Bennett Paula: Adjournment — Sittings of the HouseText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBennett Paula: Adjournment — Sittings of the House[Sitting date: 09 December 2015. Volume:710;Page:8727. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon PAULA BENNETT (Minister of Local Government): Merry Christmas Mr Speaker and thank you for your patience and your humour in the House. Thank you to the staff of this building and the ones around it who just help us all so much and do so much. I think a big thank you is due to the New Zealand public and certainly their patience with MPs at times I am sure. To my own electorate of Upper Harbour I want to say hi. I know two people who are actually watching this so I have to give them a big mum and dad merry Christmas because that is a little bit exciting. From me to my own staff and certainly officials—to my own staff can I suggest they put down their wineglasses right now and give themselves a round of applause for all they have done this year.It has been a big year for the Government—a busy Government driving positive change and of course focused on what matters to New Zealand. You cannot help but kind of compare that with Her Majesty’s loyal Opposition—I mean you just would. Opposition members think they have had a successful year—we just heard that—and have certainly been standing up and congratulating themselves and we have even had a couple of media members who have been saying the same thing. I think they are going to tick this box as a goody for themselves. They had a conference where they did not annihilate each other one where they did not publicly go out there and sort of bite each other’s heads off and for them that of course is a success. They also did not say or do anything at that conference or actually lay out an agenda or what they stand for but that does not matter because actually the fact they did not publicly attack their leader is a measure of success.When you are sort of working from such a low base not sinking lower I suppose in some measures would be a success. It is a bit like when they found the Titanic at the bottom of the ocean. You would say there was amazement and they saw it as a success but the reality is it was still sunk and it is actually still down there—a lot like Labour I reckon. So the beltway brigade—of course we have Andrew Little Annette King and Grant Robertson and even Chris Hipkins can join that one—is more focused on itself in Wellington than New Zealanders themselves. But then you have got to ask yourself: when it does look outside of Wellington what does it see? Well that did not go so well either. What you got was Phil Twyford the Donald Trump of New Zealand politics who did try to focus on Auckland. Like Donald he has got bad ties and thinning hair and he too has decided to mock people based on their surname.The year 2015 has had a few changes. The Greens found James Shaw. But I have got to say publicly we have lost him—publicly we have lost him in the last few months. I think he has gone to sort of merge with the grain or something and we just have not seen him for ages—for ages. I never thought I would hear David Seymour talking about the coq but we did. I am not sure whether that was quite a highlight for 2015 or a change but it was something that does stand out I have got to say. Winston Peters—although we did not have any real change there we have still got the jokes from 1978. That famous line from “Hotel California” where they say “We haven’t had that spirit here since 1969”—although we have not had that same joke here since 1968 he still seems to like to roll them out quite often.Andy got angry Jacinda pouted and meanwhile quite frankly National has been concentrating on New Zealanders and what matters most to them. A highlight this year has to be rolling out free doctors visits for under-13-year-olds.Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman: Absolutely—that was awesome.Hon PAULA BENNETT: Oh and here he is now the man who just did it so there you go. A major highlight I have got to say has been reaching that target of surplus. I really want to congratulate Bill English on it because it has really been something for this country to show that when we can we live within our means and when New Zealanders need us we step up and spend more like we did in Christchurch. Another highlight from my perspective has been that commitment to beneficiaries to see more money going in their pockets which they need and we certainly acknowledge that and recognise it.A highlight for me has certainly been in recent days getting the portfolio of climate change issues. I do not mean to brag but I must say that in the last 3 days the sun has been shining in Wellington and that is a change to the climate. I do not want to take responsibility for it or sort of brag too much but quite frankly we have seen that.I think most of all what has been a highlight for me in 2015 is seeing a leader like John Key who is still so committed to this country so committed to leading a Government that actually focuses and does govern for all New Zealanders. He is a man who quite frankly shows an energy and a persistence and can be quite uncompromising in his expectations of what this great country can do for its people. It has been a great year. I look forward to 2016 and I thank everyone in the House.