delivering. If it's not enough just on those income support measures—just on those measures to offer a little extra assistance to redistribute the wealth of this great country to give those who have missed out for too long a chance—then let's look at housing. Isn't it fantastic that today—just today—when our amazing and very humble Minister of Housing and Urban Development launched the website by which you can register your interest in a KiwiBuild home within two hours 1100 New Zealanders were lining up to get a KiwiBuild house. That tells you what we knew all along: that there was a crisis in housing in New Zealand—something that members opposite spent year after year after year denying. There has been a crisis and this Government is fixing it. That's what you do when you're compassionate and you care and you understand the plight of ordinary New Zealanders.It has been a great day. We are committed to 100000 affordable homes over a 10-year period. The counting started on Sunday; we are well under way. I don't quite know why it is that so many of the first ones are being built in the electorates of members opposite. We don't normally like to rub their noses in it and say We told you so." but hey you know we are generous to a T and that is us too. You see the difference is palpable. We inherited a country where income inequality and income disparity were getting worse and worse. People could not get pay increases; people's incomes did not keep up with the real cost of living. Now we're doing something about it. So I don't see the expressions of concern now from the nurses and the teachers and others as anything other than an expression of their hope that now they know they've got a chance. Now they know they've got a Government that's on their side that's going to give them a chance that takes a long view and that is about restoring the status and the standing of teachers because that profession is so vital to the future of New Zealand and future generations of New Zealanders. This is a Government that in nine short months has established an enviable record of achievement. We are putting New Zealand back on its feet. More to the point we are putting New Zealanders back on their feet putting them back where they belong putting them back with a chance to get ahead and giving them a sense of hope once again. I feel it wherever I go and I am very proud to have as the Prime Minister of my country and of a Government that I am a part of a woman who has shown what it means to be compassionate shown what it means to be understanding shown what it means to be humble. She is doing what tens of thousands of working women have done for many decades—gone off and become a mum—and is still leading this country with values with caring with principles. This is a proud time to be a New Zealander. This is a proud time to be part of this coalition Government. We're doing great things."