Ball Darroch: Debate on Prime Minister’s StatementText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBall Darroch: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement[Sitting date: 11 February 2015. Volume:703;Page:1479. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]DARROCH BALL (NZ First):It is with pleasure that I rise to speak on behalf of New Zealand First in this debate. I think it is most important a good chance to bring some common sense into the debate especially after that last speaker David Bennett. Like many I would like to wish colleagues my sincere best wishes for this year although I am biased so I would like to wish the New Zealand First members an even better year. I also want the good people of Northland to know that we are all here for you.Tim Macindoe: Which one of you?DARROCH BALL: All of us—the entire party of course.Apparently according to the Prime Minister business confidence is high but if business confidence is high then perhaps he has not seen the Federated Farmers latest farm confidence survey. It is stark for two-thirds of our exporters. But we do not have a Prime Minister. What we do have is a “President Business”. He sits there surrounded by his doe-eyed micromanagers chanting “Everything is Awesome”—that is the song from The Lego Movie; that got their attention—except we all know that everything is not awesome. Our farmers and our exporters know it is not. The people of Northland and my home region of Manawatū know that it is not. Everything is not awesome when nearly a quarter of our young people are without a job—they know it is not awesome—and when our Government is ignoring their plight at New Zealand’s peril.Young people who experience early and prolonged periods of unemployment are at risk of long-term benefit dependency. The Salvation Army’s state of the nation report released today highlights an association between child poverty rates and rates of benefit dependency. This is why New Zealand First wants so much more focus placed on youth employment. New Zealanders want to be sure that our young people are given every chance to succeed no matter what life circumstances they are facing. What we do now to support our youth into work will make all the difference to child poverty levels in the future and it is an essential step we must take if we are to address the endless cycle of poverty. That is why we need fewer micromanagers who love zero tolerance and a lot more economic and social management led by master builders who want New Zealand to own and prosper from the riches at our feet and what falls from our sky.We need to look at the way the Westminster tradition operates in this House. These days Ministers and select committee chairs do not even bother to resign. They get promoted or considered for Cabinet. That is actually the Rena school of management because scum seems to rise to the top of the surface. Take the $140 million corporate welfarism for Skycity to prettify its convention centre. Here is a company that made $66 million net profit over the past 6 months holding out a corporate begging bowl.David Bennett: Get over it.DARROCH BALL: Get over it? Is that what you say to the public of New Zealand the taxpayers: “Get over it.”? It is on the Hansard record now; you can quote it.How far would $140 million go to alleviate child poverty I ask that member. It could fund the SuperGold Health Check Bill buy another warship for the navy to hunt down pirate fishing vessels or even buy 25-millimetre rounds and fuel for HMNZS Wellington—that ship clearly did not sail with either of much of those.If we are talking monuments then what about this ridiculous flag referendum. A former British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott was once called John “Two Jags” Prescott. We of course have another John: John “Two Flags” Key who not only green-lighted the national Māori flag but now wants to change the New Zealand flag. That is another $25.5 million. But that is only the start and New Zealand First will be delighted to share that later in the year. But here is a big hint—check out the New Zealand coat of arms. How much is that going to cost? John “Two Flags” Key was keen on a black background until parodied on American television—a laughing stock.Since the flag was adopted in 1902 350000 Kiwis have served under it with 30000 of those paying the ultimate sacrifice. It is shameful to their memory and to all who have served our country that this flag has become the Government’s plaything. It is shameful in this the centennial year of Gallipoli that it is being used as nothing but a distraction. It is no wonder this Government is spinning faster than a Fisher and Paykel washing machine when we have a forecast of a $572 million Budget deficit. That is an almost $1 billion negative reversal of what Mr English predicted last May—a $1 billion reversal.So this Government has never made a Budget surplus and based on this it never will. I guess we have had Rogernomics we have had “Ruthanomics” but this Government has perfected “Ponzinomics”. You could also call it an “OBE”—other blighters’ effort—strategy because the dollar’s recent fall has had absolutely nothing to do with anything this Government has done. It is down to the Australian European and Canadian central banks. It has everything to do with the US oil industry and nothing to do with this Government. Yet everything is awesome according to those members.We do not have an inflation problem but we are staring down the barrel of a deflation crisis. Shannon in the Manawatū does not have a housing bubble but it is treated exactly like St Heliers. Everything is not awesome in the way this House is being treated over the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Iraq. Even Al Jazeera I am told is speculating on where we will be located in Iraq but this House has not been given the decency of a debate because Government members know that they will lose. They know that they will look like fools.New Zealand First does not believe that Iraq will be solved by a family group conference and cups of ginseng tea. Although we are revolted by ISIS the legitimate concerns of this party are being met by a brick wall called Gerry Brownlee who is less a Minister of Defence and more a Minister on the fence—or is he more a bull in a diplomatic china shop? Mr Brownlee described the Prime Minister’s statement: “It is the price of being in the club.”—his comment on Iraq—as an unfortunate statement before wrongly attributing it to the British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond. If we are revolted by ISIS what about Boko Haram and their ilk in South-east Asia? Defence needs to be properly funded.So how are we going economically? National’s big idea from the Job Summit has been a cycle trail and heaps of red tape while it takes the credit for the efforts of our farmers our manufacturers and our tourist operators—people who have laboured under the high dollar. As my leader told Northland yesterday help is on its way.This party believes in the storage of rainwater. We believe that roads in the Manawatū and elsewhere not just those in Auckland are truly roads of national significance. We believe in harvesting our resources and ensuring our regions get their fair share of minerals through a royalties for regions programme. We believe in “Made in New Zealand” not “Made in China”.Only New Zealand First’s Land Transfer (Foreign Ownership of Land Register) Amendment Bill will bring in a register of foreign land and housing ownership and it is great that Labour is following our leadership on this. Even Federated Farmers support this register. The National Government has blithely allowed the sale of a million hectares of land into foreign ownership and now our largest dairy and sheep processor is Chinese-owned.Auckland’s housing crisis is led by immigration but this Government does not want to know. Instead of tackling it we get Resource Management Act reform except this Government was elected in 2008. What year is it now? 2015. We know that the Overseas Investment Office ticks off nearly all of its applications and is only a flow meter. Most property sales including houses do not even come on to its radar.We need to act in the interests of New Zealand and put New Zealanders first. Take the Rt Hon Winston Peters’ SuperGold Health Check Bill which is simple as any good policy should be. It strengthens primary health care—