Whaitiri Meka: Debate on Prime Minister’s StatementText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeWhaitiri Meka: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement[Sitting date: 11 February 2014. Volume:696;Page:15790. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]MEKA WHAITIRI (Labour—Ikaroa-Rāwhiti): Tēnā koe Mr Assistant Speaker. Tēnā koutou katoa. E ngā mema o te Whare nei ngā mihi o te Tau Hou.[To the members of this House greetings of the New Year.]I join with others on this side in wishing warm greetings to you and all members of the House and of this complex for the new year of 2014 and I hope you have all had a good rest. I join members on this side of the House in support of David Cunliffe the Leader of the Opposition and his motion that this House express no confidence in this National-led Government because New Zealand has become more and more divided because those in the middle are struggling and because the poor are going backwards.I stand as the proud member for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti an electorate that has raised and nurtured many fine people some famous and some infamous all of whom in their time have etched their mark on the unique canvas that makes up Ikaroa-Rāwhiti. It is an electorate of fertile lands prime coastline and majestic rivers where an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay is the norm where having fruit trees and vege gardens and the ability to go to the river or to the beach to gather food is a normal way of life. Formany the prospect of an honest job for honest wages and for gathering food from our beaches and our waterways is no longer the norm. In fact it is under serious threat. I may be a new member to this House but you can rest assured that I come with some 25 years of serving our people creating employment opportunities and creating platforms to grow capacity at the local regional and national levels for supporting initiatives that work and for calling out those that clearly do not.This National-led Government is failing the people of Ikaroa-Rāwhiti. I have sat on this side of the House for some 6 months—hopefully not on this side for too much longer come the general election—and I have heard what this National-led Government has done for the people of New Zealand and for the people of Ikaroa-Rāwhiti. Well I am here to put the story right. I am here to give you the real low-down on my electorate. I am here to do what the people of Ikaroa-Rāwhiti have asked me to do and that is to be their voice in this House. This National-led Government is arrogant. This National-led Government is out of touch. This National-led Government is in it only for its mates.One of my first questions in this House was to the Minister for Economic Development Mr Steven Joyce. When I asked what he was doing about the high rates of unemployment in Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay did I hear “more apprenticeships”? Did I hear “a greater focus on transition from schools to jobs to further training”? Did I hear “enterprise development support”? And did I hear “unlocking potential opportunities in partnership with iwi”? No I did not. The reason why I did not is that those are Labour policies. What I heard from Mr Joyce in terms of his addressing unemployment in Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne was three things: cycleways mining and drilling and—wait for it—a dam. That is right—a dam. I can report to this House as I stand in front of you that there have been no jobs created in Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne in those areas. Again that is a legacy of this National-led Government.But do not listen to me. Let us look at the statistics. Let us look at the unemployment statistics. The household labour force survey statistics for December 2013 say that since National has been in office the number of unemployed 20 to 24-year-olds has increased by 11300. A total of 27600 20 to 24-year-olds are without jobs in the Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne region. That is not a record to be proud of. It is not a record to be laughed at or to be jeered at or to be flicked aside. Youth not in employment or training or education—since National took office the number of 15 to 24-year-old “neets” has increased by 5000 to a total of 72000. That is an indictment on this country when we have 15 to 24-year-olds 72000 of them with no hope with no platform and with no opportunities to seek what they have every right to have as citizens of this country be it employment or education or training—72000 have been forgotten. Long-term unemployment is 44600—an increase of 29800 since National came into Government in December 2008. In my region specifically—the unemployment figures in Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne—when Labour was last in Government there were 6900 people who were unemployed. By December 2013 that number had grown to 8100. Again on these statistics you cannot argue that many more of our people in my region are not suffering—and the jobs are simply not there.One of the burning topics in my region has been the management of our fresh water. It is to that area that I turn the House’s attention to talk about the Tukituki catchment proposal which has been undergoing a board of inquiry for some 28 days. I was fortunate before I joined the House of Representatives to be the chief executive of Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated which took a very strong stance on water quality issues and water management not only in the catchment of Ngāti Kahungunu but also throughout the country. So before coming to this House I was well aware of what was happening in our particular area.Coming here to this place and hearing the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management from the Minister for the Environment Amy Adams I have been really quite interested in some of the responses to what clearly are very complex issues: water quality water use and water management across the nation. I want to acknowledge first and foremost the work of all the stakeholders in the Land and Water Forum who have committed to undertaking this critical issue.Jacqui Dean: Who set up the Land and Water Forum?MEKA WHAITIRI: Yes I know. I know who set it up but I am also aware that there were some very significant recommendations that the forum put to the Minister and it is very upsetting to see the Minister cherry-pick—cherry-pick—some of those recommendations to accelerate the building of the Ruataniwha Dam. So I stand here having sat in on a majority of those hearings where iwi were clearly calling out the lack of consultation through this process. Clearly the fact that a lot of our safeguards in terms of the work of Fish and Game—incidentally a lot of the members of that organisation are with the National Party who themselves say that this has been a shoddy process. Also we have the Environmental Defence Society which also says that due process has not been accorded to something as complex as water storage. So this is why I stand here to say to all those Government members that we could do better. We absolutely need better processes but unfortunately under this National-led Government we have not got them.So in closing I want to say with reference to the Prime Minister’s speech that there was only one line that actually got me listening and that actually was the last line where he said: “We are going to say to New Zealanders that they can trust what we say and they can trust us to deliver what we do.” I can assure you that when I go around all the communities in Ikaroa-Rāwhiti “trust” is not a word they align with the National-led Government and its coalition partners. So I look forward to what the year presents. Tēnā tātou katoa.