Mark Ron: General Debate 
Mark Ron: General Debate 
[Volume:638;Page:8202] 
RON MARK (NZ First) 
: 
 I am rising on behalf of New Zealand First to contribute to this afternoon’s debate and after listening to the team that describes itself as the Opposition—and that is another archaic term that needs to be got rid of because in our MMP Parliament these days no party can claim to be “the Opposition”—I say I cannot help but conclude that there is much ado about doing nothing on that side of the House. In fact methinks members opposite protest too much—far too much given their track record—when they want to talk about corrections. 
Let us just look at the difference between National and New Zealand First. On the National side of the House people are prone to criticise and chastise everybody for failures in the Department of Corrections. I have here a huge wad of documents. This is the  
Report for the State Services Commissioner into the Department of Corrections Canterbury Emergency Response Unit (CERU) 
 written by Ailsa Duffy QC and dated 16 December 2004. That whole debacle started under whose responsibility—under whose watch? Many of the recommendations made in that document and the failures described in it are actually symptomatic of what we are seeing today. And who was responsible? Oh there is no comment now! It was the National Government of the day. We do not have to look very far in order to see that. If we turn to page 253 what is the date that we see for the establishment of the infamous emergency response unit? It was 19 May 1999. Who denied successive requests for an inquiry into the activities of that “goon squad”? There is silence. We are talking about the Department of Corrections we are talking about corruption and we are talking about incompetence and the National Party members have suddenly gone deathly silent. Most of the problems that we witness today within the Department of Corrections come from National’s term of governance and the changes it made. I will get on to that. 
Whilst the National members protest strut and carry on what is the difference between them and the New Zealand First members? We are simply getting on and doing things. I want to mention a couple of things. For a start members should look at what is happening with regard to the police. The Minister made an announcement today. Mr Power and the National Party have been screaming out that we will never recruit 1000 additional police let alone 1250. What is the result? The Minister is announcing today that not only do we have 423 more sworn staff members not including recruits under training than there were at the equivalent time last year—that is over and above the establishment in 2006 which equates to a 5.7 percent increase in police staffing numbers—but also we are well on track to achieving our 1000 extra uniformed front-line police. 
One of the other predictions New Zealand First made was that attrition would fall away and it has dropped to a resounding 3.9 percent. New Zealand First members said that attrition would fall away as policemen and policewomen saw tangible evidence of new officers coming on stream and the workloads and pressures decreasing and that once they saw physical evidence that the Government and New Zealand First were serious about resourcing the police then more police officers would stay. That is precisely what is happening. But that is not what the National Party members predicted—all doom and gloom and scaremongering that we would never achieve that. The reason I suspect they have always said that is that they never ever had any intention of resourcing the police in the way that New Zealand First has done. 
But it does not stop with the police; members should look at what we have done for seniors. What is the difference for seniors? There is an increase to 66 percent of the net average wage for our seniors. That means that on 1 April this year married couples will be receiving an increase of $20 a week because of New Zealand First. 
Pita Paraone 
: How much? 
RON MARK 
: They will be receiving $20 a week extra because of New Zealand First. We are not bleating whining whingeing or carping; we are getting on doing the work making a difference and delivering on the things we promised we would deliver. In line behind that we have increasing the minimum wage to $12 an hour fast on track. In superannuation single people will get between $12 and $13 a week— 
Hon Ruth Dyson 
: How much? 
RON MARK 
: They will get between $12 and $13 a week more than previously depending on their living circumstances. Those are real gains achieved by the only party that is truly committed to our seniors. 
Our commitment does not stop there. In August we will see the launch of the SuperGold card for seniors. We promised it; we are delivering it. That will be a huge step forward in terms of improving the lives of our seniors. Not only will Government subsidies and discounts be available on the card but also a significant number of negotiated commercial discounts will be available. New Zealand First is delivering.