Anderton Jim: Address in Reply 
Anderton Jim: Address in Reply 
[Volume:628;Page:135] 
Hon JIM ANDERTON (Leader—Progressive) 
: 
 I have no difficulty in supporting the Government motion. The coalition Government formed in December 1999 has demonstrably been the most successful and progressive Government that New Zealand has had in decades. [ 
Interruption 
] New Zealand has experienced a sustained sequence of strong economic growth—even the member who just interjected will have to accept that fact. 
John Key 
: You’re on your own. 
Hon JIM ANDERTON 
: Well in 2 years’ time I will have been in Government for 9 years. How long has the member been in Government? Nil. If the member thinks that the National Party will sleepwalk to victory in the next 3 years he has another think coming. 
Unemployment has fallen to the lowest level in the developed world business conditions are sound there is a renewed feeling of confidence and pride in New Zealand and security and fairness are being restored in homes and in New Zealand hearts. The Government has been tested as Governments are and has been found to be stable reliable progressive and sensible. 
So I pay tribute to the leadership of the Government. In being elected to a third term Helen Clark will enter New Zealand’s political history as one of Labour’s great leaders and one of New Zealand’s most successful prime ministers. 
The policy programme outlined in the Speech from the Throne shows why this Government will enjoy a third term as successful as the 6 years we have already had. I welcome the support for the Government in its policy programme from a broad cross-section of parties in this House. 
Each party inside the Government or supporting it brings its own perspective on the highest priorities for the term. For me and for the Progressive party the priority for this term is to sheet-in New Zealand’s economic and social progress and to make New Zealand a country which embraces again cooperation as the best way forward. New Zealand would never have become the nation it is without a strong culture of working cooperatively. We have made immense economic progress and of course we needed to. We have proved that we can create jobs and rising incomes without leaving behind tens of thousands of people. 
This is a more socially cohesive society than it was 6 years ago and it will be more cohesive still in another 3 years. There are places all over the world that abandon families and individuals when they fall on hard times. There are societies that let people get crushed by change by market forces or by the cruelty of one person for another. There are societies that we would not want to be part of. The first Labour Government of 1935 wanted an economic landscape where everyone could contribute and where all could enjoy a decent life. In that landscape there was a place for everyone—no one was deliberately left behind. That it is within our grasp that our country still has those values is something I think we can be proud of and that has been brought closer by the last 6 years of a Labour-Progressive Government. 
I believe there are lessons for New Zealand from the election result however. It was the last-chance election in my view—not the first—for the new right which caused so much damage and pain in New Zealand in the 1980s and 1990s. If National could not win that election with all the bribes that were going on its members had better ask themselves whether they will ever win another one. Successive Governments abandoned New Zealanders when they could have helped. They let people be crushed by change and they showed that they were not caring Governments at all. They allowed great injustice when they should have been making New Zealand a fairer place. They diminished hope. 
John Key 
: Rubbish! 
Hon JIM ANDERTON 
: If that member is as good at statistics and analysis as he would want people to believe he should look at the gap between rich and poor that developed over the 1980s and 1990s when the party he is a member of was in Government in New Zealand for 9 years. The 2005 election was that party’s last roll of the dice in my considered view. 
John Key 
: Oh yeah! 
Hon JIM ANDERTON 
: I will take one bet with the member. The current leader of the National Party will not be there leading the next election. Is the member prepared to have that one on? There is silence. Is that not amazing? We have come back to Parliament for practically the first day and the National Opposition is silent when I say that the leader who supposedly led them in great triumph will not be here at the next election. As sure as I know anything about politics that is one stone-cold certainty. 
 This year was the National Party’s last chance to turn back the clock and to have that “level playing field” whereby so many families and individuals suffered. That is not to underestimate the toll it took on the nation as well. I believe the Opposition needs to learn from that. It is only a matter of time before Don Brash goes overboard—that is clear. If National brings on new leadership in this term I hope it will understand that New Zealand does not want to turn back the clock to the cruel uncaring past. 
We actually want a softer New Zealand where cooperation not competition is the main game and where partnerships work for people. The last 6 years have proved that we can transform New Zealand’s economy at the same time as we care for and protect the well-being of all New Zealanders. It was a privilege for me to lead the economic development initiatives of the Government in the last 6 years. 
John Key 
: They’ve moved you on. 
Hon JIM ANDERTON 
: Yes they have moved me on to preside over sectors of the economy that earn over half of our entire foreign exchange. What sector of the economy is that member in charge of in the next 3 years? He is in charge of the sector of rapping the Government over the knuckles with a wet press release. 
I look forward to concentrating my efforts in the primary production portfolios of agriculture forestry and fisheries. Those are New Zealand’s most economically crucial sectors. Has the National Party given up on them? It was interesting to get press releases fired at me from National Party members who represent the primary production sectors of forestry fishing and agriculture but who range from number 10 to number 27 in the pecking order of the National Party. Gone is the day when the rural sectors of New Zealand can look to the National Party for any representation or leadership. I am happy to pledge to those important sectors of the New Zealand economy my efforts to maximise their potential and to acknowledge the contributions they can make to New Zealand’s prosperity. 
Currently New Zealand is borrowing its way into an increasingly indebted future. We have been doing better in the last 6 years but we need to do better still. We have to earn our way from exports in order to pay our way in the world. It is a truism but it is nevertheless a stark fact. We have competitive advantages over many of our trading partners in primary sectors and I intend to continue the partnership approach I took with other sectors when I was Minister for Economic Development and Minister for Industry and Regional Development. I want all parts of primary industry in Government to work together to identify barriers to growth and opportunities for development. The overwhelming majority of New Zealand’s research and development takes place in the primary sectors which is one of the reasons why we are so productive in terms of our output from our primary sector industries. 
I will also continue to work in the health sector on drugs and alcohol policy and on suicide prevention. I am proud of the progress the Government has made in those areas over the last 6 years and I am proud enough of New Zealand’s performance to know that we have to and will do better. We need to do better at controlling the abuse of drugs and alcohol. We are winning the battle against P—methamphetamine—with far-sighted community partnerships strong enforcement education and treatment. I have often heard it said that opposition to drug and alcohol abuse is a conservative position. That claim puzzles me. Reducing the harm caused by drugs and alcohol is about creating a more caring and softer New Zealand. There is nothing enlightened about standing by while lives and even whole communities get ruined by harms that we can avoid. 
I know that my Labour colleagues and our colleagues in the Green Party are committed to that kind of New Zealand. I look forward to working with them and with United Future and New Zealand First to move forward sensible policies that protect New Zealanders and maximise opportunities. In my view the next 3 years will be another term of progress and all those goals will be realised. I look forward to the success that I believe this new Government in its third term will undoubtedly achieve.