Scott Alastair: General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeScott Alastair: General Debate[Sitting date: 22 July 2015. Volume:707;Page:5206. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]ALASTAIR SCOTT (National—Wairarapa): How can anyone take that member Ron Mark seriously as far as being a decent and reasonable Opposition member? He had absolutely nothing constructive to say. All he could talk about for most of his speech was my background—my business background my reasonable and practical background. That member had nothing to say. He just had a crack at everyone here around kererū-eating. There was no policy about business how we are going to grow the economy how we are going to get people into work and how we are going to continue to focus on employment.Last night alongside three other MPs in this room I spoke at a meeting of the National Council of Women the Wellington branch of the Federation of Graduate Women and Zonta International regarding domestic violence and the economic effect of domestic violence. I want to quote something from the authors of the report Productivity Gains from Workplace Protection of Victims of Domestic Violence Sherilee Kahui Bryan Ku and Suzanne Snively: “Employment is a key pathway out of domestic violence. … staying in employment is critical to reducing the effects of violence.”Employment is the key. It is a powerful antidote to many of our social ills: depression alcoholism gambling addiction—all serious issues. Employment brings pride to the family it gives independence and it motivates people—it gets people out of bed in the morning—and it gives a social and supportive environment to those people in employment. And of course it creates role models for our next generation. So high employment is a result—it is a measure of the success of an economy.We know that we have low—low—numbers of people not in employment education or training. That figure is lower than ever. Unemployment is heading downwards. It will be below 5 percent within a couple of years and we have heard Minister Bennett talk about South Island unemployment being at 3.8 percent. These are the numbers in fact that we want to talk about. The Opposition members have no interest in facts. They are all rhetoric and do not understand the way markets work. Having the flexible market place that we have today is sending the appropriate signals to the players in the market place. Despite the doom and gloom from the Opposition we do have a flexible and resilient economy.Fitch Ratings has just given us a re-rating of “stable and positive” going forward. So despite the drought and despite the low dairy payouts we are still expecting growth of 2.8 percent GDP over the next 4 years. That is because the dairy farmers and the businessmen and the people on this side of the House understand how markets work. We understand that prices go up and prices go down. Dairy farmers understand that there are price fluctuations. Winegrowers understand that there are price fluctuations. Since 2009 the oil price in US dollars has doubled and halved. This is what happens in the real world. Dairy prices have gone up and now they are coming down. This should be no surprise. There are no surprises on this side of the House but it is all news to the Opposition.This flexibility in the market place is important because it allows the economy to reallocate resources to where they are required. The markets are working as is demonstrated by the lower New Zealand dollar. The New Zealand dollar has weakened on the basis of the strong US dollar and today the exporters of any of our products whether it be sheep and beef or logs—those producers also understand volatile markets. Those producers are also now receiving 25-odd percent more for every foreign dollar earned. That is a good thing. That is the way the market works: flexibility and resilience.From the other side those members are saying: “Do something do something do something.” But what practical reasonable and understandable policies do they have? Not a single policy change not a single option—subsidies tariffs growing money on trees. Money does not grow on trees; it must be earned.