"\u003C!DOCTYPE html\u003E\u003Chtml xmlns:xlink=\u0022http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink\u0022 xmlns:xsi=\u0022http://www.w3.org/2007/XMLSchema-instance\u0022 xmlns:mml=\u0022http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\u0022\u003E\n  \u003Chead\u003E\n    \u003CMETA http-equiv=\u0022Content-Type\u0022 content=\u0022text/html; charset=utf-16\u0022\u003E\n    \u003Cmeta name=\u0022viewport\u0022 content=\u0022width=device-width, initial-scale=1\u0022\u003E\n  \u003C/head\u003E\n  \u003Cbody style=\u0022font-family:sans-serif; font-size:100%;\u0022\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000001\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u0022ba6b6cf854ca445c8f7628e83e7130df\u0022\u003ETuesday, 20 May 2003\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000003\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u00228d2ac1686d744d47b74928cf933bdb7d\u0022\u003ETuesday, 20 May 2003\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000002\u0022\u003EMr Speaker took the Chair at 2 p.m.\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000004\u0022\u003EPrayers.\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000005\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u002216413141a8344f4e90915e2ec0e95f8c\u0022\u003EVisitors\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000006\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u00229c71d7a6e10c46c7b4834febbb0a4bd2\u0022\u003EAttorney-General and Minister of Justice of Tonga\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022 data-id=\u00223339693b6b764703ac22892655e707c8\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000007\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00223339693b6b764703ac22892655e707c8\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I have much pleasure in informing the House that the Hon \u2019Aisea Taumoepeau, Attorney-General and Minister of Justice of the Kingdom of Tonga, is present in the gallery. I am sure that members would wish that the Minister be welcomed.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000008\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u00226c0e51b00fb54bf7b1f7d3ed8fad5de0\u0022\u003ECommittee on Ecology\u2014Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022 data-id=\u0022e3058187f1544d87af3916982d69b607\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000009\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022e3058187f1544d87af3916982d69b607\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I also have much pleasure in informing the House that members of the Committee on Ecology of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, led by Mr Vladimir Grachev, are present in the gallery. I am sure that members would wish that the delegation be welcomed.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000010\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u00221880b296f68c4f5e8b9ac891d7c914bb\u0022\u003EMotions\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000011\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u00221338c31b42f1433593fa4d85d61b7861\u0022\u003ESir Edmund Hillary\u201450th Anniversary of Ascent of Mount Everest\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00228ff55f5e-9237-45e2-8e15-24228a10320e\u0022 data-id=\u0022b35d0b379e0c4777af2331897c56d2cf\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000012\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228ff55f5e-9237-45e2-8e15-24228a10320e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022b35d0b379e0c4777af2331897c56d2cf\u0022\u003ERt Hon HELEN CLARK (Prime Minister):\u003C/span\u003E I move, That this House acknowledge the 50th anniversary on 29 May of the first ascent of Mount Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, and congratulate Sir Edmund on this significant achievement and the unique contribution he has made in both New Zealand and Nepal. In speaking briefly to the motion, I want to say that at the weekend Sir Edmund and Lady Hillary left for Nepal for celebration of this 50th anniversary of the historic climb. A few weeks ago we honoured Sir Edmund here in this Parliament with a State luncheon.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000013\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228ff55f5e-9237-45e2-8e15-24228a10320e\u0022\u003EFor the last 50 years he has been the most famous living New Zealander and has brought great honour to this country through his alpine and other physical achievements, and his humanity and practical work in Nepal. Above all, he is a great New Zealander. As the House will not be sitting next week on the date of the anniversary it is appropriate to recognise this significant anniversary now, and to wish Sir Edmund and Lady Hillary well in their journey to, and stay in, Nepal.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022 data-id=\u00226fef982de61b4cc192c82ca31eca5ab7\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000014\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00226fef982de61b4cc192c82ca31eca5ab7\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH (Leader of the Opposition):\u003C/span\u003E The National Party warmly supports the motion moved by the Prime Minister. We appreciate that even in their advanced years Sir Edmund and Lady Hillary have been so willing to share again with New Zealand that magic moment of 50 years ago. They have every best wish of this party and this Parliament through this celebration.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e3dc3d88-a571-4ed7-a4b4-b66dedd6134b\u0022 data-id=\u002213399ddc8f274385bc5002d8500173da\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000015\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e3dc3d88-a571-4ed7-a4b4-b66dedd6134b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002213399ddc8f274385bc5002d8500173da\u0022\u003EPETER BROWN (Deputy Leader\u2014NZ First):\u003C/span\u003E On behalf of New Zealand First I am very proud and very privileged to stand here to endorse the Prime Minister\u2019s motion. In 1953 when the climb on Everest was being envisaged, I was a young boy back in the UK. I can remember the leader of that party, John Hunt, coming on television and displaying the equipment that would be used for the ascent of Everest. When Ed Hillary returned, I realised just how great an achievement the ascent was, knowing the limitations of that equipment. If that was one great achievement, probably Sir Edmund\u2019s greatest achievement is being a man of genuine sincerity and humbleness. He is a very great New Zealander, and New Zealand First endorses exactly what the Prime Minister said.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022b0d8b0e0-3ece-4865-9145-5eb5983fc54c\u0022 data-id=\u0022d4e46e434f9f4deda7101e36a4a764ba\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000016\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b0d8b0e0-3ece-4865-9145-5eb5983fc54c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022d4e46e434f9f4deda7101e36a4a764ba\u0022\u003EHon RICHARD PREBBLE (Leader\u2014ACT NZ):\u003C/span\u003E It is appropriate that Parliament take some minutes to mark what is probably the most famous achievement by a person who is definitely the most famous New Zealander. Sir Edmund Hillary is also beloved because his own personal qualities personify what we would like to think are the characteristics of a New Zealander\u2014someone who is humble, but is also a doer who has let his deeds rather than his words speak for him.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000017\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b0d8b0e0-3ece-4865-9145-5eb5983fc54c\u0022\u003EI can confirm that Sir Edmund has always been a fearless person. He went to my old school, Auckland Grammar. When I was a third former at that school I decided to climb to the top of the rafters of the third form bike shed, which for a third former was an \u201CEverest\u201D climb. It took me some time. I worked my way along the rafters; it was a perilous ascent. When I got to the middle I felt a great sense of achievement. I then thought, as we are thinking today, that I should mark this occasion. I pulled out my pocket knife thinking I would carve my name into the rafters to show I had been the first to climb to the top of the third form bike shelter. I blew away the dust and realised that someone had carved his name before me. I blew more carefully, and read \u201CE. Hillary\u201D. So I am not sure whether Sir Edmund climbed Everest first, but he certainly climbed first to the top of the third form bike shed. I thought that that action should be marked today, as well.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00226e7bfee5-ac9c-4ae2-b85d-7d3b7a785561\u0022 data-id=\u002212faf7da173f485db8e614f88f9514bf\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000018\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226e7bfee5-ac9c-4ae2-b85d-7d3b7a785561\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002212faf7da173f485db8e614f88f9514bf\u0022\u003EROD DONALD (Co-Leader\u2014Green):\u003C/span\u003E The Greens are pleased to support the motion. Without doubt Sir Edmund is a great New Zealander. He is respected by all and is an inspiration to us all. I was pleased to have worked with Sir Edmund and Lady June when I was employed by Volunteer Service Abroad, and his commitment to the work of the service was appreciated by everyone. He is, indeed, a man of great humility and strong compassion, and a man who has a compelling sense of what humanity should mean to everyone on this planet.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022f555a23a-d230-4f03-80ba-a44e6ec8bd29\u0022 data-id=\u00227f3eebb19c1648fb937dc0c0b1567f02\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000019\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f555a23a-d230-4f03-80ba-a44e6ec8bd29\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00227f3eebb19c1648fb937dc0c0b1567f02\u0022\u003EHon PETER DUNNE (Leader\u2014United Future):\u003C/span\u003E United Future also wishes to support, with pleasure, the motion that has been moved by the Prime Minister. During the 20th century just about every possible achievement that a human being could make was made, yet amongst all of those achievements the conquest of Everest stands out as probably the greatest\u2014be it scientific, literary, or whatever. Getting to the top of that mountain said so much. It was highly appropriate that it was a New Zealander who was first to achieve it. It is doubly appropriate that a man of rugged features, simple sincerity, a bluff but amiable nature, and genuine affection for his fellow human beings in this country and elsewhere, in the form of Sir Edmund Hillary, was the person to make that climb. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000020\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f555a23a-d230-4f03-80ba-a44e6ec8bd29\u0022\u003EThe Prime Minister made reference to the greatest living New Zealander. I do not think we can ever begin to imagine the inestimable value of Sir Edmund and his contribution to our country. It is certainly appropriate that this Parliament celebrates and recognises this achievement, and it is certainly appropriate that all New Zealanders join in the commemorations on 29 May to recognise this seminal event in the foundation and history of our country.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000021\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f555a23a-d230-4f03-80ba-a44e6ec8bd29\u0022\u003EMotion agreed to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u002283914d1284c04284a9318b72a83d8e07\u0022\u003EPoints of Order\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000023\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u00229688ad101b5049db8e9774e9676aac37\u0022\u003ETabling of Ministerial Documents\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022b0d8b0e0-3ece-4865-9145-5eb5983fc54c\u0022 data-id=\u0022f08a582e8ad84bcda40004b9e817a00b\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000024\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b0d8b0e0-3ece-4865-9145-5eb5983fc54c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022f08a582e8ad84bcda40004b9e817a00b\u0022\u003EHon RICHARD PREBBLE (Leader\u2014ACT NZ):\u003C/span\u003E I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I raise a matter with you, because I was expecting a statement from the Government. Last week we were told by the Prime Minister, when I raised a question about whether she would table a ministerial document, that she would table all of the documents relating to the Ministry for Culture and Heritage and the Resource Management Amendment Bill (No 2). I was expecting that. I would also like to know from the Prime Minister whether she stands by her view of 23 February when she said to the then Prime Minister, Jenny Shipley, when she was tabling documents, that it should be done by ministerial statement.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000025\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223ba2c6bdbb8847b7b52afed4a668dc06\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: That is in the hands of the Government.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000026\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b0d8b0e0-3ece-4865-9145-5eb5983fc54c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002253cc355b303545e48eeeb295105a6c18\u0022\u003EHon RICHARD PREBBLE\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. We have an interesting situation here. We have an MMP Parliament. Under first past the post, the Opposition party was allowed to raise a procedural matter. I am the leader of my party. I had what I took to be a solemn assurance from the Prime Minister that she would table those statements. I stopped asking questions on the basis that they were coming. I think I am entitled to ask the Prime Minister whether she will table them and whether that will be done by ministerial statement\u2014just as she said should be the course for Jenny Shipley.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000027\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c87bed9818d24bdb873af323712754e2\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I say to the member that he is perfectly entitled to raise a point of order, and I did not rule him out of order for raising it. I am just saying that the matter of whether that will be responded to is a matter for the Prime Minister, not a matter for anyone else.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000028\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u002204e653d0e01c4cc5b0e1dfbbd7b876de\u0022\u003EQuestions for Oral Answer\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000029\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022c280b9b7e5ce42139f1e22fdb3270919\u0022\u003EQuestions to Ministers\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000030\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u002220a8cbe3a63a440fb004099cf29fea7c\u0022\u003EYouth\u2014Development\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000031\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002291a888b841c34661b8d0e7095d5d9a2e\u0022\u003E1. DARREN HUGHES (NZ Labour\u2014Otaki)\u003C/span\u003E to the Minister of Youth Affairs : What steps has the Government taken to progress youth development?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00226de7f1d9-7be9-468a-b27c-06000416b96a\u0022 data-id=\u002242bbb4c6d4124f2881f74eff95daf5e9\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000032\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226de7f1d9-7be9-468a-b27c-06000416b96a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002242bbb4c6d4124f2881f74eff95daf5e9\u0022\u003EHon JOHN TAMIHERE (Minister of Youth Affairs):\u003C/span\u003E It is difficult to be modest. The Government is undertaking a huge range of initiatives to support youth development, such as the $56 million plan, announced recently by the Prime Minister, to get all young people into education, training, or work by 2007. This Government is focused on taking a positive approach to youth development, rather than rehashing the failed policies of the past.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000033\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c437bda8-4741-4ac5-89ab-b0818e1ab9fa\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221b9b3ba27f9d48489023e2ff418703fd\u0022\u003EDarren Hughes\u003C/span\u003E: Does the Government support the concept of more punitive measures against parents whose children are not in education or training?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000034\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226de7f1d9-7be9-468a-b27c-06000416b96a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228676eea449af493087d572e6d2d3f383\u0022\u003EHon JOHN TAMIHERE\u003C/span\u003E: Unlike the Leader of the Opposition, who is proposing beneficiary bashing under a rehash of the code of social responsibility, this Government is looking for real solutions. This year\u2019s Budget announced an additional $8 million for getting students back to school, bringing the total package, over 5 years, to $46 million. This Government is focused on solutions, not just slogans.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000035\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220747e53ac8ab43adaee08e1002c3344b\u0022\u003ESimon Power\u003C/span\u003E: Has youth development been progressed by denying Government funding to WellTrust, which delivers critical services in addressing substance abuse in the wider Wellington region; if so, how?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000036\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226de7f1d9-7be9-468a-b27c-06000416b96a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022beb95f29a8884ff1bc28d1a7bc655ab5\u0022\u003EHon JOHN TAMIHERE\u003C/span\u003E: I understand from newspaper reportage that WellTrust is not receiving funding. Apart from that, I cannot elaborate any further.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000037\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f349039e-f016-4db0-a8d0-c374551be708\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f1bafbba141e4229a56bc4c0a97a35bd\u0022\u003ECraig McNair\u003C/span\u003E: Is the Minister concerned that measures presumably carried out to address problems facing youth development, such as the ramming through of alcohol excise tax earlier this month, have prompted such comments as \u201Cabuse of democracy\u201D, \u201Cunethical\u201D, and \u201Csticking-plaster measure\u201D; if not, why is he not concerned at the general public\u2019s united disapproval of that obviously rushed and impotent legislation? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000038\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226de7f1d9-7be9-468a-b27c-06000416b96a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226ed0ef43329f4cf5948aed2b1444d42b\u0022\u003EHon JOHN TAMIHERE\u003C/span\u003E: In answer to the first part of the question, no. When we have statistics, such as those from the Alcohol Advisory Council, that suggest that 94 percent of parents are concerned about teen drinking habits but that only 24 percent of their children are, we have a problem.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000039\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u002259c9a2ce2dfb4cd2aaf4cd7d4a8e5b08\u0022\u003EEnergy, Minister\u2014Confidence\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000040\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E2. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022da2abdaf26cb400088aa8ea519246f5a\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH (Leader of the Opposition)\u003C/span\u003E to the Prime Minister: Does she have confidence in the Minister of Energy; if so, why?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00228ff55f5e-9237-45e2-8e15-24228a10320e\u0022 data-id=\u00221c32fd5ad2364850889cf7e989e9f0dc\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000041\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228ff55f5e-9237-45e2-8e15-24228a10320e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00221c32fd5ad2364850889cf7e989e9f0dc\u0022\u003ERt Hon HELEN CLARK (Prime Minister):\u003C/span\u003E Yes, because he is a good, hard-working, and conscientious Minister.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000042\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227d3dda864ab74edc964f3c6c8d374930\u0022\u003EHon Bill English\u003C/span\u003E: In the light of the Minister\u2019s statement today, why is the Prime Minister imposing a tax on users of electricity to pay for stand-by generation, and is she aware that that tax will mean higher prices for electricity every year?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000043\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228ff55f5e-9237-45e2-8e15-24228a10320e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b1b953ad04884a6fb97234377afc59ac\u0022\u003ERt Hon HELEN CLARK\u003C/span\u003E: The Government\u2019s announcements today are predicated on the assumption that the public would rather pay 80c extra a week to have secure power under Labour than have cold showers under National. [Interruption] \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000044\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e628d2e26ed64c919c0b11c629782f62\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: It is early on in the week, but I will not have people shouting out like that. I have been told constantly that it is not polite to do so, and I agree. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000045\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ddf4568ef5f04e3d81da862c552894fd\u0022\u003EGerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. It is all very well for you to have a go at the Opposition about responding to the Prime Minister like that\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000046\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002202e929d954644fb7944f7f5754ba1898\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I never mentioned just the Opposition.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000047\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002271f5fd52a634490f8aa74724fabaad4e\u0022\u003EGerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: No? That was clearly the inference that was taken. I have not yet heard you suggest that any Minister was being impolite when giving a response to the House. I suggest, strongly, that the Prime Minister was impolite\u2014but, of course, that is her way.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000048\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d9ee5f3af5734e6c93400d1928080cc2\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: That is enough of that. I did actually look at one particular, very senior member who interjected, and the member was a member of the Government.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000049\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022330c030b-99be-4461-8aaa-9a10ee5bd889\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d8009b47cd1a401db4551c1e6e22876a\u0022\u003EDavid Benson-Pope\u003C/span\u003E: Can the Prime Minister please advise the House of the purpose of the announcements made by the Minister of Energy today?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000050\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228ff55f5e-9237-45e2-8e15-24228a10320e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002266d83ded17444d8594d8d633769b0d85\u0022\u003ERt Hon HELEN CLARK\u003C/span\u003E: Yes, I can. The measures were announced to bring some control into the energy market, and to see that, in future, New Zealand does not face electricity shortages whenever there is a particularly dry year. The market model we inherited has not achieved that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000051\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e3dc3d88-a571-4ed7-a4b4-b66dedd6134b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ce3cb3ee523544d19a93ddcbfec3997c\u0022\u003EPeter Brown\u003C/span\u003E: Given that in the last 3 years the Government has had to plead with New Zealanders to save power; that the proposed industry governance board did not get any legs; that, on occasion, prices have gone through the roof; and that, generally, there has not been sufficient expansion of the generation capacity in this country, what has the Minister has actually done that inspires the Prime Minister\u2019s confidence\u2014or is it simply a case of being the best of a bad bunch?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000052\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228ff55f5e-9237-45e2-8e15-24228a10320e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225bdda562e68b41819ba5272de45474d6\u0022\u003ERt Hon HELEN CLARK\u003C/span\u003E: The litany the member has recited would, of course, point to why there needed to be changes to the model, which the Minister has announced today.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000053\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b0d8b0e0-3ece-4865-9145-5eb5983fc54c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bfe3da1236d64d5bbd74fc10a2eaa9da\u0022\u003EHon Richard Prebble\u003C/span\u003E: Would not a conscientious and hard-working Prime Minister, who told Kim Hill on Face to Face With Kim Hill: \u201CI\u2019m outraged it\u2019s happening\u201D and \u201CI started pushing very hard for action on this in the second half of last year.\u201D and \u201CI put Dr Cullen on the case.\u201D, and \u201CI am not satisfied at all that all of us have been put in this position.\u201D, have replaced the Minister of Energy?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000054\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228ff55f5e-9237-45e2-8e15-24228a10320e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022acf1273fed1444718e84747306a61b28\u0022\u003ERt Hon HELEN CLARK\u003C/span\u003E: No\u2014no more so than she would have prayed for rain. [Interruption] \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000055\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d7f936522db449bbae54e5f484218193\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: There are people who are seeking a very early exit. I have called only the Hon Bill English.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000056\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ac09dd5ac6694a1babf81cfacf98da7f\u0022\u003EHon Bill English\u003C/span\u003E: Given that the Government has stood in the way of new generation over the last 4 years, why does the Prime Minister believe that the imposition of a tax on all electricity users will make it more likely that we will get new generation in the next 4 years?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000057\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228ff55f5e-9237-45e2-8e15-24228a10320e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f5f0a4ca8b194227b353881c5738be6d\u0022\u003ERt Hon HELEN CLARK\u003C/span\u003E: The first part of that question cannot be substantiated. It is a sweeping generalisation, and it simply is not true. Secondly, the Government has taken steps to ensure that a market model can work. The present one does not.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000058\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b0d8b0e0-3ece-4865-9145-5eb5983fc54c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222eb3654d0b4943fbb4663fcf6789e938\u0022\u003EHon Richard Prebble\u003C/span\u003E: Accepting the Prime Minister\u2019s assurances on television that she knew last year that the energy crisis was going to happen, and that the Minister of Energy told us that his modelling\u2014after it had it remodelled\u2014showed it was not going to happen, and that the Prime Minister now thinks it is absolutely infuriating that we are in this position, I ask this question: why has she not replaced the Minister?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000059\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228ff55f5e-9237-45e2-8e15-24228a10320e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e853eb235a8549249de8e300d721667d\u0022\u003ERt Hon HELEN CLARK\u003C/span\u003E: Nothing I have said today or before implies that I knew an energy crisis was about to happen. I knew no such thing. What I knew was that New Zealand was still at risk of dry years, because the problems had not been sufficiently addressed in the model, and the reason for bringing in a group of Ministers is that a number of minds is always better than one, regardless of who the one is.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000060\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222a93c498df684688977117fbe97e575d\u0022\u003EHon Bill English\u003C/span\u003E: If she is now so concerned about managing dry-year risk, why did she not take action after the review of the 2001 electricity shortage, when any number of reviews and reports were made to her about steps that needed to be taken to avoid a crisis again?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000061\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228ff55f5e-9237-45e2-8e15-24228a10320e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c0fcac43f9e9422197ad82a1741f9b9b\u0022\u003ERt Hon HELEN CLARK\u003C/span\u003E: As the Minister of Energy advised the House last week, the thrust of officials\u2019 advice was that the market would move to correct the situation. I did not accept that, which is why we called for more advice.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000062\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u002293f5ba183462472bad88090530f54692\u0022\u003EChild Poverty\u2014Budget\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000063\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f8b92f47-d078-4e6a-b4c6-136913bda55d\u0022\u003E3. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002259aa8cbb4da847849bf4d0d090420bd3\u0022\u003ESUE BRADFORD (Green)\u003C/span\u003E to the Minister of Finance: What is his response to Child Poverty Action Group\u2019s statement that \u201Cthe poorest children in New Zealand, around 300,000 of them, do not even get a crumb\u201D from last week\u2019s Budget?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022 data-id=\u0022249f2564776a421daec442129abdcd1a\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000064\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022249f2564776a421daec442129abdcd1a\u0022\u003EHon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN (Minister of Finance):\u003C/span\u003E My response would be that the statement ignored a substantial number of initiatives, particularly in the health, education, and housing areas.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000065\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f8b92f47-d078-4e6a-b4c6-136913bda55d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002263d9f8f02b704ce08c1586f587bc2276\u0022\u003ESue Bradford\u003C/span\u003E: Why does the Government continue to discriminate against the children of beneficiaries who receive the unemployment, sickness, and invalids benefit, and accident compensation claimants, by not extending the child tax credit to all families who find themselves in identical financial circumstances?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000066\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229aec4041bc6d42b7a4dda51cbb35eb8b\u0022\u003EHon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN\u003C/span\u003E: The Government is working on a package of changes in this area, which it hopes to be able to announce next year, depending upon resources. The possibility of restructuring family support into a single-tier payment is part of that. It would be essential, therefore, also to introduce other measures into the tax system that would preserve the balance when moving from benefit and into employment.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000067\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f9c512a8-d532-4ef9-ad51-0fe8d752a893\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022780656d754f54297a761b83191158b81\u0022\u003EClayton Cosgrove\u003C/span\u003E: Could he reiterate the Government\u2019s social spending priorities?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000068\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002283768f55d3194c9d8294114c3f49b976\u0022\u003EHon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN\u003C/span\u003E: The Government identified\u2014and I indicated in my speech\u2014assistance to lower and middle income families as a priority for next year\u2019s Budget if the fiscal position permits.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000069\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002295ac7206-f497-429d-bf58-715224d5160f\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227ef700b8ec644d8bbd47cad990b755f2\u0022\u003EKatherine Rich\u003C/span\u003E: Further to Child Poverty Action Group\u2019s statement that \u201Cthe poorest children in New Zealand do not even get a crumb from last week\u2019s Budget\u201D, can he explain what New Zealand\u2019s poorest children hope to gain from the Government\u2019s offer of $34 million to an overseas yacht race?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000070\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022463786a868b948a5846a6fcea25d9f0a\u0022\u003EHon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN\u003C/span\u003E: Yes, presumably the same benefits that Mr McCully foresaw when he supported substantial funding for the America\u2019s Cup bid\u2014that is, an increased profile for New Zealand overseas in terms of its reputation; increased employment in New Zealand for tourism; increased employment from a future America\u2019s Cup race here; and increased employment from the business of producing materials for America\u2019s Cup yachts here and overseas. We are talking about a business that produced getting on for a billion dollars for New Zealand.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000071\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4da5811-fb5a-4721-b57a-518446bd7796\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002214fea895c8c346eb836f518c91386ebd\u0022\u003EDail Jones\u003C/span\u003E: How can the Minister give these uncaring answers with regard to the 300,000 children mentioned in the report, bearing in mind that this Government has a surplus of $4 billion, and that this Budget was remarkable only for the fact that he taxed old people\u2019s sherry and port drinking?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000072\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c5d34322c0f749308b57d08b119ced84\u0022\u003EHon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN\u003C/span\u003E: I assure the member that some young people drink sherry, and port as well. I can certainly assure members that my wife did when she was a young person. On the question that the member properly raises, he, I am sure, is aware\u2014[Interruption]\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000073\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bda1b5b385d64ba2bf4e47c821a2f325\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I did not mind one or two interjections, but the Minister is getting to the member\u2019s question and I want to hear the answer.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000074\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022019169a741a3432ba0c832fb6dbb3ef7\u0022\u003EHon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN\u003C/span\u003E: I am perfectly willing to organise a seminar for the member on how accrual accounting works. If he thinks I have $4 billion spare cash he clearly does not understand how accounting works.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000075\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f8b92f47-d078-4e6a-b4c6-136913bda55d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222edcb59d3ff84f5ea5047407f2d4c657\u0022\u003ESue Bradford\u003C/span\u003E: How can the Government claim it is family friendly, when the value of family support has declined by 60 percent since 1986, and this Budget, yet again, does nothing to address it?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000076\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002291686567689a4d79bbd177ae99a5792d\u0022\u003EHon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN\u003C/span\u003E: I accept the member\u2019s assertion that this is a very high priority area, which is why, if there is sufficient headroom in next year\u2019s Budget\u2014and at the moment it looks to be around the $400 million to $500 million mark\u2014increases\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000077\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226984d661-9f65-4ed6-b29c-3285b598582d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002298181a1ae2c5411fa4d11f134b3e036a\u0022\u003EJohn Carter\u003C/span\u003E: Buying votes.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000078\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00227f8c14fb-b919-46ef-866b-8db68cfa4cf0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022962d3aea19e6493f805a02f6421ccb94\u0022\u003EHon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN\u003C/span\u003E: Oh, now the member is saying it is buying votes to provide assistance for low and middle income families, while his colleague was shedding crocodile tears only a few minutes ago.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000079\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f8b92f47-d078-4e6a-b4c6-136913bda55d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002201dd92cea7a940e6af01af0e9d138a39\u0022\u003ESue Bradford\u003C/span\u003E: I seek leave to table a post-Budget briefing paper from the Child Poverty Action Group.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000080\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f8b92f47-d078-4e6a-b4c6-136913bda55d\u0022\u003EDocument, by leave, laid on the Table of the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000081\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u002271b4fa8ad8494c7aa7ddaf4611c0f892\u0022\u003EMethamphetamines\u2014Supply\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000082\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c5d9f81e-8fbc-419b-8f03-d0c6abebb8d2\u0022\u003E4. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d678a79a811c49a2bb38cbb02528d32f\u0022\u003EHon MATT ROBSON (Deputy Leader\u2014Progressive)\u003C/span\u003E to the Associate Minister of Health: What is the Government doing to address the increase in the supply and use of methamphetamines?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00228415e962-886d-47b9-9356-3fdce746891f\u0022 data-id=\u00220e937b2f8ce244d78c5aafd2baeacc0f\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000083\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228415e962-886d-47b9-9356-3fdce746891f\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00220e937b2f8ce244d78c5aafd2baeacc0f\u0022\u003EHon JIM ANDERTON (Associate Minister of Health):\u003C/span\u003E This coalition Government is taking a series of significant and urgent actions. The reclassification of methamphetamine as a Class A drug, is on track to be enforced by 30 May. The Ministerial Action Group on Alcohol and Drugs is to meet this week to approve an action plan that includes 19 actions and recommendations for combating methamphetamine abuse. The objectives are to reduce supply and demand, and to limit the harm associated with this highly dangerous drug. The emphasis is on dealing with drug exploiters who are committing serious criminal offences by making and supplying the drug, while also having compassion, and treatment facilities for the victims. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000084\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c5d9f81e-8fbc-419b-8f03-d0c6abebb8d2\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227749783b88964e6a910f610487696d6b\u0022\u003EHon Matt Robson\u003C/span\u003E: What moves has the Government already made to combat the problem of methamphetamines?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000085\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228415e962-886d-47b9-9356-3fdce746891f\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226fa29d72f7b04b4aa224ca0d15edb922\u0022\u003EHon JIM ANDERTON\u003C/span\u003E: We have already demonstrated our commitment to addressing methamphetamine use. We need to rehabilitate those who are on the drug, and show no tolerance for those who are manufacturing or selling it. This year\u2019s Budget contains $6.6 million over 4 years for an additional two police teams to combat this problem. Last year the police located and closed 140 laboratories, and extra resources will make the police even more effective. The Budget also provided $2.55 million for a community action initiative, in six rural areas and nine urban centres, to reduce the incidence of drug misuse. These initiatives bring together local police and health and other agencies to share intelligence and combat drug misuse in these communities. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000086\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022a83ea07a-806c-45ad-95bb-eb2c481cd0e2\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c3a051db75a54407b49282c0b8d2488f\u0022\u003EHon Tony Ryall\u003C/span\u003E: Given that the police themselves estimate that one gang dealing in methamphetamines has accumulated assets in excess of $10 million, when will the Government demand that such criminals prove their assets were legally obtained, and if they cannot, that those assets be confiscated?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000087\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228415e962-886d-47b9-9356-3fdce746891f\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c4168e9e0db04ef7b3ee4fa1eec4849b\u0022\u003EHon JIM ANDERTON\u003C/span\u003E: The confiscation of assets brought about by criminal activity is an issue that the Government has before it for consideration, and the ministerial committee is looking at it. This coalition, which has a ministerial committee on drugs and alcohol that meets regularly, has progressed this issue further and faster than any actions the National members opposite ever took, ever considered, or ever adopted when in Government.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000088\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002225c22a83-ff2c-474c-a092-883be2dd63d3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d97b99103f9b4f5dbd7366cce64526e1\u0022\u003EDave Hereora\u003C/span\u003E: What is being done to combat the growing use of methamphetamine by M\u0101ori?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000089\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228415e962-886d-47b9-9356-3fdce746891f\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221905e1ed2388452ca409b2aee05cd16e\u0022\u003EHon JIM ANDERTON\u003C/span\u003E: Some M\u0101ori communities are being severely affected by the abuse of methamphetamine. The coalition Government is willing and able to work in partnership with M\u0101ori to combat this evil scourge. Some M\u0101ori elders are now talking about putting a r\u0101hui, or ban, on methamphetamine, and I will give every support I can to their efforts. Tareha te Moananui, the first M\u0101ori to speak in this Parliament, in 1868 said that in all our efforts, all we have to do is to focus on that which is good. He said that the power of good is greater than the power of evil, and when an evil issue arises, all we have to do is come together to face it and defeat it. Methamphetamine is an evil, and the people who manufacture and supply it are in an evil business that has no place in New Zealand. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000090\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ed5d559d34c44764b32160fd32c25bf0\u0022\u003ERon Mark\u003C/span\u003E: Could the Minister tell the House then, if his Government is so serious about dealing with drug dealers and showing a no-tolerance approach to the methamphetamine problem, firstly, why has the Government refused to give any extra funding to allow schools to carry out drug testing for methamphetamine, and, secondly, why has the Government allowed 198 drug dealers to be released into the community under the deferred sentencing provision and on home detention?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000091\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228415e962-886d-47b9-9356-3fdce746891f\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022751f437c777c4736b3e072c612e220e7\u0022\u003EHon JIM ANDERTON\u003C/span\u003E: The first information I received on schools wishing to drug test their pupils for methamphetamine was yesterday, when I read a report from Kaitaia College. I immediately made a statement that I supported the efforts of the school, but I also said that before such examinations or tests could be taken, a proper process has to be gone through in order to protect the rights of children at school and their parents. That is what I support, and I know that the Government in general supports that, as well.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000092\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220d9640b0-d861-43d8-b321-e7ba56dbe362\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002223ab97fca1aa43dba139c9c6051ab6a3\u0022\u003EJudy Turner\u003C/span\u003E: Will the reclassification of methamphetamine as a class A drug result in suppliers being put out of circulation for longer, given the stronger penalties involved; or does he agree with the Green members, who say that there is little real difference in the length of sentences handed down to people convicted of class A and class B drug offences?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000093\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228415e962-886d-47b9-9356-3fdce746891f\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224fb9fcde3380490aa1f60bc47da41d70\u0022\u003EHon JIM ANDERTON\u003C/span\u003E: It is my view that the strong police action that has been taken to date, the reinforcement of police resources to take even stronger action, and the reclassification of methamphetamine as a class A drug, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years\u2019 imprisonment, should actually focus the mind of anyone who thinks he or she will profit from this evil trade. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000094\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u00220f2c8e4cd283455b86dd30a5449d8dfa\u0022\u003EElectricity\u2014Future Supply\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000095\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E5. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002231329d313ac0484094237f2b6142c16f\u0022\u003EGERRY BROWNLEE (NZ National\u2014Ilam)\u003C/span\u003E to the Minister of Energy: Will the energy industry changes signalled yesterday by the Prime Minister and announced today by relevant Ministers remove the risk of an electricity shortage in the event of a dry year in the future; if so, why?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022 data-id=\u00228d80ba422e8a435980af1956452d832d\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000096\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00228d80ba422e8a435980af1956452d832d\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON (Minister of Energy):\u003C/span\u003E Today I announced that the electricity sector will be managed so that demand can be met in a 1-in-60 dry year without the need for a national electricity conservation campaign. The necessary reserve generation capacity is likely to be accrued over the next 3 years.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000097\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002299768f8a0c6a4da29778a2d58434cf02\u0022\u003EGerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: If the solution to the dry-year electricity shortages is more generation, why does the Minister believe he can get reserve generation in 3 years, when a number of generation projects are currently held up by Resource Management Act issues, the Conservation Act, the unknown cost of Kyoto compliance, and a lack of long-term gas contracts\u2014and any additional generation proposals will face the same problems?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000098\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ab1dc20c85e04e508b9716090ecc364e\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: In the course of the next 3 years, approximately 700 megawatts of ordinary generation will come to book, most of which is already consented. A further 150 megawatts, or thereabouts, will come on line in June 2004. It is a Contact proposal. That will begin, I suspect, the portfolio of reserve generation. The Resource Management Act is, of course, no impediment, as the member would assert it is.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000099\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270fa4cbd-9380-4916-9f2a-78da059d220e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a7dee6639ed24a0282924f85b1abfd3e\u0022\u003EH V Ross Robertson\u003C/span\u003E: Will the introduction of the 1-in-60 dry-year standard cause power prices to rise; if so, why, and by how much?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000100\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228bc82230e94e4b09a04f09a918594ea6\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: Yes, power prices will rise. Why? Because that is what an insurance premium is. By how much? It will rise by less than 0.5c a unit, or less than 80c a week, for an average household consumer.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000101\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e3dc3d88-a571-4ed7-a4b4-b66dedd6134b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a85d76dd94934b67a5fe4bf170e404be\u0022\u003EPeter Brown\u003C/span\u003E: Noting that we have had 2 dry years in the last 3, by stipulating 1-in-60, I ask whether the Minister is sure he has got it right\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000102\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002274ffbabbf0fa4ea98e093aacbcc207c8\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: That is a good question. The 1-in-60 dry-year risk profile was chosen from the Davidson commission into the 1992 electricity event and was put in place as a temporary measure, because it was thought then that the market would deliver surety beyond that when the market came into being. Today we say that, market or no market, we need that 1-in-60. The advice is that 1-in-60 would get us through without a public conservation campaign, as in 1992, 2001, and, so far, 2003.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000103\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219386ba0-5a6e-485e-abc0-5a3128b4e1f6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022952ea84fa51545e4a85cb3855b2ed340\u0022\u003EHon Ken Shirley\u003C/span\u003E: In view of the Government\u2019s statement that the necessary portfolio for reserve generation will be built up within about 3 years, are we to conclude that the Government\u2019s response will do nothing for the current crisis this year, or, indeed, very little for the next 2 years; and given that this Government has been in power for almost 4 years, why should the public not conclude that the Government has totally failed on the energy issue?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000104\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222294751fb5ca435cb5c43491c5284c4a\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: The reserve generation will be built up over the next 3 years, so it will begin to be built for next winter\u2014some more the winter after, and some more the winter after that. In respect of this year, today\u2019s announcements do not alter the winter security issue, at all. This year we get to save; this year we get to continue with the plans that have already been announced.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000105\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ddb713fc4a4e4689934766020a6c3ce2\u0022\u003EJeanette Fitzsimons\u003C/span\u003E: Will the new Electricity Commission be encouraged to contract with large power users to provide secure demand reductions as an alternative to new supply, and to be considered on an equal basis, as part of dry-year security?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000106\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223d12163aa97040fab1dc7a5865aceda0\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: No, the demand side has been explicitly excluded in order that it can play its ordinary role, and useful role, during ordinary generation times\u2014which is nearly always. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000107\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225cee6a89-68e3-40fd-b2d8-d8adb0ba5da0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228c6e1c2f712d40288980992b88299347\u0022\u003EGordon Copeland\u003C/span\u003E: Will the Electricity Commission, in addition to the specific measures announced today on reserve generation, be asked to minimise dry-year risk, through the design of the overall generation mix\u2014for example, hydro in high-rainfall areas, and wind?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000108\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e4adbf7c13e34836a36d56c8109318a7\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: The reserve generation will embrace a variety of fuels\u2014not to overcome rain shortage, because all those fuels it will be using will overcome rain shortage\u2014so that in the event that, for example, as occurred in February, there is an outage at the Maui platform, non-gas reserve generation can be used as part of the mix.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000109\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002290d9911c793b43d18773cd57e829bcd8\u0022\u003EGerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: Given the Minister has told the House today that much of the reserve capacity that will be developed over the next 3 years is already consented to, and therefore a proper investment decision on the range of projects has already been made by those developing that generation, why is there a need to tax New Zealanders up to $200 million a year by means of this half-cent levy on each unit they consume?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000110\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ba496b46266f4da2ba0eb4a20329842f\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: The member, I think, has misheard me. Let me say the generation he refers to is not reserve generation, but substantially ordinary generation. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000111\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c2018dbafa9647e2883b5ddd82183a32\u0022\u003EGerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: Read your Hansard.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000112\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f66423b3d74b4362a0f53429f9f5aee3\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: You said \u201CToday\u201D. The reserve generation\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000113\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222697e249ddf0423c9c0a09a3788a2876\u0022\u003EGerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: Read your Hansard of today.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000114\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d063f3173f6940f6be523bf886590adb\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Please carry on with the answer.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000115\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228f53006250b9449782511c701a0b3b85\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: The reserve generation\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000116\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228d8559e4a3944d968c088ca237ef855b\u0022\u003EGerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I do not think it is acceptable for a Minister to give an answer to a supplementary question, about four questions ago, and then when put on the spot by having to explain a reasonably substantial tax, simply do so by saying: \u201CWell, the member didn\u2019t understand what I said.\u201D I am very clear about what he said. The Hansard will show it. He should stand by what he said, just minutes after he said it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000117\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002285a3242dba5a4d1aaa52f8631a941bd0\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: That is a matter of debate.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000118\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022112e70744cc1486c8b2e5c7878f82e0b\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: The reason there needs to be a price increase up to half a cent a unit, or up to 80c a week for the average household, is that that is the price of the insurance premium.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000119\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002209278070-a54a-41e9-8a27-45166301277e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ab561dae9f63425e8bb92c1bf2de45f4\u0022\u003EJeanette Fitzsimons\u003C/span\u003E: Does he think it appropriate for a Minister in charge of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act and the National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy to tell New Zealanders, in his press release today, that with this increase in generation capacity they will never have to save power again?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000120\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228cecca47c5034fe982d921589a1bc9a8\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: The important thing for this Government to achieve is to ensure that, whilst conservation campaigns hopefully become a thing of the past\u2014except perhaps once every 200 years, or similar\u2014energy efficiency campaigns remain unmolested.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000121\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a06285ff4a4747799ca33f4f35028c71\u0022\u003EGerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: Why would any generators choose to invest in more generation capacity for normal-year use, when they know that the Energy Commission will be collecting $200 million a year in levies on consumers\u2014a tax on consumers\u2014in order to purchase the capacity they are proposing to invest in?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000122\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ca0719fc142e4e24956ca77310c88ab3\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: I invite the member to read carefully what the Government\u2019s plans are. The whole idea is to ring-fence part of the generation so that it does not compete with ordinary generation, in order that the latter will be well built.