1. Question No. 1—Prime MinisterHon SIMON BRIDGES (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime MinisterWEDNESDAY 10 APRIL 2019The Speaker took the Chair at 2 p.m.Prayers.ORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSQuestion No. 1—Prime Minister1. Hon SIMON BRIDGES (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all her Government's statements policies and actions?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): Yes.Hon Simon Bridges: Does she stand by her position last year that she hopes her policies will not lead to higher rents"?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: As I've said in this House many times before of course we want to make sure that housing in this country is affordable. We want to make sure it's accessible. We know that when it comes to rent supply is the biggest issue that we face and we have had to start not from a standing start but because of that last Government's inaction we have had to try and rebuild what has been an absolute crisis situation.Hon Simon Bridges: How can she hand on heart criticise the last National-led Government when under her Government KiwiBuild has done a sum total of 33 new houses?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Well I dispute those numbers but unlike that last Government that sold State houses that did not do enough to expand the availability of affordable housing and that did not do enough on the issue of homelessness we are a Government who came in and put a stop to the sale of State houses and actually started building homes.Hon Simon Bridges: If she disputes my number of the paltry 33 houses can she tell us as Prime Minister of New Zealand just how many they have actually built?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Of course I dispute the member's numbers because they are very rarely correct. We have contracted over 10000. [Interruption]SPEAKER: Order! The members are more likely to hear the response if they're quiet.Hon Simon Bridges: In light of her comments on a capital gains tax does she think a capital gains tax will increase rents?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I do not believe that that will be the case just like that member clearly didn't think it would be an issue when he brought in a brightline test which was a form of capital gains tax.Hon Simon Bridges: How can she say that when the Tax Working Group itself stated that an extension of capital gains taxation will lead to "upward pressure on rents"?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I can say that because the member himself probably would not have accepted that a brightline test would in its own right have that impact on rent and rental prices. I am not going to stand here and claim that we do not have an issue with affordable housing in New Zealand; we do. Unlike that Government I do not have the blinkers on. We know that we have an issue and I agree with the Governor of the Reserve Bank that the way to deal with that issue is to make sure that we build houses.Hon Simon Bridges: Does she accept that the proposal of a capital gains tax is already having an effect on rent inflation?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: No I do not. Again the member has tried to claim that it's everything from talk of capital gains tax to brightline tests to the healthy homes guarantee—which actually comes in in full not until 2021. Yes we have an issue with rental prices in New Zealand. I accept that. What I do not accept is the member's assertion that it isn't about supply—it is and that's why you see increases in the areas where we have a lack of houses. Hon Simon Bridges: Given that she doesn't accept what I've said what then does she say about the Tax Working Group's view that any effects of a capital gains tax such as rent rises "Could begin before implementation"—indeed "it is likely that some consequences of implementing a capital gains tax have already begun."? Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Although of course I add the caveat that the Government is yet to make decisions on a capital gains tax I do point out that the entire Tax Working Group including representatives from business recommended a capital gains tax applied to rental properties. However again as I've pointed out we are a Government that has not yet made decisions but nor do we have our blinkers on when it comes to the cost associated with housing in New Zealand. We are fixing your problems. Hon Simon Bridges: If that's true and given she said there was a housing crisis when the National-led Government was in power why have rents gone up three times more each year—that is the last 18 months—under her watch? Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: As I've pointed out before the last time I looked at the statistics they were actually not too far off the exact increases under the last Government and that's because it does take time to build houses. Again I am not in denial—no one in this House is—that we are picking up the pieces of a housing crisis. Do we want rents to come down? Absolutely but if that member thinks that not talking about a capital gains tax will make rental increases go away that member is dreaming. Rt Hon Winston Peters: Did the Prime Minister truly hear that last question which suggested that rental prices had gone up three times more? That's 300 per cent. Did she hear that and can she answer it? Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I absolutely refute that and as I've said in the House before on my last check—and in fact it wasn't just me; he's had those facts checked by others who have questioned his use of the data. Hon Simon Bridges: Isn't the proposed capital gains tax part of the reason why rents have risen $50 a week under her watch and won't the implementation of one see rents go significantly higher still? Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Again I put this issue to the member: under his watch when he was in Government rentals increased by a rate not too dissimilar than we are continuing to see them increase now. So either the member accepts that we have a housing crisis and a lack of supply or he doesn't. Hon Simon Bridges: What part of the following is incorrect in her view: rents going up $12 a week on average each year under National and going up on an annualised basis on her watch by $33? Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Again there has been a breakdown of that member's use of data and the comparisons I have seen have questioned the way that he has used those comparisons. I can be forgiven for disputing what the member has said—Hon Simon Bridges: Give me the real numbers. Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Again I have acknowledged that there have been rental increases while we have been in office—Hon Gerry Brownlee: Massive. Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: —as there were under him—SPEAKER: Order! Order! The Prime Minister will resume her seat. From his seat the Leader of the Opposition asked for numbers. They are being given to him and at the same time he is shouting and the Hon Mr Brownlee is shouting. Either they want answers to the questions—either those properly asked or those asked by way of interjection—or they don't but I actually find some of the answers interesting and I'd like to be able to hear them and I can't when members keep on shouting. Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: If the member as he claims believes that rents have gone up across the board because of a debate on the Tax Working Group why have rents gone down in Dunedin and have experienced absolutely no change in Palmerston North? I think the member will find the areas where we have seen increases are the areas where there are not enough houses.Rt Hon Winston Peters: On the question of the supply of housing is it not a fact that her Government is the first one to have built and matched the figure of house build in 1974—that is a 45 year record?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Absolutely. The Deputy Prime Minister is right. No Government has built as many houses as we are since the 1970s and that includes 1600 more households in public housing since this Government took office and that is something that we are very proud of.Hon Simon Bridges: How will the Government's well-being indicators help Kiwis pay their rising rents?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Well of course we incorporate into well-being measures including our child poverty indicators the cost of housing ability for people to get into homes homeownership rates—these are all measures of well-being that if you took a strict view around simple measures like GDP you wouldn't factor in. So of course housing costs matter which is why we are investing in housing unlike that member who sold 6000 public houses.Hon Simon Bridges: How will the Government measure New Zealanders' spiritual health?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Of course if the member was critiquing me on something that we as a Government had endorsed as an individual indicator I would answer that question. He's asking me about Indicators Aotearoa and the Living Standards Framework. One is owned by Statistics and one is owned by Treasury.Hon Simon Bridges: Why is she backing away from the well-being indicators when just last week her Minister James Shaw wrote to me making it clear that these were coming in because of the confidence and supply agreement between the Labour Party and the Aotearoa New Zealand Green Party?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Again the member is somewhat confused. This is not a new experience in this House but let me explain again. Indicators Aotearoa is a framework owned by the Department of Statistics. It is a measure set a data set that is for them to create for them to gather material on and for them to distribute how they choose. What they were asked to do by the Government was simply factor in that well-being for New Zealanders matters that we care whether people are in homes we care whether or not people are in poverty we care about the suicide rate in New Zealand and domestic violence and it would be helpful to have some indicators around that. If the member doesn't believe that that's a useful data set that is his problem not mine.Hon Simon Bridges: I seek leave to table a letter from James Shaw to myself about Indicators Aotearoa New Zealand. SPEAKER: Is there any objection to that document being tabled? There appears to be none.Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.Hon Simon Bridges: Why when there is a Budget next month is Treasury more focused on attending a "compassion starter culture course" which involves playing card games on well-being and talking about each other's sun and moon feelings?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I have absolutely nothing to do with the human resource management of Treasury.Jami-Lee Ross: Has the Prime Minister seen any reports of the well-being of emotional junior staff members in her Government or is that not a term she would use herself?SPEAKER: Order! I'm absolutely certain the member knows that that question is out of order. He will withdraw and apologise.Jami-Lee Ross: I withdraw and apologise."