Bennett David: Address in ReplyText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBennett David: Address in Reply[Sitting date: 21 October 2014. Volume:701;Page:60. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]DAVID BENNETT (National—Hamilton East):Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker and it is a great privilege to congratulate you as a fellow member of the class of 2005 on your recent election to that very valuable position of Deputy Speaker. We congratulate you on behalf of the class of 2005 and I am sure that the support that you will get around all the parties in this House is really a testament to the way that you are held in high regard by all the members of this Parliament. So a big congratulations to you and you can be very proud of what you have achieved. David Carter Lindsay Tisch and Trevor Mallard the other successful Speakers who have been elected for our Parliament will in turn also have a very important job in conducting the affairs of this House in a manner that enables good debate and discussion of ideas.I just want to take this opportunity as it is the first debate since the election to thank the voters of Hamilton East. Hamilton East is a very diverse electorate. The electors are smart people who work hard. They know when they are on to a good thing and they know that the National Government is good for them and delivers for them. I just want to congratulate and thank them for making a good choice of me and Tim Macindoe as the two MPs for Hamilton. We are keeping Hamilton blue when these seats had been fought over in the past. It is really I think a reflection—Hon Steven Joyce: Thank Sue.DAVID BENNETT: Oh yes and we thank Sue Moroney as well as that was a big part of getting those majorities. The thing is that in the end the public of Hamilton saw the plan that the National Government had delivered for our city. They saw that it was working they saw that they wanted to have more of it and they voted for it and that is the simple fact of the matter. The New Zealand public did the same. They saw that the plan that the National Government had put in place was a good plan. They saw that the National Government was extremely well led by the Prime Minister and our Cabinet and our members of Parliament. They wanted more of that and they voted for it.It was a huge election. It was one of the elections that I think was pivotal in New Zealand’s history going forward because there was a clear choice. There was a choice between having a free and open country where everybody can take advantage of the opportunities there are in this country and having a limiting dependent island at the bottom of the South Pacific that thinks it is some kind of utopia and does not need to compete in the world. The public understand the difference. They are smarter than the people in this room. They understand what actually works and they voted for that because they know that what National offers is what this country needs going forward. To close our country to isolate ourselves and to think that we are an island State that does not need to be part of the world is something that will never succeed and it is not the way of the future for New Zealand.That is what Hamilton stands for. We stand as a city of the future of course but we also understand that there is that bright bold new world out there and we want to be part of that. We want Auckland and Hamilton and Tauranga—and the Coromandel of course—to be part of that golden triangle that will take its place alongside Sydney San Francisco Santiago and Shanghai as the cities of the future. We see that as the new world order. That is what we are getting and that is good.Chris Hipkins: A new world order—a new world order? Oh my goodness!DAVID BENNETT: It is. Oh the Labour members over there. Well Stuart Nash is back. That tells you everything about the Labour Party. “Stuart Nash is back.”—he said it. Those were his very own words half an hour ago. It does not matter about what this country needs; it does not matter about what the people of Napier need. It is: “Stuart Nash is back.” Well Labour has got four other people who are back and they are fighting over their leadership so it will be interesting to see who wins that.I just want to welcome the new members from all sides of this House who are here today. You will enjoy this place and make sure you do. It is a great honour to be an MP but Parliament is like the sea. You can never quite judge it and it can be very unmerciful to you at some stages but at the same time it can be quite calm and soothing and an important part of your life. So make sure that you become part of this institution and it is good to see so many here tonight to take part in this first debate.I just want to welcome especially those of our team who have made maiden speeches today. I think that Chris Bishop’s speech will go down as one of the best maiden speeches in this Parliament and that many people will be looking at it and reflecting on it. I think that Barbara Kuriger had her style as well which showed the dimensions of the National Party. It is a party that is balanced a party that is rural and urban and a party that represents the new liberal and conservative way going forward. I think that is something that many new members would want to take note of and look at.Tracey Martin: But her speech was really good. It’s memorable.DAVID BENNETT: It is—it was a very good speech. It is interesting to see that we have in New Zealand First two members who will be contending for the party leadership over the next 3 years. So for all those new MPs look at those two members. They will be fighting amongst themselves over the next 3 years—Scott Simpson: Denis and Ron.DAVID BENNETT: I do not know—do you reckon it will be Denis? No I do not think so. This is the leadership battle you will see. While Winston is away the cats will play and that is what you have got in here tonight—the start of that leadership bid by those two individuals Ron Mark and Tracey Martin to take over the reins of New Zealand First. The problem is—and this is the thing they do not understand—that they actually think that they themselves are bigger than New Zealand First and that is not the case. That party relies on one person and one person alone. So that is something that they will see.I just want to say that the residents of Hamilton made a good choice. We had a choice in Hamilton at this election. National offered to build the Waikato Expressway the road of national significance that will link us with Auckland and that will give us that connection with Tauranga and there is $1.1 billion of that road that is contracted out in 2015. The Hamilton and Waikato voters had the most to lose from a change of Government. That road would not have happened under the parties now in Opposition.Sue Moroney: Oh yes it would have.DAVID BENNETT: It would not have. Sue Moroney was challenged many times to promise that. In the end we got this false hollow promise from the Labour Party we got the New Zealand First Party saying: “No we’re not doing it. We’re not going to spend that money.” and Julie Anne Genter the leader of the Opposition’s transport policy said no—no to the people of the Waikato. It was the one thing those parties could have done for our people to give them the economic vitality that they want going forward and they could not even promise it. They could not even promise it to win an election. That is how much they care about the people of the Waikato and Hamilton and the people there knew that. They knew that they wanted that road.It is also a great day for New Zealand because there is another thing that came out today. I have talked about having a free and open New Zealand. Today is a good day because today we had record immigration numbers. Today we know that over 100000 people have made New Zealand their home in the last year. They have chosen to come to New Zealand. We want a free and open and diverse country. We welcome people from overseas who make New Zealand their home.A net increase of 45000 people in the last year is good for New Zealand. It is what we want to see as we become part of that new world order. It means we have the population in the north of the North Island and through the rest of the country that can take advantage of those opportunities. These are young smart people who want New Zealand to be their home. They are the people who will build our country going forward and their sons and daughters will be the duxes of our schools going forward. They are the people who will be in this House of Parliament in 20 years’ time. They are the people who represent the future of this country and we welcome every one of them unlike the Opposition. The Opposition parties do not welcome new migrants to New Zealand and that was very clear during the election campaign.Just before I finish I want to thank one person from the Opposition and that is Kelvin Davis because Kelvin Davis won his seat and knocked out Dotcom. I tell you that the public of New Zealand did not want to see that man in this Parliament. They did not want to see what he stood for—a country that was not open that was not inclusive and that was not free. Kelvin Davis did this country a favour by stopping that man from getting any political influence in this place. That means that we can go forward as a country. [Interruption] Do not worry about New Zealand First. Those members can all talk but do not worry about it. The only reason they get where they get to is that people do not vote for Labour; it is not that they vote for them. So in the end Kelvin did us a favour and we have that free and open country going forward. Thank you.