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000123\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022209b73012e61404881437ec7b6a72441\u0022\u003EDrought\u2014Farmer Support, Lower North Island\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000124\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222a849ed4-a817-45a7-8b86-dbc9dd210193\u0022\u003E6. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002206f8488c3949433cac506f57f45d1b20\u0022\u003EJILL PETTIS (NZ Labour\u2014Whanganui)\u003C/span\u003E to the Minister of Agriculture: What is the Government doing to support farmers in the lower North Island affected by drought?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00222e7121af-c8f1-4d5c-b1f5-5646e4d9ca70\u0022 data-id=\u002261747375a8ec42e0aa1b29785cd7c182\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000125\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222e7121af-c8f1-4d5c-b1f5-5646e4d9ca70\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002261747375a8ec42e0aa1b29785cd7c182\u0022\u003EHon JIM SUTTON (Minister of Agriculture):\u003C/span\u003E The Government has agreed to match community contributions, up to $11,000, to fund lower North Island rural coordinators. The Government has also approved the provision of rural assistance special-needs grants to farmers in affected areas.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000126\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222a849ed4-a817-45a7-8b86-dbc9dd210193\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022238692662a4f49728e99dc8c1bfa054c\u0022\u003EJill Pettis\u003C/span\u003E: How is it planned that the funds for rural coordinators will be spent?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000127\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222e7121af-c8f1-4d5c-b1f5-5646e4d9ca70\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227cfe9d9b5def48e9804a0f0fe35a1f43\u0022\u003EHon JIM SUTTON\u003C/span\u003E: The Rural Family Support Trust, Manawatu-Rangitikei Federated Farmers, and Rural Women New Zealand have developed the Farmers Helping Farmers project. Farmers can ring 0508 DROUGHT to seek support and advice from the trust or obtain help with locating sources of feed. Seminars have been organised to help farmers deal with financial, feeding, and animal welfare issues. Similar programmes of support are being provided in Tararua, Wairarapa, and Taranaki.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000128\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4b09a29-dfd3-42c0-8585-11463bd6077b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222a3a2bf276ae43c9bf9c72497efb20b1\u0022\u003EHon David Carter\u003C/span\u003E: Why is the rural assistance available for only 3 months\u2014that is, until the end of August\u2014and does the Minister seriously think the effects of drought are as short lived as that?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000129\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222e7121af-c8f1-4d5c-b1f5-5646e4d9ca70\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c4b42cf573ff4c7d8a2f4eb2e360c92c\u0022\u003EHon JIM SUTTON\u003C/span\u003E: Funding is provided until the end of August this time. If there is still a problem and a need, consideration to further funding will be given.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000130\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b63935ee-d78b-43a8-a3bc-996e7951fb9b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022721a6457fd904d71b2f8f4355941d08e\u0022\u003ER Doug Woolerton\u003C/span\u003E: Why has the Minister taken this long to act, in such a pathetic way?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000131\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222e7121af-c8f1-4d5c-b1f5-5646e4d9ca70\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022171ad41f26df4c258d220589c8b22c1f\u0022\u003EHon JIM SUTTON\u003C/span\u003E: The first application was received from Federated Farmers on 4 April. The situation was analysed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and I approved the funds on 11 April.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000132\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u00228be7f77f3f3c476f9630004ec99fe5fa\u0022\u003EChildren in Care\u2014Prostitution\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000133\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002295ac7206-f497-429d-bf58-715224d5160f\u0022\u003E7. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022dc1a4b8967ce4cb6871f1e346f02c36d\u0022\u003EKATHERINE RICH (NZ National)\u003C/span\u003E to the Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment (CYF): Will she confirm that girls under the care and protection of the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services have been working as prostitutes, and why is its investigation not complete after 11 days?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022 data-id=\u00223805090a9f0644a79d866acf52eff7b7\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000134\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00223805090a9f0644a79d866acf52eff7b7\u0022\u003EHon RICK BARKER (Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment)\u003C/span\u003E, on behalf of the Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment (CYF): No, I cannot confirm that. The department is working in close cooperation with the police to identify all the young people reportedly involved, and to ensure that they are kept safe while the joint Department of Child, Youth and Family Services and police investigation is undertaken and completed.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000135\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002295ac7206-f497-429d-bf58-715224d5160f\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002259db8fe6538541e6a85aa58535606138\u0022\u003EKatherine Rich\u003C/span\u003E: When allegations were made as early as 8 May that girls under the care of the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services were prostituting themselves on Christchurch streets, how can the Associate Minister be confident that appropriate actions have been taken, when as late as 17 May the South Island manager of the department is quoted in the Christchurch Press as saying: \u201CI don\u2019t know whether they are in our custody or care. Will someone find out, and quick.\u201D?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000136\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022092697257a6342afb185543927181db5\u0022\u003EHon RICK BARKER\u003C/span\u003E: My advice from the department is that people did act immediately, and that doubt remains as to who is actually involved. The identity of all those young people is not absolutely known to the department or to the police. An investigation is being undertaken, and as soon as the facts are ascertained, the police will act on them.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000137\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fd427be0-7196-4605-b39e-d665553240b0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002292400e54d59c410fbb5be258d44690bc\u0022\u003ELynne Pillay\u003C/span\u003E: What action has been taken to ensure the safety of children and young people allegedly involved in the sex industry?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000138\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e84c489d054241d99de787c1a5c69087\u0022\u003EHon RICK BARKER\u003C/span\u003E: The Department of Child, Youth and Family Services advise that the moment its staff were advised of this matter, they acted. They worked closely with the police to identify the young people allegedly involved, to ensure that those people were closely supervised and placed in secure care, as appropriate. Until the joint investigation by the police and the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services is being completed, it would be unwise to jump to conclusions. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000139\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220daaf9fb-1a1f-4d31-848a-fd13cb1a2c5a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022aa482576092d4d0084408767a302700b\u0022\u003EBarbara Stewart\u003C/span\u003E: Is the Minister satisfied that the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services has the resources to investigate allegations such as those in a timely manner, or does he support this Government\u2019s view that the maintenance of a large Budget surplus is more important than our young people\u2019s welfare?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000140\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228808ebcbc6124e3eab4646b404aa7184\u0022\u003EHon RICK BARKER\u003C/span\u003E: I can assure the member that this Government takes its responsibilities very seriously. I am able to advise that the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services has a significant increase in its budget baseline for 2003. That is $93 million higher than it was in the year 2000.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000141\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f8b92f47-d078-4e6a-b4c6-136913bda55d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220042abe7ab724327bee9c9d1a28732ad\u0022\u003ESue Bradford\u003C/span\u003E: In the light of the recent revelations about young people in Christchurch working as prostitutes while in the care of the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services supposedly, can the Minister advise what is happening in Auckland and south Auckland; is the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services looking closely at the situation there to ensure that the same thing is not happening?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000142\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e52875741f2c4d848bc17c6e90888648\u0022\u003EHon RICK BARKER\u003C/span\u003E: I do not have any specific advice on that matter. However, I can assure the member that the moment any allegation of that sort comes to the attention of the department, it acts upon it immediately.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000143\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b62240ad-adda-430d-887a-8f999ef4bbc4\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222128996cb56d4b9e88c40fc346a5d764\u0022\u003EDr Muriel Newman\u003C/span\u003E: Why is it that the department and the Minister do not appear to know what has been widely reported in the media, and is that not just another example of Government failure?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000144\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222a21cd01f28d40cfba3f67944e5ada2b\u0022\u003EHon RICK BARKER\u003C/span\u003E: I reject that entirely. The paper is about speculation. The police are conducting an investigation, and when they have concluded their investigation we will know with some certainty what has happened. Speculation in the paper is not always reliable.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000145\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002295ac7206-f497-429d-bf58-715224d5160f\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f7b80420e8164d87a9c4e6386ea423b1\u0022\u003EKatherine Rich\u003C/span\u003E: In the light of the Commissioner for Children\u2019s statement regarding the failure of the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services to respond to his notification that \u201CMy letter has done sweet bugger all, and of these dozen or so girls\u201D\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000146\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a95d1f2feca047e6abc9edf35fac3f27\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: That phrase is not permitted in this House. I know that it was used by the commissioner. That does not make it right in this House. I would like the member to rephrase her question without the use of the word, which I do not agree with.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000147\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228a01ffae7a474a5aa62a6e445a35fa39\u0022\u003EGerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. This House spent some time this afternoon recalling the occasion of Sir Edmund Hillary\u2019s triumph on Mount Everest, and I would just ask you to reflect for a few moments about the words he broadcast to the world on that day.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000148\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f7e438100258474e90f3dca44c0e8d18\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Yes, and they were never repeated in this Parliament.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000149\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b0d8b0e0-3ece-4865-9145-5eb5983fc54c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d7a054d5169f4d93b80855b205ac2928\u0022\u003EHon Richard Prebble\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. This is as good a time as any to raise it and I am a bit sympathetic to the ruling you are making, but language changes. If I understood the question correctly\u2014and maybe I could be corrected\u2014and the Commissioner for Children said that, and if the phrase is in general use and appears on advertisements for motorcars on television every night, I think that the phrase \u201Cbugger off\u201D must be now within common parlance.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000150\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226324d433785f471890aeb2627f6220f7\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: The member might think that. I do not; I have a different point of view. I have a respect for the English language that indicates there is not a need to have to use that sort of phrase in this House. I am sure the member can rephrase the question, and I invite her to do so.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000151\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002295ac7206-f497-429d-bf58-715224d5160f\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022360c4fa95f59475aa9a8c063f655aecf\u0022\u003EKatherine Rich\u003C/span\u003E: In the light of the Commissioner for Children\u2019s statement regarding the failure of the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services to respond to his notification that his letter had done not much, and \u201Cof these dozen or so girls, who knows which of them might have got some sexually transmitted disease while the investigation takes place?\u201D, will he give this House the assurance that those girls are safe and will not spend another night on the streets?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000152\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022853d19e27e5f44c7bf9785c796b5d690\u0022\u003EHon RICK BARKER\u003C/span\u003E: I am aware of the comments made by the commissioner. He is entitled to that opinion. However, it is not the advice that I have. The advice that I have is that the moment the issue was raised, the department acted. I am also assured that the children who are supposed to be in the care of the department are still in its care, and, I am advised, in a safe place.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000153\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022629a4d3841fb4c3aa9b5b1bc5665a351\u0022\u003ESentencing\u2014Public Expectations\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000154\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003E8. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ba575a36a11c45fd8a07e793329b8901\u0022\u003ERON MARK (NZ First)\u003C/span\u003E to the Minister of Justice: Does he have any concerns that sentencing of offenders is presently not meeting public expectations; if not, why?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022 data-id=\u0022766cee5fe39b4b8aaaebabdb0f156432\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000155\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022766cee5fe39b4b8aaaebabdb0f156432\u0022\u003EHon RICK BARKER (Associate Minister of Justice)\u003C/span\u003E, on behalf of the Minister of Justice: As with any significant new legislation, the Government continues to monitor trends under the Sentencing Act to ensure that its implementation accurately reflects Parliament\u2019s intention.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000156\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b112627c5c8d44499e8dc6c57d916ba0\u0022\u003ERon Mark\u003C/span\u003E: Can the Minister then assure the House that Ding Yan Zhao, an unlicensed Auckland student whose speeding sports car ploughed into a Rangiriri petrol station in February, killing a preschooler and critically injuring her father, has not been given a deferred sentence and will not get home detention?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000157\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002213bd1740874c4ee39a6e8f38b354d81b\u0022\u003EHon RICK BARKER\u003C/span\u003E: It would be inappropriate for me to comment on any decision made by a judge, as the executive and the judicial arms of Government must be seen to operate independently of each other.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000158\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f9a94bf3-a948-4410-8413-403a7454114b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223f5b0b38bf33430a81073ee192201eea\u0022\u003ETim Barnett\u003C/span\u003E: Is the Minister satisfied that the Government\u2019s intent in passing the Sentencing Act last year has made a difference in sentencing by the courts?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000159\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002245fbb23ab0c14946a648b2b6ee65a23d\u0022\u003EHon RICK BARKER\u003C/span\u003E: Yes. A key goal of the reform of the sentencing legislation was to impose tougher penalties on those who commit the worst offences. Sentences for the worst offences have been longer under the new law. Minimum non-parole periods of up to 33 years for the worst murders have been imposed. In my lifetime I have never witnessed such tough sentences.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000160\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002204ed8007-24ee-45fb-ab8e-8573da79b238\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002235b547eb924149d3a571eb4c8b673256\u0022\u003EMarc Alexander\u003C/span\u003E: Does the Minister agree or disagree that Parole Board decisions that concern the provision of home detention for those given deferred sentences would be better expedited by the discretion of the presiding judge, and what does the Minister intend to do to ensure that public safety will not be compromised?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000161\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022713bf61690774ae989024641a48d5463\u0022\u003EHon RICK BARKER\u003C/span\u003E: The Hon Phil Goff has raised the issue of parole conditions being placed on people where there are deferred sentences. It has been a longstanding part of our law that judges have the discretion to defer sentences. The concern has been raised that conditions may not be imposed upon that. The parties have been asked whether they would consider amendments being made to the Act by way of a Statutes Amendment Bill, so that judges do have the power to impose parole conditions on suspended sentences. I regret to advise that three parties, National, ACT, and New Zealand First, have declined support for that measure.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000162\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221bbd9574aea24460aec932b1669d1423\u0022\u003ERon Mark\u003C/span\u003E: Does the Minister recall advising the House that the responsibility for determining whether a serious offender should be given a deferred sentence and/or home detention rests with judges and the probation service, in particular; if so, can he tell the House what steps he has taken to ensure that the probation service makes decisions that are reflective of the views of members of the public as indicated in the referendum in 1999?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000163\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f8e196480b7b49a2974fe56193710421\u0022\u003EHon RICK BARKER\u003C/span\u003E: The probation service is part of the Department of Corrections. I do not have a delegation on that matter. If the member wishes to put down a question to the Minister of Corrections, I am sure it will be answered.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000164\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4030eb1-1b72-4bc3-b00d-7126013abc01\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223e3defe1a729436889c3c6939f128233\u0022\u003EStephen Franks\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I believe that the Minister standing in for the Minister of Justice may have misled the House in his answer to the question about the position of ACT on the proposal. I ask that the Minister check to see whether he needs to correct that position.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000165\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022238a9ea10d2b43349b495562452560be\u0022\u003EHon RICK BARKER\u003C/span\u003E: That was my advice, but I will check it immediately.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000166\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002276721172febb4cd6aafd7d2ce1ab7557\u0022\u003ERon Mark\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. In order that the Minister not be embarrassed, I advise that he has inadvertently misled the House on the position of New Zealand First, and that he has a letter to that very effect. I ask that he be invited to come back to correct his statement.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000167\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002273d460d9d9924014b1dea80cccfee4b0\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: The Minister has indicated that he will do that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000168\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u00227784f1b8506c40628ceea5c7c934ecba\u0022\u003ESupreme Court\u2014Tikanga M\u0101ori\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000169\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d21515bb-0193-4167-a21d-982058b53604\u0022\u003E9. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bd0d520306634392bca1294649629a66\u0022\u003ERICHARD WORTH (NZ National\u2014Epsom)\u003C/span\u003E to the Associate Minister of Justice: What is her response to the New Zealand Bar Association\u2019s comment, in relation to the proposed convention that at least one member of the Supreme Court is well versed in tikanga M\u0101ori, that such a convention would be \u201Cdangerous\u201D?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022 data-id=\u0022958c26c8f6784689b6f00b07c5b2bb90\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000170\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022958c26c8f6784689b6f00b07c5b2bb90\u0022\u003EHon LIANNE DALZIEL (Associate Minister of Justice)\u003C/span\u003E, on behalf of the Associate Minister of Justice Hon Margaret Wilson: I have noted that the proposal for this convention was made by the expert ministerial advisory group, which included the Bar Association.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000171\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d21515bb-0193-4167-a21d-982058b53604\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002261dd94f264004e658b3fe3cfd2fbdfd5\u0022\u003ERichard Worth\u003C/span\u003E: Is the Minister saying that the convention will be maintained, or be abandoned?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000172\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224663f9806afa492f9392e90e14d1d8b0\u0022\u003EHon LIANNE DALZIEL\u003C/span\u003E: The convention is a proposal from the ministerial advisory group.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000173\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221a705910-5320-43bf-aa82-027a761519f6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022be77bce9fe0343e1be8f3e69fc23cdbe\u0022\u003ERussell Fairbrother\u003C/span\u003E: What else did the expert ministerial advisory group say about Supreme Court appointments?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000174\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223aa5aee1c2d648d09fbc98cd9d6ac62a\u0022\u003EHon LIANNE DALZIEL\u003C/span\u003E: The expert ministerial advisory group said that the starting point for appointment was legal qualifications and experience, and that individual judicial appointments to the Supreme Court should be based on excellent legal skills, legal acumen, and personal integrity.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000175\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4da5811-fb5a-4721-b57a-518446bd7796\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c3d7c5bb692f44d89a63cfcbf96df36d\u0022\u003EDail Jones\u003C/span\u003E: In view of the fact that tikanga M\u0101ori is something that is particular to M\u0101ori and various parts of M\u0101oridom in New Zealand, what discussions has she had with the seven Labour M\u0101ori members of Parliament regarding their attitudes to the inclusion of tikanga M\u0101ori in the Supreme Court Bill, bearing in mind that the M\u0101ori submitters to the bill say that that is incapable of being given effect to because of the various differing types of tikanga M\u0101ori; or have the views of those seven Labour M\u0101ori members changed as a result of their appointments to various ministerial and other positions giving them houses, LTDs, credit cards, and select committee chairmanship?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000176\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222d9562c428b0417f8010642d8627f621\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: The question was too long.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000177\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ce706d5498594474acdd23471526f597\u0022\u003EHon LIANNE DALZIEL\u003C/span\u003E: I am not aware of any conversations between the Minister and individual members of the Government M\u0101ori caucus. The point that has to be made is that the recommendation that came through from the advisory group was there should be a convention that at least one member of the court was well versed in tikanga M\u0101ori, making it likely that at least one member of the court would be of M\u0101ori ancestry. It does not propose that there be a M\u0101ori member of the Supreme Court.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000178\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4030eb1-1b72-4bc3-b00d-7126013abc01\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002223478517d99c43488affabb1727db306\u0022\u003EStephen Franks\u003C/span\u003E: Is the Minister aware of the Law Society\u2019s concern that the other four judges might feel that they are supposed to kowtow to the chosen one\u2019s version of tikanga M\u0101ori; if that view is wrong, why did the Minister support the recommendation for one specialised appointment in the first place, when the Minister did not support other recommendations of the advisory committee?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000179\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c74b2e1dfd54449e853ef9e4bb419c83\u0022\u003EHon LIANNE DALZIEL\u003C/span\u003E: Having looked at the submissions of the Law Society and the Bar Association where those issues were raised, I see they put it somewhat more eloquently than having to kowtow. In fact, they suggested that the most important thing in respect of the Supreme Court was that the court as a whole had a knowledge and understanding of tikanga M\u0101ori.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000180\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002285712e72-b25f-4850-b4d9-90035064fde3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227a06a26f53d742c584ea695651739eaf\u0022\u003ENandor Tanczos\u003C/span\u003E: Does the Minister agree it is particularly important that at least one judge has some expertise in tikanga M\u0101ori, given that that is one of the grounds to appeal to the Supreme Court in the bill?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000181\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e650a44ed1774e29bf074ae6df7eefa1\u0022\u003EHon LIANNE DALZIEL\u003C/span\u003E: It is important to realise that the recommendation came through and has been supported with regard to the submissions that have been made thus far, in the sense that there is a desire to have a wider knowledge within the whole of the Supreme Court on issues relating to tikanga M\u0101ori.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000182\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225caeb43f-d5eb-4780-bddc-0fc23950543a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ae6d3fcb25734751b1607ce189c91163\u0022\u003EMurray Smith\u003C/span\u003E: Given the Government\u2019s budgetary commitment of $6.5 million towards education on the treaty and given the Minister\u2019s last answer, will the Government commit itself to ensuring that all judges are provided with ongoing education, with a goal to them all being well versed in tikanga M\u0101ori; if so, what active steps will the Government take to achieve that?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000183\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221a1f17c1190e437c93aaaba7c9a54d72\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: That is wide of the original question. The Minister may comment briefly.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000184\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f4c72ef7776945ddafa362cef27d17e6\u0022\u003EHon LIANNE DALZIEL\u003C/span\u003E: I think the member has mistaken the role of the Associate Minister of Justice with regard to the Supreme Court Bill and her role as the Minister in charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000185\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d21515bb-0193-4167-a21d-982058b53604\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a6796537bcbd44449324af4708eeeafe\u0022\u003ERichard Worth\u003C/span\u003E: How does the Associate Minister define tikanga M\u0101ori for the purposes of her proposed appointment convention, when there is no authoritative pan-M\u0101ori view on what constitutes tikanga M\u0101ori?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000186\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b7a85c988c844509a152cab661c2bee2\u0022\u003EHon LIANNE DALZIEL\u003C/span\u003E: I think I should quote from the document to which the member is referring. This is what the Bar Association actually stated, and it did not state that there should be any appointment based on race, as was reported in the paper: \u201CRecognition of the importance of tikanga M\u0101ori would be better achieved if it were depersonalised so that the attributes of the court in the collective sense are required to reflect a sufficient understanding of tikanga M\u0101ori to enable the court to deal expertly with all such issues. It may well be that expertise is, from time to time, personified in one particular member of the court.\u201D\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000187\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d21515bb-0193-4167-a21d-982058b53604\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022db5082a466cb45f8a5ae59d2cc195056\u0022\u003ERichard Worth\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. That is a wholly non-responsive answer to the question. The Minister was asked how she defines tikanga M\u0101ori for various purposes. That was not an answer to that question on any basis.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000188\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002251155e15814840b2bef83cd81cd5f167\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: The Minister might care to comment on that particular matter.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000189\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f312008669684c8ab9c844676c489a05\u0022\u003EHon LIANNE DALZIEL\u003C/span\u003E: It is not my position or my role to define tikanga M\u0101ori in response to that particular matter. The point I have made is that under the Supreme Court proposals, there is a bill before the Justice and Electoral Committee at the moment\u2014the member is a member of that select committee and has, presumably, explored those issues with the people who have made submissions on it\u2014and there is also a series of proposals relating to some suggested conventions.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000190\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022214f849c8792490d8c199b676a5879ce\u0022\u003ELand Transport (Street and Unauthorised Drag Racing) Amendment Act 2003\u2014Enforcement\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000191\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223a0e52c8-5bb1-4325-9870-21f4e3eb3702\u0022\u003E10. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e723071d0a504b879e8757ad28d82542\u0022\u003EMARTIN GALLAGHER (NZ Labour\u2014Hamilton West)\u003C/span\u003E to the Minister of Police: What reports has he received on the enforcement of the Land Transport (Street and Unauthorised Drag Racing) Amendment Act 2003?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00228e686b62-8dc4-4f03-a7b6-2d0f9c874e9a\u0022 data-id=\u00225718dd5b567742849eed0051f896c825\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000192\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228e686b62-8dc4-4f03-a7b6-2d0f9c874e9a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00225718dd5b567742849eed0051f896c825\u0022\u003EHon GEORGE HAWKINS (Minister of Police):\u003C/span\u003E Several police operations have seen 86 boy racer cars impounded nationally, with last weekend\u2019s blitz in Auckland resulting in 17 cars being impounded, 23 defective vehicles being ordered off the road, one stolen car being recovered, 42 traffic notices being issued, one arrest for pouring diesel on the road, and 133 infringement notices being issued. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000193\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223a0e52c8-5bb1-4325-9870-21f4e3eb3702\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f62f794f5a9d46cca71cb949d03728a5\u0022\u003EMartin Gallagher\u003C/span\u003E: Has the Minister heard somewhat curious claims that the legislation is \u201Cso broad it gives police the power to pick up anyone they don\u2019t like and threaten them\u201D? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000194\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228e686b62-8dc4-4f03-a7b6-2d0f9c874e9a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223c3dcf8b89fe4cbe8662ec929eff3b13\u0022\u003EHon GEORGE HAWKINS\u003C/span\u003E: Yes. The legislation targets people who break the law, intimidate people, pour diesel on the road, and drive dangerously. Counties-Manukau police inspector Dave Simpson put it best when he said: \u201CThese people take over the roads, and the aim is to reclaim those roads on behalf of the people\u201D. That is something this Government really agrees with.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000195\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002285712e72-b25f-4850-b4d9-90035064fde3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002291687c71372a49c9b73dc17bbaa6134f\u0022\u003ENandor Tanczos\u003C/span\u003E: Does the Minister agree with Judge Edward Ryan that the police already had sufficient powers to confiscate vehicles from boy racers before that legislation was passed; and what proportion of the offences caught in the weekend crackdown in Auckland were against learner and restricted licence provisions, rather than breaches of the boy racer legislation?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000196\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228e686b62-8dc4-4f03-a7b6-2d0f9c874e9a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222ac3a0848636424d98b39c9372693dd2\u0022\u003EHon GEORGE HAWKINS\u003C/span\u003E: The police are delighted with the new legislation because it is curing a problem. I have had people contact the police to say that they can now sleep in their homes over the weekend without having to put up with the noise, and that has to be good for ordinary New Zealanders.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000197\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002285712e72-b25f-4850-b4d9-90035064fde3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002293b6c9b8b1564a538e650bb36ae86d58\u0022\u003ENandor Tanczos\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. You have previously invited Ministers to have another look at how they answer questions. I put it to you that that answer did not even begin to address the question put to the Minister.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000198\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226fc93d3e245e4c42a940722b9ec98271\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: No, the Minister did address that question.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000199\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221ae221aca5624a01b05a60c9cd72624e\u0022\u003ERon Mark\u003C/span\u003E: Does the Minister have any concerns about a report in the Dominion Post this morning that stated that no cars had been confiscated in the Wellington area by the police, unlike Auckland, where there has been quite heavy policing of boy racers; could that possibly be because we are still under-staffed and the police simply do not have the people on the ground to continue to clean up that mess ?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000200\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228e686b62-8dc4-4f03-a7b6-2d0f9c874e9a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f0f9736265e54726a65add2a7a5d3051\u0022\u003EHon GEORGE HAWKINS\u003C/span\u003E: I want to tell the member that the Wellington Mayoral Forum formally congratulated the Wellington police on \u201Cthe excellent work done on progressing solutions to the issue of boy racers.\u201D The police have the numbers and are getting the results, and I think everyone should support them.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000201\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u00223fe5d37915b745a387342b1fc311e4ce\u0022\u003ETe M\u0101ngai P\u0101ho\u2014Chief Executive\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000202\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E11. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002236e2f50112e1402f9f57ae5b66c006e0\u0022\u003ERODNEY HIDE (ACT NZ)\u003C/span\u003E to the Minister of M\u0101ori Affairs: Is he confident that Te M\u0101ngai P\u0101ho\u2019s Chief Executive, Mr Trevor Moeke, is providing him with well-founded and accurate advice for his replies to written questions; if so, why?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022d52e59e3-2195-4c95-a654-665c11b39b63\u0022 data-id=\u0022d07aaf39ea834353a231f881822e47c6\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000203\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d52e59e3-2195-4c95-a654-665c11b39b63\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022d07aaf39ea834353a231f881822e47c6\u0022\u003EHon PAREKURA HOROMIA (Minister of M\u0101ori Affairs):\u003C/span\u003E I am advised by my officials that every effort is made to ensure information provided for written questions is accurate and timely.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000204\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fd11859e3b0b42269dd74d5d5a930d98\u0022\u003ERodney Hide\u003C/span\u003E: How, then, does the Minister square his reply to question for written answer No. 257, in which he stated: \u201CI am advised by my officials that there have been no payments of cash by M\u0101ori Sports Casting International ... to any employees of Te M\u0101ngai P\u0101ho.\u201D, with an email dated 15 October 2001 from M\u0101ori Sportscasting International to Te M\u0101ngai P\u0101ho\u2019s radio manager, Mr Tame Te Rangi, which states: \u201CYour payment for services will be placed into account this day. Hiamoe will have with him on his arrival the petrol vouchers/cash/copies of commentators instructions.\u201D?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000205\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d52e59e3-2195-4c95-a654-665c11b39b63\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002202fe0f988d0b42289b8a2b25a88db410\u0022\u003EHon PAREKURA HOROMIA\u003C/span\u003E: It would appear from what the member is saying that I have not been provided with that full information. I would encourage the member to provide me with that information, as I suggested at that time, so that I can get to the bottom of any of those discrepancies. I assure him that I will do something about it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000206\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c5b3ede3-ae58-4862-b45d-b4c8f3280960\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222d04f64a3f5943f5b504cc35ceb26178\u0022\u003EMahara Okeroa\u003C/span\u003E: How many written questions concerning Te M\u0101ngai P\u0101ho has the Minister of M\u0101ori Affairs responded to since 17 February 2003?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000207\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d52e59e3-2195-4c95-a654-665c11b39b63\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fb793763ed0b4d09b8daccbb6c210460\u0022\u003EHon PAREKURA HOROMIA\u003C/span\u003E: I have responded to over 100 written questions from Mr Hide and 200 from other members. That has cost the taxpayers a lot of resources and a lot of time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000208\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002295ac7206-f497-429d-bf58-715224d5160f\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022673da65abaa4424f88d262ba1e7a4274\u0022\u003EKatherine Rich\u003C/span\u003E: Who are the officials who advised the Minister that no cash payments had been made; have they told him yet that they misled him, especially since they have released the smoking gun emails under the Official Information Act?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000209\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d52e59e3-2195-4c95-a654-665c11b39b63\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e8282658f9484965b0c059b30572c0e1\u0022\u003EHon PAREKURA HOROMIA\u003C/span\u003E: I remind the member that a plethora of emails roam around the public service. As I said to the other member, I would encourage the member to provide me with that information so that I can get to the bottom of any discrepancies.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000210\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224216e5f1fb8740a5b50e9f1cb2578a7f\u0022\u003ERodney Hide\u003C/span\u003E: Why should New Zealanders have any faith in the Minister, when, under his stewardship, officials are openly looting taxpayers\u2019 money then lying to him about it?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000211\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d52e59e3-2195-4c95-a654-665c11b39b63\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225d28aec7d02d49b9a52761e9ec931baf\u0022\u003EHon PAREKURA HOROMIA\u003C/span\u003E: Unfounded innuendo and allegations like that need to be substantiated. Again, I say to that member to supply me with the information, and I will do something about it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000212\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002295ac7206-f497-429d-bf58-715224d5160f\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220838763a3c054a479971b0b5d4d53b70\u0022\u003EKatherine Rich\u003C/span\u003E: Noting that the Minister\u2019s answer to written question No. 257 was wrong, how many other answers to written questions are wrong?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000213\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d52e59e3-2195-4c95-a654-665c11b39b63\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d8742f97746e400396069c33a08a4616\u0022\u003EHon PAREKURA HOROMIA\u003C/span\u003E: I am aware that two answers were wrong. For the 300-odd questions asked of me, we reply immediately and in a correct manner.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000214\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002277c3b6d1dfd44100809a20d9a30728d1\u0022\u003ERodney Hide\u003C/span\u003E: I seek leave to table the emails where Mr Tame Te Rangi says\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000215\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003EDocument, by leave, laid on the Table of the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000216\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022aa1d8d08d7bf4d0184886b0b8b0549d8\u0022\u003ERodney Hide\u003C/span\u003E: I also seek leave to table question No. 257, where the Minister says he was advised there were no cash payments.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000217\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228ac680ed8211451089f72cc223c43cad\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Is that the answer to the written answer?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000218\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c57760a007bb406fbe15a7a5bb6148a1\u0022\u003ERodney Hide\u003C/span\u003E: Yes.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000219\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d952e3fcdf02448f9f25ccc595bce443\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Leave is sought. Is there any objection? There is.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000220\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222ab6cece9b304407b621267b936adb22\u0022\u003ERodney Hide\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I have an issue of some significance with this Minister. If members go through the more than 100 questions I have asked, they will see many replies that the Minister had subsequently to admit were false. He said, in a subsequent reply, that his earlier reply was incorrect because officials had advised him incorrectly. It seems to me that it cannot be the case that Opposition MPs have to keep asking questions and questions in order to get a correct answer. It is up to the Minister to provide correct answers. When the Minister becomes aware that not just one but several replies were false, he should come down to this House and explain why.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000221\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b3212a672a554345bf8b3109ba503891\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: The member is perfectly correct when he says \u201Cwhen the Minister becomes aware\u201D\u2014that is the key issue. If the Minister becomes aware, then of course he has to do something about it, because that is covered under our Standing Orders. I suggest to the member that that is the key issue.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000222\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b0d8b0e0-3ece-4865-9145-5eb5983fc54c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f5e7d4dfa30c4bcb8bc0980d97a8b15a\u0022\u003EHon Richard Prebble\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I am not sure that you quite grasped the point Mr Hide is making. I do not recall this situation arising before. What Mr Hide is saying is that what we have had here today is a situation where the Minister has said: \u201CThe answer I have given appears to be wrong. I will investigate.\u201D, but Mr Hide is also saying that the Minister has given answers to written questions, which are given on notice; the answers have been printed; it has then been drawn to the Minister\u2019s attention that they cannot be right; and then he has amended them. I am not sure that is the right procedure. If a Minister has given an answer, that answer should stand. If it is wrong, I think the Minister should come down to the House, make a personal explanation, and seek the leave of the House to amend the written answer that has been published. I am surprised that Ministers can give written answers, have it drawn to their attention that the answers cannot be right, and then decide to have another go at it. That does not seem to be right. What possible regard can Parliament give to answers to written questions, which are given on notice, if Ministers can give any old answer they like, and, when it is pointed out that their answer cannot be right, simply seek to amend it?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000223\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002276427d9b1ddd4bfb8cd294aecc4c2258\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I refer the member to Speaker\u2019s ruling 142/3. If a Minister becomes aware of an incorrect answer, in answering a subsequent question, it is quite proper to correct it. That happens all the time. However, the member has raised an interesting point, and I will certainly have a look at it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000224\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002272e48ab0-e7ae-427f-bedc-793b7a91adba\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c0fd127adf064e788b200821924ddd95\u0022\u003EHon Mark Burton\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. It is important to make clear that the Minister, when he rose, started by saying he had been advised. He provided the House with the best information that he had.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000225\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cd25a06a886542278695fec50fe85bc7\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: That is perfectly correct, but that does not get over Speaker\u2019s ruling 142/3. I will have a look at this particular issue.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000226\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b0d8b0e0-3ece-4865-9145-5eb5983fc54c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221bb4c1b0ca3f46aca992c17197670312\u0022\u003EHon Richard Prebble\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. The statement made by the Deputy Leader of the House cannot be allowed to stand. I know that the idea of the Westminster process of ministerial responsibility is being eroded, but we are now being told that Ministers have no responsibility for any answer they give. That cannot be correct. The Minister has a duty to make sure that the answer is correct. If he knows he has been giving material that is wrong, then I would have thought he would be far more careful about coming to this House and cavalierly giving an answer to see how much the Opposition has found out.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000227\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fc3a656012a34a28956089caa1b5ad5d\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: No, that was not what the Minister actually ended up saying. My original Speaker\u2019s ruling stands, as does the Speaker\u2019s ruling I referred to. But I will look at the issue that the member has raised.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000228\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022501b5a23dce449959c218b4379cf38e1\u0022\u003ERodney Hide\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I ask for you to advise the House on this issue. Allusion was made to how many parliamentary questions I have asked of the Minister. The reason I have made so many is that the answers are so often wrong.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000229\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002236bdad4dbac64fc084c2ae0ca5f8a647\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: That is not a point of order.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000230\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002293391cd9754e4854b1c627565ce672af\u0022\u003ERodney Hide\u003C/span\u003E: The point of order is this\u2014and I was trying to come to it\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000231\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b6c4faa4ec2a4042ab1cfacfb1fcf27f\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Please come to it, then.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000232\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b9da181dbdc147d8849e09240fba3eac\u0022\u003ERodney Hide\u003C/span\u003E: The Minister\u2019s own officials released an email that contradicts his answers to parliamentary questions. He then came down to this House and said he knows nothing of it. What are we as Opposition MPs supposed to do? Do we have to do every piece of work for the Minister? Surely to heaven, if officials are writing, and they are getting cash, from the very people they are giving the money to, put into their accounts, that Minister should be fronting up to the House to offer some explanation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000233\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ac3e7498aaab4242a47e8f1321110b26\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: That is not a point of order; it is a debating issue. The member is perfectly entitled to make statements, or anything he wishes, about it, but it has nothing to do with the order of this House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000234\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225d2eb3b96be44759b86312e5022d0a8c\u0022\u003EGerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. In the course of the Minister\u2019s answer today, he told the House there were two wrong answers\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000235\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022803002d1-e810-4bd8-b8e7-2e97d0d6f626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022359619aec3874c75b05ef08384a6efe2\u0022\u003ESimon Power\u003C/span\u003E: Two out of 300.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000236\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221f1d6fb08577466a9d60ddb38bc21fb0\u0022\u003EGerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: Two out of 300. So we now know he knows there is another wrong answer there somewhere. Rather than just saying there are two wrong answers, and that he will fix it later, or will do something to try to amend things later\u2014[Interruption] \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000237\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e18d354a13f840eeb0cc6128ed91c1d1\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I have said there are to be no interjections during points of order. The Minister will leave, please.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000238\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003EHon Lianne Dalziel withdrew from the Chamber.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000239\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226b128165db2648fea545c6f6692a2d46\u0022\u003EGerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: If the Minister is able, in his address to the House, to say that he is aware of two wrong answers\u2014it has already been made clear to the House where the first one was\u2014is it not appropriate for him to tell us right now what he, clearly, knows to be an incorrect answer?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000240\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223a2ebb9ca7534817923994ab68a16776\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: All I can say is that corrected answers to written questions are commonplace. The Minister said he had already corrected these particular answers. I take his word when he says that. I call question No. 12, from Paul Adams.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000241\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b0d8b0e0-3ece-4865-9145-5eb5983fc54c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022017af0635b7b4b87991d773f3bad0748\u0022\u003EHon Richard Prebble\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I think you are in an interesting situation. A question has been put down on notice, and a Minister has given an answer that is transparently not correct\u2014which I think he has conceded\u2014given that it is contradicted by the email. It would appear to me that this is one of those cases where you, in the Chair, should allow more questions to be asked without their taking up the Opposition\u2019s quota, because the Opposition put down a question with notice, and we should have had a proper reply. Basically, we have lost two supplementary questions because the Minister has not answered properly, and I want to suggest to you that Rodney Hide should be allowed to ask at least one more question, and I think Katherine Rich should be allowed to ask at least one more question. We should find out what this Minister really does know about this matter.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000242\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022dbb38d01f73f4b5fbe4fb7441e15ad00\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Mr Hide sought the call; he still has a question left that he can ask.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000243\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022858f3ae02c144e2bb5c44c757fe808b6\u0022\u003ERodney Hide\u003C/span\u003E: Have the Minister\u2019s officials advised him of an email dated 17 October 2001, from Te M\u0101ngai P\u0101ho\u2019s radio manager, Mr Tame Te Rangi, and written to Hemana Waaka, of M\u0101ori Sportscasting International, which was released to me last week under the Official Information Act, and which says, amongst other things: \u201CThanks for the \u2018ADVANCE\u2019\u2014 I\u2019m surprised at the choice of words! When can I expect the balance?\u201D, and would we not expect officials to bring that to his attention if he were in any way a Minister taking responsibility for the money he is dishing out?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000244\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d52e59e3-2195-4c95-a654-665c11b39b63\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002290b59d20b65b4845a07796ead7c590b4\u0022\u003EHon PAREKURA HOROMIA\u003C/span\u003E: I get thousands of documents. Can I assure that member that I have not been shown the email, and I repeat that if members supply me with the information, I will talk to the officials.