Brown Peter: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Brown Peter: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Volume:637;Page:7290] 
PETER BROWN (Deputy Leader—NZ First) 
: 
 The good news is that John Key has identified there is an underclass. That is very very good news. He is setting himself up to be the champion of the underclass and that is also good news. But it would pay for Mr Key and indeed his National Party colleagues to stick to the facts. First of all—and I am not here to defend the Prime Minister—at no time did she deny there was an underclass. She actually said it was getting smaller. I am not in a position to argue about that but she did not deny there was an underclass. Members opposite have a conscience and are quite interested in the issue so I ask them who created the underclass. I would not go so far as to say that National created it but I will go so far as to say that the Employment Contracts Act certainly created a significant amount of hardship. It removed security for low-paid people and put downward pressure on wages for unskilled and low-paid people. 
Dr Wayne Mapp 
: That is rubbish and the member knows it. 
PETER BROWN 
: The member can argue till the cows come home but that is the result of the Employment Contracts Act. I see that members opposite are listening intently and I remind them that the Act allowed the development of wide-scale casualised employment. 
Let me give the Labour Government a little bit of credit because it cut down unemployment. It has gone down markedly. I am pleased to say that Labour listened intently to New Zealand First and there will be a review an inquiry call it what one likes into casualised employment in this country. That will be the first time ever. That is not a request we did not put to National when we were in coalition with it. We did on several occasions. I see that the member now acknowledges that. But National members dismissed it. They did not recognise that people were living in conditions of hardship. At one time they said to me and I will never forget it that after the Employment Contracts Act had been in existence 10 or 12 years society would get used to it. 
Well the underclass never got used to it. I pleaded with the Minister at that time to modify the Act and make it a little bit fairer. But no my request was pooh-poohed. Then of course Labour came into office and replaced that legislation. This Labour Government is now prepared to look at an inquiry into casualised employment. I am delighted that it is prepared to do that because some people in this country have suffered for a very very long time when it comes to unemployment. 
As a result of the growth in the underclass—which is now shrinking—crime went up markedly. If we look back to the 1960s and 1970s and compare that with the situation today it has gone up hugely. What was the response of National when it was last in Government? It thought that its cardboard cut-outs would help solve crime. That is something John Cleese would have promoted on  
F 
a 
wlty 
 Towers 
. National used cardboard cut-outs and a “cube” computer—an INCIS computer. It spent about $100 million on INCIS in an effort to solve crime. I am proud to be part of a party that insisted when we were in coalition with National that the police force be increased. I think we got 500 more at that time and now we have reached an agreement with Labour to increase the police force by 1000 in this term and bring it up to the Australian ratio per head of population by the end of next term. 
I heard Maurice Williamson speak earlier. I always listen to him because one is almost best to listen to what he says about transport and do the exact opposite but he is gradually listening to us. He is now saying as indeed the National Party is saying that all the petrol tax should be going into roading. National has had two attempts at it: the first when Winston Peter produced a bill in about 1995 but National said was a silly bill to address that issue in that way. That was said and I have the  
Hansard 
. 
The second attempt was in 1998 when in the Budget we started transferring the money across when Winston Peters was Treasurer. But the National Government stopped it dead in the water when it dispensed with us and governed on its own. 
I just close by saying that several thousand people have died on the roads in this country because the roads have not kept pace with vehicle usage.