Gallagher Martin: General Debate 
Gallagher Martin: General Debate 
[Volume:627;Page:21856] 
MARTIN GALLAGHER (Labour—Hamilton West) 
: 
 First of all I note the contribution of the Rt Hon Winston Peters who noticed what the Leader of the Opposition Don Brash did not notice: huge progress is being made on the Waikato Expressway because of strong lobbying from members of Parliament like myself Dianne Yates and Nanaia Mahuta and from local authorities in that area and because we have an integrated Government - New Zealand transport strategy. 
The other compliment I want to hand out with a very very warm and strong bouquet is to the Hon Matt Robson. I fully commend his speech to the House and as a member of this Parliament I want to encourage members of the public to make submissions with reference to his bill that proposes restrictions on the television advertising of alcohol and also proposes again raising the drinking age. That will be a time for members of the public and of community organisations to be heard in front of a parliamentary committee—not just the self-interested groups that hang around the lobbies of this building and make their living in this town. I say that as an individual member of Parliament. Obviously I will respect the views of those groups as well but this is a time for the community and the public to have their say. 
Like the member I have noticed public opinion on this matter. I also find it very curious that members of Parliament who claim to uphold family values—Dr Brash Mr Dunne and Mr Hide—are voting against this bill. I would say that one of the big issues affecting families in this country at the moment is the whole issue of alcohol abuse amongst our young people. I am not suggesting for one moment that the bill is perfect but it is a good starting point for us at Parliament to re-evaluate that issue. I also want to compliment my colleague Dianne Yates on her so-far unsuccessful work to get advertising labels warning of health effects on to liquor bottles. Interestingly the home of the free market the United States has those labels. 
I want to talk today about Don Brash’s prescription for this country. I notice that in 1981 or thereabouts he stood in the East Coast Bays by-election. He stood against one Garry Knapp the Social Credit candidate. It seems to me that Dr Brash possibly absorbed some Social Credit theories and some Social Credit beliefs perhaps unwittingly because we have heard the formula. We keep hearing about tax cuts on the one hand and on the other hand we keep hearing about a significant increase in Government spending. The two do not appear to go together. There are only two ways that can be funded. National can increase borrowing so that the indebtedness of this nation is increased significantly or it can do what Social Credit I think believed in and that is go down to the Reserve Bank of which Don Brash was governor for a number of years and print the money—write out more credit; social credit. 
One of the other means however that National will attempt is to fund some of those so-called tax cuts—temporary tax cuts as they will be—by the sale of assets. Again in the words of Dr Brash “minor changes at the margin will not do the trick”. Already National has announced that it will hock off Landcorp an entity that serves the Waikato region and a city that has a very proud record in terms of agricultural and horticultural research. I think that to hock off Landcorp would be a tragedy. I want to acknowledge the really good work that those farms owned by the people of New Zealand are doing in terms of research and best practice. 
Next to go on the block will be Solid Energy. It will be sold to the lowest bidder who will probably be overseas. Then on the block we will see the Accident Compensation Corporation being dismembered and dismantled. It will be sold to the lowest bidder—probably one of National’s local mates. Then of course National will put up on the next auction block other entities that it will start to get ready for sale—not immediately but first will be Kiwibank. Kiwibank will be made ready for sale. 
The debate having concluded the motion lapsed.