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000245\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e7468ab2f1194285b5709753e467b4af\u0022\u003EHon Bill English\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I have some real concerns about just where ministerial responsibility is going. We now regularly have the answer, both from the Prime Minister and, now, from this Minister, that they see thousands of documents, with the implication that they are therefore not responsible for their answers in the House about any of those documents. We experienced that last week when the Opposition produced a document proving the Prime Minister was not correct in her answers. Now we also have a growing trend towards the view that Ministers are not responsible for their answers unless officials give them all the advice. The difficulty is that we cannot tell, as an Opposition, whether the Minister was given the advice and then misled the House, or whether the Minister was not actually given the advice in the first place.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000246\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003EFrom Parliament\u2019s point of view, it makes no difference what the officials\u2019 behaviour was\u2014the Minister is the only one we can hold responsible. I suggest that part of the standard of accountability that needs to be reinforced in question time is that Ministers are actually responsible for the actions of the Government, because if they are going to keep saying that it is the officials, as the Prime Minister does and as this Minister is now doing, we will have to devise some way of allowing the Opposition to question officials. Otherwise, we can use up dozens of questions\u2014and almost certainly have\u2014getting information from Ministers that they are either hiding or, as in the last instance, blaming the officials for not providing to them.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000247\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ede6366f1680438bb04f1cd05f41c4b5\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I want to say that if members have concerns about Ministers, they are at liberty to attack them politically in this House and outside it. That is part of our democratic system. Whether the officials are to blame is a matter that can be argued over; it is nothing the Speaker can judge. Of course, officials are responsible for the answers they give to select committees when they are up before them at that time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000248\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b0d8b0e0-3ece-4865-9145-5eb5983fc54c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225e974bb19bcf4a00a90d84e7f07a9997\u0022\u003EHon Richard Prebble\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I now raise a matter I raised with you earlier, but in a slightly different form. I do so under Speaker\u2019s ruling 129/6, which allows for further questions. The ACT party now has no further questions. One of the reasons we have ministerial question time is to ensure that there is no corruption in this country. Now we have a situation where an official, who we have been assured by the Minister has received no money, is, in an email, not only saying that he has received it\u2014and he thanks the person for it\u2014but asking when he is going to get the balance. I say that is a question that goes to the heart of the integrity of our system, and I believe, under Speaker\u2019s ruling 129/6, that is a point where the Minister\u2019s reply is completely unsatisfactory. The ruling states: \u201C\u2026 the Speaker will call the Minister to order and may permit further supplementary questions \u2026\u201D. I think we have had a completely uncooperative Minister, and I believe that Mr Hide and Katherine Rich should be able to ask more questions. The Minister should get a very strong message today that it is not satisfactory, on an issue as important as this, just to come along and say he is relying on the Opposition to tell him what is going on in his own department.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000249\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002272e48ab0-e7ae-427f-bedc-793b7a91adba\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002242895d7e888b4f21b9c3eb9bfdb84bf4\u0022\u003EHon Mark Burton\u003C/span\u003E: The matter is clear. The Minister provided an answer to the question. New information was introduced. The Minister has given his clear undertaking that he\u2014[Interruption] \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000250\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022aac59853490f4eb890e6c2d3aa76dcb3\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I said that anyone making a noise was going to go, and I ask Mr Nick Smith to leave the Chamber. I am not having interruptions in points of order.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000251\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003EHon Dr Nick Smith withdrew from the Chamber.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000252\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002272e48ab0-e7ae-427f-bedc-793b7a91adba\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226787bd8204e94d458fc11c7a8c95e7b7\u0022\u003EHon Mark Burton\u003C/span\u003E: The Minister clearly indicated that he was\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000253\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a87c178-9f60-439e-aa9b-0f1336c37ea9\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022dc98220e42ec4fde85ea76bde16e1f59\u0022\u003EHon Roger Sowry\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I want to raise an issue regarding your request to our colleague to leave the Chamber, and your calling his name out when you did so. When you have disciplined Government members, including a Minister leaving the Chamber, you have refrained from using their names. As you well know, whether a member\u2019s name is used does make quite a difference to people listening to the radio. I would just ask you to be consistent in using names of members on both sides of the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000254\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022dd8015f04ab447dbbe7c87bb5eb87231\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I thought I did mention the Hon Lianne Dalziel.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000255\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002272e48ab0-e7ae-427f-bedc-793b7a91adba\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228edb66f2c484490484cfb5608ebfbbd3\u0022\u003EHon Mark Burton\u003C/span\u003E: When the Minister made clear to the House that he had not known about the existence of the document, his word must be accepted. All members are honourable members. The Minister has undertaken to look into the matter; I think the matter must rest there. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000256\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222f835c21cbbf4f9c910b23ba93f608b7\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Let me put it this way. I am left with a situation in which an answer has been given. I will adjudicate in this way: I will allow Mr Rodney Hide to ask one more supplementary question.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000257\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022866f7c7f5be64cb5be33929f9d3dcd68\u0022\u003EHon Bill English\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. In dealing with an issue I raised just prior to this discussion, you pointed out that officials are responsible for giving answers to select committees.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000258\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227d261be6c9594d4caecb00443dd780c3\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Yes.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000259\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022800d9e6a1c214056972982760d7e304a\u0022\u003EHon Bill English\u003C/span\u003E: Last week or the week before we had a debate on a Privileges Committee report, and it was pointed out to yourself that that process can be effective only if Parliament has the strong back-up of the Privileges Committee in dealing with officials who do not answer truthfully at select committee hearings. It is now becoming the place of last resort for Opposition parties to establish what actually happened, given that Ministers do not take responsibility. A case in point is the privilege application you have before you right now. On past track record, that case could take from 12 to 15 months to be heard and completed, and, clearly, that leaves the Opposition well out of time to enforce the accountability that is owed. So, given your remark that if Ministers say that officials were responsible for withholding documents, the Opposition can question those officials before select committees, we are looking for your reassurance that the Privileges Committee will act expeditiously where it finds that officials did not answer truthfully at select committees.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000260\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228e74e2b8c3ed468f9272866e6aec0c53\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: The Speaker is not the judge of the performance of Ministers, members, or officials. I deal with matters of order, not with officials\u2019 answers at committee meetings in that way. Of course, as far as I am concerned, the Privileges Committee, being a very senior committee, will judge its proceedings as it sees fit, and all parties are represented on it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000261\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222fcb46c983494eab9ae1da305e8ed314\u0022\u003EHon Bill English\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I agree with everything you have said, but it did not cover the principal issue I raised, which is that the speed of action of the Privileges Committee is critical to the integrity of the process. That is something the Speaker does control, as a matter of order, and I am seeking your reassurance that if we are to accept answers in the House that officials are responsible for withholding papers\u2014and we accept the responsibility of questioning officials at select committees\u2014we have your support that the Privileges Committee will act expeditiously on complaints about officials who do not answer questions at select committees. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000262\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022547ffcc3d8ea4ba39e444b764557685e\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I cannot direct select committees to meet at particular times and places, but, concerning the issue raised by the member, obviously I would hope that the Privileges Committee, which is an important committee, would deal with things expeditiously.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000263\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002256fb202366e64ddfb68814b9624815eb\u0022\u003ERodney Hide\u003C/span\u003E: Has the Minister of M\u0101ori Affairs set a standard for his officials that they immediately advise him of an email that contradicts his answers in this House\u2014and, in this case, shows that a private company is putting cash into a civil servant\u2019s account that is funding that private company\u2014before that email is released under the Official Information Act; if he has set such a standard, why will heads not roll?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000264\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d52e59e3-2195-4c95-a654-665c11b39b63\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022733290658b814f8fa560123fe2eba416\u0022\u003EHon PAREKURA HOROMIA\u003C/span\u003E: Can I assure that member that, as I said before, if he supplies me with the information and there is truth in it, then heads will roll.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000265\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221815e2e9032e43ec854e057667a8884d\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I call question No. 12.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000266\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022658823b9a22a40edbf6ba58069cedb67\u0022\u003EGerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. You have ruled that the Opposition cannot continue questioning this Minister at this time. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000267\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227daa97f0b9ad4a258f64da137024e495\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I did not. I gave the member an extra question. Please be accurate. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000268\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f19f649185074a12bf3ce56d9079107c\u0022\u003EGerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: Well, if I heard it right, you just called question No. 12, which means we do not have the opportunity to question this Minister further.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000269\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229729914d47a7467aa5f1a90f55270b90\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Please be seated. I gave Mr Hide an extra question. I said that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000270\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229b4e62dc6c5c4078b990dd123dffae95\u0022\u003EGerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: That is fine.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000271\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002259e2c68b876f4778a33028e225f13faf\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I did. I call question No. 12\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000272\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002259f7441b0a894ec4b493aa58b907892d\u0022\u003EGerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000273\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bc9d11f82f50499083824fab1569e9fd\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I am getting tired; there are too many points of order at question time. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000274\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225f1e79818e6649ae970cd5e4a51a8168\u0022\u003EGerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: Well, with all due respect, if the performance from Government Ministers were slightly better and slightly more respectful of this House, there might not be so many references to the Standing Orders, and attempts by the Opposition to uphold them. That\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000275\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002291d859bdb7c544ceba0250e987bbc541\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Please be seated. I am here to judge issues about the Standing Orders. As far as I am concerned, there are too many claims of points of order that are not points of order. Some are legitimate points of order, and I always listen to them very carefully, but some of them are not. We have a limited time for questions, and I think we are at the stage where that limited time has been well and truly exceeded today. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000276\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022980c79b167a24ef68c673e1d6d3848ab\u0022\u003EGerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. One of the requirements for a Minister is to answer questions if his answers can be given consistent with the public good. I ask you how it can be consistent with the public good for a Minister to stand in the Chamber and say: \u201CGive me the information, which I supplied to you, and then I will take some action.\u201D That is the effect of what Mr Horomia is doing today. He is effectively saying: \u201CI supplied you with information about this matter, so I know about it, but I am not going to take any action until you give it back to me.\u201D If that answer is consistent with the public good, then I think we are in severe trouble. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000277\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221ba22d945f5643a2809fc81f06101ffb\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: That is not as I recall it happening, and that I rule.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000278\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022bbed46ab357c4b9582b026f206f54c6f\u0022\u003EScreen Production Industry Taskforce\u2014International Competency\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000279\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224e6caa14-14ae-43f5-b9da-fe479511fe74\u0022\u003E12. \u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224571e50f51f549ad830e7547bbcb7014\u0022\u003EPAUL ADAMS (United Future)\u003C/span\u003E to the Minister for Industry and Regional Development: Does he stand by his statement in the report of the Screen Production Industry Taskforce that: \u201CThe Government is committed to creating an environment where the Screen Production Industry can grow and flourish in the international marketplace.\u201D?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00228415e962-886d-47b9-9356-3fdce746891f\u0022 data-id=\u00222a453144e7b4413bb3f141a5753c5e8c\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000280\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228415e962-886d-47b9-9356-3fdce746891f\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00222a453144e7b4413bb3f141a5753c5e8c\u0022\u003EHon JIM ANDERTON (Minister for Industry and Regional Development):\u003C/span\u003E Yes.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000281\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224e6caa14-14ae-43f5-b9da-fe479511fe74\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b13e321dd26c491da3d1dee6c4e8611d\u0022\u003EPaul Adams\u003C/span\u003E: Can we take it that Cloud 9\u2019s decision to move to Australia was a logical response to the Minister\u2019s call for the screen production industry to grow and flourish in the international marketplace; and is that move what he had in mind?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000282\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228415e962-886d-47b9-9356-3fdce746891f\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002217d561bfcfae49d7a24bd332c6f0e6ea\u0022\u003EHon JIM ANDERTON\u003C/span\u003E: The Screen Production Industry Taskforce has reported to the Government. The Government is considering its recommendations, which are wide and varied. It has provided $110 million in the Budget for responding to the recommendations of the various task forces, so the Government is taking it seriously. There will be situations from time to time. In this case, Cloud 9 has had a difference with one of our other State agencies, Television New Zealand. I have done my best to resolve those matters, in so far as Ministers can. But Ministers are prevented, quite properly, from ordering broadcasters, or any other State-owned enterprise, to do anything in particular that Ministers might want, and I accept that is entirely proper. In this case, Cloud 9 has made its decision. However, Mr Thompson has indicated he still has business interests here that he wants to pursue. He is a permanent resident of New Zealand, and he intends to stay here with his family. We just have to assume that there are irreconcilable differences between Cloud 9 and Television New Zealand, and accept it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000283\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220c3db1d2bec441849bf66ccb41201058\u0022\u003EDavid Parker\u003C/span\u003E: What are the objectives of the Screen Production Industry Taskforce?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000284\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228415e962-886d-47b9-9356-3fdce746891f\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c05caa8d5fdc4063a1d11959c209d9e4\u0022\u003EHon JIM ANDERTON\u003C/span\u003E: The coalition Government is committed to working in partnership with the film and television industry, and one of its specific goals is to double the turnover of at least 10 New Zealand \u2013 based companies over the next 5 years. The task force has delivered its report, as I have said. Ministers are now considering its recommendations, and I am sure that the Government will give a positive response to this particular task force, among others, and that the industry will be satisfied with that, and has a strong future in this country.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000285\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022058aeb9fff01456a8132cf2de5eeee35\u0022\u003ESue Kedgley\u003C/span\u003E: Does the Minister agree with the Screen Production Industry Taskforce report that television producers would have much more incentive to market their programmes and concepts internationally if they were able to retain and exploit their intellectual property rights; and, given his commitment to creating this apt environment where the production industry will grow and flourish, and so forth, will he intervene to help producers in their dispute with TVNZ, which is trying to erode producers\u2019 revenue from the sales of their own programmes?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000286\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228415e962-886d-47b9-9356-3fdce746891f\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220b5b0ad2df0745fabc60892786be0a23\u0022\u003EHon JIM ANDERTON\u003C/span\u003E: Anyone who knows my style in Government knows that I have already intervened about as much as I possibly could and as much as the Act would allow. A review of intellectual property protection is recommended in the task force report. The Government knows what that recommendation is. It is considering it at the moment, and it will give its response to the industry in a very short time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000287\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224e6caa14-14ae-43f5-b9da-fe479511fe74\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002202aaa2408d264418bcef646cf56e1e44\u0022\u003EPaul Adams\u003C/span\u003E: Why did the Minister dole out $1.5 million to a multinational corporation to set up a call centre, yet Cloud 9 has never received any money from New Zealand On Air, and simply wants the Government to stop TVNZ from contracting only to production companies headed by former employees, because getting Government programmes on the State broadcaster is essential to attracting foreign investment?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000288\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228415e962-886d-47b9-9356-3fdce746891f\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225d8e947dbd8c4e9cbf0d4c8f5a8bb803\u0022\u003EHon JIM ANDERTON\u003C/span\u003E: One of the criteria for a strategic initiatives grant is that the development\u2014in this case, it will produce something like 400 jobs over the next 5 years, and $200 million in export earnings\u2014would not take place unless that grant was given. I tell the House that Cloud 9 has never asked for any funding whatever. It has asked for a relationship with Television New Zealand, which it deems it has not been able to bring into effect. Government Ministers have done their best to mediate in that matter in so far as they can, and they have been unable to do so. Cloud 9 has made its decision, and the agencies responsible will have their own explanations of that, which the Opposition is invited to pursue.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000289\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224e6caa14-14ae-43f5-b9da-fe479511fe74\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c0b32f97ac234886866db8a41ab458b2\u0022\u003EPaul Adams\u003C/span\u003E: Why, after Parliament explicitly implemented a charter requiring TVNZ to promote and support independent production houses exactly like Cloud 9, has TVNZ been allowed to commit such a blatant breach of its charter; and will the Minister take this matter up with the Minister of Broadcasting and the Minister for State Owned Enterprises?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000290\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228415e962-886d-47b9-9356-3fdce746891f\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227a2c06dbd5404bbbbac9bab6f7b9116c\u0022\u003EHon JIM ANDERTON\u003C/span\u003E: If the member looks at the Television New Zealand legislation, he will see that Ministers must not intervene in programming matters, and the Ministers in this Government have obeyed that requirement exactly. In terms of the charter, the charter does say that TVNZ needs to have a sense of social responsibility by having regard to the interests of the community in which it operates, and by endeavouring to accommodate and encourage those interests whenever it is able to do so. I take the point that New Zealand \u2013 produced television and film production is part of that responsibility. The Government will have to consider, in the immediate following period, how that charter is being implemented, and do the best we can with it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000291\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002231c97dfa0acc46cdaff4033f27ab0a08\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: The Minister\u2019s answer is too long.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000292\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022e67ad2abc4354213934770e2982428ad\u0022\u003EQuestion No. 8 to Minister\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022 data-id=\u00226b00c264cef74fb2a672d68490184dc6\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000293\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00226b00c264cef74fb2a672d68490184dc6\u0022\u003EHon RICK BARKER (Minister for Courts):\u003C/span\u003E I seek leave to table a letter dated 14 May, under the signature of Dail Jones, and addressed to the Hon Phil Goff, concerning a Statutes Amendment Bill, in which he says: \u201CWe do not support your suggestion of a remand on bail.\u201D, which confirms my earlier statement.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000294\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002296f204ff79444680923ee9647179305f\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Leave is sought. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000295\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4da5811-fb5a-4721-b57a-518446bd7796\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022256b4dda5df445b3a199d01fa9ac6e83\u0022\u003EDail Jones\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I invite him to read it all\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000296\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022da3616ff5e8d4d35bbfd02ac04c5b04b\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Just a moment. Is there any objection?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00228a87c178-9f60-439e-aa9b-0f1336c37ea9\u0022 data-id=\u00226ae2fe58923b47d086dbd55dba362481\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000297\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a87c178-9f60-439e-aa9b-0f1336c37ea9\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00226ae2fe58923b47d086dbd55dba362481\u0022\u003EHon ROGER SOWRY (Deputy Leader\u2014NZ National):\u003C/span\u003E I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I was just going to support Mr Jones, in the sense that the Minister has taken a small extract from the letter, and it may well be that New Zealand First does not support the mechanism of a Statutes Amendment Bill.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000298\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221a02c964fe5f424aa5e5d4f0169c1fc5\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: That will be seen if the letter is tabled. The member will be able to judge that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000299\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a87c178-9f60-439e-aa9b-0f1336c37ea9\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220653ae0751a94ecea3b945d17a5fd1c2\u0022\u003EHon ROGER SOWRY\u003C/span\u003E: To get accuracy, particularly for people who are listening, I think the member should read the whole letter.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000300\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022830c5bcdc969436d9cd0f212dea4aa7e\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: If the member has read out the information accurately, I seek the leave of the House to table the document. Has the member read the letter out accurately? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000301\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002203bc0052-6dd8-4807-998a-4768a4732e0b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228330dac58ba54fa887900a72f20b35f5\u0022\u003EHon Rick Barker\u003C/span\u003E: It\u2019s an accurate reflection, yes.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000302\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229ec97e0fb58f4ddcbf7a6ef4ff6d81db\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: He said yes.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022b0d8b0e0-3ece-4865-9145-5eb5983fc54c\u0022 data-id=\u002239a1173bc0584ad1b49f6cba9af7e660\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000303\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b0d8b0e0-3ece-4865-9145-5eb5983fc54c\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002239a1173bc0584ad1b49f6cba9af7e660\u0022\u003EHon RICHARD PREBBLE (Leader\u2014ACT NZ):\u003C/span\u003E I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. The Minister not only said he wanted to table the letter; he then said it substantiated the answer he had given in the House. He is a new Minister and it is his first question, so does he really want to make it a breach of privilege matter?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000304\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022949ce7d7f2e64b21a052cc37ab3b5d0b\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: No, in fact he should not have said that. The member has said he wants to table a letter.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022f4da5811-fb5a-4721-b57a-518446bd7796\u0022 data-id=\u002282d37e31ffe84f7dac6b99c2df159c72\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000305\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4da5811-fb5a-4721-b57a-518446bd7796\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002282d37e31ffe84f7dac6b99c2df159c72\u0022\u003EDAIL JONES (NZ First):\u003C/span\u003E I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. New Zealand First supported an amendment to the Statutes Amendment Bill in question. The Minister has given a totally wrong impression. We support an amendment that makes sure that people stay in prison while a matter is being considered, and are not released into the public, which is what the Labour Party wants\u2014a Labour Party that is soft on law and order. We support an amendment to the bill.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000306\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a3c6b675b3244fefb89e1360415826a2\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: The member knows he cannot say that; that last point is a comment. The member has asked for leave to table a document. Is there any objection?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e3dc3d88-a571-4ed7-a4b4-b66dedd6134b\u0022 data-id=\u002262218bf2feaa4ddd9aa90ad100c7a20a\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000307\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e3dc3d88-a571-4ed7-a4b4-b66dedd6134b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002262218bf2feaa4ddd9aa90ad100c7a20a\u0022\u003EPETER BROWN (Senior Whip\u2014NZ First):\u003C/span\u003E I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I want some clarification before you put that leave. You suggested that the member should read this letter accurately; I am suggesting to you that he should read it fully, because to leave chunks out is to distort the accuracy.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000308\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223d775d9e368543368c04d159f46dde86\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: No. I refer the member to Speaker\u2019s ruling 113/5, which states: \u201CIn seeking leave to table a document members should not only succinctly describe what is in the document but also sufficiently describe the nature of the document to inform members.\u201D Members will be able to examine the document, if it is tabled.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000309\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003EDocument, by leave, laid on the Table of the House.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000310\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022357a2315bcac4e7a94a9ac6cc8b02cc6\u0022\u003EQuestion No. 10 to Minister\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022 data-id=\u0022100abe718d4142b29eadaa6261db31c8\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000311\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022100abe718d4142b29eadaa6261db31c8\u0022\u003ERODNEY HIDE (ACT NZ):\u003C/span\u003E I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. The Minister of M\u0101ori Affairs asked to see the evidence of the email that was released under the Official Information Act. I took it across to him, and as I gave it to him he called out across the front bench that I was a liar.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000312\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a367e1e09f464256a39a3bc16592c9fa\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: This is a matter that happened during question time. The member should have raised it immediately. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000313\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a11c782b7e3d4ac88334f600cab8a36b\u0022\u003ERODNEY HIDE\u003C/span\u003E: It happened during the last question. You have ruled before that one waits until the question is over.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000314\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222e532af02952428193f031718152bff9\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: My ruling was when the particular question was over.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000315\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225ef0f2bd76714ab185b25090c47f1787\u0022\u003ERODNEY HIDE\u003C/span\u003E: It happened during question 12.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000316\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223e0bf5c26e144d649359270a7dd3ea3e\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I ask the Minister whether he made an unparliamentary comment, in which case I ask him to withdraw and apologise.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022d52e59e3-2195-4c95-a654-665c11b39b63\u0022 data-id=\u0022b26afad89b54450b89b117693a7a3d23\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000317\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d52e59e3-2195-4c95-a654-665c11b39b63\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022b26afad89b54450b89b117693a7a3d23\u0022\u003EHon Parekura Horomia\u003C/span\u003E: I withdraw and apologise. I did say that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000318\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u0022b61bc1282e72476a924efd6f62651411\u0022\u003EUrgent Debates\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000319\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022d412270476d24c738a59f851c339c424\u0022\u003EElectricity Industry\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022 data-id=\u00223e405060a0784a4698b585f0146a89b0\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000320\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00223e405060a0784a4698b585f0146a89b0\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I have received applications from the Leader of the Opposition and the Hon Ken Shirley seeking to debate under Standing Order 376 the Government\u2019s announced changes for the electricity industry. This is a particular case of recent occurrence, involving ministerial responsibility, and notwithstanding that the Budget debate is still under way, I consider that it does require the immediate attention of the House by way of an urgent debate. I therefore accept the application. As I received the application from the Leader of the Opposition first, I call on him to move accordingly.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000321\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002222e202ea04154691b119d72d7bde92a5\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH (Leader of the Opposition):\u003C/span\u003E I move, That the House take note of a matter of urgent public importance. We have heard today some Government announcements about changes to the electricity industry. Before we debate those changes, I want to put the announcements in context. The House should not be misled to the view that these changes deal in any way with the oncoming electricity crisis. [Interruption] \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000322\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. The senior Government whip makes a habit of continuous interjection whenever I am on my feet. I have tolerated that for any number of speeches over recent weeks, but I am not willing to tolerate it today.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000323\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022810e0feb040d4563a92e97bb1e9c9df8\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: The member said he wants to be heard in silence. He will be. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000324\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220a1213f69d2f4b96a684272571b77c11\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH\u003C/span\u003E: I did not say that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000325\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002244561facaa6a48e5bf9ffc06a807689b\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: The member has said that he does not want that sort of interjection. There will not be any more of it. I give him that assurance. I ask the senior Government whip not to interject again during this speech \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000326\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002283ea69a9e31c4ef5a6ba5e17a077770a\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH\u003C/span\u003E: I am just making the point that I am not willing to tolerate a continuous stream of interjections.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000327\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022014651a1-9604-485f-a1d1-4f752fff8c59\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022eb00c70834714ee59616bd596de0754f\u0022\u003EMr SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I have stopped him from interjecting. Carry on.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000328\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002214913c8653ab4c8d93f70709081257cf\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH\u003C/span\u003E: The House should not be misled by this announcement that it has anything to do with this year\u2019s winter crisis, with the supply of electricity next winter, and probably the winter after that. The reason the Government has made this announcement today is that its mishandling of the electricity crisis has affected its public image so badly that it decided it ought to come up with something to make it look as if it is doing something. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000329\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003EI have been particularly disappointed in the attitude of the Prime Minister. She has tried to make out that it was only in recent months that this issue has come before the Government, at all. That is simply incorrect. Since before the 1999 election the Labour Party has campaigned intensively on the issue of electricity. It was doing deals before the 1999 election, in Opposition offices, with people involved in the electricity industry. That was followed by a stack of reports and reviews, and even policy statements. A Government policy was made before the 2001 electricity crisis. A review was done of that crisis. A subsequent policy statement was made, and it was amended according to the views that were taken from the industry throughout the crisis. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000330\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003EHelen Clark has sat as the chair of a Cabinet that has seen dozens of reports on the electricity industry. So the timing of this announcement is nothing to do with the matter coming to the attention of the Government. It has been before the Government for over 4 years. The timing today is to give the public the misleading impression that the Government is taking some action on the current electricity crisis, and that therefore the cold showers, the brownouts, and the blackouts are someone else\u2019s fault. Well, they are not. This Government is responsible for the current electricity crisis, and today\u2019s announcement makes not one bit of difference to that responsibility. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000331\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003EIt is unlikely, when we look at this announcement, that it will make any difference in the future. The announcement today makes a big play of reserve generation. I say to the Minister of Energy, who is here today, that I hope he has informed his Prime Minister that there is plenty of reserve generation around right now. All over the countryside there is reserve generation\u2014generation not being used, generation not turned on. It has been there in previous years. It is still there now, even with these high market prices for electricity. Going out and contracting for a bit more, actually will not make much difference, because it is already there. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000332\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003ESo I invite the Government to tell us why,  if there is reserve capacity now, it is not being used; why  it is that going out and contracting for more, in 2 or 3 years\u2019 time, will make any difference at all, today. Because it will not. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000333\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003ELet us get the picture clear. Lake levels are still low, and dropping. There is spare generation around the countryside right now that is not being used, and we still have the major problem that has afflicted this industry in recent years, and will continue to do so, despite any announcements today. I am talking about the problem of getting sufficient baseload generation up and going, to meet the needs of a growing economy\u2014even if that growth slows down. Perhaps that is the best chance; that it will catch up\u2014that is, if the growth slows down. That has always been the issue. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000334\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003EThis Government, with a combination of confused policy and endless navel-gazing over what it is going to do with electricity, and a strong dose of political correctness, has made sure there is not enough new generation coming in the market to keep up with the economy. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000335\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003ELet us look at this distinction between renewal and non-renewable energy. At the same time as the Government is saying that it will make consumers pay a tax for reserve generation, it is actively promoting renewable energy over non-renewal energy\u2014renewable energy being wind and rain. These are much less reliable sources of fuel than the non-renewable energy, which is coal. I would not mind betting that the kind of generating capacity the Government is going out to contract for will almost certainly be non-renewable. Because that is the only way that the person who is providing it can guarantee it is there to turn it on, in the years when there is not enough rain or wind to meet the demand. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000336\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003EThis is a fundamental policy confusion, and it is being perpetuated with these announcements today. The Government has a strong ideological push to favour only renewable energy. The announcement today is actually an announcement that if this worked at all, it would be about solving that problem\u2014namely, by making sure there is sufficient non-renewable energy available to the New Zealand electricity market. How stupid can one get! Why does the Government not just ditch the ideology? Why not just ditch the political correctness of saying that because we have signed the Kyoto Protocol, we cannot burn coal? Why not let both forms of energy develop; make the rules about carbon tax, if that is what the Government wants to do; and let the market sort it out? Who is going to pay the price for this stupidity? New Zealand consumers will pay. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000337\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e4030eb1-1b72-4bc3-b00d-7126013abc01\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d7ac4e829ee941f2886b6dac99302c2d\u0022\u003EStephen Franks\u003C/span\u003E: And New Zealand business.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000338\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e59a6137738242be8d801a7e443c3b13\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH\u003C/span\u003E: And New Zealand businesses, households\u2014indeed, everybody. What we have seen today is a new tax\u2014\u201CHelen Clark\u2019s energy tax\u201D. It cannot be called anything else. That is what it is. It is a new tax. I hope that United Future will have a harder think about this tax than it had about the Budget. Helen Clark has decided to impose a tax on all electricity users in New Zealand. So all pensioners; all students; all low-income families; all families, with children, who live on benefits and therefore below the poverty line, which is something that people keep telling this Government\u2014in fact everyone who turns on a switch\u2014will pay an energy tax because of the stupidity of the Labour Government. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000339\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003EWe estimate that that tax is around $200 million a year\u2014if we multiply half a cent per unit by the number of units. If people thought the \u201Csherry tax\u201D was controversial, wait until pensioners work out the electricity tax! But, of course, the Government will get tricky. It will say that it is not the Government that is putting the tax on, but the Electricity Commission\u2014they are the ones who decided about the tax! \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000340\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ac23eedf-0a53-4d88-a49b-d5b440483616\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227c78e44574f3450d9f0dfb1cb08579ad\u0022\u003EDr Lynda Scott\u003C/span\u003E: Blame the officials.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000341\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224fa9cfdea0bb48c3b44a4523e550b2f5\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH\u003C/span\u003E: It will blame the officials, just like the Prime Minister when she said the only reason we had the energy crisis is that officials were too slow with their advice. She said she was outraged by how slow the officials were. She was referring to her trusted offsiders in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Ministry of Economic Development, and Treasury. I bet they are becoming a bit tired of being blamed for everything\u2014ranging from the Government\u2019s dishonesty, to the energy crisis. In this case the responsibility for the tax falls on the Government. It is a tax; a tax on electricity. No one has really thought of it before. We have always had electricity prices that go up and down, but no Government has imposed a tax on electricity. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000342\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003EI cannot help thinking that the announcements today are a solution when the Government has not quite worked out what the problem is. In fact, the closer I look at it the more it looks like the Government has pulled together\u2014[Interruption] Well, it is; it is a solution when the Government has not worked out what the problem is. If the Minister does not know, the problem is not a lack of reserve generation. There is plenty of reserve generation. It is just that it is not switched on.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000343\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002218c264b98ed04efd814982174efb76a4\u0022\u003EPansy Wong\u003C/span\u003E: Like the Minister.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000344\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222a5b2e02ee824af29aee9b21135cd8df\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH\u003C/span\u003E: Like the Minister! The current is not working!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000345\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ba6fde7e-93f4-4636-9ce2-02c07007973a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fae3344663b14365840f14454d749378\u0022\u003EHon Paul Swain\u003C/span\u003E: We\u2019re all switched on over here.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000346\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ff638a67186b4581a82a362439e78b22\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH\u003C/span\u003E: There is something shorted out, particularly with that Minister. It is a tax. There is plenty of reserve generation. I look forward to the debate the Government is going to have with the electricity industry. The reserve generation that contracts through this process will be an overhang on the market. All the time, in all the years when there is plenty of fuel, there is going to be an overhang on the market and there is going to be a very substantial argument about what price that generating capacity should be switched on at. Is it going to be when the price gets to 10c, or 12c, or 50c? The investors in future generation are going to need to believe that this Government will not use it for its political convenience. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000347\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003EIn election year, business comes along and says: \u201CLook, the price has gone up, over 15c. You\u2019ve got all this generating capacity sitting there. Why don\u2019t you just switch it on and keep the price down?\u201D. Of course this Government will do it. Otherwise, it will be attacked for having all this electricity generation that it refuses to use, and that is keeping the price up. Of course the Government will do it. The Electricity Commission legislation will almost certainly have ultimate ministerial control over its decisions. I ask the Minister of Energy to deny that. No, he will not. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000348\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003EI say to investors in the electricity industry that this is a tool that Labour will use to keep electricity prices as low as its political convenience requires. New Zealand consumers will have to pay a tax right across the board to finance it. The Government will go out and say that it is a little tax. Look at the fuss the Government got over the \u201Csherry tax\u201D. That was meant to be a little one\u2014$50 a year, if that is what it is; $200 million across the country. Helen Clark has agreed and confirmed her view that a tax on electricity is a good idea. She knows full well that that is putting up electricity prices for the people who she believes support her, in particular the pensioners. I invite any MP to say to the next pensioner who comes into his or her electorate office: \u201COh, don\u2019t worry, it\u2019s only $50 a year. Don\u2019t worry, it\u2019s only a little bit.\u201D They will not accept that. They feel blamed for the electricity crisis. They feel they are being made to take responsibility for the shortage of energy, and now the Government is going to make them pay with a tax.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000349\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00228a87c178-9f60-439e-aa9b-0f1336c37ea9\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d5ef60eaac6b404e82e95a9f4b2dd963\u0022\u003EHon Roger Sowry\u003C/span\u003E: The Prime Minister\u2019s on gas.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000350\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226ff194dc49fe4175b4917fa2c7ad6449\u0022\u003EHon BILL ENGLISH\u003C/span\u003E:  The Prime Minister says: \u201CDon\u2019t worry, I\u2019ve got gas.\u201D I say to the Prime Minister that she should be saving gas, because we are running out of that faster than we are running out of electricity. She did not know that. She did not know that we are meant to be saving gas, as well as electricity. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000351\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bb158206-360b-4757-8d72-f7d0994e1fb3\u0022\u003EThe consumers will pay twice. Look how the Government structured the deal. They pay the tax every year, in case there is a dry year, and when the dry year comes they have to pay a high price for the new stand-by generation. Why is that? Why should they have to pay a high price for the stand-by generation when they have already paid for it, many times over, through the \u201CClark energy tax\u201D? I invite the Minister to tell us that. It is confused policy and more spin than a hydro-powered turbine.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022 data-id=\u0022a8e07835021e4199862a69d04dd26c8f\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000352\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022a8e07835021e4199862a69d04dd26c8f\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON (Minister of Energy):\u003C/span\u003E That was abysmal. That was absolutely hopeless. That was the most lacklustre performance I have heard, even from that member, for a very long time. I hoped for better. I hoped that we would get a bit of passion out of the Leader of the Opposition. I hoped that we would have heard something that I could have got my teeth stuck into. Is that the best the Opposition can do? Is that the best the Leader of the Opposition can do? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000353\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EWhat did he say? Can members remember? He has only just said it. Tell me what that member said. What is the National Party position? At the end of that 15 minutes, what was National\u2019s clear line? Did the Leader of the Opposition just pass himself in the corridor? If so, what did he say? That is what I want to know. Did he say hello to himself as he passed himself in the corridors of power? Did the Leader of the Opposition say \u201CHi\u201D? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000354\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EWhat did characterise that remarkable lacklustre contribution from that remarkable lacklustre Leader of the Opposition is this. It was a straight parade of prejudice. We saw it all. We saw the National Party decide that renewables are bad, and fossils are good; and that Kyoto is bad, and polluting is good. We had \u201Cgood old boy\u201D behaviour, which the Leader of the Opposition himself does not believe in. We have had it for weeks. [Interruption]  We have had it from that member. The member who calls himself the Opposition spokesperson on energy has railed for weeks that the Resource Management Act is the cause of the problem; not the rainfall, but the Resource Management Act; not the problems with the Maui reserves, but the Resource Management Act. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000355\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003ELeave aside the fact that since this Government has come to power more than 1,300 megawatts has been consented. That is enough consents, in the last 3\u00BD years, for a total of 8 years. The Resource Management Act is not the problem, but the good old boys like to think that it is, because they can roll out their prejudices: \u201CWe do not care too much about planning. Big boys do not care too much about consultation. Rob Muldoon did not care, did he, with the National Development Act? Why should we? We are going to roll out the Resource Management Act and beat it up, even though it is a red herring; even though it is pure prejudice.\u201D \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000356\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EWe heard stuff from Bill English that said that renewables are not reliable. Well, he is right. It does not rain all the time. That is why the New Zealand electricity system is as it is. That is why we have thermal firming. That is why we have a mixture of renewable and thermal in this country. What the Leader of the Opposition seemed to say was that all the reserve generation will be thermal. Put a ring around it. He is absolutely right. But why would he make that comment? Because he thinks that fossil fuel burning is good, and that sustainable futures are bad. Why? Because he is a real boy\u2014at least he pretends to be. He does not really believe it, but good old boys think that burning fossil fuels is good. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000357\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EI will tell members how silly this got. Some members of this House thought that the Government was against burning coal. We even had a television programme about it. Guess what needs to be known about coal? Renewables are cheaper. That is what needs to be known about coal.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000358\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002297d043e3636845f4a553ba3cec2befa5\u0022\u003EGerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: You\u2019ve got to tax them.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000359\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222395ef5e6b4641e9917b86793d6ef9a8\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: They are not taxed. [Interruption] Coal fuel is much more expensive than hydro\u2014tax or no tax. Ken Shirley jumps in, by way of interjection, to get another prejudice thrown into the debate. It is wrong, again. The reason this Government is promoting renewables is that we do believe in a sustainable future. We do believe in making the best use of our resources. We do believe in having a range of electricity generation technology so that we can spread risk. We do believe that the Kyoto Protocol is important, because we do believe that this climate is the reason that we have our economy at all. We are intent on playing our part in making sure they do it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000360\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EReal boys do not have to do that\u2014not good old boys. In the first two terms of this Government we will have a total of 1,420 megawatts, or thereabouts, of new generation going in, but the National Party wants another 60 out of the conservation estate. It does not want 1,420; it wants 1,480 and it wants to knock over a whole lot of trees to get the other 60, because that is what real boys do! That prejudice has been around this debate long enough, and I for one am heartily sick of it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000361\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EThen there is another strange bit of behaviour that has been going on from the Opposition parties, time and again. It goes like this: \u201CWhy didn\u2019t you do anything before?