Adams Amy: General Debate 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Adams Amy: General Debate 
[Sitting date: 19 September 2012. Volume:684;Page:5381. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon AMY ADAMS (Minister for the Environment) 
: 
 I am very happy to rise and take a call in this general debate on what is the 119th celebration of New Zealand women becoming the first in the world to have the right to vote. I want to acknowledge the hard work of our suffragette forebears— 
Hon Lianne Dalziel 
: Suffragist. 
Hon AMY ADAMS 
: —suffragist thank you—and actually also to acknowledge the role of members of this House who at the time worked with those women to ensure the legislation was passed through the House including Sir John Hall whom I have referenced previously. I think it is important actually and timely on Women’s Suffrage Day to look back to where we have come from but also to look forward to where we are going. 
We have said often from this side of the House that what we are focused on is making a real difference on the things that Kiwis care about and I tell you in my view that is jobs incomes and opportunities. The difference between this side of the House and our opponents is that we understand that to create those things you have to get the conditions right for businesses to create those jobs because at the end of the day there is no getting away from the fact that Governments do not create jobs; businesses do. If we are going to be serious about creating jobs creating more opportunities and creating a better future for our New Zealanders we have to play our part in setting those conditions right. 
Time and time again we hear shrieking volume and derisive put-downs from the Opposition. It is masking a complete lack of policies and ideas. Thos members are quite happy to sit there and shriek “Where are the jobs?” but they block every single opportunity to come up with more jobs in this country. They block the advancement of agriculture. They block the advancement of our mineral exploration industry. They block our manufacturing issues. They block Minister Wilkinson’s labour market reforms. They want to stop everything that will create jobs. So when they stand in this House and say they want jobs I would say to them that if they are serious about wanting jobs they need to get serious about supporting the policies of this Government that will create the conditions for businesses to create jobs. 
We are focused on the things that businesses need for them to be successful. We are focused on export markets recognising that New Zealand will only ever be successful if it trades with the world. We make our living by trading with the world. We are not going to become prosperous from looking entirely inwardly and so we are developing strong export markets led very ably by Minister Tim Groser. We are working on a capital markets reform and ensuring that businesses have the access to capital that they need. We are developing the strong resilient infrastructure that is needed including the fantastic work that is going into the Ultra-fast Broadband Initiative and the Rural Broadband Initiative. We are focusing on making sure that our workplaces have access to skilled labour and that they operate in safe environments. We have a strong focus on innovation and we have an active work programme on how we can develop and use our natural resources better. 
One of the things we have to do is manage the Government finances far better. Minister English is driving an excellent programme to ensure that Government debt remains below 30 percent. If we do not do that we risk losing the ability to trade efficiently in the world to access capital and to provide businesses with the stable framework that they need. This Government understands that to get to that point and to maintain our trajectory—to remain under 30 percent—we have to make some tough decisions and we are prepared to front them. What we are not prepared to do is preside over a borrow-and-spend regime that we have seen too often from the opposite side. 
It is working. We have seen more jobs created as a consequence of the reforms that we have made to date. We have seen an efficient tax structure put in place. We know wages are up 20 percent since we have taken office. We have inflation and interest at their lowest rates for some time. These are the conditions that create jobs. This is the work of a productive National Government. This is why we are seeing jobs created. This is why New Zealand is in a far stronger position than its international compatriots. We are not saying it is easy. These are tough times internationally. But if you look around the world at the countries we benchmark ourselves against New Zealand is in a much stronger position. We have a strong position. We are attractive to other entities and that is because of the sensible reforms of this Government. 
New Zealanders know they need to work harder they need to be productive we need to play to our strengths and we have to earn the money before we can spend it. It is very easy to stand up in this House with a myriad of policies that involve putting it on the credit card keeping on spending the money throwing it around and making sure the voters turn up with the promise of everything you are going to give them in the lolly scramble. We are not going to do that. We are going to make sure we run a robust resilient economy and we are going to continue to do that because we know that at the end of the day that is what matters to New Zealand—more jobs and more opportunities. That is what this National Government is delivering.