English Bill: AdjournmentText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeEnglish Bill: Adjournment[Sitting date: 10 December 2014. Volume:702;Page:1345. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon BILL ENGLISH (Deputy Prime Minister):I move That the House do now adjourn. Mr Speaker it has been a long political year and we admire the equanimity with which you have helped to conduct the business of this House—considered reasonable sometimes not quite correct in your views about what is happening but perhaps less so than previous Speakers. Thank you for your considered judgment Mr Speaker.Can I along with others acknowledge on behalf of the Government the staff here in Parliament—the cleaners the security and catering staff the library staff the Hansard staff the Cabinet Office our research units and particularly our office staff. Not only do they carry out their functions but in my experience these are people who do it with some real cheerfulness and quite often kindness to politicians who maybe do not always deserve it. But nevertheless they do that and I want to thank them for those little extra human touches that they bring to the operation of the House and Parliament.I want to acknowledge all those MPs who have joined the House following the recent general election. They will have time over the holidays to ponder just what an impact it has had on their life but they will find it an interesting and energising time—getting back here next year.I want to acknowledge in his absence our Prime Minister. He is a political leader who has made history this year with the strongest third-term victory of any Government in the last 100 years. With his upbeat and aspirational approach and his fundamental belief in the capacity of New Zealand and New Zealanders to do better that positive leadership through tough times has been rewarded in a way that politicians appreciate more than anyone else and that is with a mandate to continue governing—not exactly in the same way but with the same attitude of course when dealing with the circumstances as we now find them which are significantly different from what they were in 2008. I also acknowledge the relentless energy effort and cheerfulness that he brings to leading a team as well as the country.Can I acknowledge that team—my colleagues in Cabinet and in the National Party caucus. This is a team that remains cohesive focused and energetic. Let me put to rest any assumption the Opposition may be making about a third-term Government running out of energy. If anything the problem is a bit too much energy in my experience. This is a remarkable tribute to the people whom the National Party puts in here but also more important to a governing party that reflects the new energy and confidence of New Zealanders. That is what it is about. It is not as if this party is off on its own. The election campaign the election result was built on a New Zealand population that has become more resilient with a stronger belief in their capacity to handle both good times and bad times and this caucus here reflects that.Can I also acknowledge our coalition partners. We have had this coalition arrangement together now which is coming into a third term—the Māori Party ACT and United Future. It is an open and transparent relationship that has contributed to and in fact underpinned the stability of government in New Zealand. We welcome particularly the newer members of that coalition who have joined us through the Māori Party and ACT.I also want to wish the Opposition parties a happy Christmas. The reason for that is that they have had a very unhappy year. So I hope they have a happy Christmas and in particular a happy Christmas to the new leader of the Labour Party. In fact when I was thinking about wishing him a happy Christmas I thought: “I have done the adjournment debate before and I think I have wished the Leader of the Opposition a happy Christmas before—I had better go back and just check.” So here it is. Phil Goff got three Christmases. David Shearer—Carmel Sepuloni: How many did you get?Hon BILL ENGLISH: All my Christmases have come in the National-led Government. Phil Goff got three Christmases. David Shearer got two Christmases. David Cunliffe got one Christmas—we hope Andrew Little makes it to Christmas.Here is what they say about Andrew Little. This is just a bit of commentary: “He’s done well. He looks like he could be the goods. … you’d have to concede that … [his shadow cabinet changes] …. made a lot of sense.” And here is another one: “Little might be the man in the right place at the right time. … He just needs to be competent assured and authentic— … so far—he’s passed the test.” Well that is pretty positive. I thought: I wonder whether that has happened before. So I went back to commentary on David Shearer: “His opponents are at risk of underestimating him. Behind the affable exterior and ready smile are a steel-trap mind coupled with a steely resolve.” So he was good. On David Cunliffe: “Cunliffe delivered the ‘wow’ factor. As he sat down from his first big speech conference delegates gave him a standing ovation.” So it has all been said before.You know it will not matter how well the new Leader of the Opposition does if the Labour Party does not change—that is change its policies that it has been giving us since 1996. There are a couple of things they will be discussing over the barbecues in the Labour Party. One is: who shot Grant Robertson? That will be the top topic. Whose was the one vote that changed which meant that Andrew Little got four caucus votes when actually he was meant to get three? That is what happened. He got four caucus votes when he was meant to get three. Grant Robertson and Jacinda Ardern will want to know that. One of the challenges for the Labour Party is unity. As a Labour friend of mine told me Andrew Little was the last man standing in a circular firing squad. Someone missed him and so he is the leader.The Labour Party is going to have to catch up with aspirational New Zealand. This is a party that still believes that parents should not know how their children do at school. It still believes that. It still believes that no asset should be sold anywhere for any reason under any circumstances. Even the Christchurch City Council has gone centre-right on recycling capital.The National Government goes into Christmas on the back of a pretty good year but more important with a very solid-looking outlook for the economy. Three percent growth per year over the next 3 years—that is roughly where we are headed—means more jobs higher incomes and more opportunities for New Zealanders to get ahead not because we are a rock star economy but because we are a rock-solid economy that is underpinned by New Zealanders who understand what it takes for this economy to succeed.We will also be back and will continue improving our public services—value for money for all those people who work hard all week and give us their PAYE. It is our job to make sure that there is more educational achievement that prisoners who come out of prison do not go back and that more children are protected from violence. I want to congratulate the New Zealand Public Service. Several hundred thousands of them have worked very hard for 6 years to produce more for the same or less. Public confidence in public services today has never been higher—never been higher. Public servants have done an outstanding job of serving the public and the Government of the day. They can only do that because we have a strong economy with a well-led Government an outstanding Prime Minister and a New Zealand that wants it that way.