\u201D, and \u201CYou don\u2019t have to do anything, anyway.\u201D See how it goes. I shall say it again: \u201CWhy didn\u2019t you do it before?\u201D, and \u201CYou don\u2019t have to do it, anyway.\u201D\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000362\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226e7bfee5-ac9c-4ae2-b85d-7d3b7a785561\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022348e473093af4c7c9e28a7916251a485\u0022\u003ERod Donald\u003C/span\u003E: Don\u2019t count us in there.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000363\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222bd875dc385d435980d30a95ed9115d7\u0022\u003EHon PETE HODGSON\u003C/span\u003E: We certainly do not count the Greens in there. I most certainly do not count the Greens. Those comments are not aimed at New Zealand First, either. They are aimed at the National Party and the ACT party: \u201CWhy didn\u2019t you do it earlier?\u201D, and \u201CYou don\u2019t have to do it.\u201D We have had that sort of craziness going for weeks now. \u201C2001 happened, didn\u2019t it; why didn\u2019t you respond? The market will fix it; you don\u2019t need to respond. You\u2019ve had enough time to change it; you don\u2019t need to change it.\u201D, and so on. We have had that outbreak of silliness for weeks and weeks. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000364\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EIf I go to the National Party and try to work out whether it would have acted, go to its statements, and try to work what its real position is, I do not get it easily, but it seems clear that it would not have intervened. I do know that the National Party would privatise the State-owned enterprises, just as it says: \u201CYou must send out statements of corporate intent to State-owned enterprises. You must ring them; you must send them out several statements of corporate intent. Send them out one a day. Ring them, have them in, beat them up, send them, but sell them. So, arrange them, organise them, manipulate them, make them take the losses, but sell them.\u201D That is the position the National Party has on State-owned enterprises: \u201CPlease make sure that you use your ownership correctly, and then make sure that you have no ownership.\u201D That is National\u2019s position on State-owned enterprises. It is very garbled. It is what good old boys do when they want to privatise anything that moves, and beat up on anything that it thinks the Government should beat up on. That is real boys getting a bit confused about themselves. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000365\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003ESo what do we do now? We go to the policies of the National Party and the ACT party. We will go to the ACT party first and find a lovely little idea from Ken Shirley on the website, about making sure that all householders are forcibly exposed to the spot price, which states: \u201CGo to ACT\u2019s energy policy.\u201D We did that, and guess what happened? \u201CNo matching documents found.\u201D came up on the screen. That meant that the ACT does not have one. The ACT party has no energy policy. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000366\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EWe then went to the National Party. The National Party is the largest small party in the House. It is bigger than New Zealand First. It is the largest small party in the House and is easily bigger than New Zealand First. One would expect National to have an energy policy. After all, New Zealand First has an energy policy, and the Greens have an energy policy. One would expect National, which is even bigger than New Zealand First, to have an energy policy. We went there and it did not have one. Even now it still has not made up an energy policy. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000367\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EThen we had the tax stuff from Bill English in his address. His day began with a shrill and strident press statement banged out at about 1 o\u2019clock, which is long before he could have understood what the Government was up to. We now know that he still does not. He banged out that shrill and strident press statement. I tell the Leader of the Opposition that he is unhappily the proud owner of a feral word processor. That was bewilderment. It was a series of unrelated statements. It was extremely noisy. It signified little, indeed. The Leader of the Opposition should get rid of his feral word processor; the country needs no more of it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000368\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EHe came to the House and pulled out the dear old clich\u00E9 about an electricity tax. He does not believe it himself. He knows enough about economics to know that that is not the right label. He knows that the label is wrong, but he decides to use it 46 times, or thereabouts, in order to make a point and in order to get a bit of attention. That guy needs attention. He needs to be noticed, and so he talks about the \u201CClark tax\u201D, the \u201CHodgson tax\u201D, the \u201Celectricity tax\u201D, and the \u201CLabour tax\u201D, or whatever it is. He knows that it is a cross-insurance premium. That is actually what the market was designed to deliver\u2014that is, a cross-insurance premium where one generator would go to another generator. The consumer pays for it, just like he or she pays for all electricity products. That is what one does when one buys electricity; one pays for it. That is how the market was designed. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000369\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EMembers should go to last Saturday\u2019s paper. Do they remember Tony Baldwin at the select committee? He was the guy who put through the reforms. Max never did understand them. There was a very interesting article on Tony Baldwin, the guy who put through the reforms, in the paper. It was quite a good article and pointed out that the market was designed to have cross-insurance premiums. It had a flick at one or two companies for not doing so, and that was fair enough. The point is that the cross-insurance premium is what the Electricity Commission will do for the market, because the market has failed. The market did not do that. It had long enough. Members cannot accuse me of impatience. Then that option will be taken away from it, because it did not do that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000370\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EFor Mr English to come to the House and label that a tax, when he knows that it is not, proves to me that that guy is desperate for attention. What has happened is that New Zealanders, as we enter the second winter in three having to save, have said that they have had enough. They have said that, and we have heard. We have said: \u201CWe as a country can have a higher level of security for an insurance premium. Today\u2019s announcements were no more nor less than announcing what that security level will be. A security level will be set at a 1-in-60 dry-year risk, and that is the first thing. It was enough to get us through 1992 without conservation; enough to get us through 2001 without a conservation campaign; and, so far, enough to get us through 2003 without a conservation campaign. That is what the security level will be. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000371\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EWe also said what we thought the price would be, and that would be less than 80c per household per week. One cannot have security for nothing. It is not priceless. However, we have designed a system where one can have security for a low price. That is what a good Government should do. It seems that the National Party is intent on relying on the market in its purity, and that is all. That suggests to me that the National Party is the cold-showers party. This country says that reputational risk is more important. The idea of future investment, for example, from our forestry sector is more important. The idea of saying to New Zealanders that the way of life in New Zealand is to have conservation campaigns every 2 or 3 years does not rest well with us. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000372\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229c0eba1d-17a6-44e2-a9b3-2e2535339570\u0022\u003EI finish by saying to the people of New Zealand that today we broke 6 percent for the first time. I thank and congratulate New Zealanders as they went through the 6 percent mark. I hope they are on the way to 7 percent, and then 8, 9, and 10. Because the changes we have announced today will not help us in time this winter. This winter we save. From now on we will have more security as a result of this Government\u2019s interventions.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002219386ba0-5a6e-485e-abc0-5a3128b4e1f6\u0022 data-id=\u00224b31829715d1443dbb63638cdaf394ce\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000373\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219386ba0-5a6e-485e-abc0-5a3128b4e1f6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00224b31829715d1443dbb63638cdaf394ce\u0022\u003EHon KEN SHIRLEY (Deputy Leader\u2014ACT NZ):\u003C/span\u003E There speaks the Prince of Darkness\u2014King Lear, Shakespeare. That is what we have just heard from Minister Hodgson in this Labour Government. We know that Nero fiddled while Rome burned; Hodgson fiddles while New Zealand freezes. That is the recipe for this coming year, and the next year, and nothing in this Government\u2019s announcement today does anything to address that basic fact. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000374\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219386ba0-5a6e-485e-abc0-5a3128b4e1f6\u0022\u003EThis Labour Government has been in office now for nearly 4 long, cold years. I invite the Minister to read the briefing papers to the incoming Minister in 1999 that made all the predictions about what needed to be done. That Minister has done absolutely nothing in 4 years. We are in the middle of a crisis, and what has the Government done? It has set up another bureaucratic committee\u2014the Electricity Commission\u2014with the power to levy over $200 million a year from New Zealanders. Who believes that that will address the basic problems? I invite this Government to read the briefing papers to the incoming Government that identified the problem, but it has done nothing. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000375\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219386ba0-5a6e-485e-abc0-5a3128b4e1f6\u0022\u003EThe Government set up the Caygill committee 2 years ago. That committee finally reported last Friday, but the Government had already gazumped it. The Caygill committee\u2019s thinking was to have a voluntary regulatory framework and use the market, but the Government did not want that. The Prime Minister\u2019s announcement that she would go with the command-control regulatory framework really pulled the plug before that committee could report, and we see that in this announcement today. By the Government\u2019s own admission, that does not address the problem. In the Government\u2019s own press release at noon today, it said it will be 3 years before it can build up the necessary portfolio of reserve generation. I am sorry, but that is not good enough. The productive sector is stopping production, closing down factories, and laying people off. People have to go home to cold houses and cold showers, because this Government has absolutely failed to address the predictable energy crisis. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000376\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219386ba0-5a6e-485e-abc0-5a3128b4e1f6\u0022\u003EThere are a number of problems in the energy sector. Perhaps the biggest problem is the dominance\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000377\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022330c030b-99be-4461-8aaa-9a10ee5bd889\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221e7ab060a5684fe182049fe066444501\u0022\u003EDavid Benson-Pope\u003C/span\u003E: Give us the ACT policy!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000378\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219386ba0-5a6e-485e-abc0-5a3128b4e1f6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022901b91f8b9924edab5cd4ab7057cb530\u0022\u003EHon KEN SHIRLEY\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. Yet again, the Government whip is chirping continuously.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000379\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220ed9ad81-05c1-4171-80c6-24fa02cade42\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ead1dabddf5842bf86ddce4baf9947d8\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Clem Simich)\u003C/span\u003E: I take the point. We should not have running commentaries. Brief and intelligent interjections are fine.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000380\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219386ba0-5a6e-485e-abc0-5a3128b4e1f6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022042e91efedaa42c2984443a410f89e2c\u0022\u003EHon KEN SHIRLEY\u003C/span\u003E: If we look at the energy sector in New Zealand, we can see that it is not a market-driven sector, at all. That is the problem\u2014we need more market and less Government. If we look at generation, we see that 70 percent of it is controlled by Government-owned monopolies. What have those monopolies done under this Government? They have further entrenched their monopolies by buying up the consumer base\u2014the energy companies\u2014to match their production. There is no incentive for them to offer attractive contracts to those companies to take hedges against the volatile stock market. They have entrenched their regional monopolies. Is transmission a market? I do not think so\u2014it is 100 percent owned by Government. The domestic consumer uses 40 or 50 percent of the total demand, but there are no pricing signals, because of our lack of application of new metering technologies. We still have 1930s technology in metering. It is simply not good enough. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000381\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219386ba0-5a6e-485e-abc0-5a3128b4e1f6\u0022\u003EWe then look at the broad macro-policies of this Government, and the Kyoto Protocol it so enthusiastically rushed in to sign up to. New Zealand is the only country in the Southern Hemisphere that has ratified the Kyoto Protocol. The United States has not\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000382\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e3dc3d88-a571-4ed7-a4b4-b66dedd6134b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ca4ecf4d754d4025874b0e27940d1b7d\u0022\u003EPeter Brown\u003C/span\u003E: Chile?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000383\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219386ba0-5a6e-485e-abc0-5a3128b4e1f6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a5e3f2e0a2684f37ae097a27f7b84315\u0022\u003EHon KEN SHIRLEY\u003C/span\u003E: No, Chile has not signed up to it. No Southern Hemisphere country has ratified the Kyoto Protocol\u2014that is, no annexe one country that has binding commitments. There are plenty of non - annexe one countries that have no obligation to do anything, and they are only too happy to sign up. However, no annexe one country with commitments and obligations has signed up to that protocol except dear old New Zealand. This Government tripped over itself in its rush to sign up. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000384\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219386ba0-5a6e-485e-abc0-5a3128b4e1f6\u0022\u003EWhat does it mean? It means that one puts a big tax on coal, then confiscates the carbon sequestration right to the forest and nationalises that\u2014that is, pinches it off the forest owners. Let me assure the House that the forestry sector of this country is outraged by that. I was at the Forest Research Institute last Friday where all the heads of New Zealand forestry were gathered. They said: \u201CInvestment will not take place in this country. Why would people invest in added value processing in New Zealand when they can go offshore? Firstly, the Government will confiscate people\u2019s property rights by taking their carbon for growing the trees; secondly, it will whack people with a great big tax on processing their added value, which would have created jobs here. We would rather invest somewhere else.\u201D That is coming from the big international corporates of the New Zealand forestry sector. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000385\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219386ba0-5a6e-485e-abc0-5a3128b4e1f6\u0022\u003EWhat does the Government do with that money? It taxes coal and subsidises windmills, then says that windmills are far more price-effective than coal. When the Government taxes one and gives the subsidy to the other, of course they are! Unfortunately, the socialists do not see that. They do not understand the market and how that might work. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000386\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219386ba0-5a6e-485e-abc0-5a3128b4e1f6\u0022\u003ELet us look at hydro. In a recent publication, Kerry McDonald, the former head of Comalco, identified 20,000 megawatts of untapped hydro potential development in this country. Of that, 10,000 megawatts is totally acceptable in an economic sense, and stacks up in an environmental sense. We have not had any investment in hydro in this country for over 20 years. This Government is denying access to those who are struggling to try to set it up\u2014like the Arnold River scheme on the West Coast, which Mr Damien O\u2019Connor knows all about. It is denying people access to that prime site by getting the Department of Conservation to say: \u201CNo, you can\u2019t flood that small valley of broom and gorse, because that would be unacceptable to this ecologically minded country.\u201D The Government cannot have it both ways. That Arnold River scheme is an excellent proposal. It increases generation from 15 megawatts to 65 megawatts, and it makes the West Coast and Nelson self-sufficient. This Government is totally blocking that scheme, and that is an outrage. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000387\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219386ba0-5a6e-485e-abc0-5a3128b4e1f6\u0022\u003EWe have prime coal reserves in this country, but just try to get access to them! The Pike River coal development on the West Coast, which is also in Mr Damien O\u2019Connor\u2019s electorate, has been struggling to get access from the Department of Conservation for about 8 years. It has been stonewalled every which way it wants to go. What are we doing instead? This year we are to import 600,000 tons of coal from Indonesia and Australia to try to get sufficient fuel for the Huntly power station. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000388\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219386ba0-5a6e-485e-abc0-5a3128b4e1f6\u0022\u003EAll of those problems were totally predictable. This Government sat on its hands, dragged its feet, did nothing for 4 years, then in a panic in the middle of a crisis has operated in a most inappropriate way. By the Government\u2019s own admission, that initiative will not have any effect for 3 years. My prediction is that it will make the problem worse, because it does not address the basic problems. We need more competition between generators and retailers, and we are not getting that under State monopolies. We need to ensure that our national grid is operating in an optimum way, rather than in the interests of a dividend payment from a State-owned enterprise. We need to send clearer pricing signals to consumers, amongst other reasons, to encourage appropriate energy conservation. That is far better than running an advertisement on television about saving energy. Sending a pricing signal is a far more effective way of getting the message to consumers than engaging in public education, although I accept that there is a role for public education. A pricing signal is far more effective; it always has been, and always will be. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000389\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219386ba0-5a6e-485e-abc0-5a3128b4e1f6\u0022\u003EKing Canute tried to turn back the tide. By signing up to the Kyoto Protocol, this Government is trying to change the climate. That is a bizarre and very foolish claim. Those macro-policies, and the Government\u2019s total failure to confront the pressing needs of our energy sector and the basic infrastructure of this country, will do New Zealand huge damage.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e3dc3d88-a571-4ed7-a4b4-b66dedd6134b\u0022 data-id=\u002268d0343ccddc4dc3940885574e5cbeda\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000390\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e3dc3d88-a571-4ed7-a4b4-b66dedd6134b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002268d0343ccddc4dc3940885574e5cbeda\u0022\u003EPETER BROWN (Deputy Leader\u2014NZ First):\u003C/span\u003E Electricity is not a luxury, and to have 2 years out of the last 3 where the public and our businesses have been told to save electricity is not acceptable. It indicates that somewhere along the line our political policy is off the tracks by a country mile. New Zealanders are entitled to have electricity at the push of a button whenever they want it, and wherever they want it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000391\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219386ba0-5a6e-485e-abc0-5a3128b4e1f6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002230ac4071638b4520ad349c4b79f517a0\u0022\u003EHon Ken Shirley\u003C/span\u003E: And all for free!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000392\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e3dc3d88-a571-4ed7-a4b4-b66dedd6134b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ccc942f9ecb34104ac976098fb0ae92b\u0022\u003EPETER BROWN\u003C/span\u003E: No, not all for free, but all at a reasonable price. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000393\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e3dc3d88-a571-4ed7-a4b4-b66dedd6134b\u0022\u003EWe have an abundance of sunshine in this country, and an abundance of wind. I do not know whether there is an abundance of gas, as we have yet to discover it. I suspect that it is in abundance, but yet to be tapped into. We have an abundance of coal. We are exporting close to 2 million tonnes of coal a year to places like China, Chile, India, Japan, and South Africa, and none of them are signed up to the Kyoto Protocol. We are in the daft state of exporting coal to nations that have no obligation to pay a carbon tax, or whatever, whilst we are prepared to punish ourselves for using coal. We have millions and millions of tonnes of it, and we regard it as a second-rate source of power. It just does not make sense. We should be developing coal-fired power stations to suit the needs of New Zealanders. There are 4 million people in this country, but on a world scale that is not terribly many.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000394\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e3dc3d88-a571-4ed7-a4b4-b66dedd6134b\u0022\u003E My political party has concerns about the number of immigrants, but we have double the concerns when we cannot provide enough power for the current visitors to this country. It affects our businesses, our home lives, and our tourist industry. Who would want to come to a country as nice as this, when one is allowed to have only one light on in a hotel room? It is absolutely ridiculous. In a mild winter we are seeing people turning power off left, right, and centre. We are being asked to turn off the stand-by switches on our microwaves and televisions. That is the state we have got ourselves into with the power crisis in this country.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000395\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022471dee54-f59e-4497-b3d3-c39044ce7169\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225b22c1ce5de24eadb03876b495777a9d\u0022\u003EHon Damien O\u0027Connor\u003C/span\u003E: It keeps you fit.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000396\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e3dc3d88-a571-4ed7-a4b4-b66dedd6134b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fd1c4e0f4c0d48eb908ba8f08fb04f52\u0022\u003EPETER BROWN\u003C/span\u003E: Yes, it keeps us fit all right! In the circumstances, the Government\u2019s move today to set up the Electricity Commission is a move in the right direction.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000397\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ba6fde7e-93f4-4636-9ce2-02c07007973a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c8492e86f75d42049115f0812c41436d\u0022\u003EHon Paul Swain\u003C/span\u003E: That\u2019s the first bit of positive news!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000398\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e3dc3d88-a571-4ed7-a4b4-b66dedd6134b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b81e3c266af84c37b941523a098f5676\u0022\u003EPETER BROWN\u003C/span\u003E: The member is quite amazed. Two years ago when the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Bill went through\u2014and I do not think he would deny this\u2014I told the Minister of Energy that setting up a governance board made up of industry members would not work. One cannot have a competitive environment self-regulating itself. A competitive environment is the exact opposite of a regulated regime. It was ambitious to the point of almost being stupid to expect the industry to regulate itself in any worthwhile manner. We quite welcome the Minister putting in place an Electricity Commission that is independent of the people who participate in the industry. The market will not work in the sense of social deliverance. The market does not have a social conscience, nor does it have social responsibilities.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000399\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219386ba0-5a6e-485e-abc0-5a3128b4e1f6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226301f012287f4b3180a97c7718cd241f\u0022\u003EHon Ken Shirley\u003C/span\u003E: Why does it work for food?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000400\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e3dc3d88-a571-4ed7-a4b4-b66dedd6134b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022943095ed748c4c669ccd8e9ad8759bbd\u0022\u003EPETER BROWN\u003C/span\u003E: It works for food only because there is an abundance of food. But here we are talking about a relative shortage of electricity, where it gets\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000401\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ba6fde7e-93f4-4636-9ce2-02c07007973a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221700aa92227349baba917c58defb276f\u0022\u003EHon Paul Swain\u003C/span\u003E: It\u2019s Economics 101, and you should tell him that!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000402\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022471dee54-f59e-4497-b3d3-c39044ce7169\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022a6b03ec836594e3e806ba2c4556e1b6d\u0022\u003EHon Damien O\u0027Connor\u003C/span\u003E: That\u2019s right!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000403\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e3dc3d88-a571-4ed7-a4b4-b66dedd6134b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002215b06c610efd46318c53e10def74dffe\u0022\u003EPETER BROWN\u003C/span\u003E: If I might just get this point out: the generation companies have an incentive to withhold producing electricity, because the price goes up. They can make more money from a lesser amount of electricity than opening the industry up to unlimited amounts.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000404\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219386ba0-5a6e-485e-abc0-5a3128b4e1f6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022db5acc033ef544438f2dd44bcc383a76\u0022\u003EHon Ken Shirley\u003C/span\u003E: You could have State-owned monopolies.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000405\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e3dc3d88-a571-4ed7-a4b4-b66dedd6134b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221c4a7086fb0b48dc8ae8b1bd6dcc070c\u0022\u003EPETER BROWN\u003C/span\u003E: No, because there is a lack of controls. As I said at the outset of my contribution, electricity is not a luxury. The average New Zealander wants electrical power in abundance\u2014[Interruption] A conversation is going on here that is not even involving me, and that is hurting my pride somewhat. I do not mind members heckling me, but when they are heckling across the alleyway, I think it is a little bit much. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000406\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e3dc3d88-a571-4ed7-a4b4-b66dedd6134b\u0022\u003EThis is a move in the right direction. I accept the Minister\u2019s definition that it is insurance against a 1-year-in-60 drought, but we have had 2 years of drought in 3. New Zealand First questions whether 1 year in 60 is the appropriate level of concern. We believe that it should be a good deal less than that. However, a half-cent per unit increase in the average electricity bill to 80c a week is the price we will have to pay for that sort of insurance. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000407\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e3dc3d88-a571-4ed7-a4b4-b66dedd6134b\u0022\u003EBut more should be done. New Zealand First has concerns about both electrical lines companies and gas lines companies. We believe that the Minister should take a good hard look at how they operate, how they charge, and their stipulated values. There should be some fairly forceful legislation governing their activities.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000408\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219386ba0-5a6e-485e-abc0-5a3128b4e1f6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ab313d43a6ad4eafa8957e1bef80afdb\u0022\u003EHon Ken Shirley\u003C/span\u003E: More regulation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000409\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e3dc3d88-a571-4ed7-a4b4-b66dedd6134b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c213fdebaa2f46d9a06df97d7f5b14d7\u0022\u003EPETER BROWN\u003C/span\u003E: Yes. We do not believe monopolies should exist in an unregulated environment\u2014that is putting it in a nutshell. When one gets a monopoly in an unregulated environment, sooner or later someone pays through the nose. We are conscious of the charges that will fall on old-age pensioners on fixed incomes. We are not ashamed to say that where there is a monopoly, basically there should be some regulation. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000410\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e3dc3d88-a571-4ed7-a4b4-b66dedd6134b\u0022\u003EWe certainly believe that the Kyoto Protocol should be shelved. It is absolutely ridiculous to sign that protocol in these sorts of circumstances. We will be exporting 2 million tonnes of coal to nations that will burn it largely in their power stations. They will not be paying a carbon tax, and we will be charging ourselves a carbon tax. It sounds like a Monty Python type of policy. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000411\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e3dc3d88-a571-4ed7-a4b4-b66dedd6134b\u0022\u003EWe believe that we should look at solar energy. We should be giving tax incentives\u2014favourable fiscal incentives\u2014for people to install solar power in their houses, and not just hope that they will do so because they are suffering hardship. We believe that there is a lot of scope\u2014and I am certain the Greens will agree with this\u2014for wind power, although we would hate to see those windmill things stuck all over the skyline. That would cause us more visual environmental concern\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000412\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221a59d3ae-788b-4b19-b7dd-7d0e29a626fc\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022eb1816267d8a453c8c20d49f9915cb66\u0022\u003EHon Brian Donnelly\u003C/span\u003E: Visual pollution!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000413\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e3dc3d88-a571-4ed7-a4b4-b66dedd6134b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223480ced2b88b4e9bb04d61095511e518\u0022\u003EPETER BROWN\u003C/span\u003E: My colleague calls it visual pollution. There is a limit to what we can do with windmills. They are quite ugly looking things\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000414\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226e7bfee5-ac9c-4ae2-b85d-7d3b7a785561\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222aed126bd4c74c8c880e2fe2cf4cd251\u0022\u003ERod Donald\u003C/span\u003E: They are relatively benign.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000415\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e3dc3d88-a571-4ed7-a4b4-b66dedd6134b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ffb70064e2974c0abde7307e236b36f7\u0022\u003EPETER BROWN\u003C/span\u003E: Mr Donald can have them stuck in his back garden as his scenic view, but I do not want to see any of them near me. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000416\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e3dc3d88-a571-4ed7-a4b4-b66dedd6134b\u0022\u003EI should finally come back to coal. There is an argument, which I saw on a television programme, that one of the biggest disadvantages of coal is that it produces carbon dioxide. Let me tell this House that there is technology that will eliminate carbon dioxide from coal-burning power plants. It is fairly costly, but the cost is coming down in leaps and bounds. Therefore we should be developing coal-fired power stations, which ultimately will not be pumping out carbon dioxide at all. We should also be getting ahead of the act, not waiting for that technology to occur. It is better to have a power plant pushing out some carbon dioxide and feeding the public cheap electricity, instead of the public pushing it out with open coal or wood-burning fires. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000417\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e3dc3d88-a571-4ed7-a4b4-b66dedd6134b\u0022\u003ETo summarise, the Minister has moved somewhat in the right direction, but there is still a long way to go.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00226e7bfee5-ac9c-4ae2-b85d-7d3b7a785561\u0022 data-id=\u002247c5a16f5db04bf1ab723f1da2968051\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000418\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226e7bfee5-ac9c-4ae2-b85d-7d3b7a785561\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002247c5a16f5db04bf1ab723f1da2968051\u0022\u003EROD DONALD (Co-Leader\u2014Green):\u003C/span\u003E New Zealand faces two challenges in respect of energy. The first is to get through this winter. The second is to start being a lot smarter about both how we generate and how we use electricity and all forms of energy. This year we see a dry year and the depletion of the Maui gasfield coinciding. Neither of those events is a surprise. The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research warned several years ago that rainfalls were likely to be lower in the future than in the recent past. That is in part due to global climate change, and to our collective failure as a nation, and as a species, to take any action to lower carbon dioxide emissions in the last 15 years. The Greens warned 30 years ago that burning Maui gas to generate electricity wasted two-thirds of the energy value of that gas\u2014one-third electricity, two-thirds waste heat. An asset that could have lasted a century has been burnt off in less than one-third of that time. It has warmed the planet needlessly and cooked a few fish in the Waikato River in the process. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000419\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226e7bfee5-ac9c-4ae2-b85d-7d3b7a785561\u0022\u003EGetting through this winter requires a collective effort to conserve electricity. It needs an extra effort by those who are wealthy and are large energy users to reduce their power consumption, so that those with little do not freeze in the dark. Squandering energy through conspicuous consumption is obscene at the best of times, and in today\u2019s circumstances it is a crime. Either way, it is time for everyone to systematically reduce the energy demand through increased energy efficiency\u2014that is, doing more with less for longer. Will today\u2019s announcement achieve that goal? No it will not, and we are extremely disappointed in the Government for failing to tackle the essential challenge. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000420\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226e7bfee5-ac9c-4ae2-b85d-7d3b7a785561\u0022\u003EBut we welcome the end of a very expensive 2-year experiment that was bound to fail. New Zealand is the only country in the world that has been trying to run an electricity market with no regulation other than an officially sanctioned cartel. That is the type of silliness that emerged from the 1990s, when one was either a central planner or a libertarian, and rational debate on economic management in different sectors was largely absent. Max Bradford and the previous National Government have a lot to answer for. One reason the Greens supported the Minister\u2019s legislation in 2001\u2014an attempt to fix up Max Bradford\u2019s \u201Cmore market\u201D reforms\u2014was that it contained the power to create a Crown board to regulate the industry if self-regulation failed. It has failed, and that power is now being used to create the Electricity Commission. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000421\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226e7bfee5-ac9c-4ae2-b85d-7d3b7a785561\u0022\u003EThe electricity sector should operate for the public good. It should operate reliably, sustainably, and cost effectively. The Government issued a very good energy policy statement in 2000, setting out what it expected from the electricity industry: security of supply, the minimising of greenhouse gases, the minimising of spills of water from the dams, the encouragement of new renewable forms of energy, and the encouragement of participation from consumers in the market. We had input into that statement, and we support it. What we have lacked so far is anyone who is accountable for whether the system is delivering those outcomes. So we welcome the new board, which will have that responsibility. The provision that the Greens put in the 2001 legislation will now start to produce results. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000422\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226e7bfee5-ac9c-4ae2-b85d-7d3b7a785561\u0022\u003EEvery year, the Auditor-General and the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment must report to Parliament on whether the electricity industry is meeting the requirements of the Government\u2019s policy statement, and if not, what rules need to be changed so that it will. They will have the benefit of the best international expertise to help with that. From today\u2019s announcement, there will be a board that can be held responsible for meeting those goals. The jury is still out on whether the new board will achieve those goals, but when the audit reports come in we will have the information to judge that. After the ideology and information vacuum in terms of energy policy since 1987, informed and relatively disinterested advice will be welcome. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000423\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226e7bfee5-ac9c-4ae2-b85d-7d3b7a785561\u0022\u003EThat is the end of the good news. Today\u2019s announcement by the Labour Government will not help us to get through this winter. It will not help the climate, and it will not help us to be smarter in using energy. For this winter, the only solution is to engage every business, every Government department, every family, every school, and every New Zealander in making sensible savings, to the extent that we can. For the future, we need an economy in which greater energy efficiency is seen as a better alternative to a new power station, and in which people and businesses are rewarded for saving every year\u2014not just in a dry year\u2014so we do not need large, idle power stations that we pay for but rarely use. Our country needs some dry-year capacity\u2014we acknowledge that\u2014but with the proper investment in renewables and energy efficiency, that could be provided from existing plant coupled with demand-side bids from the larger users.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000424\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226e7bfee5-ac9c-4ae2-b85d-7d3b7a785561\u0022\u003EIn simple terms, buying the right to turn off a potline at Comalco, or the equivalent, for 3 months in a 1-in-60 dry-year is the equivalent of buying a new power station that can generate 5 percent more electricity in that dry year\u2014and it is much, much cheaper. That is the least that Comalco should be asked to do, given that it gets its power for a fraction of what householders have to pay and for less than any other business user. Buying from the demand side would make better economic sense than having resources permanently tied up in a power station and everyone paying higher power prices for it. If the Electricity Governance Board is to tender for dry-year capacity it must call for demand-side bids, as well. Hopefully, innovative generators will join up with their large users and put in bids that combine some new capacity and some demand-side management. Even that would be better than nothing at all from the demand side. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000425\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226e7bfee5-ac9c-4ae2-b85d-7d3b7a785561\u0022\u003ESome people seem to think that the problem this winter is that we lack enough power stations. They blame the Resource Management Act, the occupational health and safety legislation, M\u0101ori, and whomever else they want to take a swipe at. The facts say otherwise. Since the electricity market began in 1996, New Zealand has built over 1,300 megawatts of new capacity. That is 1.3 Huntly power stations. That new capacity generates almost 10,000 gigawatt hours, or around one-quarter of our total electricity use in an average year. Around 120 megawatts of new wind capacity has been announced in the last couple of weeks, and two thermal power stations are just waiting for the gas to allow them to be built. The fundamental problem is that we use what we have so inefficiently. If electricity demand grows at 5 percent a year, we will have to double the whole system in 14 years and double it again 14 years later. That is four times our current generating capacity in 28 years from now. That is a path to disaster. That path is as predictable as the Maui gasfield\u2019s depletion was 30 years ago. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000426\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226e7bfee5-ac9c-4ae2-b85d-7d3b7a785561\u0022\u003EFortunately, there is an alternative. New Zealand can have an economy that develops without using more electricity per capita. Many European countries have done that for years, and some New Zealand regions are doing so now. For 30 years, the Greens have been promoting a whole host of measures, including the direct use of gas for heating rather than gas-fired electricity, the insulation of homes, water-heaters, and refrigeration in industry, compact fluorescent lights, the direct solar heating of homes and water, wind generation of electricity, properly sizing industrial motors to their loads, and wood-waste - fired boilers in the forestry industry. If the Governments of the 1970s, the 1980s, and the 1990s had done those things we would not be talking about an energy crisis today, and old people would not be worried about freezing in the dark this winter. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000427\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226e7bfee5-ac9c-4ae2-b85d-7d3b7a785561\u0022\u003EThanks to the Greens, we have the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act, an energy efficiency strategy, and renewables targets, yet the amount that the Government is putting into efficiency and conservation is miniscule\u2014less than 1 percent of the cost of Project Aqua alone, and little more than the $7 million largely wasted by the industry governance board led by David Caygill. New Zealand had the opportunity to lead the world, yet the answers given in this House at times seem to be that we should dam all the rivers, pollute the skies, and sacrifice our biosecurity\u2014do anything but turn out the light when one leaves the room. Do people seriously advocate a future in which our precious energy resources continue to be wasted and we build ever more power stations to feed that culture of waste? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000428\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226e7bfee5-ac9c-4ae2-b85d-7d3b7a785561\u0022\u003EOur children deserve a better legacy than that miserable \u201Cbusiness as usual\u201D approach. To borrow a quote from The Six Million Dollar Man 30 years ago, \u201Cwe have the parts, we have the technology\u201D, and we can rebuild an energy-efficient sustainable economy. What we have lacked for three decades is the political will to do so. As Labour said in 1972, at around the time that the Maui contracts were signed, it is time for a change. That change must be that the Government stops trying to fly on one wing. Instead of excluding demand-side management, it must give that more weight than supply-side measures. In fact, demand-side management provides both the insurance policy that the Government needs and the means to reduce the possibility of ever needing to make an insurance claim. If Labour will not adopt what 30 years\u2019 experience tells us is the only common-sense solution to this ongoing crisis, then it is indeed time for a change.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00225cee6a89-68e3-40fd-b2d8-d8adb0ba5da0\u0022 data-id=\u00229caee131f0f343a7b936310724b261bf\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000429\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225cee6a89-68e3-40fd-b2d8-d8adb0ba5da0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00229caee131f0f343a7b936310724b261bf\u0022\u003EGORDON COPELAND (United Future):\u003C/span\u003E It would be remiss of me to begin without taking a moment to congratulate the Minister of Energy on, at long last, taking some action on the very urgent problems that face this country in relation to electricity. For some years now we have had an unregulated electricity market, and we had piously hoped that an invisible hand would be there to prevent this kind of situation from arising. As Peter Brown pointed out, one cannot have a self-governing market that is, at one and the same time, a competitive market. I am therefore very, very pleased that we will at last have a visible hand: somebody who will actually be in charge of this extremely important sector. I therefore congratulate the Minister on the announcement that the Electricity Commission will be established. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000430\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225cee6a89-68e3-40fd-b2d8-d8adb0ba5da0\u0022\u003EI also believe that the Minister and the Government are right in putting before the people of New Zealand a soundly based and well-thought-through scheme to put aside reserve electricity generation capacity for those years when the rain does not fall and we have extremely dry conditions. It is all very well to criticise that action, but we need to come up with a solution by way of an alternative. I think the suggestion that has been put forward by the Government is a sensible one. It is compatible too with the free-market nature of the industry. I think people have thought simplistically that there is only one side to the issue\u2014that we will just build new reserve capacity, take it out of the market, and set it to one side so that it will be there when required. That is partly valid\u2014it is exactly what the Americans, for example, have done in relation to their strategic oil reserves. But, in fact, the issue is far more complex than that. Rod Donald mentioned the demand side, and that will also feature in this scheme, because, as I understand it, New Zealanders are being asked to buy an insurance premium to set aside reserve generating capacity. I think that is a very, very sensible thing to do. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000431\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225cee6a89-68e3-40fd-b2d8-d8adb0ba5da0\u0022\u003EHowever, I want to say immediately that my vision of the future of this country is very different from that of the previous speaker, Rod Donald of the Green Party. I believe that this country\u2019s social and economic future is heavily dependent on our being able to continue to provide efficient, low-cost, and reliable energy not only to our households but also to our industries. Every facet of our life\u2014be it cellphones, computers, or whatever\u2014is dependent on electricity. We simply need the stuff to keep our society functioning and our economy growing. For example, we need $3 billion of new investment in the wood processing industry, and we cannot process that wood here without a reliable source of energy through electricity. It is therefore a real concern to me\u2014as I know it is to every New Zealander\u2014that we are in this unfortunate crisis right now. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000432\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225cee6a89-68e3-40fd-b2d8-d8adb0ba5da0\u0022\u003EWe can sit here and apportion blame for the crisis, and in the eyes of New Zealanders blame will rest first with the Government. New Zealanders do elect Governments to foresee such problems and to solve them in advance, yet that clearly has not happened here. Some, of course, will then point the bone\u2014as happened today\u2014at Genesis Energy and say it should have had its stockpile of coal in place, so that we did not have to import the jolly stuff. I am sure that Genesis Energy will point the bone at Solid Energy, and say it would not give Genesis Energy the coal at the price it wanted to pay. Putting all that aside, the bottom line is that New Zealanders are angry and upset. They are asking how on earth we have got into this situation. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000433\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225cee6a89-68e3-40fd-b2d8-d8adb0ba5da0\u0022\u003EIn every crisis there is a bit of a silver lining to the cloud, and in this case the crisis has made people focus on some issues that we have been ignoring. One of them is the reserve electricity generation that we have already mentioned, and I am pleased that action has been taken about that. The other thing is just to ask ourselves some big-picture questions. One of those big-picture questions must surely be why it is that in a nation with many lakes and rivers and much hydro capacity we have not, for many years, been building new hydro schemes. That has not applied just under this present Government; it also extends back to the previous National-led Government, and probably to the Government before that. We have put in place a whole lot of self-imposed rules to stop hydro schemes from being developed. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000434\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225cee6a89-68e3-40fd-b2d8-d8adb0ba5da0\u0022\u003EPeople have gone to the Department of Conservation with hydro scheme proposals around the Rotorua lakes, the Mohaka River, the Motu River, the Raukokere River, the Karamea River, the Ngakawau River, the Arnold River, and the Beaumont area on the Clutha River in Central Otago. Those people have all basically said they had a good scheme that should be allowed to go ahead because it would have fantastic environmental outcomes. They have been consistently told they could not go ahead, because the schemes involved the conservation estate. Some people tell me that as many as 38 potential schemes have not gone ahead because of the way in which the Conservation Act has been set up. We need to understand what has caused that problem, because it is a systemic problem that has cost this country dearly. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000435\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225cee6a89-68e3-40fd-b2d8-d8adb0ba5da0\u0022\u003EInstead of taking advantage of the natural resource that we have in hydro electricity, we have foolishly put a barrier in the way, so that we cannot use our own water. The simple problem is this: under the Conservation Act, the Minister of Conservation is set up to be an advocate for conservation values. That is a well-thought-through, proper function for a Minister of the Crown to have. Like every other New Zealander, I appreciate the wonderful environment that this country has, and I do not want to see our conservation estate damaged, either. But if the Minister is an advocate, we have to ask ourselves whom he advocates to. Normally, the function of an advocate is to put a case to a judge, who will look at the facts on both sides of an argument and come up with an adjudication that is in the interests of the nation. That is what is lacking under our present system. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000436\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225cee6a89-68e3-40fd-b2d8-d8adb0ba5da0\u0022\u003EWe have no ability to take hydro scheme proposals to an independent judge\u2014be it the Environment Court or a specially appointed arbitrator; it does not matter which it is. We are not able to take those proposals forward, and argue through, on the one hand, the conservation values, and, on the other hand, the need of this nation for efficient, low-cost, renewable, and sustainable electricity. We desperately need to make the very most of this country\u2019s comparative competitive advantages, and electricity could, and should, be one of those for New Zealand. We really have only ourselves to blame for being in this situation. We have to get that right. United Future is therefore calling upon the Government to urgently undertake a review of the Conservation Act, and to address the problem to which I am alluding. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000437\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225cee6a89-68e3-40fd-b2d8-d8adb0ba5da0\u0022\u003EIn many of these situations we can have genuine win-win situations. Yes, we can have a hydro dam, and we can also have a lake that is good for recreation. We can put an island in the lake and make it a sanctuary for birdlife. We can make sure that we put other pieces of land into the conservation estate to compensate for any loss of forests, and so on and so forth. That is not really rocket science. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000438\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225cee6a89-68e3-40fd-b2d8-d8adb0ba5da0\u0022\u003EThe other thing that we need to recognise\u2014and I asked the Minister a question about this today, but I am not sure that he understood the question\u2014is that the Electricity Commission should also be charged with the task of minimising dry-risk conditions. I believe that that should be one of its basic terms of reference, because there are ways of doing that. First of all, we have already been told in this House that the forecast is for more rain on the western than on the eastern side of the main divide in the South Island. One therefore does not have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that we need to develop more hydro capacity on the west, which could offset the occurrence of a dry year when it kicks in. The second thing that we are overlooking is wind. New Zealand has enormous wind capacity. Some people estimate that we could have many, many thousands of megawatts of wind generation in this country. I heard my colleague Peter Brown talk about visual pollution from windmills\u2014well, heck, there are plenty of places where we could build them where we would not even see the jolly things. Wind is a free, sustainable, and renewable energy source. In my view, we should have hydro and wind generation at the top of the pile. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000439\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00225cee6a89-68e3-40fd-b2d8-d8adb0ba5da0\u0022\u003EI am not opposed to burning coal to make electricity, but it is a non-renewable fuel. It emits carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and it could well be more expensive than wind or hydro. So what about some common sense and logic? We could have a national goal of saying that we want renewable, sustainable, low-cost electricity for the future of this nation, and all parties of this Parliament could collectively focus on coming up with some answers. I think that would be the only thing that would now mitigate the anger that New Zealanders feel about this matter.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022 data-id=\u00225373661758e845ae973c6e92f4548129\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000440\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00225373661758e845ae973c6e92f4548129\u0022\u003EGERRY BROWNLEE (NZ National\u2014Ilam):\u003C/span\u003E Today\u2019s announcements by the Government are nothing more than spin, and offer absolutely no solution. Not one person in this country will be spared power cuts, if they are needed later this winter, as a result of this announcement, and not one community will be spared hot water cuts, if they are needed later this winter, as a result of this announcement. But what we can be certain of is that the coffers of the Government will swell in the next 12 months by some $200 million levied against those shivering consumers.