Bennett David: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Bennett David: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Sitting date: 12 February 2013. Volume:687;Page:7724. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
DAVID BENNETT (National—Hamilton East) 
: 
 I wish to acknowledge and congratulate our Speaker David Carter on his role and wish him all the best in that role. We look forward to seeing him progress in that position over the next few years. 
This debate is a very important one because it sets out the philosophical differences between the two political parties that represent the two main parties of this Parliament. On one side you have the National Party in Government with our great Prime Minister the Rt Hon John Key doing the right thing by New Zealand and on the other side you have the Labour Party—a party of envy a party distraught in itself about who its leadership actually is a party that is looking for itself in the mirror but cannot find itself there. Then on the heels of that you have the smaller parties like New Zealand First and the Green Party there. New Zealand First members are beaming at the thought of being in Parliament for another 3 years. They do not actually care whether they do anything but just the fact that they are here is enough for them. The Green Party members are sitting there diligent as ever but completely misrepresenting to the public what they stand for and what they want for this country going forward. 
It is a shame that politics becomes a battle of perceptions. We think in this Parliament that it is a matter of perception and it is advertising. It is like Coke against Pepsi is it not—you know National against Labour—but it is not really that actually. The public out there are much smarter than we think. They can see through the perceptions and the facades on the other side. They know that the Labour Party and the Green Party and the New Zealand First Party do not actually stand for what is right for New Zealanders. They know that those parties will not do the right thing for this country going forward and they do not vote for them. It is that simple. 
The public out there look beyond the perceptions that this House tries to portray look at the realities of the policies and determine that those Opposition parties do not have a plan they do not have the people and they do not have the resources to actually do what the people out there actually want. What the people actually want is what this Government is delivering. They want good solid management that is going to direct this country through very difficult economic times. They want a Government that cares about social health and education issues. They want a Government that is interested in our people and especially in our young people’s future. They want a country and a Government that builds and builds a stronger country going forward so that future generations of New Zealanders have the opportunities and the ability to live in a first-class country going forward. They know they are getting that from the National Government. They voted us in because they knew our plan. They like it and they want to keep it going. 
Andrew Williams 
: You tell this to the 50000 going to Australia this year. 
DAVID BENNETT 
: The New Zealand First Party keeps on talking about people going to Australia. Well that is the competitive pressure that we have. You know we cannot avoid it. 
Andrew Williams 
: 50000 a year. It’s the only reason why they’re not staying here. 
DAVID BENNETT 
: We live right beside Australia that is right. We have a competitive pressure there. But that means that New Zealanders and the New Zealand Government have to step up. The Opposition wants to do exactly the opposite. The New Zealand First Party wants to create Fortress New Zealand. It does not want anybody coming into New Zealand and it does not want anybody leaving New Zealand. It just sees New Zealand as a fortress that will survive. Well that is completely irrational. It is not going to happen. It has never happened in world history. 
The Labour Party on the other hand is saying: “Well why aren’t you doing something? What are you doing?”. Well we have got a plan and the plan is something that the public sees. It is about investing in this country going forward. 
Andrew Williams 
: It’s a cunning plan. Nobody knows what it is. 
DAVID BENNETT 
: You want to see the plan? I will tell you about the plan. Come to Hamilton and you will see the plan because Hamilton is going ahead and it is doing really well. Do you know why it is going ahead? 
Andrew Williams 
: That’s because it’s getting a bypass. 
DAVID BENNETT 
: It is getting a bypass—exactly. The New Zealand First Party gets 10 points. A golden star to the New Zealand First Party for getting it right. The Government is building the infrastructure that enables Hamilton to take advantage of its biggest opportunity which is Auckland. It is linking Hamilton to Auckland just like New Zealand needs to link with Asia. Our opportunity in the future comes from those big Asian economies that will direct a lot of money around this part of the world. If we do not link into those countries we will miss out on our opportunity. 
Andrew Williams 
: Skycity Casino. 
DAVID BENNETT 
: Skycity Casino is another thing that the New Zealand First Party does not want to see happen. It brings jobs into New Zealand but you do not want to see it happen. 
When we look at it the issue that the Labour Party and the Opposition have tried to promote over the last couple of months has been housing. That is what they have been saying. They have been pushing the housing button. Well let us have a look at it. We live on the Pacific Rim beside the countries that will be the richest on this planet for the next 100 years—Australia China Viet Nam the Philippines and Indonesia. Those are the countries that will pump out the wealth of this world for the next 100 years. If the New Zealand public and the Opposition think that there will not be some impact on the New Zealand economy from being right beside those countries then we are being naive. We will need to be able to play the game with those countries. We will need to be able to have a world-class education system so that our young people can grow up and compete. 
We will have to compete on our assets as well. We will have to pay the price for housing. There will be no free rides in this world. There is no fortress mentality where you can say that New Zealand lives in a different world. We want to be in that world. We want to be in a world where our children can aspire to getting good jobs can aspire to getting a good income and can aspire to having their own home because in that way they will be living the First World dream. If we do not aspire to that if we think that we can dumb our economy down if we think that we can dumb our people down and if we think that we can deliver houses for $300000 then you are dreaming. Get in the real world. 
We need to compete. That is the challenge that New Zealanders understand. That is the challenge that the New Zealand National Government understands. That is the challenge that the Opposition denies. It denies the challenge of this world and it denies the challenge of our people. That is why it will suffer in the polls in 2014—because it does not understand the reality of what our people are going through and the challenges in front of our country. 
But do not look at it as a challenge. It is not a challenge; it is an opportunity because the real opportunity for us is to succeed. If we succeed with those countries in the next 100 years New Zealand can be one of the wealthiest countries in the world. That is the crossroads we have in front of us now: to accept the challenge and succeed or to try to put up some walls and say: “It’s too hard. We’re not part of that.” That is the choice that the public has out there. 
We have young people watching from the gallery today. They have that choice today. Their choice is to get a good education and make the most of their opportunities or to not get a good education and think that it is going to come their way. Well it is a different world from when we all grew up. The world that you grow up in will not give you that choice. You will have to make the right choices and that involves getting that education and doing that hard work because there will be no second chance. The Opposition believes that there is some pot of gold that will suddenly deliver that for them. 
Andrew Williams 
: On the bypass—it’s on the bypass. 
DAVID BENNETT 
: The New Zealand First Party talks about the bypass. Well that is linking Hamilton to Auckland like New Zealand will be linked to China and those other countries going forward. Hamilton is doing well because we understand the future. We are not afraid to take those challenges. We have invested in those challenges. We have put money into broadband we have put money into the university and we have put money into the hospital—we have put money into the infrastructure. My colleagues from the north look with envy on us but we have done it and we are succeeding. That is the future of New Zealand just like it is the future of my city. I look forward to this Government carrying on through this term and delivering that future. It is a strong future it is the right future and it is the only future that will enable our younger generations to actually succeed in the modern world. Thank you.