Mahuta Nanaia: General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeMahuta Nanaia: General Debate[Sitting date: 30 March 2016. Volume:712;Page:10020. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon NANAIA MAHUTA (Labour—Hauraki-Waikato): Following from that contribution by Michael Woodhouse good migration policy would not put at risk domestic jobs for Kiwis. It is that simple and what the Government is trying to do is ensure that we open up the immigration doors and then say to our own people in our own local communities: “Oh sorry. There’s no jobs here for you. We’ll go and get someone from somewhere else.” It does not work because in communities it is a very simplistic but very simple message: the Government should not put at risk Kiwi jobs that could be gained here by people who have been educated here and skilled here—of different ethnicities very diverse—and can be trained here. Invest in local talent. Let them have the jobs. Do not open up the doors carte blanche and then prevent Kiwis from taking up those jobs.Those listening to this debate would be asking the question: why is the Government after the fact urgently going around to communities consulting on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)? Having negotiated it in secret now the Government is trying to convince New Zealanders just how good it is for them. The information has come a little bit too late and there are a lot of concerns that need to be responded to.For example—and we asked the questions of the negotiators just today in the Māori Affairs Committee—what exactly are the benefits of the TPP to the Māori economy? Let us be under no shadow of a doubt. Māori want to contribute to the growth of this country in ways that realise benefits here: back in New Zealand back in our regions and certainly back to communities. They want to know the detail of that but after the fact people are a little bit cautious about the Government’s strategy of trying to secure support and say that it has a good process in consulting with people on the TPP.Simon “10” Bridges—Simon “10” Bridges—will be for ever known as the Minister who made big promises at a point in time when the regions were saying that the National Government had neglected the regions. He went up there promised 10 bridges for Northland and failed and the deal was done because that particular seat a former National stronghold actually went to New Zealand First. So the National Government’s view that it has done well for the New Zealand economy and this has been delivered to the regions is simply not true—simply not true.Marama Fox talked about the KiwiMeter. Well here it is: if the flag had been put on that particular survey I suspect the outcome would have been the same because New Zealanders wanted more than just a change in a symbol. They wanted to know what sat behind the choice of a different flag. There had to be a better reason. What does our country stand for? What should the symbols reflect in terms of the country we look like? What would be the type of change that would show we have moved on as a country? It is a country that represents all New Zealanders. That was just a vanity project that simply did not get over the line.Labour is prepared to talk about the things that really matter because New Zealanders deserve that. They want to know what kind of country will build the economic opportunity and the social prosperity that will advantage the 99 percent of New Zealanders who deserve a fair go. They want to know that there is going to be a Government that will look at the things that are most important for a changing demographic and that understands that the demographic is younger is more disenfranchised than ever before from community and also from opportunity through education. There is a big group of our young people that is simply not taking up the advantage in the system that it could.Then there is the reality of technology and how that will change the workforce. No it is not as bland as Simon Bridges has put it that the robots are coming and therefore all the jobs will be gone. It is to recognise that technology will have its place in a modern economy and we have to invest in the skills—the life-long learning opportunities for all New Zealanders to upskill and reskill—and continue to invest in our domestic workforce so that it can take advantage of higher-value jobs a more skilled workforce and a continually evolving and innovative economy.These are the types of ideas that Labour will not shy away from. These are the types of ideas that we believe New Zealanders want to talk about and these are the ideas that Labour will put well ahead of a vanity project because we are serious about the future that we want to create for New Zealand.