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000441\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EIt is amazing that we have just broken the Budget debate to talk about this new announcement. The Budget was hailed not only as a somewhat bland document but also as one that did not introduce any new taxes for New Zealanders. Well, what have we had in this House in the last couple of weeks? The first thing we had was the sherry tax\u2014the tax levied on those elderly New Zealanders who like to have a glass of sherry in the evenings. That was levied by Helen Clark and her Government against those people. Today we have another $200 million tax levied against consumers of electricity, simply so that the Government can hold its head up, and say: \u201CHow clever we are! We\u2019ve come up with some solution to this 1-in-60-years crisis.\u201D Taxing people for future electricity needs is not an answer.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000442\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EToday in the House the Minister of Energy stood up and said that some 1,400 megawatts of new generation would come on stream during his time as Minister. If that is the case, I think it begs the question: under what conditions were the investment decisions made for those 1,400 megawatts of generation to be commissioned? The reality is that those decisions were made in the current environment, without any suggestion that there might be some other Government body that would subsidise such investment in the future.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000443\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EIt seems just incredible to me that the Minister can say that the Government has all these proposals and expects them to come on stream over the next few years, but that it needs a bit extra, so it is going to make New Zealanders pay over the odds for that extra bit of generation. If, in fact, we need more generation, and if companies have, in the current environment, committed themselves to it, why do we need this new bureaucracy? Why do we need this new tax? Well, I think it is just a precursor to a whole range of changes coming into the electricity industry. I think today\u2019s announcements, when they are fully published, will show in the detail the devil of this decision. It seems to me unrealistic to suggest that a Government can set up a bureaucracy\u2014this new commission for electrical energy\u2014and expect that body somehow to solve all the problems that exist in very unusual circumstances. All that that body can do is tax. That is the power that this authority is given today.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000444\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EI am thinking about why no new generation to speak of has come on stream in New Zealand in the last few years. Between 1996 and 1999 some 1,250 megawatts of new generation were put in place, but since the year 2000 only 166 megawatts of new generation have come on stream, and more than 105 of those were from the second tail race at Manapouri, which was begun under the previous Government. So we have had massive under-investment in generating capacity, at a time when our economy has been growing strongly and the population of the country has been expanding. Who is to blame for that? Well, the blame lies squarely with the Government and the policies of the day that have prevented that investment.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000445\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EThose policies include allowing the Resource Management Act to become so cumbersome that it now takes years and years, and millions of dollars, for anyone to get a new generation proposal off the ground. They also include the Conservation Act and the discretion it gives to Ministers, who would far rather protect patches of scrubby gorse than allow a development that might make some parts of the country more self-sufficient in hydro-electricity. They have also to do with the commitment this very bad Labour Government has made to the Kyoto Protocol. New Zealand has 1,000 years of current energy requirements stored in the ground as coal, yet can it be used? It can, but only if people are prepared to pay somewhere between $52 and $80 per tonne in Kyoto Protocol tax on top of the cost of extraction and sale. Effectively, that commitment doubled the cost of one of New Zealand\u2019s few natural resources. Members can sit there shaking their heads. I would, too. Clearly, they are incredulous that their Minister could be so stupid as to so quickly sign us up to something that our near neighbours, our trading partners\u2014Australia, the United States, and others\u2014have yet to commit to.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000446\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EIt is also about the lack of gas supply in this country. We have a dreadful situation looming in 2004. If people think we have problems with hydro storage now, they should wait until about this time next year, when there will be a real scramble for the remaining Maui gas. It is evident that there is no large gasfield coming on stream before 2006 or 2007, so there will be a period when there is quite considerable constraint on the ability of generators to rely on gas supply, and that points to another crisis within, perhaps, 12 months. These decisions today will make no difference to that whatsoever.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000447\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EIt is also a little bit concerning that, despite the assurances of Helen Clark, the Waitangi Tribunal is now taking a rather unhealthy interest in the gas and oil reserves that this country may have. It simply begs the question: if we are already running short of supply in those areas because, over a period of years, there has not been the sort of exploration that there should have been, why would any private company come here to make substantial investments, when it would not know what the ultimate cost of extraction would be, because it might have to pay some sort of levy or royalty through the decisions of the Waitangi Tribunal? We cannot trust Helen Clark when she says it is not going to happen, because she is the same Prime Minister who said there would be no new taxes, and who, in the last 2 weeks, has had us here in the House inflicting new taxes on New Zealanders.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000448\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EThe way forward for New Zealand is quite clear. There needs to be a commitment to shorten the process of getting resource consent for these projects. Where a national interest like this is involved, there is a need for people to be able to go directly to the Environment Court\u2014not in any way to get away from their environmental responsibilities, but simply to get a defining hearing much, much sooner than would normally be expected. There is also a need to recognise that, with so much coal in the ground, and with the capacity these days to burn that coal cleanly, with emission levels way below World Health Organization standards, perhaps it is time for us to say that maybe the Kyoto Protocol is not such a good idea for New Zealand. There is also a need to encourage much more gas and oil exploration in our potential offshore and onshore fields.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000449\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EI am disappointed by the Government\u2019s response today. This is a tax grab. It is a headline. It is nothing but spin. New Zealand consumers are going to pay $200 million a year, year after year, for reserve capacity that will not be in place any sooner than 2007 or 2008, if ever. Then, according to the Minister\u2019s own press release, these reserves will be withheld from the market until those dry years, when they will be released into the market at a higher price. So New Zealanders are being asked to pay twice, and anyone who thinks that is a good idea does not deserve a place in this House. New Zealanders can be well disappointed with the way the Government has handled this crisis. It was evident from all the signals last December and January that we were heading for this. The Government did nothing and it has done nothing today.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022ba6fde7e-93f4-4636-9ce2-02c07007973a\u0022 data-id=\u00227717f650473a4c0fb356dcb845c0fed2\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000450\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ba6fde7e-93f4-4636-9ce2-02c07007973a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00227717f650473a4c0fb356dcb845c0fed2\u0022\u003EHon PAUL SWAIN (Minister of Transport):\u003C/span\u003E The good thing about this debate is that it has now flushed out two \u201Ccold shower\u201D parties. The National Party and the ACT party are in a grand \u201CCold Shower Coalition\u201D. From that supposed spokesperson on energy for the National Party we heard that the way to fix the problem is to fix the Resource Management Act. That was the simple answer. Well, let us have a think about this. Which party introduced the Resource Management Act?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000451\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222a849ed4-a817-45a7-8b86-dbc9dd210193\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00225976e4263ebb487ebcfd14e479e4ce34\u0022\u003EJill Pettis\u003C/span\u003E: Ah, I think it was National.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000452\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ba6fde7e-93f4-4636-9ce2-02c07007973a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226bf4c048e9b948ca9310756d0b728e73\u0022\u003EHon PAUL SWAIN\u003C/span\u003E: It was the National Party. That is right. That is indeed right.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000453\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227772a0d64f5e4a998ccc6b74dcf39460\u0022\u003EGerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. Just before the Minister gets too carried away, he should realise that the Resource Management Act was the brainchild of Sir Geoffrey Palmer.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000454\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270fa4cbd-9380-4916-9f2a-78da059d220e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223d79a119c9ac43e7a994615fb1078566\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson)\u003C/span\u003E: That is a debating issue.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000455\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ba6fde7e-93f4-4636-9ce2-02c07007973a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00222497646818d5423584d2431581fbf274\u0022\u003EHon PAUL SWAIN\u003C/span\u003E: It was jointly supported by the National Party, and passed under the National Party. That was the point I was about to make.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000456\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022ba6fde7e-93f4-4636-9ce2-02c07007973a\u0022\u003EThe second thing the member forgot to mention on his way through his ramble was that 1,300 megawatts of new generation have received resource consent since 2000. That is true. There has been an extra 1,300 megawatts since the year 2000, and the reason that they have not come on stream\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000457\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022136d1a89a86648169a834dfb936d5c01\u0022\u003EGerry Brownlee\u003C/span\u003E: We do these things in a timely fashion, and it is timely for me to seek leave of the House to table a parliamentary question answered by the Minister of Energy, telling me that fewer than 500 megawatts of new generation have been consented to since the year 2000.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000458\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e6b4dc55-3561-49a8-a871-ae005354ef90\u0022\u003EDocument not tabled.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000459\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022107107\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227a3358de7930417faf83c5c624860bf0\u0022\u003EHon PAUL SWAIN\u003C/span\u003E: The point of the matter is that the member said that if we fix the Resource Management Act, everything will be all right; if we fix the Act we will fix this problem.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000460\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022107107\u0022\u003EOne of the galling things for people on the Government side of the House is to be lectured about electricity by National Party members. What an outrage! It is absolutely unbelievable. Let us talk about Max Bradford. Shall we talk about Max Bradford? He was conveniently forgotten when the previous speaker wandered through his musings. What did Max Bradford do? He threw the entire industry into the air and created chaos and confusion. He split lines companies and power companies, and forced their sale. He privatised Contact Energy, then decided he would pray at the altar of the free market. He said that if all of that were done, power prices would come down. Well, one did not have to be an economist, an engineer, or a rocket scientist to work out that power prices went up. What should have come down went up, and what was up, and should have come down, went the other way. It is absolutely outrageous.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000461\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022107107\u0022\u003EThen, of course, we had the ACT party\u2014another \u201Ccold shower\u201D party. What was the policy of Ken Shirley from the ACT party? There was no policy, actually. As the Minister of Energy said, if we were to look for the policy response from the ACT party, we would find there is nothing there. It is just a hollow shadow. I suppose that when push comes to shove and ACT members have to try to provide an answer, it is the market\u2014the market will solve the problem. We have heard some absolute gems from a number of people in the ACT party. We have had Mr Prebble himself saying that if we were to have more market, it would solve the problem. This is a direct quote from Mr Prebble: \u201CThis regulation will remove the possibility of a market solution while distorting the energy sector further. What is wrong with the energy sector is that there is not enough market.\u201D That is what Mr Prebble said, but he forgot to mention that the fact of the matter is the market has failed. The Government gave the energy sector a couple of years to sort itself out, because that sector had told it not to worry about regulating it\u2014it would fix the problem. But it has not. Mr Peter Brown is absolutely right when he says that we cannot have a proper, organised electricity supply when big generators with confused interests are competing against each other. The problem is that there has been too much market.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000462\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022107107\u0022\u003EIf we ask the New Zealand public whether they would rather have cold showers and a market solution, or hot showers under the arrangements that have been announced by the Government today, we will learn that the vast majority of people in New Zealand tonight welcome what the Government has done, and are saying that, finally, it has fixed the problem. Those arrangements will cost roughly 80c a week, and are not a tax but an insurance policy. That is what people want\u2014they want an insurance policy\u2014and if we are to have an insurance policy for the dry year, we have to pay an insurance premium of the order of 80c per week to have security of supply.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000463\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022107107\u0022\u003ELet us go through some of the provisions, because maybe a lot of people have not actually heard them. Listening to some of the speeches that have been made today, it is clear to me that a number of people on the Opposition benches have not even bothered to read the statement or the speech. Instead, they had a conversation with their keyboards about a week ago, and banged out a response to what the Government is doing. There are some really key elements of this initiative that I want to outline.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000464\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022107107\u0022\u003EThe first is that the new Electricity Commission will be established independent of the industry, and charged with maintaining security of supply to a 1-in-60 dry-year risk level without public conservation campaigns. This was the point that Gordon Copeland raised. It is precisely one of the terms of reference that the commission will have. It says to the industry that we need some insurance, that we need to have it sorted out and resolved, that we are not going to rely on the market to deliver it, and that we have to have an independent group that determines it and brings it on stream. How will it do that? It will do that by contracting with generators for reserve generation and fuel for use in very dry years. It will mean some planning. One of the things that is appalling about this situation is that there has been a lack of planning.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000465\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022107107\u0022\u003EThe reserve generation\u2014in answer to a couple of comments from the Leader of the Opposition, who will not be there for long; one can see that when he makes a speech on energy\u2014will be ring-fenced from the market, to ensure that enough ordinary new generation will continue to be built. So the reserve generation is ring-fenced away from the normal generation increases, to ensure it is there only in reserve. As I have said, the additional cost of the reserve generation, overall, will be less than half a cent a unit\u2014around 80c a week\u2014and spot price volatility in dry years will be significantly reduced. Some of the manufacturers and the big companies have been coming to us to say that, with the market arrangement, they have had difficulty in trying to plan, and difficulty in trying to get hedge contracts. How can they plan? Electricity spot prices are moving up and down to the point where they cannot plan.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000466\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022107107\u0022\u003EIt is fair to say that the National and ACT parties have no solution. They do not know what they are doing. They are the \u201Ccold shower\u201D parties. The public will see today that, finally, we have a solution. It is to provide reserve capacity, and to make sure not only that companies have energy to be able to deliver the growth we need in New Zealand, but that ordinary New Zealanders are able to have the lifestyle they have become accustomed to. The public of New Zealand will congratulate the Government on the initiatives it has announced today.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000467\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022107107\u0022\u003EThe debate having concluded, the motion lapsed.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022HpsHansard\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000468\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsProceedingHeading\u0022 id=\u002271eee616c7c3441ab12ac6edf90055ff\u0022\u003EBudget Debate\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000470\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsSubjectHeading\u0022 id=\u0022a8cfd2e645e2459e8ffca9329f8c631a\u0022\u003EBudget Debate\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000469\u0022\u003EDebate resumed from 15 May on the Appropriation (2003/04 Estimates) Bill.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022f8b92f47-d078-4e6a-b4c6-136913bda55d\u0022 data-id=\u0022fd366f88d7654c68a6571dc0660a1e44\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000471\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f8b92f47-d078-4e6a-b4c6-136913bda55d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022fd366f88d7654c68a6571dc0660a1e44\u0022\u003ESUE BRADFORD (Green):\u003C/span\u003E When Dr Cullen delivered his 2003 Budget last week he was obviously proud of its modesty and conservatism, and unashamed of the fact that he is boasting of a $4 billion surplus and giving millions of dollars to rich men\u2019s yacht races while a third of our country\u2019s children continue to live in poverty.  When people like business owners and farmers have a decent surplus, that is the time that they are most likely to invest in future production, whether it is to improve the fertility of the soil or the stock, to expand productivity, or to do any number of a range of useful things. People like Dr Cullen would, I am sure, commend such farmers and business people on their fiscal wisdom in following such strategies. However, when we have a directly analogous situation with a large Government surplus, what does the Minister do?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000472\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f8b92f47-d078-4e6a-b4c6-136913bda55d\u0022\u003ERather than investing in that part of society that has the greatest need, and from which our highest social, judicial, economic, and educational costs derive, Labour has seen fit to put off\u2014possibly indefinitely\u2014any real or substantial increase in support for low-income families and children. As Susan St John from the Child Poverty Action Group said, in the group\u2019s post-Budget briefing last Friday: \u201CThe poorest children in New Zealand\u2014around 300,000 of them\u2014do not even get a crumb, not even a lick of the ice cream, because their parents\u2019 incomes are below these thresholds.\u201D She was referring to the fact that although Dr Cullen increased the thresholds for the abatement of family support, that action had no impact at all on the many families who live below the threshold level already. While giving an increase of $34.5 million over 4 years to raise income thresholds for family support, the child tax credit, and the parental tax credit, the actual effect of that increase will be to lift the threshold by less than $500. The movement on thresholds simply equates to forecast inflation for this year, and does nothing to address the underlying issue that there have been no inflation adjustments since their inception.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000473\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f8b92f47-d078-4e6a-b4c6-136913bda55d\u0022\u003E As all of us are aware from briefing papers from the Ministry of Social Development to the incoming Government in late 2002, even after one term of a Labour Government 30 percent of New Zealand children are still living in poverty. Research done by the ministry itself and by others also continues to show strong links between poverty and all sorts of other negative outcomes, and the effects of poverty continue to cost the New Zealand taxpayer immeasurable amounts each year. It is foolish to save money now for a retirement fund when we will be paying for it later with, to name just a few: an ongoing high number of people on the unemployment benefit and all the other benefits that mask unemployment; continuing high rates of truancy, now probably caused, in many cases, by the housing transience that so many poor families suffer; high criminal offending rates; lower productivity due to shortages of skilled and educated workers; and increased hospitalisation of children. Children from the 20 percent of homes in which families bring in the lowest incomes of all are three times more likely to be sick than those from the top 20 percent of homes.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000474\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f8b92f47-d078-4e6a-b4c6-136913bda55d\u0022\u003EIn the past, New Zealand has seen itself as a country that looks after its children. However, in recent studies New Zealand falls well below other countries in the provision of financial assistance to families. Even the UK, after years of Thatcherism, retains to this day a universal child benefit paid at a reasonably high level, regardless of family income and the source of that family income. The assistance offered to families by our neighbour, Australia, also remains more generous than ours, with a maximum tax credit of NZ$66 a week for every child under 13 years, abating from NZ$32,000 up to NZ$83,000, when it goes to zero. New Zealand rates are currently $47 a week, with abatement starting at $20,000.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000475\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f8b92f47-d078-4e6a-b4c6-136913bda55d\u0022\u003EIn one recent UK study, New Zealand was ranked 17th out of 22 countries looked at in terms of Government assistance to children. This is a disgrace, and the Green Party believes that there are a number of things this Budget should have contained, if this Government really had a serious commitment to ending child poverty, and to reducing entrenched social and economic inequities in our country.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000476\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f8b92f47-d078-4e6a-b4c6-136913bda55d\u0022\u003EFirst of all, the child tax credit should be extended to all families, including beneficiaries. This would cost around $250 million\u20146 percent of the Budget surplus. Secondly, the Green Party would like to see an increased level of family support to reflect actual changes in the cost of living since it was first introduced in 1988. Further, the level of the parental income threshold should be raised to reflect the cost of living increases since the payments were introduced, and not just that for this year\u2019s cost of living.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000477\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f8b92f47-d078-4e6a-b4c6-136913bda55d\u0022\u003EThirdly, we believe that this Budget, in a year of surplus, should have introduced a universal child benefit. New Zealand is one of the few countries in the world that continues to have targeted, rather than universal, financial support for children. The Green Party went into last year\u2019s election campaigning for the immediate introduction of a universal child benefit, like the old family benefit, at a very modest rate of $15 a week for the first child and $10 a week for second and subsequent children. We estimate that this would cost approximately $600 million a year to implement, or 15 percent of Dr Cullen\u2019s surplus. To take a quick look at an historical comparison, the New Zealand family benefit became fully universal in 1946, and was paid then at a rate of 10/- a week per child. That was equivalent to 1 day\u2019s pay for a labourer. Today, on minimum wages, that would equate to $61.60 a week per child, which makes what the Green Party is asking for look very restrained indeed. After all, research shows that a couple with four children need 69 percent more income to have the same standard living as they would without children. Do we want a society without children?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000478\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f8b92f47-d078-4e6a-b4c6-136913bda55d\u0022\u003EThis Labour Government should be acting now, while it can, to meet the desperate needs of families with children today, especially those who are struggling the hardest, no matter what their source of income. Labour should not go on leaving the children of those who have carried the can for the policies of Roger Douglas, Ruth Richardson, Jim Bolger, Jenny Shipley, and the rest to go on paying an unimaginable price while the rest of us are able to get on with our lives.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000479\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f8b92f47-d078-4e6a-b4c6-136913bda55d\u0022\u003EIn saying all of this, however, I would like to be fair and acknowledge the Labour Government for some of the better initiatives contained in this Budget, including, for example, moves to cut doctors fees for under-18-year-olds accessing primary care organisations; the $55 million over 4 years for early childhood education; the extension of the community internship programme, which was originally a Green Party Budget initiative; the commitment to meeting the goals of the Mayors Taskforce for Jobs for 15 to 19-year-olds by the year 2007; increased subsidised childcare hours, from 37 to 50 hours per week, for low-income parents taking up full-time work; and the building of a somewhat inadequate but welcome additional 318 State houses over 4 years. These are all good measures.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000480\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f8b92f47-d078-4e6a-b4c6-136913bda55d\u0022\u003EBut, even looking at housing, the Green Party believes that Dr Cullen and his Government should have considered doing substantially more than is on offer in this Budget. Housing continues to be a crisis issue for families in places like the Auckland region, Northland, and an increasing number of other localities, like the top of the South Island and Dunedin. I was at first delighted to see the $43 million in capital and $26.7 million in operating costs allocated by Dr Cullen for what he called in his Budget presentation third-sector housing. However, I was really disappointed subsequent to that to discover that in fact it is the Government\u2019s intention to put most, if not all, of this extra funding into local Government housing rather than into genuine community housing projects. Ever since arriving in Parliament, I have been pressing the Government to engage more constructively and creatively, and on a larger scale, with third-sector housing providers, and it is sad indeed that Labour continues to prefer to put what resources it has into local councils, which may simply do another John Banks and sell their social housing off when there is a change of ideology at the top. Genuine third-sector projects have the potential to build homes for families in desperate need right now, in places like Auckland and the Hokianga. If nothing else, I hope that what crumbs remain from local government\u2019s table will be offered to existing competent third-sector providers now.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000481\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f8b92f47-d078-4e6a-b4c6-136913bda55d\u0022\u003EIn conclusion, I will give a quick quote from Dr Gay Keating, Director of the Public Health Association, who summarises exactly how I feel about this Budget: \u201CA failure to use this Budget to break the cycles of disadvantage will cost this country in the future through increased health and social welfare costs. What may appear prudent in 2003 may turn out to be an expensive mistake in 10 years.\u201D I sincerely hope that Dr Cullen and Steve Maharey will come good on their oft-repeated promises to provide substantial relief for low-income families in the 2004 Budget, but I have to say that the children of the disenfranchised and the disempowered victims of Rogernomics and \u201CRuthanasia\u201D have waited already for far too long.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00223a0e52c8-5bb1-4325-9870-21f4e3eb3702\u0022 data-id=\u0022380955eec28744229f1f0fd771b5ea6f\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000482\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223a0e52c8-5bb1-4325-9870-21f4e3eb3702\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022380955eec28744229f1f0fd771b5ea6f\u0022\u003EMARTIN GALLAGHER (NZ Labour\u2014Hamilton West):\u003C/span\u003E It is a huge pleasure to rise to speak in this Budget debate and to say how really proud I am to be part of this Government. Indeed, we have seen the foundations that have been laid over the last three Budgets bedded in. This Budget is about staying on course and maintaining our strong positions in times of significant international uncertainty. It is a Budget for all New Zealanders, it is a Budget for my region, the Waikato, which I proudly represent, and it is a Budget for towns like Balclutha\u2014a town, which, as we are well aware, the Leader of the Opposition attempts to represent, but his opponent, Lesley Soper, won both the party vote and the candidate vote in that area. Bill English does not represent even Balclutha, and neither does his party. Those members opposite still do not represent Balclutha, even given the figures in the latest poll, which give them some little glimmer of hope by going all the way up to the huge figure of 28 percent.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000483\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223a0e52c8-5bb1-4325-9870-21f4e3eb3702\u0022\u003EI want to talk a little about this Budget in terms of the Waikato. Under this Government, my city has chalked up some significant achievements. We are the home of a significant tertiary education sector. Education is very important for our city. Research is very important, and it is said that up to a quarter of New Zealand scientists are domiciled in the central Waikato and Hamilton area. I am very proud that under the leadership of Jim Anderton, the relevant Minister, we are now getting our Waikato Innovation Park under way. The Prime Minister recently came to turn the first spade of soil for the park. That is a great achievement for our region, thanks very much to the assistance that this Government has given. I also take this opportunity to pay tribute to my colleague the member of Parliament for Hamilton East, Dianne Yates, for her excellent work, along with the local people, the Business2Hamilton organisation and other people in the Hamilton area, who have got the Waikato Innovation Park off the ground.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000484\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223a0e52c8-5bb1-4325-9870-21f4e3eb3702\u0022\u003E In health, Waikato Hospital, under this Government, is continuing to be a significant tertiary teaching hospital in terms of its excellent partnership with educational institutions\u2014notably the University of Auckland\u2019s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and Waikato\u2019s Institute of Rural Health. We will be opening a much-needed neurosurgery unit, which will cater for the mid \u2013 North Island. Just the other week, it was with much pleasure and pride that I, on behalf of the Minister of Transport, Paul Swain, opened the next section of the Waikato expressway, immediately north of Huntly through to Rangiriri. I can say as a local member that much more work needs to be done. But this Government, unlike the Opposition, does not just talk about roading; in this Budget round it is spending $1.1 billion on roading. The latest addition to the expressway project is evidence that we are making progress. I also note that education is obviously very significant for Hamilton. We are, in our own right as a city, a very major provider of tertiary education services. We also have some very significant and well-run secondary schools, primary schools, and pre-schools. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000485\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223a0e52c8-5bb1-4325-9870-21f4e3eb3702\u0022\u003EI want to talk a little about the Gateway programme initiative\u2014a partnership between secondary schools, the business community, and the wider community in providing jobs and opportunities to assist young people in their transition from school into work and skilled occupations. I would give a gold-star award to Mr Jennings and his team on the Gateway project at Fraser High School, Hamilton, and say how delighted I am that two more schools\u2014Fairfield College and Melville High School\u2014will be in that project by 2007. Nationally, the Gateway programme will progressively become available to all 1 to 5 decile schools by 2007. It is expected that most will take the opportunity to put senior students into workplaces. For members who are not fully familiar with Gateway, the programme prepares young people for the world of work while they are still at school. Senior secondary students get to start work-based qualifications, and they learn the disciplines of work. Indeed, the current Gateway project in Hamilton has been very, very successful. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000486\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223a0e52c8-5bb1-4325-9870-21f4e3eb3702\u0022\u003EThe package we have rolled out also expands the popular Modern Apprenticeships scheme, which has been a great success in my city. At the end of March there were 240 Modern Apprenticeships in Hamilton, and nationally there were over 5,000. The number of Modern Apprenticeships across the country will increase by nearly 50 percent to about 7,500 places a year by 2006. I commend the leadership of people like Steve Maharey. I also acknowledge the Mayors Taskforce for Jobs and the very positive leadership role being played by local government. The Government\u2019s objective by 2007\u2014and what I want to see and what many people in this country want to see\u2014is that all 15 to 19-year-olds will be engaged in appropriate education, training, work, or other options that will lead to long-term economic independence, and well-being. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000487\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223a0e52c8-5bb1-4325-9870-21f4e3eb3702\u0022\u003EI particularly welcome the youth training package, because it specifically targets those young people who do not go on to university or polytech, and enables them to learn the skills necessary for today\u2019s workforce. I certainly hope that one of the cries that Dianne Yates, Nanaia Mahuta, and I have received from industry in Hamilton is noted. It is very, very important that school careers advisers really make young people aware of the options in the trades and the various opportunities in industry. Indeed, to go to university or to polytech, important as that is, is not necessarily the only way forward in terms of post-secondary school education and opportunity for our young people. I strongly commend industry and business in Hamilton for doing their bit in this area. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000488\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223a0e52c8-5bb1-4325-9870-21f4e3eb3702\u0022\u003EOne of the issues I want to pick up on relates to superannuation. I am delighted that as a consequence of the Government\u2019s strong fiscal position we have been able to move to the full contribution rate for the New Zealand Superannuation Fund this year, contributing nearly $1.9 billion. It is pretty obvious, and is so basic\u2014but, unfortunately, members of the Opposition do not seem fully to appreciate the fact, and even our grandmas can tell us this\u2014that unless we put the money in now, future Governments will not have the resources required to ensure certainty and security in retirement. That is a very, very significant benchmark of difference between this party and the Opposition parties in this House. I am delighted that this Government is putting money away for future generations. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000489\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223a0e52c8-5bb1-4325-9870-21f4e3eb3702\u0022\u003EThere are lots and lots of good things in this Budget\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000490\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002273ee8ef21f16439097b3220cedc73de1\u0022\u003ERodney Hide\u003C/span\u003E: Name one.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000491\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223a0e52c8-5bb1-4325-9870-21f4e3eb3702\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022be4aaf7c6ee04e3eaca96d7a9301c051\u0022\u003EMARTIN GALLAGHER\u003C/span\u003E:\u2014and as I go around my electorate the reaction is positive. I tell the member that the public\u2019s response to this Budget shows this Government\u2019s polling rate is 50 percent, and the rating of the Opposition party that that member represents is hovering at 4 to 6 percent\u2014if he is lucky. I think that is testament enough that this Government has the support. Even the Opposition leader cannot even take Balclutha. Who is the member for Balclutha? It is not Bill English, but Lesley Soper, the Labour candidate. She won Balclutha, in the heart of Bill English\u2019s electorate. That is the degree of traction, the degree of support, that Opposition parties are getting in this country. They should learn the lessons of this Budget, which is a good Budget. They well know, when they talk around the country, the excellent reception this Budget is getting. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000492\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223a0e52c8-5bb1-4325-9870-21f4e3eb3702\u0022\u003EWe are on course. We are tracking steadily. These are uncertain times, but we are not going to the mad rightward lurches that would happen if, say, Mr Brash were either the finance Minister or, maybe by the next election, the leader of the major Opposition party\u2014I will not say main Opposition party, because even the Rt Hon Winston Peters can do much better than Bill English in the preferred Prime Minister rating. I say: \u201CWatch out, Bill English, because Don Brash is only two points behind you.\u201D That is not much consolation, because Bill English is on 7 percent and Don Brash is on 5 percent.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022 data-id=\u00223dc08abd8f1f46879c2b75cb4d074e8b\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000493\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00223dc08abd8f1f46879c2b75cb4d074e8b\u0022\u003ERODNEY HIDE (ACT NZ):\u003C/span\u003E This Labour Government, with this Budget, has forgotten all about New Zealanders\u2014New Zealanders who work, New Zealanders who earn a living\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000494\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223b1b5881-3b86-4894-ac77-72905f786141\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227821536dbbb94be58025859e095f17dd\u0022\u003EHon Judith Tizard\u003C/span\u003E: You don\u2019t know anyone.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000495\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ab02aafdc0cc4b549740e8b6fa72c97e\u0022\u003ERODNEY HIDE\u003C/span\u003E: Judith Tizard calls out that she does not know any, and from hearing her speak in this House I think that is true. Judith Tizard does not know anyone who works, pays his or her way, and pays the taxes that this Budget spends. This Budget is all about Government, all about politicians, all about their spending, and all about their grandiose plans, and is nothing about hard-working New Zealanders who are expected to pay for it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000496\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003EThe ACT party has not forgotten about taxpayers and has not forgotten about voters. We have undertaken the first-ever electronic petition. In this box in front of me, full to the top, are the responses. They would shock Judith Tizard; and they would shock this Labour Government if it had any care for working New Zealanders.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000497\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002219386ba0-5a6e-485e-abc0-5a3128b4e1f6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b0318385a82d47699dd313d81b2dde3f\u0022\u003EHon Ken Shirley\u003C/span\u003E: What was the petition for?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000498\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e4ed343ce72f4d08adb1ddc0b8ce482f\u0022\u003ERODNEY HIDE\u003C/span\u003E: The petition is for lower taxes, because people want more money in their pockets, not in the Government\u2019s coffers. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000499\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003EI shall read out some of the comments. The first says: \u201CI wouldn\u2019t mind paying the taxes imposed on us by the Government, if only the things they spent it on reflected the difficulty I face in raising it.\u201D Here is another comment, for the interest of the Minister with responsibility for Auckland Issues: \u201CAll forms of taxation are far too high and act as a real disincentive to business growth and investment in our country.\u201D Here is another one for this Government and Dr Cullen to consider: \u201CPlease give us hard-working, overworked, underpaid, stressed employers a break.\u201D Here is another: \u201CI am extremely disappointed that no tax cuts were given to boost the economy and keep it humming.\u201D Finally, here is one response out of literally hundreds of responses: \u201CYes, we\u2019re overtaxed. Please do something about this. Our tax money is being spent on vote-gathering, PC-type projects instead of building New Zealand\u2019s economy and intellectual-based economy.\u201D\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000500\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E In the last 10 years our economy averaged 3.6 percent growth a year and endured the Asian crisis, and Helen Clark said at the time that the economy just marked time. If we pick up the Budget we see the Treasury forecast for the economy over the next 10 years is a woeful 2.6 percent average growth rate per year. That is a rate of 1 percent less growth than when the economy, according to our Prime Minister, was marking time and the policies were failures. We would not mind that sort of failure going ahead, if that is the difference in response.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000501\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003EWhere is the money going? It is being frittered away, as the petitioners in our survey say, on PC projects and policies of reverse racism\u2014policies that get measured not by results, not by the help to the poor and downtrodden, and not by where we will be in 10 years\u2019 time, but simply by how much hard-working taxpayers\u2019 money is thrown at the problem. Civil servants have said to me that the difficulty they have is that they cannot spend the money this Government is throwing at them quickly enough. How is that money being spent?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000502\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223b1b5881-3b86-4894-ac77-72905f786141\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00229a9ad068c689480297ca3c6d8660daa0\u0022\u003EHon Judith Tizard\u003C/span\u003E: Ha, ha!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000503\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002235f16f74edd444648686e73828ec6c9b\u0022\u003ERODNEY HIDE\u003C/span\u003E: Judith Tizard laughs, because she thinks it is funny that taxpayers\u2019 money gets spent in this way. Here is an example of how it is spent. I have a photograph of the Hon Dover Samuels with Hemana Waaka at a Labour Party party before the election. We have a photograph of them having a few drinks. Each of those drinks was paid for by the taxpayer; hard-working people paid for those drinks. Here is a photograph of a speaker at a function with the Hon John Tamihere and Hemana Waaka. Where did the money for that come from? It came from hard-working taxpayers whom the Labour Party once used to say it represented. A $10,000 grant was given, and $5,400 of that was spent on a booze-up for the Labour Party, for John Tamihere, and for Dover Samuels, during the election campaign. We understand now that not only was the Hemana Waaka - M\u0101ori Sportscasting International handout paying for that function, but it was paying for Mr Tame Te Rangi to be flown around New Zealand and to Australia to watch sporting matches. There is nothing wrong with that, but who was paying for it? It was the taxpayers of New Zealand. What was Mr Tame Te Rangi\u2019s role in all of this? He was the man overseeing the money being paid to M\u0101ori Sportscasting International. We have a Minister of M\u0101ori Affairs and a Prime Minister who think that that is an everyday occurrence. Why? Because we have policies of reverse racism when money is thrown at M\u0101ori problems, without care or concern.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000504\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003EI want to read an answer that the Minister of M\u0101ori Affairs gave to a written question of mine: \u201CI am advised by my officials that there have been no payments of cash by M\u0101ori Sportscasting International to any employees of Te M\u0101ngai P\u0101ho.\u201D So he was saying that it was just M\u0101ori Sportscasting International that paid for Mr Tame Te Rangi to watch the game. Let me read an email released by Te M\u0101ngai P\u0101ho. It is from Hemana Waaka\u2019s email address to Mr Tame Te Rangi and is dated 15 October 2001. Members should remember that this email is to a senior civil servant of this Government. The email concluded: \u201CYour payment for services will be placed into account this day.\u201D\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000505\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002263e256f73d2b4727946a22a92da264e1\u0022\u003EOpposition Member\u003C/span\u003E: Corruption!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000506\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002268994d4a819143a6833c4932977105e1\u0022\u003ERODNEY HIDE\u003C/span\u003E: That is corruption, and I understand the payment was put into his TAB account so it could not be traced. The email stated further: \u201CHiamoe will have with him on his arrival the petrol vouchers/cash/copies of commentators and instructions.\u201D Mr Tame Te Rangi\u2019s job is being the radio manager at Te M\u0101ngai P\u0101ho. This was his response, in brief: \u201CWhat is included in the \u2018cash\u2019 that Hiamoe will have?\u201D. Oh, they have gone silent now, have they not? Then he said: \u201CThanks for the \u2018advance\u2019. I am surprised at the choice of words! When can I expect the balance?\u201D.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000507\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003EMinister Parekura Horomia has known about this issue since the beginning of February when I first raised it with him. What has he done? Nothing! What little energy he has, he is expending on protecting thieves and liars, because that is what has happened in this case. This Government is taking hard-earned taxpayers\u2019 money, bundling it up in the millions and sending it to every which way cause, with no abandon. This is just one example, amongst many, of where that money is ending up.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000508\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003EDo we see this issue addressed in the Budget? Do we see a care for hard-working families and for hard-working workers? Do we think that Michael Joseph Savage would tolerate this? Do we think that Norman Kirk would tolerate this? Did we ever think that any Government would tolerate this at any stage? Well, we have one such Government. It is Helen Clark\u2019s Government, and this case is all OK because it is for \u201CM\u0101ori\u201D. I say that the policies of spend and waste and the policies of reverse racism should come to an immediate end. I do not know how members of this Government can get up in good conscience and speak on this Budget. We are against it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000509\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003EI seek the leave of the House to table, in summary form, the comments that we have received on our petition concerning this Budget and on the need for tax cuts for every worker in New Zealand.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000510\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270fa4cbd-9380-4916-9f2a-78da059d220e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022dceff53ee9aa47498e7aa9167ab989f9\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson)\u003C/span\u003E: Is there any objection to that course of action being taken? There is.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022fd427be0-7196-4605-b39e-d665553240b0\u0022 data-id=\u002253acb12af8864ed38e772afb4fda6f7c\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000511\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fd427be0-7196-4605-b39e-d665553240b0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002253acb12af8864ed38e772afb4fda6f7c\u0022\u003ELYNNE PILLAY (NZ Labour\u2014Waitakere):\u003C/span\u003E I am very proud of this Government\u2019s achievements, and I am very proud of this year\u2019s Budget. This is a Budget that is forward-thinking. This is a Budget that builds on a series of initiatives in health, education, housing, law and order, and employment. This is a Budget that invests in our future, and this is a Budget that delivers to New Zealanders. At 4.4 percent, our growth rate is one of the highest in the OECD. However, this year, we as a nation have faced much turmoil and uncertainty, such as the war in Iraq and the severe acute respiratory syndrome epidemic. The prediction is that growth will drop back to 2.2 percent next year, then rebound to 3.2 percent the following year. It is still well above the OECD average. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000512\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fd427be0-7196-4605-b39e-d665553240b0\u0022\u003ELet us look at this Budget and what it means for the people I represent\u2014the people of Waitakere. In Waitakere there are waiting lists for State houses. Our Government\u2019s restoration of income-related rents has made a State house an affordable place to live again. I ask members to compare that with the harsh market rents of the previous National Government. Sadly, that Government\u2019s agenda was about flogging off State houses at a shocking rate\u201413,500 in the 1990s, taking opportunities and housing away from those who most need it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000513\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fd427be0-7196-4605-b39e-d665553240b0\u0022\u003E In this Budget the Government has committed to the purchase of another 318 State houses, over and above the 2,393 already planned. That is good for Waitakere and good for New Zealand. Waitakere is one of our country\u2019s fastest-growing younger cities. It is innovative and vibrant. We are investing in our young people. We are boosting funding to great organisations like Youthline. We are investing big time in combating youth suicide and drug abuse. We are increasing funding for two specialist police teams to bust methamphetamine labs\u2014$6.6 million to fight one of the biggest threats to the health, well-being, and safety of communities like Waitakere. I welcome in Waitakere the reinstatement of community constables in both Titirangi and Glen Eden. Cops in the street and on the beat! \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000514\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fd427be0-7196-4605-b39e-d665553240b0\u0022\u003EWe are investing in families through the newly established Families Commission, promoting positive parenting. Under this Budget, parenting support, family-violence programmes, and improved community-based services will receive an additional $42.5 million. Young people need a good start in life. This is a Government that recognises that. The boost in early childhood funding will benefit our hard-working families, both parents and children, by a whopping extra $55 million over the next 4 years. Waitakere schools have been winners. Operational funding increases and boosts in teacher numbers will ease workload and staffing pressures. They will make our great Waitakere schools even greater. I commend this Government for its investment in the Gateway programme in schools. Waitakere has a number of schools already engaged in the Gateway programme. This is a real success story\u2014a major success story\u2014for our young people. By 2007, no less than nine secondary schools in Waitakere City will be part of that programme. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000515\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fd427be0-7196-4605-b39e-d665553240b0\u0022\u003EIt is great to be in Government. It is so fantastic to talk to our young people. We are MPs who get out and talk to the people in our electorates. That is why we win our seats. However, it is fantastic to talk to our young people, their parents, and their teachers, and to hear the results. Our kids are getting experience while at school. They are entering jobs that they know they like and know they want, because they have been given the opportunity to learn about them and try them while they are at school. The same rate of success has been seen over and over in the Modern Apprenticeships scheme. There were so many botch-ups by the Opposition when it was in Government, but scrapping the Apprenticeship Act had to be the worst. That ruthless, silly, silly, action cost this country big time. We lost untold skills that we needed so much in our manufacturing industries, and, just as important, so many of our young people lost their hopes and aspirations for their future. But we have fixed that. That hope has been restored. The Modern Apprenticeships scheme is growing and thriving. In Waitakere over a third of young people on that scheme are involved in the boat-building industry. I know that the $56 million package to get all 15 to 19-year-olds into education, training, and work, and the $84 million over 4 years that is committed to the Industry Training Fund, which our Government established, will be celebrated by young people, their parents, teachers, business, and manufacturing in Waitakere. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000516\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fd427be0-7196-4605-b39e-d665553240b0\u0022\u003EOur community is getting healthier. Waitakere is leading the charge with private health organisations. Two public health organisations serve most of our electorate. From 1 October they will be able to charge low fees to all patients under 18. That will be extended in the next year, with the aim of 40 percent of the population receiving low-cost primary health care by the end of 2004. Beat that! This Government has spent more on health than ever before\u201420 percent of our funding. We are spending it wisely. We know that primary health care is an investment, not a cost. Waitakere City is rich in its people and its myriad of cultures. To attend a citizenship ceremony in Waitakere City is a real buzz. It is always entertaining and always inclusive. We recognise the importance of all citizens having the ability to reach their full potential. