Collins JudithGENERAL DEBATEHon JUDITH COLLINS (Leader of the Opposition): I move That the House take note of miscellaneous business. Well we've been spending a lot of time talking about MPs' jobs this week and it's time we started talking about the jobs of people who really matter and that's the New Zealanders—the 200000 New Zealanders who are now receiving an unemployment benefit or what we call now a jobseeker benefit and the 200000 as well construction workers who've had to receive the wage subsidy while they've been waiting for this Government to turn up with their shovel-ready projects list—the list; release the list Government.And is this list even ready? Well according to the Rt Hon Winston Peters yes it is. This is what he said to the Wellington Chamber of Commerce yesterday in answer to a question about it: Well look I do appreciate your question. I have the list the whole lot. Why they are not telling you I don't know but I'm going to go back and find out. How can you tender if you don't know?" He's right. That's my answer. How could you tender by region when you have got the whole list pages of the stuff? "You send me an email today and I will ask." Did he ask? No he did not. We have got no list. Release the list Mr Peters. Release the list Prime Minister. Release the list.We've got contractors all over the country waiting waiting for this work to begin. We've got councils waiting waiting. They put together those councils—remember when Phil Twyford and Shane Jones put together a request to the councils: "Come up with your shovel-ready projects we'll get them going we'll fund them." Remember that? You've got two weeks to do it all all just after lockdown; 1 April was the announcement and what's happened since then? Nothing. Now—nothing. The councils put it all together in two weeks. Three months later we're still waiting. Even Mr Peters can't produce a list although apparently he's going to get it one day. He's going to ask for it and he's going to get it. But he is right on this: it's not possible for contractors to plan their work to employ people to keep people employed if the Government does not release the list. The Government must release the list. We have got councils all over the country all these people these contractors employees all waiting for the work to begin.On a very serious note the wage subsidy ends just before the election—just before the election. Why wait before just before the election to let people know what is actually happening with these construction projects? Why won't the Government release the list? What is it that they've got to hide?Instead we've got a dribble of little projects that the Government wants to announce by ministerial visit.Hon Member: That's right; Shane Jones is dribbling.Hon JUDITH COLLINS: Shane Jones has admitted it. There's a great thing with Shane Jones he's so used to admitting it he just keeps admitting it. Now he has admitted that he's the one who's going to announce all these by way of ministerial visit. Actually the people of New Zealand deserve better than that. They deserve better. They want to know: where are these projects? When are they starting? Where is the money? Why don't they have the work now?Because all joking aside this Parliament is the Parliament of New Zealand—who by the way these New Zealanders are looking at mass unemployment. We already have 200000 people unemployed—200000 people unemployed. Another 200000 construction workers have had to receive a wage subsidy and they want work. They're skilled people highly skilled people. They are people who could be picked up anywhere in the world because they're so valuable to us. We all know as a country that we have to build infrastructure—well apart from the Greens because they don't think you do; as long as it's a cycleway it's all they're interested in.We know that we can agree in Parliament that we need infrastructure. So where is the list? Release the list Government. Release the list. Even let the Rt Hon Winston Peters have his list. Where is the list? What is it that they're hiding? Why can't New Zealanders know about this list? Where is the list? Release the list. Release a list of the contractors release it to the councils release it so that people can work. Stop this mass unemployment now. Help New Zealanders get back into work. Release the list."