The year in the House always begins with the prime minister’s statement, in which the chief executive of NZ Inc sets out what their big plans are for the year.
Christopher Luxon did not actually have a lot to offer in his speech, a dull echo of his State of the Nation oration from the previous week which had essentially said that National were not going to spend any money this year and please reward us with your vote for such fiscal rectitude.
Invercargill National MP Penny Simmonds did that adroitly on Tuesday, as she combined what she really wanted to do — offer a warm tribute to her friend, the late Tim Shadbolt — with what she had to do professionally, talk about vocational education.
Fortunately for Simmonds, Shadbolt had been a longtime advocate for the Southern Institute of Technology, her old stomping ground, which allowed her to cover both in equal part.
"In Invercargill, we saw the very best of him, knowing how much he valued being loved and respected by southerners," she said.
"He was also a firm believer in locals knowing what is best for their communities and that, in order to fix the basics and build the future, equitable and local access to vocational education is foundational, both economically and socially, in the ripple effects for individuals, families and the wider community.
"I think that speaks to some of the speeches that have been given today that say economics can’t go hand in hand with social good ... The Green Party talks about growth as if it is a bad thing. Our industries and our people must be able to compete to get ahead.
"That’s why this government is rebuilding a vocational education system that delivers on its promise, equipping people with the basics that they need to support local businesses and local industries to back regional success and grow the economy."
Unsurprisingly, the Green Party was not having a bar of that, as its Dunedin list MP Francisco Hernandez soon made plain.
"I appreciated that, in his first speech of the year, the prime minister quoted scripture with a beatitude, so I’ll quote scripture right back at him.
"The quote I picked is: ‘By your deeds, you will know them’.
"What are the deeds of this New Zealand First and National government? It is economic carnage," Hernandez said, before adding the difficult-to-picture assertion that this government "has liquidated more small businesses than the most gung-ho Stalinist commissar".
Now Luxon likes a plan this is true, but it’s more a quarterly plan than a five-year plan.
Act New Zealand Southland list MP Todd Stephenson, unsurprisingly, was much more sanguine about how the government is going. Some issues he raised remain contentious — the South is still deeply unhappy about the new medical school in the Waikato, despite Stephenson’s blandishments that Act had made sure that due diligence was done on the project.
Others, everyone can get behind.
"Last week, I was really lucky to be able to join the Minister [Associate Health Minister David Seymour] in announcing an extension to cystic fibrosis treatments and an entirely new treatment for cystic fibrosis in New Zealand ... we want to make sure that New Zealand’s government systems — whether that’s regulatory, Medsafe, or Pharmac funding — are actually equipped to ensure that they can take advantage of those new advances and ... get treatments to people quicker."
Adding to the chorus of government acclaim was Taieri NZ First list MP Mark Patterson, who was so excited about all its achievements that he barely left time to talk about his favourite subject, wool.
But what he really wanted to talk about was an opinion column in this very paper that very day written by another Taieri list MP, Scott Willis from the Greens, about the wisdom — or otherwise — of the proposed Santana gold mine in Central Otago.
"I see Scott Willis today in the Otago Daily Times lambasting it," a fired-up Patterson declaimed.
"He can hang his head in shame if he’s turning his back on potentially $10billion of foreign exchange; 750 jobs, 400 of them direct.
"There are 1200 notifications of interest for jobs in that mine. Many of them are Kiwis looking to return from Australia to get a decent job here.
"That’s what creating opportunities looks like in areas like mining. We’re really proud to be backing — and we ask that the Labour Party in particular change their tune on this, because it is embarrassing given their heritage.
"We’ll take your votes — thank you very much — if you don’t."
However Labour, as its Dunedin MP Rachel Brooking said soon after, was not inclined to give those votes away.
Her speech tested the boundaries of being on the PM’s statement by it being a hyperlocal account of some of her electorate issues.
"In Dunedin, we can look to the fact that nurses being trained in Dunedin aren’t getting jobs. This government chose not to increase the number of medical students that could have been done immediately at the Otago Medical School. In terms of housing, the 41 units at Carroll St have been cancelled, and land is being sold at Port Chalmers that was already to go for new housing.
"In terms of health, this government promised much more on the Dunedin public hospital and instead, they’ve delayed it for two years. Shameful."
Leaving just enough time for Scott Willis, who must have missed Patterson’s attack on him, to use Dunedin’s miserable excuse for a summer to comment on energy policy.
"For struggling Kiwis, power prices rose 12% in the last 12 months and this rising cost of electricity is one of the biggest drivers of the cost of living crisis. This is of the government’s own making," he said.
"We need to design an energy system that is fit for the 21st century, not something for last century.
"Kiwis know that the way to secure that future is through a Green-led government and we are ready."
Willis and co may be ready, but is anyone else?