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000517\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fd427be0-7196-4605-b39e-d665553240b0\u0022\u003EI commend organisations in my electorate: tangata whenua, Waitakere Multicultural Society, the Waitakere Indian Association, Pacific Forum, Now, Waipareira Trust, and many, many more who work together to make sure that all our cultures feel welcomed and valued. I am pleased that we have committed over $20 million to assist migrants and refugees into settlement and employment. Those policies are paying off. I am heartened that Waitakere has played its part in beating unemployment. We are up there\u2014down from 2,792 in 2000, to 2,226 in 2003. Those achievements do not happen by chance, and they certainly do not trickle down. They happen, because funding and policies were in place to make them happen. This is a Government with a good heart. This is a Budget that is smart, responsible, and forward thinking, and so is this Government.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00220bd5aa67-2f2b-4a13-a2b4-21a392396f11\u0022 data-id=\u00224ccc6db5d8204bde937438cdfc56ef87\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000518\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bd5aa67-2f2b-4a13-a2b4-21a392396f11\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00224ccc6db5d8204bde937438cdfc56ef87\u0022\u003EHon GEORGINA TE HEUHEU (NZ National):\u003C/span\u003E New Zealanders have the right to expect that a Government will put in place a framework and policies that will increase the chances of a prosperous lifestyle for them all. This Budget does nothing to give confidence in that regard\u2014nothing at all. The previous speaker can recite her little speech in the way that she has and make things sound all rosy pie, but the future is not rosy pie. Unless the Government can guarantee sustainable long-term growth for this country, we will not be able to afford the kinds of things that New Zealanders have grown accustomed to having, such as good access to decent health services, a decent education system, continuing employment prospects\u2014job prospects\u2014and good growth prospects that will encourage businesses to stay here and invest more money, thereby providing more jobs and wealth creation. This Budget does nothing for any of those prospects. And the pity about it is that this Government continually boasts about what it is doing for M\u0101ori, when in fact the reality is the reverse of that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000519\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bd5aa67-2f2b-4a13-a2b4-21a392396f11\u0022\u003EAs far as M\u0101ori are concerned, this Budget fails to deliver. In contrast to the 2000 Budget, when this Government rolled out the red carpet\u2014so to speak\u2014with all the ribbons and bells on closing the gaps for M\u0101ori, the 2003 Budget carefully avoids any particular focus on M\u0101ori. Of course, there is a reason for that. Clearly, Labour is looking to send a message to its core voters and to address growing public anxiety over its handling of M\u0101ori issues. If members look through Dr Cullen\u2019s Budget delivery this year, they will be lucky to find the word M\u0101ori mentioned more than three times. M\u0101ori will probably not be impressed by this Budget, but even more than that, the M\u0101ori electorate MPs who sit on the Government side of the House will be even less impressed by this Budget. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000520\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bd5aa67-2f2b-4a13-a2b4-21a392396f11\u0022\u003ENone of the initiatives announced in this no-growth Budget will necessarily improve the lives long term of ordinary M\u0101ori families who are struggling to live their daily lives. My bet is that not even the Government\u2019s own M\u0101ori electorate MPs are impressed by that. Why is that? It is because over the last 3 years those MPs have had to sit and watch while millions of dollars went into the mainstream, only to be soaked up by the bureaucracy and with the benefits to M\u0101ori being impossible to assess because Ministers and chief executives refused to be audited.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000521\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fc82cea8-c84d-4ab7-8597-31916dbedc43\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cbcc643be31a4e4f9384478ca318acde\u0022\u003EEdwin Perry\u003C/span\u003E: That\u2019s right!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000522\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bd5aa67-2f2b-4a13-a2b4-21a392396f11\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220397a3f388f5450d8732fa4095cf4efd\u0022\u003EHon GEORGINA TE HEUHEU\u003C/span\u003E: Absolutely that is right! I can tell from the body language of the M\u0101ori MPs on the Government side of the House that they will be absolutely disappointed, and probably angry, that the millions of dollars that went out in the closing the gaps programme, particularly to mainstream agencies, have been soaked up mostly by the bureaucracy, and that nobody is able to tell us what the value of that has been for M\u0101ori . \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000523\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bd5aa67-2f2b-4a13-a2b4-21a392396f11\u0022\u003EAdding to the frustration of the M\u0101ori electorate MPs is that while they have seen an allocation in Vote M\u0101ori Affairs each year for Te Puni K\u014Dkiri to play the sheriff and to try to pin the big agencies and their chief executives down, in the vote this year they have also seen other parts of the vote like policy development, and brokerage and facilitation\u2014true development activities\u2014lose some of their allocation. The part of the vote that does have an increase is in the area of State-sector performance. In other words, there will be more money for Te Puni K\u014Dkiri to act out the farce of playing the sheriff to big-spending agencies that refuse to be tied down. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000524\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bd5aa67-2f2b-4a13-a2b4-21a392396f11\u0022\u003EThat was confirmed recently by the release of official information papers that basically showed that the task of monitoring the big agencies is beyond Te Puni K\u014Dkiri. In my view, it should not have that role, anyway. If the Government is serious about closing the gaps while continuing to dole out money to big agencies like social welfare and others, then the monitoring of those agencies should perhaps come from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. It should not be left to Te Puni K\u014Dkiri, which has great difficulty in trying to pin those chief executives down. It has recently been confirmed that although millions of dollars have been sucked up by those agencies, the value of that for M\u0101ori cannot be assessed. That is an unsatisfactory state of affairs. If we were to take the Government seriously\u2014and it is actually time that M\u0101ori did start to take the Government seriously\u2014then one has to ask why it has allowed that situation to happen, with all that money going out and nobody, but nobody, being able to assess its effectiveness. It is an absolute waste of taxpayers\u2019 funds, and this Government ought to be ashamed of itself. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000525\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bd5aa67-2f2b-4a13-a2b4-21a392396f11\u0022\u003EI want to make some comments about the treaty claims process. The Government has made much of its $6.5 million in new funding for a treaty information programme. There is no doubt that there will be agencies and members of the public out there who may appreciate that. But what New Zealanders want most of all\u2014M\u0101ori included\u2014is to have the historical grievances concluded and put behind us. If members look at the Budget for this year and look at the appropriations in Vote Courts for the Waitangi Tribunal, they will see that there is absolutely no new funding for it. There is no boost of funding for the Waitangi Tribunal, which is actually the key to having settlements concluded. It is time that this Government learnt that no matter how eagerly M\u0101ori might want to conclude a settlement, the thing they want most is to have their day in court, and to be able to go to negotiations armed with findings and recommendations from the Waitangi Tribunal. If members look at the Budget they will see that there is nothing in there to enable the Waitangi Tribunal to gear up its activities in that area. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000526\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bd5aa67-2f2b-4a13-a2b4-21a392396f11\u0022\u003EThe Minister in charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations has set a 2-year time frame for the reaching of an agreement between the Government and the 100-plus claims involving the central North Island forestry, and there is an expectation that the tribunal will move in tandem with that negotiations process. I ask the Minister to explain how the tribunal is to do that and at the same time to continue with the work that it is currently doing and has been doing in the past. My bet is that in the 48 hours following the release of the Budget, tribunal officials and executives probably had to huddle themselves away and work out what they will have to put on the back burner in terms of hearing days, doing research, writing reports, and making recommendations. They would have had to cut back on their forward schedule in order to accommodate the Minister\u2019s time frame of 2 years for those 100-plus claims. That shows the Minister\u2019s ignorance about the value that M\u0101ori place on having their claims go through the Waitangi Tribunal. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000527\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bd5aa67-2f2b-4a13-a2b4-21a392396f11\u0022\u003EOn the face of it, $6.5 million for a treaty information programme looks worthwhile. I understand that there is an intention that there will be the publication of treaty booklets and pamphlets already in circulation, but there will also be a lot more seminars and workshops on increasing the understanding of the treaty. That will not necessarily benefit the New Zealand public. I guess we could take from it that there is a lot of money in there for some consultants\u2014increasing the gravy train\u2014but no money whatsoever to allow the key organisation, the tribunal, to increase its core activities. That is a total failure on the part of this Government. This is a Budget that the M\u0101ori members on the Government side of the House will probably want to hang their heads in shame about\u2014and so they should. If they are to make their representation of their electorates mean anything, then they should make the Government deliver in a much better way than it has been delivering in the past 3 years. This Budget does not do that.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000528\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00220bd5aa67-2f2b-4a13-a2b4-21a392396f11\u0022\u003ESitting suspended from 5.58 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00221a705910-5320-43bf-aa82-027a761519f6\u0022 data-id=\u0022978bcb13c28d4b3ea0fc75883fc9993e\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000529\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221a705910-5320-43bf-aa82-027a761519f6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022978bcb13c28d4b3ea0fc75883fc9993e\u0022\u003ERUSSELL FAIRBROTHER (NZ Labour\u2014Napier):\u003C/span\u003E Uncertainty swirls around us. It is time for the sound management of the economy. The Budget delivered by the Hon Dr Michael Cullen delivers just that prescription. It is a prescription for certainty and for confidence. Internationally we have war, terrorism, and disease, and the global economy is not performing well. Those concerns affect everybody in my electorate of Napier. I know that because every weekend I doorknock. I know what my electorate is saying, so I know the sort of Budget it wants. It has the very Budget it had hoped for. This is also the Budget that the editorial writer in Hawke\u2019s Bay Today wanted, when writing on the eve of the Budget. I quote: \u201CGood times have given the Government the luxury of being able to press ahead with its social charter\u2014that is, after all, what it was elected to do.\u201D What is that social charter? It is concerned with equity among people in health and in education, and with strength from diversity\u2014diversity of people and of lifestyles. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000530\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221a705910-5320-43bf-aa82-027a761519f6\u0022\u003EBut no, the anticipation of that writer that there would be a big spend-up was not fulfilled, because there is drought across the country. That affects our Hawke\u2019s Bay economy. Unpredictable frosts and frost patterns affect our wine producers. Returns to dairy farmers are affected by falling milk prices and a rise in the value of the New Zealand dollar. We have a power crisis created by a second very dry winter. That crisis has revealed the flawed planning that gave this Labour Government an electricity generation and distribution model that needs change. We have an unexpected set-back in what we can draw from our gasfields. We have an abundance of coal, but not the technology to use it environmentally wisely. Those are the uncertainties that each person in the Napier electorate has playing on his or her mind and that the editorial writer must have had in mind when he stated \u201Cthe certainty that wealth needs to be created before it can be shared.\u201D \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000531\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221a705910-5320-43bf-aa82-027a761519f6\u0022\u003EBut there is also plenty of really good news. The growth rate of our economy is strong, as is that in Hawke\u2019s Bay. New Zealanders are returning to live in New Zealand. Well-qualified migrants are choosing to make New Zealand their home and the place to raise a new generation of Kiwis. To those people, Hawke\u2019s Bay is seen as a slice of heaven. The demand in Napier for existing housing stock is phenomenal. Prices are unheard of, and people are buying houses almost sight unseen. To get a new house built is even more difficult. In fact, a senior bank officer said to me yesterday that he was forced to confirm a finance deal, or otherwise there would have been a wait for 14 months before the builder could return to that site. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000532\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221a705910-5320-43bf-aa82-027a761519f6\u0022\u003EThere is business confidence in Hawke\u2019s Bay\u2014business confidence to market products and to take risks, and business confidence to retain the asset of land. That was no better demonstrated than by Kim Crawford Wines in my electorate of Napier. Just this week that winery announced the sale, for $18 million, of the brand Kim Crawford Wines. It has sold the intellectual property in the brand and kept the land and the assets. An overseas wine distributor has bought the brand for $18 million. That is a demonstration of faith in the economy of the Napier electorate. Unemployment figures fluctuate, but are lower than for a long, long time. Napier is a great place for those looking for work. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000533\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221a705910-5320-43bf-aa82-027a761519f6\u0022\u003EIn Napier we have innovative educational establishments. The Eastern Institute of Technology is rapidly becoming a flagship in the tertiary education field. Our secondary schools offer variety and excellence. Our primary schools are centres of innovative educational and management ideas, and our young people are being helped by the Gateway programme, by increased operational funding, and by the availability of more teachers in this coming year. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000534\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221a705910-5320-43bf-aa82-027a761519f6\u0022\u003EIn Napier we receive health services that are determined to keep us fit and well. We have a sports foundation that is the highlight, surely, of the Sport and Recreation New Zealand programme. It is headed by an innovative leader in Colin Stone. It is pulling all the sports together and they are performing well in the new stadium, which is a model of intercity cooperation and was built recently in Taradale. But when medical disaster does strike in Hawke\u2019s Bay we have the health system to cope with that. Hawke\u2019s Bay had the first severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) patient in New Zealand. The record of dealing with that patient has been described by those who know, including the Ministry of Health, as exemplary. Our services were up to that crisis, and our specialists were able to cope with it. The board is now led by a chief executive officer who loves his job. He recognises that it may well be more expensive to have someone on a waiting list than to get the surgery done. From discussions with that chief executive officer, I would expect our waiting list to be reduced to one-third of its current size over the next 6 months. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000535\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221a705910-5320-43bf-aa82-027a761519f6\u0022\u003ENapier is a community of small businesses, which have previously had to run to the same rules as multimillion-dollar and multinational businesses. That problem is addressed in this Budget. Assistance with payroll and employee administration will make small-business operation less stressful. I speak as someone who has run small businesses for something like 30-odd years, employing up to five or six staff. Removing the difficulty of meeting large provisional tax payments will enable the small-business owner to plan and to manage cash flows like any household budget\u2014that is, with regular outflows of cash in line with the pattern of money coming into the business. That is what this Budget provides for the smaller business people. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000536\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221a705910-5320-43bf-aa82-027a761519f6\u0022\u003ENapier\u2019s own Dr Michael Cullen, as the Minister of Finance, has set the finances of this country into a pattern of certainty and stability. The job for the rest of us in Napier who claim some leadership role is to make sure that the pattern delivers to each family, individual, student, invalid, and business. Dr Cullen has given us the tools to build a strong economy. I will remind members of what those tools are. They are the tools of youth development, because surely the future of this country is in our young people. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000537\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221a705910-5320-43bf-aa82-027a761519f6\u0022\u003EFirstly, the Gateway programme enables senior secondary school students to begin work-based qualifications and to learn the disciplines of work. Last year it was available in two schools in Napier\u2014Colenso High School and Tamatea High School. This year it has been extended to five further secondary schools in Napier, and the pattern is now established from that developed in Napier and other centres, so that eventually all decile 1 to decile 5 secondary schools in New Zealand will take part in the Gateway programme. That augurs well for our young people. Secondly, there are the Modern Apprenticeships. At the end of March this year there were 132 Modern Apprenticeships in Napier, and 5,012 nationally. The target of 7,500 Modern Apprenticeships by 2006 should be met. The aim of the mayor\u2019s task force on jobs, for all 15 to 19-year-olds to be engaged in appropriate education, training, work or other options that will lead to long-term economic independence and well-being, will be met. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000538\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221a705910-5320-43bf-aa82-027a761519f6\u0022\u003EThose targets of youth development, the Gateway programme and Modern Apprenticeships, are important because many of our young folk going through school these days have faced the urge to become academic, to go to university and polytechnics, when to many of those children and youth, the real benefit is not in academic pursuits but in exercising their bodies and using manual skills to contribute to our country in a very practical way. The sooner that we move away from the academic cringe of feeling that if one uses one\u2019s hands and body to earn an honest dollar one is somehow an inferior citizen, the better it will be. This Labour Government is introducing that kind of equity in the workforce. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000539\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221a705910-5320-43bf-aa82-027a761519f6\u0022\u003EBut education cannot get by without funding, and I am pleased to say that in Napier this Budget will release almost $300,000 in additional operating funding. I am on the board of trustees of a secondary school in Napier, and I know how important that increase in money will be. Boards of trustees are run by everyday mums and dads, who have to face their own problems and then give their time voluntarily to run the schools.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000540\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e3dc3d88-a571-4ed7-a4b4-b66dedd6134b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00228df052f5d43540149206382401f897a5\u0022\u003EPeter Brown\u003C/span\u003E: Has the member ever got his hands dirty?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000541\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221a705910-5320-43bf-aa82-027a761519f6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022bba2f2880d604716961369e1e62e82ce\u0022\u003ERUSSELL FAIRBROTHER\u003C/span\u003E: As well as that\u2014what that member may have lacked is good teaching\u201419 additional teachers will be made available to Napier schools in this next financial year. That is a prescription for success, and is a prescription for the social charter spoken about by the editorial in Hawke\u2019s Bay Today on the eve of the Budget. That prescription will lead this country forward, with valuable young people who have a place to fit in and who can find their place in the world. That is why John Roughan, writing in the New Zealand Herald in the weekend, was able to say that the established superannuation fund \u201Cis still there, and Cullen is now salting away the tax surpluses to build a fund that might relieve my kids of some of the cost of paying for the retired baby boom. National, true to form, promises to abolish it.\u201D\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000542\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fae7af0d-c48d-4dd4-88f3-928ccaa3a984\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227f1b23b3034a4c6ca7fd6a379ceca5ce\u0022\u003EMadam DEPUTY SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: United Future members have split their speeches, so I will give the next member the bell at 4 minutes. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022a031c9de-7856-491c-8f6f-bc67f285b4f7\u0022 data-id=\u00220bb13a0242b6485c8de3ae9b4505cffc\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000543\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022a031c9de-7856-491c-8f6f-bc67f285b4f7\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00220bb13a0242b6485c8de3ae9b4505cffc\u0022\u003EBERNIE OGILVY (United Future):\u003C/span\u003E The Government has included some useful educational initiatives in the 2003 Budget. United Future recognises them and wishes to uphold them today, but we are also aware that some budgeted moves could well be counter-productive and even harmful to New Zealand as they take their course. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000544\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022a031c9de-7856-491c-8f6f-bc67f285b4f7\u0022\u003EOn the one hand, there has been some real help for students and learners to achieve at the very early levels of education, particularly among M\u0101ori and poorer households. For example, one-third of the M\u0101ori students who left school last year had no qualifications. There is certainly a need for extra help in that realm, and I believe this Budget is a good step forward. So is training for young people and the industry training investment programmes that the Government has announced. Yet on the other hand, at the finishing level of education for many students\u2014that is, the tertiary sector\u2014there lurks a recipe for trouble that I want to look at a little tonight. In particular, I am referring to what may be called a \u201Ctime bomb\u201D: the triennial fee maxima of $3,900 each year for arts students, and above that for other students. Both the concept and the amount could shoot the Government in the foot. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000545\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022a031c9de-7856-491c-8f6f-bc67f285b4f7\u0022\u003EThe fee maxima idea is hailed as the best deal to give certainty to students and their families, to the taxpayer, and to the institutions providing the tertiary learning. United Future asks whether it is. To me, it looks like a bit of a return to the sad old days of Muldoonism, when all prices were fixed. It is United Future\u2019s belief that what is good for the gander is not necessarily good for the goose in that arena. The students\u2014that is, the learners\u2014the taxpayer, and, certainly, the providers of all tertiary learning are, I believe, on a collision course. Conflicting interests abound. I will show members what I mean by that. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000546\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022a031c9de-7856-491c-8f6f-bc67f285b4f7\u0022\u003EFact No. 1 is that New Zealand University Students Association representatives desire a long-term goal, they state, of a well-funded tertiary sector with no fees and no debt. I, along with thousands of other New Zealanders, am flabbergasted at that type of economic logic having been taught by the higher institutions in New Zealand. I am not convinced that young students who have had most things free in life to date would deny that they have been supported at great cost by their parents\u2014or even by themselves. The State, students must remember, is not Mum or Dad or the family. To condone such practices is to not prepare our youth to enter the real world, where nothing is free. Everything costs someone something. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000547\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022a031c9de-7856-491c-8f6f-bc67f285b4f7\u0022\u003EFact No. 2 is that last year New Zealand taxpayers paid around $10,500 for every tertiary student who was being educated. It cost them a fortune, in my terms. That was only 70 percent of the direct cost of educating those students, who number over 500,000. Do the ever-shrinking numbers of taxpayers want to pay more this year and, as we can see, every year hereafter? Of course, every family would be excited if its son or daughter did not have to pay fees, but that very same family would have to pay for that lack of fees through higher taxes. It is nothing other than a \u201Csmoke and mirrors\u201D job; the taxpayer always picks up the tab. Will taxpayers want their already closed chequebook to be prised open for yet more taxation? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000548\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022a031c9de-7856-491c-8f6f-bc67f285b4f7\u0022\u003EWhat will the Government do when the heat becomes white hot this year? The first shots have already been fired by the student unions and the universities since the Budget was announced last Thursday afternoon. Will the Minister and the Tertiary Education Commission seriously consider some long-term implications of the fee maxima policy on students and their families, on the cash-strapped providers, and, certainly, on the overcharged taxpayer?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002204ed8007-24ee-45fb-ab8e-8573da79b238\u0022 data-id=\u00222de0aea7852c49ab9479f20fa7c29454\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000549\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002204ed8007-24ee-45fb-ab8e-8573da79b238\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00222de0aea7852c49ab9479f20fa7c29454\u0022\u003EMARC ALEXANDER (United Future):\u003C/span\u003E We have a $4 billion surplus: $11,600,000 is earmarked for the arts, $45 million for sport and recreation, and $28 million for a yacht race, but what is going to crime and the causes of crime? We are disappointed that at-risk children in high-risk families have, for the most part, missed out in the Government\u2019s Budget. Early childhood intervention is, surely, one of the key strategies in lowering the rates of crime and child abuse in this country and in breaking the cycle of crime later on. The Action for Children and Youth Aotearoa report produced in August 2002 concluded that New Zealand is failing to protect children from violence and falling below United Nations requirements for meeting their needs. Family violence costs this country an average of $1.2 billion per year. That figure is conservative and does not include the emotional costs to children and the family. In other words, non-intervention quite simply costs us more\u2014up to 19 times more, by some calculations\u2014than effective early intervention by non-governmental organisations, like the Family Help Trust. The allocation of $600,000 to better resource Project Early\u2014a Christchurch intervention programme for children\u2014and to seed it in parallel schemes in Auckland, is to be applauded and welcomed. It is about time! \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000550\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002204ed8007-24ee-45fb-ab8e-8573da79b238\u0022\u003EBut why is this Government putting $17 million in operating and $22 million in capital resources into looking at establishing a Supreme Court that neither the public nor the legal profession has asked for, when it has only put $2 million into victim support organisations? Members should not get me wrong. That $2 million is absolutely essential to help restructure victim support so that its delivery of services reaches the same high standards right throughout the country and enables the establishment of a more efficient and seamless district structure, comprising 14 districts, so that all volunteers get the requisite training and supports, and that the Victims Rights Act is clearly understood and deliverable. But more needs to be done. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000551\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002204ed8007-24ee-45fb-ab8e-8573da79b238\u0022\u003EAn additional 50 Auckland-based police, for which the Budget sets aside funding, is wholly inadequate, when what is needed is about 1,500 police nationwide\u2014a figure that would be comparable to the successful New York initiative, which saw the rates of murder, violent crimes, and burglaries plummet. Where is the allocation of funds to neighbourhood support schemes, so that innocent New Zealanders are empowered to help protect themselves? Surely, that is one of the key objectives in empowering communities to take charge of their streets and their lives. It would be a bridge between the police, the judicial arm, and the people of this country. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000552\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002204ed8007-24ee-45fb-ab8e-8573da79b238\u0022\u003EI am gratified that $10 million has been tagged to fund two specialist police teams to deal with a scourge of methamphetamine laboratories, organised crime, and terrorism. Money to fund a specialist DNA collection team is to be equally applauded, and $2.6 million additional funding over 4 years for the youth suicide prevention strategy targeting families in which suicide has occurred or been attempted is to be congratulated. I question whether it is enough, but it is in the right direction. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000553\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002204ed8007-24ee-45fb-ab8e-8573da79b238\u0022\u003EI cannot help but feel that, overall, the Budget has favoured what we do with offenders rather than what we do with victims of crime. Offenders are still the focal point. Without raising another red cent from the taxpayers of New Zealand and the bleeding pockets of hard-working New Zealanders, we could raise between $270 and $300 million if our prison system was as fiscally efficient as the privately run Auckland remand prison.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000554\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002204ed8007-24ee-45fb-ab8e-8573da79b238\u0022\u003E With what we save, we could look at better funding for victims, restoration\u2014including restitution, as well\u2014and more, and better equipped, police. Our police right now do not have radio systems that are encrypted\u2014why not? We have to equip them if we expect them to do the right job. As far as law and order issues are concerned, the Budget points its nose in the right direction, but the feet are not quite moving fast enough. We could, and we must, do better.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022 data-id=\u0022bd9989ae5fa0462cbddc8f17695659d8\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000555\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022bd9989ae5fa0462cbddc8f17695659d8\u0022\u003EDAVID PARKER (NZ Labour\u2014Otago):\u003C/span\u003E Budget time is the time when we get to look at the Government\u2019s accounts and reflect on whether the Government is managing the economy and its finances wisely. This year we are in the happy position of being able to report a $4 billion surplus before capital obligations. Those capital obligations include $1.8 billion being put into the Superannuation Fund in order to sustainably fund superannuation well into the future. That has been achieved leaving a surplus of $1.4 billion after those adjustments are made, and that is after substantial extra money going where taxpayers want to see that money focused. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000556\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EHealth is getting an extra $737 million, which is an increase in funding of 9 percent\u2014a very real increase that is well above inflation. Education is getting another $481 million, which is a 6 percent increase, and which is again ahead of inflation. Enterprise, industry, and regional development support are getting an increase of $76 million, which is off a fairly low base, and which represents a 43 percent increase in funding. That has been done in an economic climate where our economy is growing at amongst the fastest rate in the OECD, with 4 percent growth. Unemployment is very low, despite our labour force participation rate being at an all-time high. At around 5 percent, it is again one of the lowest in the OECD. Our Crown debt levels are at the lowest since Treasury began collecting data in 1971. When the accounts were taken over from National by the Labour-led Government, gross debt was at 36.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Over the next year or two it will go down to 23 percent of GDP, which is a substantial decrease. Net debt will drop even further, to 14 percent of GDP. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000557\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EAgainst that background, one wonders what Dr Brash and the National Party would be saying. I looked with some interest at what Dr Brash was reported as saying in the Dominion Post last Thursday, 15 May. I was intrigued by this quote: \u201CGrowth is too low to narrow the large gap in the living standards between New Zealand and Australia that emerged during the 1970s and 1980s.\u201D I thought, my goodness, it is strange for Dr Brash to forget about the decade that we have had since then. Maybe there is a reason for that selective quoting of statistics. So I got out the figures, and they make for interesting reading. In 1980 New Zealand was ranked 18th on per capita GDP in the OECD countries, and Australia was 10th. The decade of the 1980s was mainly Labour-led. In that decade New Zealand dropped back one placing, from 18th to 19th, while the Australians dropped back six places. It seems to me that Labour did not do a bad job compared with Australia back in that decade. Then I looked at the next decade, and I wondered why Dr Brash had not mentioned it. From 1990 \u2013 2000 it was the National decade, in which National effected its \u201Cwonderful\u201D fundamentalist policy that is still so favoured by Dr Brash and Mr Hide\u2014or Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, as some of us like to refer to them. In that decade New Zealand started at 19th and dropped back one place to 20th. In the same period Australia went from 16th up to 12th\u2014they went up four places, and we went back one. It is no wonder Dr Brash does not refer to that decade\u2014it is the decade of incompetence. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000558\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EIn most overseas countries the ideology of fundamentalist, neo-classical economics is seen as flawed. Our own New Zealand experience of the adverse human and economic consequences of the austere, misguided, neo-classical fundamentalism was one of the reasons that I became active in the Labour Party, and one of the reasons Dr Brash became active in the National Party; because he still believes in it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000559\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b63935ee-d78b-43a8-a3bc-996e7951fb9b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226a76acfb3c4149fc842d481ff04733e3\u0022\u003ER Doug Woolerton\u003C/span\u003E: The only good thing you have done is kick Gavan Herlihy out.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000560\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226d02356556064dffb33583c45a899ba5\u0022\u003EDAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: That is a very kind comment from the member. National and ACT\u2019s continued obsession with austerity and neo-classical fundamentalist monetary policy, no matter what the economic and social cost, relied upon a simplistic economic model that was altogether too narrow to make common sense. But have they moved on? No, they have not.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000561\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e3dc3d88-a571-4ed7-a4b4-b66dedd6134b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e072b896c3914e2d8b74c92195e05383\u0022\u003EPeter Brown\u003C/span\u003E: Have you?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000562\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fd7cb68e7bd94e0097e605415b2750dd\u0022\u003EDAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: Yes, Labour has moved on, and that is why the member has seen the economy improve, and why the country is in such a healthy Budget position. But have National and ACT moved on? No\u2014never. They cling to the purity of their simplistic neo-classical views. They still think that issues of distribution and efficiency can be separated. They do not care if there is a great disparity between the income and wealth of the haves and the have-nots. They say it does not matter. They say that the economy performs just as well, even with those disparities. Well, we disagree. Our philosophy is that social cohesiveness and equality of opportunity are important to economic prosperity and to personal security. We think the failed neo-classical policies that widened the gap between wealth and income in New Zealand undermined security and threatened the economy to the detriment of us all. We say that their policies\u2014which Dr Brash would return us to tomorrow\u2014were one of the main reasons behind the poor performance of the New Zealand economy compared with Australia. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000563\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EI reiterate that that poor performance was in the decade between 1990 and 2000 when National was in Government, and that is the reason that we went backwards, as compared with Australia. That is also the reason we are now going forward, as compared with the rest of the world. We recognised that mistake, and we are changing it. What did we inherit when the Labour Government first got back in? We inherited those austere policies and the consequences of them. We had virtually no apprentices. This Budget increases the funding for the Modern Apprenticeships scheme. We had a youth suicide rate that was very high because of the hopelessness with which young people entering the workforce viewed their prospects. I think that was a major part of the hopelessness of youth at the time. This Budget funds a policy that, over the next few years, will see everyone of school-leaving age either moving into employment or moving into post-school education. Those young people will have hope, and we will have a better and more skilled workforce. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000564\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003EWe had superannuation that was increasingly under threat as to its sustainability. After the last few Budgets, we have a long-term, sustainable superannuation position, largely because of the contributions that will be made this year, and in the future, of about $1.8 billion, which will go to help fund future superannuation.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000565\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e3dc3d88-a571-4ed7-a4b4-b66dedd6134b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220cfb35b94c074140b8ea5646c394d22a\u0022\u003EPeter Brown\u003C/span\u003E: Where are you going to invest all that?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000566\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002210eab2681d4f4d499f4e780d5d86b9be\u0022\u003EDAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: We invest in people. Where will the Superannuation Fund invest? The Superannuation Fund will invest in a range of investments in New Zealand and overseas so as to protect the fund for the future, and to sustain superannuation for our superannuitants. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000567\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003ENotwithstanding the healthy surplus, we have managed to find an extra $167 million to fund an additional 774 teachers in our schools, which is over and above those required for roll growth. As I have said, we have reduced debt, we have funded Modern Apprenticeships, and we have funded training for everyone 15-19 years of age\u2014as long as they are in further training or education, and not on the dole.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000568\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022592602a8199146a38790d0a5a3db6bfa\u0022\u003ELindsay Tisch\u003C/span\u003E: You\u2019re on page 7.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000569\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f5d71749-ae91-4af7-b2bd-77260398912a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fdce113893f549768f541010fedb7057\u0022\u003EDAVID PARKER\u003C/span\u003E: I am on page 7, am I? It is true that I have lost my page. In closing, I reinforce my encouragement to listeners to think again about the selective quoting of statistics that Dr Brash would visit upon us in quoting the statistics from the 1970s and 1980s, but ignoring the 1990s when it all went so horribly wrong.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022fcd222c3-03a3-4568-a8aa-b6e8c6ef37c5\u0022 data-id=\u0022b483a20f2cb94d73a4af49b7506d421f\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000570\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fcd222c3-03a3-4568-a8aa-b6e8c6ef37c5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022b483a20f2cb94d73a4af49b7506d421f\u0022\u003EMIKE WARD (Green):\u003C/span\u003E As I go about this place and meet and listen to Government members, I must confess that I find most of them pretty decent human beings, whom, I suspect, care as much about the future of this country as I do.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000571\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c3657952-0eec-4a34-918d-677d93c1b281\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223c55b4a067cb42e69f1131fe5d75d27d\u0022\u003EIan Ewen-Street\u003C/span\u003E: Except for Doug Woolerton.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000572\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fcd222c3-03a3-4568-a8aa-b6e8c6ef37c5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220f16c06ba0db4e729e601b5198400477\u0022\u003EMIKE WARD\u003C/span\u003E: Even Doug Woolerton\u2014but he is not in the Government. As I listened to Dr Cullen\u2019s Budget statement, there were hints that, yes, indeed, this Government might be taking seriously the idea of a 100 percent pure New Zealand\u2014looking after those things that, if not pure New Zealand, at least make us unique. The $15.2 million for heritage protection may well help to keep intact features like Hamilton\u2019s Hayes Paddock, that stunning reminder of old Labour\u2019s State housing initiatives, from those who would destroy the integrity of the whole by removing houses and replacing them with structures that are less sympathetic. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000573\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fcd222c3-03a3-4568-a8aa-b6e8c6ef37c5\u0022\u003EThe Prime Minister\u2019s personal passion for the arts is commendable. I have just been to the launch of the overseas initiatives and heard her speak about some of the wonderful things that are happening in the arts\u2014and they do indeed owe a great deal to her personal enthusiasm, as well as to the funding. Although I am not aware of the detail of how the additional dollars budgeted for sport and fitness will be spent, in the light of the Hon Trevor Mallard\u2019s response to my question about measures to improve the exercise habits of New Zealand youngsters, I remain hopeful that at least some will be targeted to achieve heightened levels of youthful activity. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000574\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fcd222c3-03a3-4568-a8aa-b6e8c6ef37c5\u0022\u003EIf the Government really wanted to strengthen the 100 percent pure New Zealand image and provide real opportunities for all New Zealanders, it would be far more generously inclined towards initiatives that encourage New Zealanders to support New Zealand businesses and New Zealand products. Mr Len Cook, the former chief statistician, is quoted in last week\u2019s Listener, as saying: \u201CThe Tourism Board\u2019s 100 percent pure is stunning. It would be wonderful if that became the whole brand of New Zealand.\u201D\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000575\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022e3dc3d88-a571-4ed7-a4b4-b66dedd6134b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00227737231cc419446988f85727edf8de8b\u0022\u003EPeter Brown\u003C/span\u003E: That\u2019s why he lives and works in London.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000576\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fcd222c3-03a3-4568-a8aa-b6e8c6ef37c5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022b9f528af49524bb5adfa68de36f84030\u0022\u003EMIKE WARD\u003C/span\u003E: Indeed, he does. Although much has been made by others of the purity of the New Zealand environment, our huge waste problem, and our over-dependence on chemicals in our production and processing of food, I want to talk about the products that fill our shop shelves and Kiwi shopping baskets. They are not 100 percent pure New Zealand. Although some suggest there are some things we cannot or do not make, an examination of our history would suggest that those things are relatively few. We are a food-producing country, but the levels of imports on our supermarket shelves are a disappointing testament to our collective willingness to undermine the employment opportunities of our children, our neighbours, our friends, and ourselves by buying those imports when alongside them are New Zealand equivalents that are frequently as cheap, and cheaper. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000577\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fcd222c3-03a3-4568-a8aa-b6e8c6ef37c5\u0022\u003EBut it is not only food and jobs that cry out for a greater commitment to support local manufacturers. The overseas products may well be those of sweatshops and lax environmental standards\u2014shortcomings we may well ignore when they occur somewhere else but would result in an outrage if the products were New Zealand \u2013 made products and the social and environmental degradation happened here. All too often, the manufactured imports are cheaper\u2014and for a reason: they are disposable. They are not made to last; they are made to throw away, to join the other 80 million kilograms of rubbish New Zealanders throw away every week. New Zealanders deserve better than the cheap throwaway. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000578\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fcd222c3-03a3-4568-a8aa-b6e8c6ef37c5\u0022\u003EThe Government appears unwilling to dig too deeply into its surplus to support local business, so I had to look to existing spending, beyond the paltry $1.84 million targeted at small business. I looked at the $73 million intended for Trade New Zealand to improve our trading prospects. Our balance of payment deficit over many years is an issue, but there is another obvious line of attack that the Government could mount. Reducing the level of imports by spending even a modest proportion of the Trade New Zealand $73 million to support Business New Zealand\u2019s \u201Cbuy local\u201D campaign could begin to change New Zealanders\u2019 mindset. New Zealanders valuing New Zealand - made and New Zealanders buying quality is a marketing campaign that should be child\u2019s play in a country that has totally transformed the smoking habits of millions of New Zealanders and made drink-drivers, once the object of sympathy, into persona non grata. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000579\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fcd222c3-03a3-4568-a8aa-b6e8c6ef37c5\u0022\u003EIs this inconsistent with the Government\u2019s policies? I would not have thought so. Yet in the past almost nothing has gone into supporting the concept of New Zealand \u2013 made. Are we saying one should never buy foreign? Are we saying one must always buy New Zealand \u2013 made? No, that is not what the Green Party is saying. The Green Party is saying that it makes sense to spend our money in places where it can find its way back into our own pockets and where it supports people in our community to live well and to enjoy life.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022 data-id=\u0022ba3ebb24f1a04889aae03b6e44912561\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000580\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022ba3ebb24f1a04889aae03b6e44912561\u0022\u003ESUE KEDGLEY (Green):\u003C/span\u003E This year\u2019s food safety budget is underspent by approximately $5 million. Ordinarily, a Budget underspend would be cause for great celebration and rejoicing, but when one considers the parlous state of food safety in New Zealand, I find the underspend, frankly, cause for alarm. The Food Safety Authority, we remember, is an agency that does virtually no monitoring or testing of the vast amount of produce that is imported into New Zealand, or of any food that is produced here in New Zealand. Yet, when we look at the accounts, much of the underspending occurred in the critical area of monitoring of our food supply\u2014an area where the agency is notoriously weak, and we do not have even the most rudimentary programme in place. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000581\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022\u003ELet us take the simple issue of campylobacter, just as an example. New Zealand has the highest rate of campylobacter poisoning of any Western country. It is about twice the rate of similar countries, and it is growing by about 25 percent every single year. Last year, more than 12,000 New Zealanders became ill as a result of campylobacter poisoning, and about 500 ended up in hospital. We know that most campylobacter poisoning comes from eating chicken meat, and that four out of every five fresh chickens sold in New Zealand are contaminated with either campylobacter or salmonella. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000582\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022\u003EWhat is our Food Safety Authority doing about this intolerable level of contamination? Where is our national strategy to clean up poultry rearing and processing plants, and food outlets, and to halve campylobacter rates within 5 years, as Britain has pledged to do? The answer is that there are no such programmes in New Zealand\u2014I should say no such national strategies, because there is probably some little programme sequestered somewhere in the authority. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000583\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022\u003EAnother vital food safety issue is the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in our food chain. A recent survey of data from 100 poultry farms all around New Zealand has found an extraordinary 50 percent of them contaminated with the antibiotic-resistant bacteria, VRE\u2014Vancomycin-resistant enterococci. One would think that this would be a cause for alarm and treated as a serious food safety concern, particularly as if these antibiotic-resistant bacteria were to transfer their resistance to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, prevalent around New Zealand, we would have a national health scare that would make Sars look like a dress rehearsal, and this has already happened. But, astonishingly, we have no programmes in New Zealand to estimate the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the food chain or to randomly test chicken meat. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000584\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022\u003EI put forward a Budget bid to do this last year and was told there was no money in the Budget for this work. That was the previous Government, so I have to say it is galling, to say the least, that not only is this work still not being done, but there is $5 billion languishing around in the Budget that could have been spent on that important study. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000585\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022\u003ENow, in a positive light, I am relieved that the Food Safety Authority will finally look at imports and regulations around the domestic food supply, but I am completely mystified as to why the agency was vehemently opposed to country-of-origin labelling, when it is explicitly required, in its terms of reference, to support consumer choice through accurate and meaningful labelling. Two recent consumer surveys have found that 70 to 80 percent of consumers want to know where their food comes from, but officials are arguing that there is no interest in country-of-origin labelling here in New Zealand. This is absolutely preposterous and very mystifying. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000586\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022eaaad191-62cf-43e8-a772-63a71dbf4d4a\u0022\u003EI turn to Vote Health. We are pleased that there has been a significant investment in primary health-care. We support the concept of public primary health-care organisations and multidisciplinary teams of health-care professionals working together. Unfortunately, we have seen no evidence to date of these multidisciplinary teams in the primary health-care organisations. Pharmacists and complementary health-care professionals are clamouring to be included in these teams, but so far they have been shut out. We are also concerned at the way the primary health-care organisations are being implemented on a geographical basis, and the impact on medical practices that miss out on the higher subsidies. Already, we have medical practices facing ruin as patients are lured to clinics that are able to access subsidies and therefore charge reduced fees. Surely it is not the Government\u2019s intention to see medical practices shut down around New Zealand.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002225c22a83-ff2c-474c-a092-883be2dd63d3\u0022 data-id=\u0022eac9653035ab47738b1bc2ca97d1481a\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000587\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002225c22a83-ff2c-474c-a092-883be2dd63d3\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022eac9653035ab47738b1bc2ca97d1481a\u0022\u003EDAVE HEREORA (NZ Labour):\u003C/span\u003E I would like to start off with a positive statement\u2014that this year\u2019s Budget reflects the needs of the majority of New Zealanders. I extend to my colleagues confidence in the growing reputation that the Government continues to manifest as a sound manager of the country\u2019s finances. New Zealanders are supportive of the Government, and the media commentators are catching up with that fact. The Budget may be easy to attack, but it is hard to argue with the numbers: that in the year just gone, growth in the New Zealand economy as we know it was at a rate of 4.4 percent\u2014amongst the fastest growing in the OECD. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000588\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002225c22a83-ff2c-474c-a092-883be2dd63d3\u0022\u003EThe Government has made a decision to save the surplus, and let us be very clear what that surplus represents. This Government has delivered a $4 billion surplus as the international economy comes under attack from war and disease, and although international influences may see a negative drop in the growth rate to 2.2 percent, this rate is expected to rebound in the following year to a rate of 3.2 percent. Future services will be sufficient to maintain infrastructural investment, including dealing with the infrastructure deficit we inherited, and it will meet our debt targets, and finance contributions to the Superannuation Fund. Gross debt as a proportion of the gross domestic product (GDP) is at its lowest level since Treasury began collecting data in 1971. