Street Maryan: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Street Maryan: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Volume:629;Page:1128] 
MARYAN STREET (Labour) 
: 
 I am proud to be a participant in this Labour-led Government. Our Prime Minister today said we are not here to maintain the status quo and members opposite have reiterated that today. We do not believe that that is good enough and that is what the Prime Minister said. We need to be more affluent and dynamic we need to balance economic and social policy and progress and I am delighted to be participating in building a progressive inclusive creative productive New Zealand. 
I also want to say that I am proud of our leadership. Helen Clark will this week become the second - longest serving Labour leader in New Zealand’s history. Only Harry Holland will have served longer as a Labour leader and when the next election comes around Helen Clark will overtake even his record of longevity. Members of the Opposition should look upon that record of leadership stability and competence and be envious because they know they have no one of such ability to match our leadership. 
 The Leader of the Opposition for now Dr Brash referred to the Deputy Prime Minister the Hon Michael Cullen as having been a historian. Who better in fact than a highly trained eminently qualified social historian whose portfolio of qualifications has been augmented by a maths degree to guide the finances of our nation? Who better than somebody who understands the oppressive effects of the arbitrary or worse still the self-righteous judgments of who are the deserving poor and who are the undeserving poor to guide the wealth creation and wealth distribution of this country? I am proud to have a socially aware Minister of Finance who does not believe that to those who have shall more be given and that those who have not shall have even the little they have taken away—a principle to which the National Party is all too willing to subscribe. 
The Leader of the Opposition for now Dr Brash also talked about our agenda and vision. In fact he considered us to be bereft of vision and ideas. Let me remind the Opposition of some of our ideas we have been prepared to put into action. For example—and these ideas are about to bear fruit for real New Zealanders—on 1 April the Working for Families package will be extended to include 60000 more families. A total of 350000 families will benefit from the wealth production of this country. There will be an increase in New Zealand superannuation on that date. There will be no interest on student loans from that date. On 1 July amongst other things paid parental leave will be extended to the self-employed. In the future on 1 April 2007 workers will also be entitled to 4 weeks’ annual leave. We look forward to 20 hours a week of free early childhood education. We look forward to a KiwiSaver programme that will enable young people to save for their first home. It will enable others to build their savings. On 1 July this year nurses around the country will receive the third instalment of what is for the very least of them a 20 percent pay increase and for many a 22 24 or 28 percent pay increase. We are very pleased that the ideas we have had and the work we have done are still yet to bear fruit. That is part of our ongoing vision for this country. 
I would like to talk about the economy briefly. We know about the 293000 additional jobs. We know about having the lowest unemployment in the OECD. Over the last 6 years we know that growth has been averaging close to 3.8 percent per annum. We know that our growth rates have been better than those of our top three trading partners. But that is only what we have done; there is more to come. We do need higher productivity we do need more business investment we do need higher skills levels and we do need more innovation—all items that the Prime Minister referred to today. 
What does the business community think of this? Let us have a look. At 5 p.m. tonight Alasdair Thompson of the Northern Employers and Manufacturers Association congratulated the Prime Minister on her speech. He said: “We applaud the Prime Minister’s speech to Parliament for her recognition that we need a strong economy to deliver the living standards the services and the quality of life which the citizens of our First World country expect deserve and are prepared to work for.” He went on to say— 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Read on. 
MARYAN STREET 
: I am about to. He said: “Business is keen to engage on the statements issues and strategies.” 
Further earlier than that at 3 p.m. today the Auckland Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry said: “The high priority given to supporting the economy and business-led growth is exactly the message businesses wanted to hear. The language is right and the Government’s intentions are very clear and believable.” That is what the Auckland chamber of commerce chief executive officer Michael Barnett said. Commenting on the Prime Minister’s state of the nation address to Parliament Mr Barnett said that “especially welcoming was the unambiguous commitment to New Zealand’s need to increase the number of globally competitive businesses coupled with the acknowledgment that the Government’s role is to provide a supportive environment including infrastructure regulations and business tax. The indication of an action-based Government-business partnership to help position New Zealand’s growth success is another encouraging sign”. 
Opposition members cannot bear the fact that even people who used to be their friends are in fact supporting the active direction of this Government when it comes to promoting growth productivity and business investment. I ask members opposite to desist from talking the economy down. They should just get on with promoting New Zealand’s interests both here and overseas. 
The Leader of the Opposition for now Dr Brash also talked about the drift of skilled New Zealanders to Australia. Perhaps he should read page 9 of the  
Australian Financial Review 
 dated 21 January this year: “A snapshot of long-term departures shows Aussies are increasingly succumbing to New Zealand’s attractive lifestyle. Whether it is lower tax better lifestyle cheaper real estate the number of Australians moving to the Land of the Long White Cloud has increased annually for 6 years.” Expatriate executives say it is easier to do business in New Zealand and tax imposts are lighter. The article quotes a chief executive of a white goods manufacturer: “The personal tax situation in New Zealand is far more friendly than Australia’s” and so it goes on. 
I want to finish by talking for a moment about another item that the Leader of the Opposition for now mentioned in his speech in reply and that was a comment about integrity. This Labour-led Government has proven its ability over two terms to date by keeping its promises and honouring its pledges. We are the Government that chose not to enter the Iraq war because we thought it was wrong. We are the Government that received refugees off the boat  
Tampa 
 because it was the humane and the right thing to do. We are the Government that upholds the nuclear-free New Zealand policy without flip-flop or ambiguity. We are the Government that will continue to invest in people in education in health and in essential infrastructure to keep this country growing. We want a harmonious high-paid high-skilled society and we will deliver. We have the vision we have the policies and we have delivered in the past. That is what integrity is about. 
Through economic transformation through the policies we have that will deliver for families through developing pride in our national identity through the plethora of ways that we have available to us particularly in the creative industries we will deliver the dynamic and progressive country that everyone except apparently the Opposition needs and wants.