Robertson GrantGENERAL DEBATEHon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): I move That the House take note of miscellaneous business. Today we saw the strength of the New Zealand economy. Today we saw that the unemployment rate in New Zealand has reached a near-record low again of 3.4 percent. But more than that we saw the benefits of having a Government with an economic plan so that the average hourly wage rose 7.6 percent. Members opposite seem to believe that the only way we can increase incomes is to cut taxes but actually the way to increase incomes is to see wages lift and I am proud of the fact that we have done that. I'm equally proud that we now have 2.886 million people in work. Since 2017 281000 jobs have been created in the New Zealand economy. That's what happens when Kiwi businesses work hard and when they are supported by a Government that gets alongside them takes them through the hard times like COVID makes sure that they've got skilled workforce and makes sure that apprentices are there and we are seeing the NEET rates coming down within this and we're making sure that we compare ourselves well with the rest of the world. So it is a good day for the workers of New Zealand to see their wages rise and to see more people in work. It is equally a good week for the New Zealanders who receive the winter energy payment. Just over a million New Zealanders know that they will be looked after during the winter period: an extra $31.82 a week for a couple and $20.46 a week for a single person. That's looking after New Zealanders when they're doing it tough and be crystal clear that if there is a National-ACT Government after October the winter energy payment is gone—it's gone. ACT don't want it and National don't have the backbone to stand up to ACT and make sure that it's there. So for every pensioner in New Zealand and for every person in receipt of a main income benefit the winter energy payment is gone if National and ACT find themselves in Government. But that policy of National and ACT shows you just how out of touch they are and we've seen a few examples of that over the course of the last couple of weeks including Chris Bishop deciding that it was time to bring back no-cause evictions. Now that policy is fundamentally wrong but then Mr Bishop said that it was a tenant-friendly policy to get rid of no-cause evictions. In the same way that Dracula is a great friend of the blood service Chris Bishop is telling tenants all across New Zealand that It's OK to be kicked out for no reason because we are your friends." Then we heard from Nicola Grigg that National was bringing back live exports—National was going to bring it back. It was actually an extremely bizarre interview if you ever get the chance to watch it. It included a statement where Nicola Grigg said that she'd been on a live export ship but gave no good reason why she got off it. On this side of the House we value animal welfare and we value making sure that we look after New Zealanders. Then there is the latest resident of the National Party "Bermuda Fiscal Triangle": Shane Reti. I know that I can speak on behalf of members on this side of the House when I say "Shane on you!"—"Shane on you!"—because we know that it's important to get the numbers right. I know that Dr Ayesha Verrall the Minister of Health has worked hard to make sure that Mr Reti is informed but yet he continues to go out there and misinform New Zealanders about what is happening in our health service and I say again "Shane on you!" But all of this comes from the top in the National Party. It comes from a leader in Christopher Luxon who has consistently run New Zealand down. This is a person who went to a right-wing thinktank in the UK and said that New Zealand businesses didn't work hard enough. This is the person who decided that he wanted to get rid of a public holiday and who didn't understand the difference between the Clean Car Standard and the Clean Car Discount. But worst of all he singled out a group of New Zealanders on low and middle incomes as bottom feeders. This is a leader who is out of touch who is leading a political party that is out of touch and who is running down the New Zealand economy. This is a day when we have seen a record number of New Zealanders in work and an unemployment rate of 3.4 percent. That is what having a Labour Government gives and I'm proud of that work."