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000589\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002225c22a83-ff2c-474c-a092-883be2dd63d3\u0022\u003EThe Government is securing a reputation that is not flashy or flighty. There are no surprises; it is just plain old common sense. It is back-to-basics sound management of the national coffers, and that is not hard. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000590\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002225c22a83-ff2c-474c-a092-883be2dd63d3\u0022\u003EThe ordinary Kiwi out there understands the effect of GDP, unlike Mr Muldoon did, or the Business Round Table, which squabbles about how business has suffered and forecasts doom and gloom for the next decade. I intend breaking the provisions of the Budget down to demonstrate how they will assist iwi, hap\u016B, and wh\u0101nau, and how they will address the disparity at the lower end of the socio-economic pit where M\u0101ori are. Let us be very clear why that is, and why M\u0101ori are at its lower end. The origins came from the lack of vision of previous Governments, and their lack of willingness to make substantial change to that socio-economic climate. That attitude continues. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000591\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002225c22a83-ff2c-474c-a092-883be2dd63d3\u0022\u003EI want to mention an article in the National Business Review of 9 May headed \u201CLabour\u2019s treaty rights talk takes a wrong turn\u201D. The assertion that M\u0101ori have superior rights under the treaty \u201Copens an area that is vastly more contentious than the settlement of land grievances.\u201D The article continues to say that the issue \u201Cis already creating opportunities for the Opposition. National\u2019s Bill English insists there should be \u2018one standard of citizenship for all,\u2019 \u201D. He describes the separate M\u0101ori seats as an example of special treatment for M\u0101ori that needs to be ended, and says that the Opposition\u2019s task is to strip away the veneer that the treaty is a living document, which somehow moves with a predestined life of its own and beyond the purview of political accountability. The article also suggests that the primacy of Parliament needs to be reassessed over a set of principles that have never been tested at the ballot box before. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000592\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002225c22a83-ff2c-474c-a092-883be2dd63d3\u0022\u003EWell, \u201Cnever been tested\u201D\u2014my eye! I think that that is a load of garbage. Why do members think the M\u0101ori seats returned to Labour en masse? I say that the Opposition is using M\u0101ori issues to justify its existence, and I extend a challenge to M\u0101ori members in the Opposition. I want them to take a call, and I would like to know from them whether they support that position, and whether they support stripping away the very veneer of the treaty as a living document. It would be interesting to hear their responses. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000593\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002225c22a83-ff2c-474c-a092-883be2dd63d3\u0022\u003EOver recent weeks we have been subjected to a continual barrage from the Opposition benches, of claims we are spoon-feeding M\u0101ori and creating a two-tier society, and a short-sighted attempt to introduce the option of abolishing the M\u0101ori seats. To go further, yesterday\u2019s announcement from the Opposition in today\u2019s Dominion Post headed \u201C\u2005\u2018Punitive\u2019 truancy plan sparks anger\u201D is again targeted at penalising parents on benefits, which we know will hit M\u0101ori families. There is a method to that madness. It is specifically targeted to introduce another way to penalise M\u0101ori, and to keep M\u0101ori in that low socio-economic pit. The recent Marae DigiPoll shows impressive support for this Government, and 68 percent are satisfied with the Government\u2019s performance and support the Government\u2019s policies and directions.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000594\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002225c22a83-ff2c-474c-a092-883be2dd63d3\u0022\u003EI must say that that is impressive. The treaty programme announced in the Budget, with its allocation of $6.5 million, has the purpose of raising public knowledge of the treaty. I reiterate that it is to raise public knowledge; it is not designed to create a two-tiered society. It is to do the complete opposite and make the information accessible to the public, to explore other options, and to improve the information available\u2014bearing in mind that the target audience is the general public and not just M\u0101ori. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000595\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002225c22a83-ff2c-474c-a092-883be2dd63d3\u0022\u003EThe key feature over the coming 4 years is the allocation of $1 million to develop iwi radio. That is about fostering confidence\u2014the confidence to manifest the very essence that allows a culture to survive: the promotion of the language, te reo. It will allow it to evolve as our nation evolves. Again, the target audience is the community, not just M\u0101ori. There will be an injection of $4.4 million into education to inform, and to develop policy on how better to engage wh\u0101nau, to aid the development of teachers in te reo and tikanga M\u0101ori, and to uplift the quality of te reo used by teachers in mainstream schools. Those provisions are all designed to lift achievement among M\u0101ori. The target audience, again, is not just M\u0101ori; it is wh\u0101nau. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000596\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002225c22a83-ff2c-474c-a092-883be2dd63d3\u0022\u003EIn health, there are provisions reducing prescription fees to a maximum of $3 for all children aged between 6 and 17 years and enrolled in interim primary health organisations, and for patients of all ages enrolled in access primary health organisations, and extending the health-line services so that New Zealanders will have access to a 24-hour health information and advice telephone service from next year. The target audience, again, is all New Zealanders. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000597\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002225c22a83-ff2c-474c-a092-883be2dd63d3\u0022\u003EThe success of the health-line over the last 3 years has been significant. We need only to go out into communities to appreciate how well the programme is regarded. The health-line improves the health and well being of New Zealanders by directing consumers to the right care at the right place at the right time. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000598\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002225c22a83-ff2c-474c-a092-883be2dd63d3\u0022\u003EThe challenge of youth unemployment is being tackled head-on, as is youth training. There is a $56 million package to get all 15 to 19-year-olds into education, training, work, or other options by 2007. A range of different training options will be made available, including expanding the Gateway and Modern Apprenticeships programmes, as well as providing specialised support from Work and Income. The Gateway programme prepares young people for the world of work while they are still at school. Senior secondary students on the programme are able to start work-based qualifications, and they learn the disciplines of work. Nationally, the Gateway programme will progressively expand to all decile 1 to 5 schools, taking in 12,000 students a year by 2007. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000599\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002225c22a83-ff2c-474c-a092-883be2dd63d3\u0022\u003EIn my area of south Auckland the Budget package also extends the popular Modern Apprenticeships scheme, which has been a great success in the Papakura region. At the end of March, there were 40 modern apprentices in our region. Last September there were 25 in Papakura, and nationally there were 5,000 in March. The number of modern apprenticeships will now increase by 50 percent, to 7,500 places a year by 2006. Papakura employers and educators need to ensure they do their utmost to secure as many of these extra modern apprentices as possible, to assist our young people and to keep our local economy growing. These initiatives, and others in the youth training package, mean that the Government will meet the goal it agreed with the Mayors Task Force for Jobs by 2007. All 15 to 19-year-olds will be engaged in appropriate education, training, work, or other options, which will lead to long-term economic independence and well being. I welcome this youth training package because it specifically targets those young people who do not go to university or polytech, and enables them to learn the skills necessary for today\u2019s workforce. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000600\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002225c22a83-ff2c-474c-a092-883be2dd63d3\u0022\u003EAt the other end in education, I too, like my colleague, spend time on the local primary school board of trustees, and often we are seeking funding on that board to deal with pre-school entrants. There is the need for special assistance to teach pre-schoolers the very basics\u2014and that is the ABC, colours, and numbers. That is becoming familiar and ongoing. I am very pleased that the Government will assist in that situation in pre-school with an extra $55 million over 4 years to increase participation in, and the quality of, early childhood education. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000601\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002225c22a83-ff2c-474c-a092-883be2dd63d3\u0022\u003EI want to finish on a positive note. It was not very long ago that the business sector lacked confidence in this Labour-led coalition to manage our finances. That view has certainly changed. In fact, it has changed so much that the lack of confidence has switched to now being directed to the National Party. The Government is proving to be fiscally prudent. That is a whole-of-Government approach, that is what inspires confidence, and that is why this Government is so sound. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022b63935ee-d78b-43a8-a3bc-996e7951fb9b\u0022 data-id=\u00226b7705d9df9c4ec9bab7fc2667eac109\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000602\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b63935ee-d78b-43a8-a3bc-996e7951fb9b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00226b7705d9df9c4ec9bab7fc2667eac109\u0022\u003ER DOUG WOOLERTON (NZ First):\u003C/span\u003E I am always fascinated by what the Minister of Finance calls accrual accounting. He often accuses members on this side of the House\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000603\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022403ededb8a71441897c91d2f81b3e499\u0022\u003ERodney Hide\u003C/span\u003E: Do they have it in Hamilton?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000604\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b63935ee-d78b-43a8-a3bc-996e7951fb9b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022387498781a5b4029b35f8b7da9bed371\u0022\u003ER DOUG WOOLERTON\u003C/span\u003E: I do not know whether they do; the people in Hamilton are very practical. In the Waikato they are even more practical. Dr Cullen says that people on this side of the House do not understand accrual accounting. I will tell members what we do not understand\u2014that is, Dr Cullen going around the country lauding the fact that he has a $4 billion surplus. All over the place he is saying what a wonderful Treasurer he is to achieve a $4 billion surplus. But when we asked what it is to be spent on, that surplus, in the speech he gave, became $1.36 billion. A couple of billion dollars has disappeared. I do not know whether that is a lot of money. It seems like a heck of a lot to a person from the Waikato. It is a lot of money in the Waikato. Anyway, that has gone on other things. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000605\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b63935ee-d78b-43a8-a3bc-996e7951fb9b\u0022\u003EThen we look at this $1.36 billion and ask what the Budget gives to people like my brother just out of Hamilton, who is beavering away, barely making a living with his 1,000 cows. He is a solid worker, like all the Woolertons. He is a good man. He asked me: \u201CDoug, what am I going to get out of this Budget? Are we, the people who really make this country go, going to get some incentives?\u201D. I answered: \u201CNo.\u201D He asked me why. I said that the reason is that Dr Cullen says he does not know whether he has a surplus. I cannot understand that. I would have thought that a man versed in the deep, dark mysteries of accrual accounting would know whether he had a surplus. But evidently Dr Cullen does not know that, so I cannot satisfy my brother in answer to his questions. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000606\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b63935ee-d78b-43a8-a3bc-996e7951fb9b\u0022\u003EThat is the problem that the good, average Kiwi cannot get around: what is this person talking about? The Government either has a surplus or it does not. If it does have a surplus, then it can get on and do things for our population and get some growth going in this country. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000607\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b63935ee-d78b-43a8-a3bc-996e7951fb9b\u0022\u003EI searched all through this Budget. I worked into the small hours, through page after page. I had a heck of a job, and had to get my wife to nudge me to keep me awake half the time. But I read it. I was looking for a reference to agriculture. My colleague Shane Ardern from the King Country would understand this. I was searching through this Budget to see what the Government will do for our main income earners.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000608\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221c818ce2-6ca3-4c4a-9e6a-2e3a67d070e1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002229fd3ee9940142a99e4d18c2f675ca5d\u0022\u003EShane Ardern\u003C/span\u003E: What did you find?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000609\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b63935ee-d78b-43a8-a3bc-996e7951fb9b\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022af377a60e8c847c68c825d9b42703a7f\u0022\u003ER DOUG WOOLERTON\u003C/span\u003E: Nothing. I found all sorts of things that the Government is going to spend the money on, but I found nothing for agriculture. But hang on, the next morning I was up at 4.50 a.m. to go over the Budget again. I will tell members what I found. I found that the Government was to spend some more money in the area of biosecurity. Loosely, I suppose, one could say that that might be a help to the farmers, but actually it will not be; it is something that affects all New Zealanders. I gave him a bit of kudos for that. Then I found something else. Shane Ardern will be interested to hear this. Market access and the negotiations surrounding Doha were referred to. The Government put a couple of bob in there. But more than a couple of bob will be needed, because our Minister for Trade Negotiations is never here. Next time, I think we will ask that Shane Ardern go with him to keep an eye on what he is doing, because, from where I sit, he is not making much difference to trade access. It is not making much difference to trade access when the Americans put up a farm bill worth trillions of dollars in subsidies to its farmers, to the detriment of the farmers in this country. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000610\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022b63935ee-d78b-43a8-a3bc-996e7951fb9b\u0022\u003EWe in this country are surviving on a consumption-led economy. That is why we need all the immigrants who are coming in. We need them to bring the money in with them, because we are surviving on consumption. We are not putting the money into where it should be, which is production. And that, in the main, in this country\u2014and I am sorry if people do not like it\u2014comes from farms, forestry, and fisheries.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022fce185df-f325-4a5a-a850-52fb6b2b918d\u0022 data-id=\u00224f9438a70f4249bbbcd8b2ba494974c9\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000611\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fce185df-f325-4a5a-a850-52fb6b2b918d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00224f9438a70f4249bbbcd8b2ba494974c9\u0022\u003EBILL GUDGEON (NZ First):\u003C/span\u003E If a person is forced to remain dependent upon others, essentially he or she is their slave, because he or she is subject to their control. Economic freedom lies at the base of all liberties. A person\u2019s property is his or her life. It is what he or she spends. A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious, but it cannot survive non-reason within it. An enemy at the gate is less formidable, for he is known and he carries his banners openly against the city. But the unreasonable moves amongst those within the gates freely. His whispers rustling through all the alleys are heard in the very halls of government itself. He speaks in the accent familiar to those victims. He wears their face and their garments, and he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of people. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000612\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fce185df-f325-4a5a-a850-52fb6b2b918d\u0022\u003EThis country is dependent on foreign capital flows to maintain its standard of living. As every year ticks by and we do not look any closer to ever managing to turn it round, our credit line as a nation withers. We assume that this is a society in which there is not too much poverty or too much trouble, and in which most people can get away to the beach. Well, hello\u2014wake up New Zealand! Many of us, it seems, are still demanding an easy way out, believing that the world owes us a living and still seeking a free lunch. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000613\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fce185df-f325-4a5a-a850-52fb6b2b918d\u0022\u003EWhy is it that four out of every 10 schools has a teacher shortage? Has the Government put a band-aid over a wound that needs a bandage and serious first aid? Why is there a constant change of the following: first, assessment philosophy and practice; second, seriously overworked teachers; third, too much administration for senior teachers and staff so that leadership in the classroom from these people is reduced; and, fourth, lack of motivation by some students, because many good job options do not exist\u2014for example, trade apprenticeships? Our undeveloping nation is increasingly unable to employ us, house us, care for us, and give us the lifestyle we aspire to. Former third nations, such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and others are not catching up to us; they are roaring past us. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000614\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fce185df-f325-4a5a-a850-52fb6b2b918d\u0022\u003EIn the area of law and order, our police are becoming the laughing stock of the criminal world. There are to be 50 more police for Auckland. That is hardly a joke, I say to Mr Hawkins. What makes it worse is that we allow criminals into the community while their applications for home detention are being processed. This Budget is on the side of the criminals. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000615\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fce185df-f325-4a5a-a850-52fb6b2b918d\u0022\u003EOur people are dying because of the health system. We have practically run out of outlet means to generate the power that consumers demand and pay for. We know that the means, such as coal, are there to do this. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000616\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fce185df-f325-4a5a-a850-52fb6b2b918d\u0022\u003EOur education system fails us. We have practically no Defence Force to assist the free nations for the defence of our freedom. This Government has told our Vietnam veterans that they did not fight in Agent Orange \u2013 spread areas, which is not true. This will be proved by a former commander of 161 Battery, with whom I served in Malaysia and Borneo, and it will cost. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000617\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fce185df-f325-4a5a-a850-52fb6b2b918d\u0022\u003EWe have been budgeted into being a Third World nation because of the policies of this Government. How can this Government sit back and watch our rail system deteriorate? How can this Government not pay our servicemen and servicewomen the same rate as the Australian service people are paid who served in the same theatre of East Timor, with the same expectations and results? How can this Government say we have a surplus, when this country is struggling in the social services area? The roads, railways, hospitals, schools, and all the rest of the infrastructure we built were a great cost over the decades. They are in decay. The welfare State has collapsed on itself. It has not only become unaffordable; it is increasingly not meeting our basic needs, despite the endless millions of dollars being poured into it. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000618\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fce185df-f325-4a5a-a850-52fb6b2b918d\u0022\u003EAll this tells us that the fiscal policies that have been put into place by the Government have been terribly wrong. The world is leaving us behind. We are becoming increasingly impoverished and we will end up languishing at the end of the Earth.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000619\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222a849ed4-a817-45a7-8b86-dbc9dd210193\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002204af807a3a2f483b94a4653f375f62f0\u0022\u003EJill Pettis\u003C/span\u003E: Oh, for goodness\u2019 sake!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000620\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fce185df-f325-4a5a-a850-52fb6b2b918d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220c47d86e8f6a4837add51109b563c447\u0022\u003EBILL GUDGEON\u003C/span\u003E: The member should just listen; she might learn something. The policy of building the economy with borrowed money to stimulate short-term growth is both pointless and damaging. As the leader of the New Zealand First said, the balance of payments is plunging deeper into deficit. We need to repay our debt as quickly as possible. We should get out of deficit and live within our means by encouraging a viable economy.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022 data-id=\u002250e2be167ab749af846e89aa08257c8a\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000621\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002250e2be167ab749af846e89aa08257c8a\u0022\u003EHon LIANNE DALZIEL (Minister of Immigration):\u003C/span\u003E I congratulate the Minister of Finance on introducing a responsible Budget. It is responsible because it acknowledges that there are external matters the impact of which we cannot fully predict: international terrorism, conflict, disease, and economic stagnation in many of the world\u2019s most important economies. There are local factors like drought, the impact that the severe acute respiratory syndrome has had on tourism, and the prospect of a dry winter. All of these call for a responsible approach, so that we can withstand the impacts of these external and internal factors.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000622\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022\u003EThis Budget is a responsible Budget because it invests in the growth and innovation framework. It is a responsible Budget because it prioritises health and education in terms of investing in the social fabric of society\u2014the health and well-being of all New Zealanders.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000623\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022\u003EI want to focus my comments in this Budget debate for 2003 on the immigration aspects of the Budget. This Budget shows this Government\u2019s commitment to migrants by ensuring that the benefits are shared by all. Just 3\u00BD years ago I inherited an immigration portfolio that was focused solely on the numbers of people coming into the country. This Government said from the outset that it does not matter how many people come to New Zealand under immigration policy; it is what happens to them after they arrive in New Zealand that matters. Successful settlement outcomes benefit the migrants and benefit New Zealand. Everything we have done over the past 3\u00BD years has been about improving the prospects for new migrants, as well as minimising the failures, which impose a considerable cost on New Zealand as a whole. There are people who like to pretend that there is no cost imposed on the New Zealand taxpayer when there are failures, but I can assure this House that there is an incredible cost, and one that I am determined to reduce.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000624\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022\u003EWhen I became Minister I coined a phrase. I said there were people in this country who had residence who could not get work, and there were people in this country who had work who could not get residence. This Government\u2019s approach to developing settlement programmes has been about addressing the former of these\u2014people in this country who have already got residence and cannot get a job. I am amazed that the National Party finds that situation acceptable, but I guess it was its policy that brought it about. The work-to-residence policy, including the talent visa, has been about addressing the latter\u2014people who can get work in New Zealand, well-paid work, but cannot get residence. Our approach is about addressing that issue.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000625\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022\u003EThe settlement programmes are growing. They have been incredibly successful. For example, the Auckland chamber of commerce successfully matched over 300 skilled migrants with skilled work in its first year of operating the \u201CNew Kiwis\u201D website. What a fantastic partnership between the public sector and the private sector, working together to make a difference for skilled migrants! The talent visa accredited employers programme has seen 125 employers accredited in the past year and 250 talent visas issued since it was established. That is a tremendous record of achievement in just 1 year of operation, when there was nothing like it in place before we took office.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022\u003EThere is no question that this Government has made a real difference to immigration policy, but we are not ones to rest on our laurels. For over a year now, I have signalled the need for New Zealand to shift from being a passive recipient of immigration applications to being an active recruiter of the skills and the talent we need. In fact, the National Government set up a very good programme before it left office in 1999, and that was a research programme\u2014the longitudinal study of migrants in New Zealand\u2014to establish what made for successful settlement of migrants to New Zealand. We are using the information that that survey is giving us to know what we should be looking for in terms of successful settlement outcomes, and we are also looking at how we can improve the outcomes for those who take residence here.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000627\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022\u003EThe skilled business stream of the New Zealand Immigration Programme is where we need new migrants to hit the ground running when they arrive in New Zealand. It is no good that they sit back and cannot participate in either society or the economy. That is not what the skilled business stream of migration is for. If migrants can hit the ground running, then it is good for New Zealand, it is good for the migrant, and it is an absolute win-win. This year\u2019s Budget contains within it funding for the infrastructure to enable this to occur. This funding will allow the Immigration Service more actively to match skilled migrants with actual, real opportunities, real jobs, here in New Zealand, and that will mean they will be able to contribute to, and participate in, New Zealand\u2019s society and the economy sooner.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000628\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022\u003EIt will also enable us to recruit in parts of the world where we have not had a real presence in the past, and we will be able actively to recruit those already living, working, or studying in New Zealand. Close to 40 percent of all applications for residence are lodged on shore. Clearly, those who have already been here\u2014living here, working here, studying here\u2014for 2 or 3 years have already begun well and truly to establish themselves, to be well settled in this country. The outcomes for those who are already living and working here are exponentially greater than for those who have never even visited New Zealand in their entire life.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000629\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022\u003EThe reason that settlement outcomes are poorer for those who have never been here is really about expectations. Unmet expectations are the key driver of poor settlement outcomes. People need realistic expectations before they move halfway around the world. I want to quote from a letter written to the Prime Minister a few weeks ago. It is from an Indian professional engineer who had come to New Zealand on a job search visa. His visa expires in September, but after his multiple job rejections he has already booked his ticket home. He can be here until September but he has booked his ticket home. He speaks of meeting other Indians, and says that 95 percent of those whom he has met are working in menial jobs well below their level of qualification. In fact, he describes in the letter people actually saying they have had to underplay their qualifications and their skills in order to get forecourt attendant jobs at the local service station. He says: \u201CIn my case I am almost ruined. I left my class 1 engineer post in India, and I have already spent about half a million rupees. Even I had to ask my son in the UK to send some money meant for his studies.\u201D What he says is that he, as a new migrant, is prepared to take a step down the ladder, but he is not prepared to go to the bottom of the ladder and start all over again.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000630\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022\u003EWhat this Budget signals for immigration is that we no longer want to invite people to come to New Zealand under the general skills category when we know they are destined to fail. We want to provide potential migrants with a realistic assessment of their prospects in New Zealand. We want to match skilled migrants with skilled job opportunities. We want migrants to know what they need in order to gain skilled employment, and if that means meeting professional registration requirements, undertaking further study, or improving their English ability prior to gaining residence, then that is the right approach. We know from the bitter experience of the doctors, the information technology specialists, and the scientists driving taxis whom we have all met that it is not good enough to tell people that they are qualified for skilled migration but not qualified for skilled work in New Zealand.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000631\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c186d0a2-99f4-408b-9b4d-d484cf19724d\u0022\u003EIn the role of Minister of Immigration I do have to accept that there are those who seek to abuse the system, and this Budget addresses that issue as well. We are putting in $19.82 million to strengthen the present immigration capability for intelligence, providing more resources for the investigation and prosecution of immigration fraud.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022 data-id=\u00220c9caf4eadfc4b0cb28104c8ad7e3520\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000632\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00220c9caf4eadfc4b0cb28104c8ad7e3520\u0022\u003EPANSY WONG (NZ National):\u003C/span\u003E I think the public would have been confused when they heard the Minister of Immigration talking about how to stop abuse of the system. But, on the same hand, this is the Minister who gave a work permit to a patient receiving dialysis treatment. That person cannot even work. [Interruption] I tell that member to take a call, and not hold back now. Members on the Labour benches have suddenly woken up. They should take a call. This Minister of Immigration will also be remembered for losing a court case. [Interruption]\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000633\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fae7af0d-c48d-4dd4-88f3-928ccaa3a984\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224f91631e5f5e4b1db6d08f642e0008d0\u0022\u003EMadam DEPUTY SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: Order!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000634\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022bc1e9f65-e08b-4939-867c-22ef093e2a4e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223549519881864394bfbed66264de5561\u0022\u003ERodney Hide\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. I draw your attention to this point. The senior Government whip continued to shout abuse after you had called for order. I do think there should be a bit of a pull-up of that member, who is the senior Government whip.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000635\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022fae7af0d-c48d-4dd4-88f3-928ccaa3a984\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221bbdd19953834d5bb4d8ea26cf670cda\u0022\u003EMadam DEPUTY SPEAKER\u003C/span\u003E: I have called for order.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000636\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d33f80f227cf41ba9a134f61719e09d5\u0022\u003EPANSY WONG\u003C/span\u003E: I hope the senior Government whip from down south learns some manners in the parliamentary debating chamber. If he would like to take a call, he is most welcome to speak in his own time.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000637\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003EThis Minister of Immigration will also be remembered for losing a court case. After claiming that the Labour Government was not bothered about the number of immigrants, suddenly on 11 November 2002 she announced an increase in the difficulty of the English language test, and all sorts of things, which incited the association of immigration consultants to take a court case. This is also the Minister of Immigration who says she cannot take the criticism from students queuing overnight to get their student permits, so she removes the same-day service of granting them permits.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000638\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003ELet us not be distracted. I want to come back to the Budget that was delivered last Thursday. Last Thursday, after the Minister of Finance had delivered his Budget speech, I got in a taxi to go all the way to Auckland airport. The taxi-driver was lamenting why he should bother working 10 hours a day to make ends meet. He does not feel positive about his future and his family\u2019s future. He wants Michael Cullen to explain why he was boasting about having a $4 billion surplus. The Government does not earn money. Guess where the Government\u2019s revenue comes from? Let us look at this information. Forty-four percent of Government revenue comes from salary and wage earners\u2014like the taxi-driver I was talking about\u2014company tax makes up 11 percent, GST 24 percent, and other taxes 14 percent. Ninety-three percent of Government revenue comes from taxes. How dare the Minister of Finance stand in this House and boast about making a surplus, when taxi-drivers and other hard-working New Zealanders are being overtaxed to produce that $4 billion surplus! [Interruption] The Minister of Immigration has had her say. If she would just listen, she might learn a few things.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000639\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003EThe Minister of Finance shamelessly held up the carrot of tax relief next year, in his own words,  \u201Cmaybe for low-income earners\u201D. Why next year? Why not this year? Are we too cynical in suggesting that election year is coming closer? It is not the Minister of Finance\u2019s surplus; it is the surplus of hard-working New Zealanders who are being taxed too much. The taxi-driver got progressively even more upset when he also found out that 36 percent of the tax collected goes to social welfare. He was not too sure how long he wanted to carry on working, instead of simply giving up and going on the dole. That is what is so criminal about this Labour Budget. The Government is taxing hard-working New Zealanders, and keeping the surplus for an election year bribe.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000640\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003EIn 1999 Labour promised no new taxes. Since then we have had three extraordinary urgency parliamentary sessions to pass additional taxes on cigarettes, alcohol, and petrol. It gets even better. All the people outside Auckland blamed Aucklanders for the petrol tax, but Aucklanders still have not seen any relief in terms of the traffic jams there. Young people recently were blamed as being the reason for the Labour Government imposing an excise tax on alcohol, but I have yet to see young people staggering down Courtenay Place with bottles of cream sherry in their hands. I sat in on some of the Primary Production Committee\u2019s sessions when it heard submissions on the Wine Bill. One submitter after another was asking the Labour members to explain why the wine industry was not consulted on the latest tax grab, when the Hon Jim Anderton had written to the industry and promised consultation. Can we trust Labour Ministers whenever they say they will not raise taxes? In effect, the Labour Government seems to have got into a habit of binge-taxing hard-working New Zealanders, because it actually believes that it can spend taxpayers\u2019 money better than taxpayers can.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000641\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003ELet us look at one of the many examples of Labour\u2019s binge-spending of taxpayers\u2019 money. This particular project that I am going to share with the public is known as \u201CWhat\u2019s in a name?\u201D. Apparently the Government, through New Zealand Way Ltd, paid $1 million for the domain name www.newzealand.com. So I asked some questions of the Minister. It appears that this $1 million debacle came about without even the exercise of a simple cost and benefit feasibility study having been done prior to that purchase on behalf of the New Zealand taxpayers. Worse still, we are not even clear whether there was full and accurate understanding of what was actually being purchased and in what circumstances.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000642\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003EInitially, the Government could not understand why the domain name www.newzealand.com had to be purchased at all, because it believed that the name \u201CNew Zealand\u201D was a trademark that belonged to the New Zealand Government. As a result of this fiasco, the Government took the US company Virtual Countries to the World Intellectual Property Organization, claiming that its use of the domain name www.newzealand.com was a trademark violation. The Minister of Tourism now admits that this disgraceful blunder cost the taxpayers $3,500\u2014all because the Government has yet to join the technological revolution. What happened to the Labour policy of economic transformation? Funnily, the Government does not even understand there is a major difference between a trademark and a domain name. A domain name is simply a web-based address, while a trademark is a name, a symbol, or a device used to identify a product that has been legally registered as such, and the use of which is, therefore, restricted to the owner or manufacturer. That is despite the fact that last year Labour passed legislation regulating trademarks and patents. So the Government does not understand what a trademark is, or the difference between a trademark and a domain name.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000643\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003EPerhaps as a result of this embarrassing international faux pas, the Government went on to spend $1 million on purchasing this disputed domain name. I ask this question: before the Minister spent $1 million, did he bother to seek some advice? Do members know what happened? The Minister asked for some advice. Guess what the advice was? It was that the Internet is a valuable marketing and communication tool. Imagine! One would be hard-pushed to find anyone disputing that claim, but, with this domain having a $1 million price tag, I thought that one could expect a few probing questions from the Minister, on behalf of the New Zealand public.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000644\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022330c030b-99be-4461-8aaa-9a10ee5bd889\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cd8be34b45e4404fbe1ef6a1b2361223\u0022\u003EDavid Benson-Pope\u003C/span\u003E: Turn the dialysis machine off.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000645\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221b85e5f931144c8789c7a71bdfdc6344\u0022\u003EPANSY WONG\u003C/span\u003E: The senior Government whip is piping up again. The Opposition does ask questions, unlike that Labour lot. We are getting very concerned. I learnt the latest: all Labour members, apart from five, seem to hold some sort of position\u2014yet they have not even learnt to ask a few probing questions. Those lazy Labour members of Parliament leave all the tough questions to be asked by the Opposition.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000646\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002280b11f68-6b57-4b8b-8922-aecd1d471975\u0022\u003EBefore the Minister of Finance stands in this House ever again to boast of a surplus, he should read his own tax statements. He does not earn those surpluses; he overtaxes hard-working New Zealanders.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022d52e59e3-2195-4c95-a654-665c11b39b63\u0022 data-id=\u00229d97066ed6684f0485a6b1b8fe84a5b1\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000647\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d52e59e3-2195-4c95-a654-665c11b39b63\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00229d97066ed6684f0485a6b1b8fe84a5b1\u0022\u003EHon PAREKURA HOROMIA (Minister of M\u0101ori Affairs): \u003C/span\u003EMr Speaker, mihi kau ana ki a koe i roto i te T\u016Bru r\u0101, i a r\u0101tau e rongo ake an\u014D ki te k\u014Drero nei ki ng\u0101 mema o te Whare Miere nei, t\u0113n\u0101 koe.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000648\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d52e59e3-2195-4c95-a654-665c11b39b63\u0022\u003E[An interpretation in English was given to the House.]\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000649\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d52e59e3-2195-4c95-a654-665c11b39b63\u0022\u003E[Special greetings to you, Mr Speaker, in the Chair, and also to those listening in to this debate by members of this Parliament.]\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000650\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d52e59e3-2195-4c95-a654-665c11b39b63\u0022\u003EThis Budget continues the work this Government has done in supporting the M\u0101ori of tomorrow. In my maiden speech to the House I said that the future for M\u0101ori is about acknowledging who we are and determining where we want to go. My opinion remains the same. This is a good Budget for M\u0101ori. It builds on the back of previous Budgets, and it has been informed by this Government getting out and talking to M\u0101ori kanohi ki te kanohi\u2014face to face. We have been to 14 regions, we have talked to hundreds of M\u0101ori, and, especially, we have listened to them, and we have come back to try to translate into sensible policy what they have requested and asked for.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000651\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d52e59e3-2195-4c95-a654-665c11b39b63\u0022\u003EThis Government has responded to the call from M\u0101ori that participation and achievement in education is a key issue, driving the success of the M\u0101ori of tomorrow. Our demographics tell us quite clearly that our age profile bulges in the 14-16 year age band. It is a huge number of people, and the interesting thing is that it is totally opposite to the non-M\u0101ori demographic band. As an Associate Minister of Education I am proud of the extra funding in the Budget that will see a teacher-student ratio of 1:20. In real terms, that means an additional 155 teachers in M\u0101ori immersion education, so that we can ensure that our reo, the language of the tangata whenua, the first nation people of this country, is preserved. There are a whole lot of issues in relation to our education. We want to help wh\u0101nau support their children\u2019s learning. That is critical. We want to move on from just being the lay people and the manual labourers, which, at times, the labour market has forced us to be. There needs to be work to improve the professional development of teachers in te reo M\u0101ori, and literacy programmes in all primary schools.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000652\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d52e59e3-2195-4c95-a654-665c11b39b63\u0022\u003EThis Budget will also deliver funding to develop a framework for best teaching practice for students from diverse backgrounds, especially M\u0101ori. The question needs to be answered: whose framework, and who has managed and orchestrated M\u0101oris\u2019 non-participation in education forums at all levels? In short, this Government is determined not just to lift educational achievement but to ensure that cultural participation is recognised and preserved, and, most of all, to ensure that we head off on the economic trail that we want very much to be part of, and that I can say we were part of in the early days. It is fascinating that, in treaty claims and historical summaries in this country, what generally is focused on are all the negative issues, and the connotations are that all we did was bash up and get bashed. There were partnerships at the turn of the 20th century where we were in control of a whole lot of economic situations, but they were either flogged off or taken away. [Interruption] We want all New Zealanders to have the chance to reach their full potential, even members of the Opposition. It is important that they reach their full potential. Some of them will fill up the gap a lot more, with their size, than other people will.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000653\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d52e59e3-2195-4c95-a654-665c11b39b63\u0022\u003EIt is important to appreciate and say that we are clear about closing the distance between non-M\u0101ori and M\u0101ori achievement. M\u0101ori have been clear that another key area for this Government is training and employment. Too many young M\u0101ori are leaving structured learning early, without or with few qualifications. This Government has announced major initiatives that will assist M\u0101ori school-leavers to gain the basic skills they need to contribute to building the economy of the nation. If we want to be free and continually preach\u2014[Interruption] \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000654\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270fa4cbd-9380-4916-9f2a-78da059d220e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f80ee87f5ca84684ba461640748d9a16\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson)\u003C/span\u003E: I refer the member to Speaker\u2019s rulings 51/5, (1) and (2).\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000655\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d52e59e3-2195-4c95-a654-665c11b39b63\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220184d204a24748db9ed2beb63674816c\u0022\u003EHon PAREKURA HOROMIA\u003C/span\u003E: If we want to be clear and honest about preaching equity, and if we are not just to worry about it overseas, let us practice it in our own backyard. Let us stop this racist scratching. Let us ensure that we recognise the culture of this country. Let us make sure that on the way to collective nationhood, which M\u0101ori want, everybody participates, and the majority do not incessantly and unnecessarily bully people who are striving to achieve. [Interruption] Too many young M\u0101ori are leaving structured learning early. Those who have placed themselves in the fraternity of those who practise legalese, and earn a lot of income off the backs of M\u0101ori, and have been employed on the backs of M\u0101ori, need to think again.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000656\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d52e59e3-2195-4c95-a654-665c11b39b63\u0022\u003EM\u0101ori school-leavers need to gain the basic skills they need to contribute to building the economy, and to learn the fundamentals of business. They should not just learn about these pyramid games and all this nonsensical, false building that goes on in the economy. We have got better at it. We do understand it. We do understand the fundamentals. M\u0101ori have assets that they want to make sure are played in the economy.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000657\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d52e59e3-2195-4c95-a654-665c11b39b63\u0022\u003EThe expansion of the Gateway programme, increasing the number in the Modern Apprenticeships scheme, and additional funding to help early school-leavers get further educational training and employment all contribute to the Government\u2019s goal of having all 15 to 19-year-olds involved in education, training, or work by 2007\u2014M\u0101ori, P\u0101keh\u0101, immigrants, the whole lot. This Government continues to recognise that jobs and training play a key part in accelerating M\u0101ori development. The labour market is a fascinating thing. It is an area that, with vibrant business, creates jobs. Under the last Government, over a period of time\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000658\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d21515bb-0193-4167-a21d-982058b53604\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c56be35dbc704c3e8d8f36912429bf20\u0022\u003ERichard Worth\u003C/span\u003E: The last Government was Labour.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000659\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d52e59e3-2195-4c95-a654-665c11b39b63\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002248bc4bf5c12846e6aa51d656221fdba9\u0022\u003EHon PAREKURA HOROMIA\u003C/span\u003E: The Government before that. The unemployment rate was running at 22 to 18 percent for M\u0101ori people. This Government has taken it down to 10 percent, and, across the range, it is down 5 percent. That is one of the best unemployment rates that this country has seen in 32 years. Shame on those people who kept us out of the labour market! To change the attitudes of employers and job seekers, we will assist M\u0101ori job seekers to join the Modern Apprenticeships scheme. Like I said, the unemployment rate has trended down. [Interruption] I am not too sure what the response to that is\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000660\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00224029b198-a7b2-4eea-867c-79ef46cafeb9\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022239e7649f61d4ede8fc2cfb3169b8137\u0022\u003EHon Dover Samuels\u003C/span\u003E: That member\u2019s never worked in his life.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000661\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d52e59e3-2195-4c95-a654-665c11b39b63\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002205e16ead2b7f46c5b637df31817c726f\u0022\u003EHon PAREKURA HOROMIA\u003C/span\u003E: That is right; some people have never worked in their life. They have pretended to turn up to work at 9 o\u2019clock, and have finished at 4 o\u2019clock.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000662\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d52e59e3-2195-4c95-a654-665c11b39b63\u0022\u003EThe Government has also recognised that M\u0101ori are bringing their own ideas and assets to development in this country. It is critical to understand that. Let me remind members that M\u0101ori are partners in one of the biggest fishing companies in this world. Te Ohu Kai Moana has presented the allocation model to the Minister of Fisheries. There is still a long way to go, but progress continues to be made. I was fascinated to see the other week, at the mussel factory in Blenheim, that of the people there about one-third are M\u0101ori, one-third are P\u0101keh\u0101, and one-third are other people. So M\u0101ori are doing a lot for this country\u2019s economy.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000663\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d52e59e3-2195-4c95-a654-665c11b39b63\u0022\u003ESteps forward continue to be made in other treaty settlements this year. Deeds of settlement have been signed with Ng\u0101ti Awa and Ng\u0101ti Ruanui. The Government has passed legislation such as the recent Maori Purposes Bill to speed up the process by which treaty claims are reported. I expect that further progress will be made in that area over the next few months.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000664\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d52e59e3-2195-4c95-a654-665c11b39b63\u0022\u003EAlongside improving economic and employment outcomes, wh\u0101nau development is important to us. Family collectivity is important. It is about working from the bottom up, about wh\u0101nau, hap\u016B, and iwi development, but it is also about getting a stake in the top end\u2014managing our businesses, owning our own businesses, and determining what is good for us. The Government has a role to aid and abet and support the progress of M\u0101ori people, but M\u0101ori people are more than able now to determine what they want to do, how they want to do it, and when they want to do it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000665\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d52e59e3-2195-4c95-a654-665c11b39b63\u0022\u003EThis Government continues to recognise that it is important for M\u0101ori to have the opportunity to interact with the M\u0101ori language and culture in the 21st century. There are certainly claims of historical redress, and we are putting a lot of effort into working through that. Contemporary issues are starting to come out, and we will take time to work on them, so that fairness is perceived.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000666\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d52e59e3-2195-4c95-a654-665c11b39b63\u0022\u003EThere is extra funding for radio stations throughout the country. The funding is for the professional development of iwi radio staff, governance training in te reo M\u0101ori, and management and planning skills.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022d21515bb-0193-4167-a21d-982058b53604\u0022 data-id=\u002263034d86c175492ca85bc1787dd1bc95\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000667\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d21515bb-0193-4167-a21d-982058b53604\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002263034d86c175492ca85bc1787dd1bc95\u0022\u003ERICHARD WORTH (NZ National\u2014Epsom):\u003C/span\u003E It was good to hear a number of the comments made by the previous speaker in connection with advancing the cause of M\u0101ori. I am glad he did that, because too often Government members are quick to criticise M\u0101ori for underachievement. We all know how important it is that positive signals are given by Parliament to all sectors of the community to advance all people, regardless of their ethnicity. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000668\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d21515bb-0193-4167-a21d-982058b53604\u0022\u003EThe issue I would like to speak about tonight, in the context of this bill, is the funding that is being provided for the establishment of the new Supreme Court. I start by saying that, even for those who have a fair knowledge of numbers, the Budget is not a particularly comprehensible document. Just to take an example, the executive summary document, issued in relation to the Budget, provides some detail about the funding required for this new court. When one looks at the narrative explanation of that funding one sees it is not particularly meaningful. The executive summary, at page 14, has a list under the heading \u201Cmaintaining a fair justice system for all\u201D. It begins: \u201C$17 million operating, and $22 million capital, to establish the Supreme Court of New Zealand\u201D. When one looks at those numbers more closely, it is apparent that the $17 million operating money is a payment to be spread over 4 years of varying amounts in each year. That $17 million, of 4-year appropriations, has in year 1 a $3.9 million operating cost. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000669\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d21515bb-0193-4167-a21d-982058b53604\u0022\u003EThe reason for speaking about this aspect of the Budget is that we are looking at an area of identified profligate waste. There is no need at all to spend this amount, or any part of it, in seeking to establish a new Supreme Court. The original cost estimates contained in the Cabinet policy committee material had estimated annual operating costs of the new court at $5.2 million, and the estimated capital cost of constructing new premises, excluding land, at $10 million to $11 million. Why are we spending that money? Could that money not be better put to other initiatives that would bring greater benefits to New Zealand? I suggest that the answer to that is self-evident. Instead, we are confronted with legislation that seeks to establish a new appellate court\u2014a domestic court\u2014as the final court in New Zealand, and to do away with long-established links with the Privy Council. It is an ideologically driven position. There is no move for that change from the major user groups. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000670\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d21515bb-0193-4167-a21d-982058b53604\u0022\u003EWho are the major user groups? Quite clearly, they include M\u0101ori. We have had submissions from the Federation of M\u0101ori Authorities, from individual M\u0101ori, and from iwi groups, all to say there is no case for this change. Mita Ririnui is attempting to interject to ask a question. Let me explain to him, because, although I have already stated the point, he may not have understood it. The point is simply that the Budget has a significant appropriation to establish the Supreme Court, when there is no valid reason for the expenditure of those reasonably significant sums of money.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000671\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d21515bb-0193-4167-a21d-982058b53604\u0022\u003E In the Justice and Electoral Committee we have listened and Mr Ririnui has listened, albeit with exhausting and tiring patience, to a raft of arguments that have touched on the future of this new court and the plans for the removal of the Privy Council. We have heard arguments on issues relating to access to jurisdiction. It is the Attorney-General\u2019s proud boast that this Government is strong on access to justice issues. That is absolute nonsense. I say that, because there have been swingeing fee hikes that have denied to civil litigants on a number of occasions the opportunity of accessing the courts, and now under the guise of cost saving, or nationalism, there is a proposal to do away with the Privy Council. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000672\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d21515bb-0193-4167-a21d-982058b53604\u0022\u003EThere has been no rational argument presented to the select committee sitting in judgment on the Supreme Court Bill for the abolition of that court. In fact, the arguments run, as Mr Ririnui would know, the other way completely. We have heard an argument\u2014in fact, Mr Ririnui propounds it\u2014that, as a matter of national identity, we should no longer defer to an overseas jurisdiction. The reality is that many overseas jurisdictions themselves defer to those jurisdictions. We ourselves have lines to the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations. The United Kingdom has lines of access from its highest courts into the European Court of Justice and into the European Court of Human Rights. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000673\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d21515bb-0193-4167-a21d-982058b53604\u0022\u003EWhen we look at the justification for this budgeted expenditure, we see it is also the case that there have been startling reversals by our highest court, the Privy Council, of decisions made by the Court of Appeal. In fact, in a period of 2002 when there were 10 cases decided, seven of them were reversed. Some of the criticism made by the law lords sitting in the Privy Council, has been nothing short of alarming. In one such case, Taito v the Queen, the Court of Appeal was criticised for applying a procedure of no legal validity \u201Ccontrary to fundamental conceptions of fairness and justice\u201D, so as to dispose of appeals from poor people, in that their appeals were dismissed without a hearing, while wealthy people were granted a chance to argue in open court. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000674\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d21515bb-0193-4167-a21d-982058b53604\u0022\u003EIn another decision, Dymocks v Todd, the New Zealand courts were chided for \u201Cleaving out of account factual matters of great importance\u201D, and the Court of Appeal was encouraged to keep an open mind on the important issue of whether the common law would imply an obligation of good faith into a contract, as the civil law of Europe often does. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000675\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d21515bb-0193-4167-a21d-982058b53604\u0022\u003EFinally, in a case, Harley v McDonald the Privy Council set aside an award of costs against a barrister who had vigorously represented a difficult client for the reason that she had not been given a fair hearing. It said that the Court of Appeal showed a \u201Cfundamental defect in its reasoning\u201D. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000676\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d21515bb-0193-4167-a21d-982058b53604\u0022\u003EIf it is right that this Government prides itself on prudential financial management, then I ask why this money is being wasted in setting up a new court, against the wishes of M\u0101ori and against the wishes of the other major user groups. It probably comes down to a wish by the Attorney-General to advance a cause that she fervently believes in\u2014that is, the cause of republicanism. In the decision to make these changes, many of us see one of the steps along the way to that outcome. Why is it that the taxpayers of New Zealand should pay an indulgence fee to meet aspirations that the Attorney-General has? I suggest we should not do that. From National\u2019s perspective we would seek that that link be retained; we would seek that the Privy Council become a leave court; we would seek that its jurisdiction be extended; and, finally, we would seek that this money not be spent.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022 data-id=\u0022ea1f31617419432ca9e2cf4e741859c9\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000677\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022ea1f31617419432ca9e2cf4e741859c9\u0022\u003ESTEVE CHADWICK (NZ Labour\u2014Rotorua):\u003C/span\u003E After listening to Opposition members, with their rather quaint stance of clinging to the wreckage of the past with the Privy Council and not embracing new change that New Zealanders are looking forward to, I want to come back to the world of the Budget. I am proud of this certain and solid Budget, and I am very proud of the Labour-led coalition Government that supports the way that we as a team\u2014a team with great leadership\u2014will make it happen. I do not believe that over the last week United Future has felt very compromised in being associated with us as a coalition partner that is on a pathway paved with support for education and health while demonstrating that we can also very soundly manage the country\u2019s finances\u2014and the country\u2019s finances are in a very sound position. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000678\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022\u003EI went into politics to promote the focus on the family as the cornerstone of communities\u2014communities that are built up to feel proud of their achievements, that care for each other both locally and nationally, and that stand tall on the world stage. This rebuilding cannot take place without healthy children and parents, a sense of hope and certainty, a vision for the future armed with skills, education and training, and a tolerance to participating in growing civil society. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000679\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022\u003EThe Opposition labels this Budget as socialist rhetoric. It has not twigged that this is a 10-year journey that the country embarked upon 4 years, ago\u2014three Budgets ago\u2014and that this Budget is the stuff of a long-term Government. It is about staying on course and maintaining our strong position in times certainly of great uncertainty. This is not a Budget of soft and pappy throwaways that gladden the hearts of a select few. There is something in this Budget for every individual, family, voluntary organisation, local authority, small business, and company. Overseas investors and visitors are eyeing us up as a place in which they wish to invest and contribute. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000680\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022\u003ERotorua, as an electorate, has responded very positively in the media, from a principal in a very high achieving boys high school, saying that the targeted funding for keeping kids fit and engaged in sport is absolutely great, to the chair of our chamber of commerce, commending the support and focus on small business development and also the extra funding that has been very cleverly put in this Budget for finding overseas markets. Even the chair of the New Zealand Medical Association, who resides in Rotorua, liked the further funding to support the primary health strategy implementation\u2014and that association had not been that enthusiastic about that future. The chair of our district health board, Stewart Edward, welcomed the certainty in the package. The population-based funding increase of $36 million puts us on track to deliver deficit elimination by 2004. The local police even went to the newspaper to say that they support the $6.6 million funding for the team approach to crack down on local methamphetamine laboratories. We in Rotorua are ashamed to say that we are well aware of laboratories in our community. We found out about one on Friday, because we noticed a massive increase in the power bill of one of our local houses in the community. So we are probably contributing to our power target as well, now that that has been found and will be dealt with. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000681\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022\u003EI was very positively received at the jewel in our crown in Rotorua when, last Friday, the New Zealand Forest Research Institute Ltd launched its biomaterials vision. This is a futures glimpse on what science and research can deliver from wood products in the next 25 years. It will advance the widespread utilisation of renewable materials and products from plants for economic, environmental, and social returns. It is great to hear a Crown research institute talking about social returns. This will be a world supported by energy producing cells from pulp production instead of fossil fuel, biodegradable plastics that can be made from the waste stream, an environmentally sustainable world of building materials, and cosmetics and products that we have not even dreamed of, all developed from biomaterials. The New Zealand Forest Research Institute Ltd, a Crown research institute, has grabbed the collaborative model and attracted partners from the international field of research, industry, Industry New Zealand, the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology and venture capital funders. It thanked us on Friday for the $140 million Government support for research and development over the next 4 years. This will go some way towards helping it to achieve its vision. That was the response from our local leaders. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000682\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022\u003EI have noted other areas that underpin my key areas of interest. Vote Health emerges as the big winner, with 20 percent of the funding cake. The vote increases to $9.6 billion this year. This is unprecedented support. This is the sort of cake\u2014more like a carrot cake than a spongy pud\u2014that nurtures the sector. It is logical. If we are to avoid burgeoning hospital costs, we have to go along this route. It targets healthy lifestyles and wellness. This is a vision we set out to achieve with our primary health strategy 2 years ago. This strategy receives a further $165 million this year. The ingredients of our healthy cake are bound together by population-based funding to boards that will ensure a redistribution and a fair share of funding will go to communities based on health need, and it is generous toward product development. Funding support this year was announced for 40 more doctors in training, and increased support for the rural sector is a solid start towards workforce rebuilding\u2014something that the Opposition took no care of for 9 years, and now we are having to catch up. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000683\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022\u003EAccess to affordable care will see low doctors\u2019 fees for patients who are less than 18 years old, enrolment in interim public health organisations from October of this year, and a reduction in prescription fees to a maximum of $3 for all children in these schemes, and there are 40 of them. Access schemes, which are those primary health organisations in the areas of highest need, will ensure that patients of all ages pay a limit on prescription fees. This is supported by another new initiative called Care Plus. It is being piloted from January in 2004 and will cater for many older people with very poor health, as well as those people who are under 65 years and require very high levels of coordination in terms of their care. We will see projects being developed, such as the Bumps and Falls Prevention project in Rotorua. This is a combined project with the Accident Compensation Corporation, Merck Sharp and Dohme, the senior citizens unit within the Department of Social Services and Employment, and general practitioners all working together such as they have never done before.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000684\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022\u003E All health workers will applaud the $22.1 million funding going towards accident prevention and treatment and focusing on rehabilitation and district health boards. Boards will see some major bricks-and-mortar capital projects advanced, with $656 million going towards hospital buildings across the land. There will be new hospitals in Wellington, Kenepuru, Nelson-Marlborough, and Southland; the hospital in Auckland will be completed, along with ambulatory services; and there are a number of smaller projects. A national capital committee is being established to ensure that we spend wisely on buildings in the health sector in order to get the very best for our money.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000685\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022d21515bb-0193-4167-a21d-982058b53604\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022341a80e4ca7e423ebfe5a5e3945c9314\u0022\u003ERichard Worth\u003C/span\u003E: This is capital? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000686\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00221fb8d8db-3e96-49c7-ab1c-b7916a50e30e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002270c1032f582f461d889069fb3275430c\u0022\u003ESTEVE CHADWICK\u003C/span\u003E: That is in the Budget this year. Young people are at last recognised as needing funding to support their resilience and to develop services around them. We are getting more money for a residential health unit in Christchurch, focusing on drug and alcohol rehabilitation, and $13.2 million will be used to combat youth suicide and drug and alcohol abuse. This is a wonderful Budget for the young people in our country.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022c598ffd3-4771-4027-a15f-5d1f643631e0\u0022 data-id=\u0022d70ecf54def54491bf8e98afbc059884\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000687\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c598ffd3-4771-4027-a15f-5d1f643631e0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022d70ecf54def54491bf8e98afbc059884\u0022\u003EBRIAN CONNELL (NZ National\u2014Rakaia):\u003C/span\u003E My first observation is that this Budget has not provided an economic road map for the people of New Zealand. This Government has clearly abandoned its objective of getting New Zealand into the top half of the OECD and, by implication, it has no growth goal. The outlook is bleak. Treasury is forecasting 2.2 percent growth over the next 10 years, and that is a generous interpretation. The good times have gone. This Government has been lucky. We should be clear about that. The three stars\u2014low dollar, low interest rates, and high commodity prices\u2014all came into alignment, but those good times have now gone. What I was looking for in this Budget was some direction to give me some confidence that the Government knew how to manage in the tough times, not just in the easy times. Having said that, I point out even in the best of times all we could achieve was 4 percent. We pat ourselves on the back and say that is good. I say it is not good enough. That 4 percent was not really our own doing. It had more to do with the disasters in other people\u2019s economies, such as mad cow disease, droughts, and something this Government would understand very well\u2014foot-and-mouth disease. Forecasting a $4 billion surplus is something the Government is wearing like a badge of honour. I say we are simply overtaxed. What we need to do is stimulate growth. What is wrong with this country? Over the last 10 years we have seen the standard of living worsen in New Zealand by about 30 percent compared with that of Australia. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000688\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f9c512a8-d532-4ef9-ad51-0fe8d752a893\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022f76b2cb9d7054175861371d9274d9032\u0022\u003EClayton Cosgrove\u003C/span\u003E: Who was in for most of that time?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000689\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c598ffd3-4771-4027-a15f-5d1f643631e0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e73af63300fb485e80e2bd40a2f65c0e\u0022\u003EBRIAN CONNELL\u003C/span\u003E: It does not matter who was in Government for most of that time. The fact remains that there is now a 30 percent gap in the standard of living between us and Australia. A person earning the average wage in New Zealand could go to Australia and be better off by $200 per week. That is an indictment on this country. It is an absolute indictment. What is wrong with us? If the Wallabies beat us, there is a post-mortem, but when we take a thrashing economically we just say that that is our lot. I have bigger aspirations than that for this country. If this country is to have its children stay at home and call New Zealand their country, we have to address those issues. Members should not be fooled by the Government\u2019s rhetoric of net migration figures. We should be looking at the skills that are leaving this country. If we compare the skills that are coming here with the ones that are going, members will find that we have a desperate concern. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000690\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c598ffd3-4771-4027-a15f-5d1f643631e0\u0022\u003EWe need growth. If members\u2019 eyes glaze over when we talk about growth, then they should unglaze them, because there is direct correlation between our standards of health and education and our crime rate. But reducing tax is not enough. What we need to do is remove the impediments to growth: red tape, the Accident Compensation Corporation, the Occupational Safety and Health Service, labour laws, and, of course, the Resource Management Act. What did \u201CBlackout Pete\u201D give us when we wanted to do something about the energy crisis? He gave us another tax. That is very helpful, is it not? We had another tax the other day on sherry, and now we have a tax on electricity generation. This Government has an insatiable appetite for tax. Unbelievably, this Budget was silent on electricity generation. It was silent on infrastructure development, Auckland roading, and forestry infrastructure. Why does the Government not give back to the forestry industry the carbon credits it stole so that the industry can do something about its infrastructure requirements? We are forecasting that we will have a wall of wood to go to the market, yet it escapes the Government that unless we invest in infrastructure, it will just not get there. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000691\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c598ffd3-4771-4027-a15f-5d1f643631e0\u0022\u003EThe biggest black mark of this Budget is that it did not have the courage to do the right thing and reduce welfare expenditure, and that is killing us. It is sucking the lifeblood out of this country. It is the biggest social failure in our history. We now have multigenerational beneficiaries and multigenerational State housing tenants. It might interest members to know that in 1973 there were 30,000 beneficiaries in this country. Today, there are nearly 400,000 working-age people receiving some form of benefit in this country. That is a 12-fold increase, and the population has not even doubled.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000692\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f9c512a8-d532-4ef9-ad51-0fe8d752a893\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022dee2d4c452f84da18d35cf1f52b8f001\u0022\u003EClayton Cosgrove\u003C/span\u003E: What would you do about it then? \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000693\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c598ffd3-4771-4027-a15f-5d1f643631e0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022600118cb50b040ba9f9971887a5216a3\u0022\u003EBRIAN CONNELL\u003C/span\u003E: I would reduce our welfare expenditure. That is what I am trying to get through to you, if you would listen and shut up.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000694\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270fa4cbd-9380-4916-9f2a-78da059d220e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022d4bc387406e84efc8597c755ba835089\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson)\u003C/span\u003E: The member must not use the word \u201Cyou\u201D.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000695\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c598ffd3-4771-4027-a15f-5d1f643631e0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223ae3d5f4f72940cf9f069341354984e5\u0022\u003EBRIAN CONNELL\u003C/span\u003E: I apologise. I was just thinking out loud. The city of Christchurch would not be able to house the number of people on benefits in this country. That is how acute the problem has become. We now have 1 in 4 working age Kiwis on a benefit. Let us have a look at the domestic purposes benefit. Thaddeus McCarthy, when he recommended it in 1973, said: \u201CI anticipate that we will have 20,000 people on it, max.\u201D Of course, we now have 120,000 people on it, and of that 120,000, 16,000 are women who will not even name the father of their child. This Government tolerates that type of dishonesty. I say to the members opposite that this country cannot afford that type of dishonesty. Where will the people of New Zealand go to get direction on honesty? They cannot come to this Government, because dishonesty is endemic in it. Let us have a look at some of its clangers. Minister Hawkins had no record of receiving a letter telling him about leaky homes. Minister Horomia is misleading the House at the moment about the misuse of taxpayers\u2019 funds. Minister Carter misled the House about the Hobson Dam site, and the Prime Minister misled the House over some clauses in the Resource Management Amendment Bill (No 2). She is pleading that she was unconscious for the last 2 years. Well, I agree with that! What about this clanger from Michael Cullen: \u201CTelling the truth does not mean that what you are saying is correct.\u201D What a clanger that was. All that dishonesty caused me to pen a little ditty, which goes like this: \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000696\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c598ffd3-4771-4027-a15f-5d1f643631e0\u0022\u003EGeorge Washington couldn\u2019t tell a lie,Richard Nixon couldn\u2019t tell the truth,Helen Clark can\u2019t tell the difference,And Michael Cullen doesn\u2019t think there\u2019s a difference.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000697\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c598ffd3-4771-4027-a15f-5d1f643631e0\u0022\u003EThe Budget has not escaped that insipid political correctness that has snuck into this country over the last 20 years. Because Michael Cullen is a servant of the politically correct people, he has spent $6.5 million so that we can get better acquainted with the Treaty of Waitangi\u2014instead of spending money on the tens of thousands of people out there who need heart surgery, or surgery for their ailments, or on those people who we have to send to Australia for cancer treatments.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000698\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022c598ffd3-4771-4027-a15f-5d1f643631e0\u0022\u003E How insipid is that? What sort of spin is that? It is nothing but indoctrination. The people who are listening would be excused for thinking that the Treaty of Waitangi is a complex document. \u201CHere it is\u2014this is the Treaty of Waitangi, and we are going to spend $6.5 million learning this.\u201D It is an indictment. It is the sort of expenditure that we expect from this Government in terms of boat races, and we will probably get a \u201CSovereign Yachts result\u201D. What about bureaucracy? This is how he will deal with bureaucracy: he will put an advisory board in place. That says so much about Michael Cullen. That really helps small business owners, does it not? They could not sleep last week when they heard that. There will be an adviser to the adviser to the adviser to the Minister\u2014that is really going to help! When Michael Cullen was asked to take on the job of Minister of Finance, the Government members put him to a test. They interviewed him, and said this to him: \u201CMinister, what is two plus two?\u201D He looked back and said: \u201CWhatever you want it to be.\u201D, and that sums up this Budget.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u00229df41e27-6082-4bc7-9fda-bab499cb9246\u0022 data-id=\u0022fd81ad5266c641f5ba22d8cb7091575c\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000699\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229df41e27-6082-4bc7-9fda-bab499cb9246\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u0022fd81ad5266c641f5ba22d8cb7091575c\u0022\u003EHELEN DUNCAN (NZ Labour):\u003C/span\u003E This is the fourth Budget presented by the Minister of Finance, Dr Michael Cullen, and it continues the fine tradition established by his previous three Budgets. This Budget is built on the strong foundation he has laid, and it ensures that even in a very difficult global environment, our country can maintain its strong position. This Budget is not only about providing fiscal certainty in an uncertain world, but also about providing balanced policies\u2014policies that demonstrate that this is a Government that keeps its word, unlike a lot of previous Governments. They are policies that are not afraid to invest in the future of Aotearoa-New Zealand. They ensure that our economic growth rate, which is currently one of the strongest in the OECD, is maintained. They provide for surpluses to be used to ensure the long-term fiscal stability of this nation. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000700\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229df41e27-6082-4bc7-9fda-bab499cb9246\u0022\u003EThis is a Government that keeps its word. More New Zealanders are now in work than ever before. Since December 1999, there has been an increase of 132,000 in the number of New Zealanders in paid employment\u2014that is keeping our word. We are reducing the cost of primary health care: 34 primary health organisations have been established throughout the country, providing high-quality, lower-cost, integrated health care to 40 percent of the New Zealand population\u2014that is keeping our word. This Government has made superannuation more secure by establishing the New Zealand Superannuation Fund to help to meet the cost of supporting baby boomers in their retirement.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000701\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022893adc11-ce4e-419c-a079-08f04b3d75f5\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00224b120e68334c49999a23d9e0b9ccfa60\u0022\u003ELindsay Tisch\u003C/span\u003E: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I do not want to interrupt the member, but either she is speaking very loudly, or the microphones are very loud, because there is an echo. The member is either too close to the microphone, or it is too loud. I am trying to help the member, and not trying to interfere.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000702\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002270fa4cbd-9380-4916-9f2a-78da059d220e\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022fa6c57b0c6784a92810140b1214f07fc\u0022\u003EThe ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson)\u003C/span\u003E: The point is well made. Perhaps the person who does the audio in the House can take note.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000703\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229df41e27-6082-4bc7-9fda-bab499cb9246\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00220b2f6565572a495f82d86bdfdacf443f\u0022\u003EHELEN DUNCAN\u003C/span\u003E: Or perhaps some of the people on the other side who are shouting out inanities might stop, then I could speak a little more quietly. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000704\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229df41e27-6082-4bc7-9fda-bab499cb9246\u0022\u003EThis Government has made superannuation more secure by establishing the New Zealand Superannuation Fund to help meet the costs of supporting baby boomers in their retirement\u2014that is keeping our word. We are extending the Gateway initiative in our secondary schools, so that the pupils and businesses involved in that scheme can benefit from work-based learning\u2014that is keeping our word. As of 31 March 2003, over 5,000 young New Zealanders have taken up Modern Apprenticeships, and we are well on track to meet our 6,000 target by December 2003, and that is keeping our word. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000705\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229df41e27-6082-4bc7-9fda-bab499cb9246\u0022\u003EThis Government is working to improve the sustainability of our infrastructure in transport, energy, water, and technology. We are prepared to make the investment that will pay off for the New Zealanders of the future. We have established the Tertiary Education Commission to steer development in the tertiary sector. We have put in place the growth and innovation strategy that will strengthen our Government\u2019s capacity to grow. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000706\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229df41e27-6082-4bc7-9fda-bab499cb9246\u0022\u003EWhat Budget 2003 shows our nation is an integrated, whole-of-Government approach to lifting our sustainable growth rate and improving life for all New Zealanders. This Budget offers certainty and stability amidst a threatening, confused, and insecure world environment. It reinforces the reputation of this Labour-led Government for fiscal prudence and economic pragmatism. The Government accounts are in excellent shape, and if events unfold in line with Budget forecasts, there should be room in next year\u2019s Budget for sustainable new initiatives that will particularly be aimed at assisting low and middle-income families to smooth the transition from welfare to work. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000707\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229df41e27-6082-4bc7-9fda-bab499cb9246\u0022\u003EWe are exceeding all of our fiscal targets. Our economic growth, at 4.4 percent, is one of the strongest in the OECD. Although negative international influences will probably see that growth dropping back to around 2.2 percent next year, growth is then expected to rebound in the following year, and will still be above the OECD average. That is a not bad sort of a record to have. The big bogey \u201Cinflation\u201D, which has been targeted over many years by some who shall remain nameless, is expected to ease back to below 2 percent in both 2004 and 2005. The economic outlook is very good. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000708\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229df41e27-6082-4bc7-9fda-bab499cb9246\u0022\u003EIt is interesting that a lot of Opposition speakers have gone on and on about the surplus. Although Dr Cullen has said that the paper surplus is just over $4 billion, when one includes the revaluations and accounting changes, it gets about two-thirds lower than that. It is prudent to ensure that those surpluses are sustainable before they are spent. This Government believes that future surpluses will be sufficient to maintain our infrastructural investment, which is something that was not done in the previous 9 years, so there is a lot to catch up with. We have to deal with the infrastructural deficit we inherited, but we think that future surpluses will enable us to do that, meet our debt targets, and finance the contributions to the New Zealand Superannuation Fund. All in all, the economic picture is looking pretty rosy, which should not surprise anybody, because traditionally in New Zealand history, Labour Governments have repaid debt, got the economy on a good footing, and put New Zealand in a better financial situation. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000709\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229df41e27-6082-4bc7-9fda-bab499cb9246\u0022\u003EI just want to spend a little time talking about something very dear to my heart, and that is education. Education, like health, has been a winner in this Budget. Educating for a successful, innovative economy is a crucial theme of Budget 2003. If I can paraphrase Peter Fraser\u2014and I know he would have liked this Budget\u2014education is about the development of each individual to his or her full potential, and about the pursuit of values that cannot just be expressed in monetary terms, although I do not expect anybody sitting on the opposite side of the House to realise that. Total education funding rises by $393 million to $8.2 billion for the 2003-2004 year, and further increases are provided for the other policies that start early next year. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000710\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00229df41e27-6082-4bc7-9fda-bab499cb9246\u0022\u003EOne of our first priorities is to reduce the inequalities in educational achievement that beset our country. We want to make sure that every New Zealander can reach his or her full potential, regardless of background. We will start by putting a lot of money into early childhood education, because that is where it all starts. If we can get the children of New Zealand off to a really good start, with a really good early childhood education system, that good start will show up through the primary years, the secondary years, and\u2014as research shows\u2014even through to tertiary education. So a lot of money will be spent on early childhood education, most of it going into making sure that there is access to early childhood education for children who currently do not have it. Money will go to the developing centres fund, and there will be capital funding to implement new centres. There will be extra grants to continue our commitment to assisting the upgrade of staffing qualifications in the early childhood sector. Education is a winner in this Budget, and New Zealand will be the winner because of it.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022749a724d-1ef9-49cb-9ba2-2610403653ea\u0022 data-id=\u00222e877a99a5f74bddabae2bf0b6cecfa6\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000711\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022749a724d-1ef9-49cb-9ba2-2610403653ea\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u00222e877a99a5f74bddabae2bf0b6cecfa6\u0022\u003EDIANNE YATES (NZ Labour\u2014Hamilton East):\u003C/span\u003E Health, education, housing, and jobs\u2014at every election, that has been my mantra. That is what Labour stands for, that is what people expect of Labour, and that is what we see in this Budget. Money is going into health, education, housing, and jobs. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000712\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022749a724d-1ef9-49cb-9ba2-2610403653ea\u0022\u003EAs the member for Hamilton East, I am particularly pleased that money is going into health. We have a total rise in health spending of $711 million next year, to $9.6 billion. As my colleague Helen Duncan has said, extra money is going into education. We have 774 teachers going into early childhood, primary, and secondary education. We can say \u201Cx billion\u201D, \u201Cx million\u201D, and so on, but people cannot generally conceive of what those billions or millions mean. They do, however, understand 774 teachers. In my electorate, they understand that they are getting 13.5 more teachers, and as my electorate has seven secondary schools, they are particularly pleased about it, because they also know that teachers want non-contact hours in which to prepare and work. Those extra teachers will help out in our schools, making class sizes smaller, and allowing teachers to improve their skills and have more preparation time. So in education we have extra funding\u2014close to $167 million over 4 years\u2014to provide those 774 primary and secondary teaching positions. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000713\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022749a724d-1ef9-49cb-9ba2-2610403653ea\u0022\u003EAs I have said, one of the consequences of that will be the introduction of a 1:20 teacher-student ratio for students learning te reo M\u0101ori, bringing an extra 155 full-time teacher equivalents nationwide. The improved ratio applies to M\u0101ori students who are taught in M\u0101ori and more than 12.5 hours per week at Year 11. That is particularly important in my electorate. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000714\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022749a724d-1ef9-49cb-9ba2-2610403653ea\u0022\u003EI have heard people on the other side of the House scoffing at the amount of money going into Treaty education. The feedback I have had from the Hamilton East electorate is that people are particularly pleased about that, and are saying it is long overdue. Treaty education is something that we have to do in each generation. When we had a Labour Government in the 1970s, we had a good deal of Treaty education, but it has been neglected. Certainly, the Leader of the Opposition should be one of the first to enrol for one of the courses, so that he will learn a little more about the Treaty. I think many of his colleagues would benefit from some of that training as well. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000715\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022749a724d-1ef9-49cb-9ba2-2610403653ea\u0022\u003EMoney is also going into youth training. There is a package of initiatives worth $56 million for the 15 to 19-year-olds involved in education and training. There are leaving-age packages going into Gateway programmes. In Hamilton, we have a particularly good Gateway programme, which is enabling young people to move from schools into jobs. We also have the Modern Apprenticeships training scheme, which is a most popular programme, particularly with young people and parents. I hope that we will be able to get more publicity out about that programme. In my electorate in particular we have many young people on that apprenticeship scheme, and I am pleased to say we had the Apprentice of the Year, as well. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000716\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022749a724d-1ef9-49cb-9ba2-2610403653ea\u0022\u003EHaving worked on the weathertightness of buildings inquiry, I can say that one of the major demands that came out of that inquiry was that we have qualified apprentices going particularly into the building trade, but into other trades as well. People ask why we did not have those trained people, and I can say it is because of 10 years of National Party ignorance and neglect of our young people. That has bounced back on us. I heard a whack at the Government from the other side over weathertightness. It was Mr George Chapman of the National Party, the chair of the Building Industry Authority in 1998, who received the first letter from Prendos about a problem with building in this country\u2014and he did sweet nothing about it. I will not accept that George Hawkins and other people in the Labour Government should accept the responsibility for that problem, a large part of which was due to lack of training and lack of apprentices. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000717\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022749a724d-1ef9-49cb-9ba2-2610403653ea\u0022\u003EWe are addressing that problem as quickly as we can. We are introducing regionally based programmes across the country, which target early school leavers. There are youth training programmes, and I am particularly pleased about the $85 million over 4 years that is going into industry training, which will train people on the job. That is particularly important and very popular with both employers and young people. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000718\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022749a724d-1ef9-49cb-9ba2-2610403653ea\u0022\u003ESo there is a good deal going into health and education, but let us look at the third one\u2014housing. In my electorate, 90 State houses were built in the last year, or acquired by Housing New Zealand. That Opposition sold 13,000 State houses, and that is why we have people on waiting lists, trying to get into State housing. I thank the Minister that over 3,000 State houses will be built to cope with that, and to build up existing stock. That represents many people. We hear New Zealanders say that their parents had a State house, and that that gave them a start in life. Many of those who are now heading our universities and some of our major organisations in this country are people whose families had stability because they had State houses. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000719\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022749a724d-1ef9-49cb-9ba2-2610403653ea\u0022\u003EWhen we brought in income-related rents and the acquisition of State houses, I had feedback from our local schools that families were more stable, and that their kids were staying longer at school and getting better results. That is because of the State housing scheme and the fact that we are now building houses as fast as we can build them. At this stage, I particularly want to thank Mark Gosche, who has been Minister of Housing, for the work he has done and for his devotion to his job\u2014despite his personal difficulties and the great trauma his family has had. I think everyone in the House can thank the Minister for the work he has done while he was Minister of Housing. We owe him a great debt, and I think this House also expresses its sympathy for his wife and the situation his family is in at this present time. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000720\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022749a724d-1ef9-49cb-9ba2-2610403653ea\u0022\u003EWe have looked at education, health, housing, and jobs. They are the four pillars of any Labour Government, and are the things that the people of this country look to from a Labour Government. They are what Michael Cullen has delivered in this Budget. We all know the international situation\u2014people in this country do not have to be told. We know of the wars affecting this country. We know what is happening with oil shortages. We know what is happening with the severe acute respiratory syndrome epidemic and its effect on tourism. Everybody in this country knows that, and they know that this is a realistic Budget that looks at New Zealand as it is situated in the world at the present time. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000721\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022749a724d-1ef9-49cb-9ba2-2610403653ea\u0022\u003EComing from the Hamilton East electorate, where at least a third of the electorate is in some way involved with one of our nine research institutes, I am particularly pleased about the additional $140 million that is going into research, science and technology. That is particularly important, not only to our primary industries, to our biotechnology, and to the value added to those primary industries, but also to the creation of jobs. The money that has gone into such things as the Innovation Park in Hamilton, which will create 2,500 jobs, is particularly pleasing, and we look forward to further such developments occurring throughout New Zealand. In the electorate of Hamilton East, in particular, we are extremely grateful for that money. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000722\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022749a724d-1ef9-49cb-9ba2-2610403653ea\u0022\u003EWe are also grateful for the money that will go there not only through Pete Hodgson, the Minister of Research, Science and Technology, and through Technology New Zealand, but also through our Progressive partner Jim Anderton in his roles as Minister for Economic Development and Minister for Industry and Regional Development. At last we will have money going into regional development. For 9 years we had a National Government that purported to support rural New Zealand, that purported to support the regions, and it let our regions run down. I am very pleased that this Budget and this Government are supporting regional development in New Zealand and those of us who live south of the Bombay hills. I am pleased that it is supporting the development of New Zealand as New Zealand, and not just Auckland.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022member\u0022 data-type=\u0022article\u0022 data-memberid=\u0022f4da5811-fb5a-4721-b57a-518446bd7796\u0022 data-id=\u002225d675e6f5ae479fb0bb63416b419649\u0022\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000723\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4da5811-fb5a-4721-b57a-518446bd7796\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsByToc\u0022 id=\u002225d675e6f5ae479fb0bb63416b419649\u0022\u003EDAIL JONES (NZ First):\u003C/span\u003E Helen Duncan, one of the Labour members who preceded both the previous speaker and myself, made a speech based on the slogan \u201CWe\u2019re keeping our word\u201D. There is nothing original in this Labour Party. That was the National Party theme song in 1978. What a dull, boring bunch Labour Party members are.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000724\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022494a78500f9c4b93afc81adddb14d49a\u0022\u003EHon Member\u003C/span\u003E: And you would know.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000725\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4da5811-fb5a-4721-b57a-518446bd7796\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022792bc589b9ca495f8bd706482d6487d4\u0022\u003EDAIL JONES\u003C/span\u003E: I would know. We kept our word, and we were re-elected in 1981. How boring Helen Duncan is! How boring Michael Cullen is!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000726\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u002207dc4112-8a19-4dd6-a57c-878b47f8a9b6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022e6c4664a6fcf4953a6cc5c5123f21079\u0022\u003ERon Mark\u003C/span\u003E: She\u2019s a Nat.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000727\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4da5811-fb5a-4721-b57a-518446bd7796\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002204af18e5c704447c8e078c85932afcfb\u0022\u003EDAIL JONES\u003C/span\u003E: Well, maybe she is a Nat in disguise, but there is nothing original on the part of that Labour Party. Of course, in thinking about keeping our word I note there is a novel way of doing that in the Labour Party. I heard Lynne Pillay\u2019s speech. She said that in 2007 there would be seven secondary schools in Waitakere City. I started to think, then to count, and I worked out that currently we have Rutherford High School, Kelston Boys High School, and Kelston Girls High School\u2014those two, I think, in the new Waitakere City\u2014Henderson High School, Green Bay High School, Massey High School, which makes six, and Waitakere College. That is seven. We have seven colleges there now. She is going to keep her word\u2014there will still be seven in 2007! What a wonderful election campaign\u2014we will have seven secondary schools in 2007, and we have seven now.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000728\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4da5811-fb5a-4721-b57a-518446bd7796\u0022\u003EThat indicates of course that that Waitakere member has no idea about Waitakere. She probably does not know where it begins or where it ends, unlike those of us who have worked in Waitakere in one way or another since 1975\u2014as I have done, spending nine of those years as a constituency MP. The situation so far as schools are concerned is that Waitakere is one of the fastest growing areas in New Zealand, and we need not one but probably two more secondary schools there. Massey High School\u2019s roll now is about 2,300 and it gets $2 million in overseas students fees. That situation in Waitakere City is a disgrace on the education scene at the moment, and the member has totally disgraced herself in so far as her discussion about being a constituency member.  \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000729\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4da5811-fb5a-4721-b57a-518446bd7796\u0022\u003EI have asked the Minister of Education what he is doing about a new school in Waitakere City. All members will recall how he told his officials not to tell me what was going on, and then I ended up with the entire file, which told me the situation about the lack of progress over another secondary school in Waitakere City. I hope I am right about those seven schools. Kelston Boys High School and Kelston Girls High School, I think, are on the boundary, but it seems to me that currently there are seven schools in Waitakere City. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000730\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4da5811-fb5a-4721-b57a-518446bd7796\u0022\u003EMrs Pillay also said that this Labour Government was going to provide State housing for people in Waitakere City, and we all know why that is necessary. It is because of all the immigrants coming into that city, and New Zealanders are missing out. The waiting lists are full of immigrants who slot in on the lower levels of the State housing points system, and State houses are being built in Waitakere City and given to new immigrants. The Hobsonville housing\u2014all those houses taken up by the Air Force\u2014will be taken up now by immigrants. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000731\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00222a849ed4-a817-45a7-8b86-dbc9dd210193\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022c0325b652a304835967199aeb52dba43\u0022\u003EJill Pettis\u003C/span\u003E: Where was that member born?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000732\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4da5811-fb5a-4721-b57a-518446bd7796\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002217f86ef6e948403e99e6e42902ec00dd\u0022\u003EDAIL JONES\u003C/span\u003E: I have never had a State house. When I came to New Zealand I could not believe that someone would give a family a State house. My mother could not believe that education was free, and insisted that I went to a school where we paid. The State has not paid for my housing or for my education, other than\u2014and I am very grateful for it\u2014my university education, which, I believe, I have put to good use. I have worked since 1961\u201443 years non-stop. I think if all New Zealanders set that sort of record, we would be doing very well. I hope that answers Ms Pettis\u2019 question.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000733\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4da5811-fb5a-4721-b57a-518446bd7796\u0022\u003EAnother example of the sleight of hand of this Labour Party when it says: \u201CWe\u2019re keeping our word\u201D is exemplified in our sherry and port tax. That Minister, Jim Anderton\u2014\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000734\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00223d49aeac-8adf-497b-9400-ab7bb077bb8d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00223622bdd92f1f4390ad631e444ba9df1c\u0022\u003ERt Hon Winston Peters\u003C/span\u003E: You mean the students\u2019 drink.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000735\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4da5811-fb5a-4721-b57a-518446bd7796\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022ac8ad68f54c644bdbc4bbf3655480c22\u0022\u003EDAIL JONES\u003C/span\u003E: It is when students go up to the bar after the game and say: \u201CThe sherries are on me\u201D; \u201CPass the port\u201D; \u201CWe\u2019ll all pass the port.\u201D after a game of rugby. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000736\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226984d661-9f65-4ed6-b29c-3285b598582d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226eb20ddbeded4262b11f521be3955598\u0022\u003EJohn Carter\u003C/span\u003E: \u201CHave a madeira, m\u2019dear\u201D. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000737\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4da5811-fb5a-4721-b57a-518446bd7796\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022cbd3bea6d2204a1bb8ea418ccc69b9f9\u0022\u003EDAIL JONES\u003C/span\u003E: \u201CHave a madeira, m\u2019dear\u201D and \u201Ca madeira for you, m\u2019dear\u201D, for all the girlfriends! Port, sherry, and madeira\u2014the students love them.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000738\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4da5811-fb5a-4721-b57a-518446bd7796\u0022\u003EThe \u201CKeeping Our Word\u201D scenario has been brought up, and in that respect I share what Jim Anderton told the wine industry. I quote from a statement put out by the industry: \u201CTo make matters worse this ill-conceived policy was rushed through without consultation\u2014consultation the industry was promised in writing on more than one occasion by the Hon Jim Anderton in February of this year. It is a serious injustice that this promise was not kept.\u201D So Jim Anderton does not keep his word, and this Government does not kept its word, when that word is required to be kept.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000739\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4da5811-fb5a-4721-b57a-518446bd7796\u0022\u003EAgain, from a Waitakere City and west Auckland viewpoint, generations of wine growers will be put to the wall as a result of this Labour Party\u2019s policy, and Lynne Pillay does not care. Really, she does not even know. Let us be frank about it: she does not know how many high schools are in the area. She does not know any of the wine growers, and she does not know the problems associated with generations of \u201CDallie\u201D wine growers in general, if we can say that word\u2014Croatians who have made a substantial contribution to New Zealand by working all their lives as gumdiggers and then by coming down into the west of Auckland as workers. They have their port stored and their sherry stored\u2014it takes 2 to 5 years, and more, to store sherry. Now they may as well pour it down the drain. All their capital has been destroyed in a stroke by Jim Anderton.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000740\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4da5811-fb5a-4721-b57a-518446bd7796\u0022\u003EThis Labour Party Government, if it wants to, can rush legislation through the House with no trouble at all. It can keep us here until 10 past 5 in the morning. The leader of New Zealand First and myself were here at 10 past 5 one morning fighting that port and sherry bill. We know who our supporters are and we know the support we get on this issue for that product, one way or another. We were here fighting away, and that morning the vote was: 13 New Zealand First, 10 National, and three ACT. We were here fighting for our supporters\u2014 \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000741\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226984d661-9f65-4ed6-b29c-3285b598582d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00226fc80c59645446d5a744929600858dde\u0022\u003EJohn Carter\u003C/span\u003E: No, nine for National.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000742\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4da5811-fb5a-4721-b57a-518446bd7796\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u0022abb864178f8a4301bbc3552462dfe766\u0022\u003EDAIL JONES\u003C/span\u003E: Sorry. One of them was not conscious. Was one of them not conscious?\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000743\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u00226984d661-9f65-4ed6-b29c-3285b598582d\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u002223853a5252064577a2a68923af3a4488\u0022\u003EJohn Carter\u003C/span\u003E: We can\u2019t remember!\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000744\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4da5811-fb5a-4721-b57a-518446bd7796\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsBy\u0022 id=\u00221238d3f32cc04d3087dd39a1717bc921\u0022\u003EDAIL JONES\u003C/span\u003E: Oh, they cannot remember. We are here to support the people who vote for us, the people who are being ripped off and attacked by this Labour Party. They are people in the last years of their life who like a port or sherry. This Labour Party does not like older people, and I do not know why.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000745\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4da5811-fb5a-4721-b57a-518446bd7796\u0022\u003EIn respect of young people, we heard earlier today that the Child Poverty Action Group is concerned that 300,000 young New Zealand children have not been helped by this Budget. Labour members should take the opportunity to read that report.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000746\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4da5811-fb5a-4721-b57a-518446bd7796\u0022\u003EDebate interrupted.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp id=\u0022id2003052058285b84e6ee44b6b4c186bb70afb663000747\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022HpsNormal\u0022 id=\u0022f4da5811-fb5a-4721-b57a-518446bd7796\u0022\u003EThe House adjourned at 10 p.m.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n    \u003C/div\u003E\n  \u003C/body\u003E\n\u003C/html\u003E"