McNair Craig: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
McNair Craig: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:627;Page:22015] 
CRAIG McNAIR (NZ First) 
: 
 In speaking to Vote Youth Development I want to talk about a positive experience I had the other day. I visited a gentleman who runs a youth conservation corps project in Omaha—an outdoor education trust. It was great to see some of the projects they had been doing in the few months that the programme has been running. It was encouraging to see the kinds of things they had been doing. They had not been doing things just for themselves or things that were fun. They had been doing things like painting people’s houses—things for the community—and I could see that it was a positive programme. 
So often we talk negatively in the House and so often that is the right thing to do because we need to focus on the problems that are facing our country. There are a lot of things that are not right that we need to get right. It was very encouraging to see this project and to see that young people in our communities—in the Rodney area where I come from—are able to foster a bit of community pride and a sense of discipline and self-esteem in their lives. 
In focusing on Vote Youth Development New Zealand First would like to expand programmes such as this in order to foster that sense of pride purpose and direction in our young people. We know that many young people are struggling with issues such as youth suicide and all the other problems that are caused by a whole lot of issues in our communities such as unemployment family problems family breakdown—and the list goes on. 
There are some other programmes that New Zealand First would like to implement such as targeting youth recidivist offenders and entry-level crime and helping those offenders to get into industry or military-type training. New Zealand First believes there is a real need for that and that it would go a long way towards fostering that pride and sense of purpose I was just talking about that I saw a lot of people developing in the Conservation Corps. But the young people I am talking about as far as military-style training and so on is concerned are at another level. They have been struggling for quite a while and are at the notice of police and other authorities within the community. 
There is also another point which was mentioned earlier. We could tell that members opposite were very opposed to the community wage which was New Zealand First’s idea. New Zealand First implemented it in 1996. It was not surprising to see the National Party copy another one of our policies the other day. The community wage rose again and all of a sudden the National Party was in favour of it. New Zealand First implemented that in the 1996 coalition Government. 
Lindsay Tisch 
: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. I note that this is a debate on the Appropriation (2005/06 Estimates) Bill and so far the member speaking is propounding a view of his party’s policy. It is interesting that his party abstained on the last vote. When I look at youth development in the Estimates on page 1450 and that is what the debate is about I do not see anything there to do with New Zealand First’s policies. I think it would be appropriate to stick to what the debate is about and that the member confine his efforts to what is actually in the Budget. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Clem Simich) 
: Thank you for raising the issue. It is not a point of order. 
CRAIG McNAIR 
: I will continue with my speech then. I was specifically talking to Vote Youth Development because when we talk about appropriations we are also talking about what we want to achieve. 
The truth might hurt that member—that he copies just about every policy that New Zealand First puts out. Everybody else in this Chamber knows that that is the fact that that is the case. It might hurt him but facts are facts. 
I was specifically talking about the estimates of appropriations and about the Conservation Corps—how we would like to expand that programme. I was totally within the parameters of the debate. But before I was so rudely interrupted by that member I was going to say that one of the Labour members was talking about how Work and Income New Zealand said that the community wage did not work. Well I do not believe that Work and Income New Zealand is the most impartial source of information as far as the community wage is concerned. I know somebody who went through one of those programmes and now he is a qualified nurse. He is married he has a little family and he is doing really well and contributing to society. He is actually fulfilling a need there because we need more males in the nursing profession. He is doing great he is a very good worker and he has been nursing for a few years now. 
So I think it is a case of who one talks to. A lot of people have said positive things about those programmes and I believe there are positive things to come if one votes for New Zealand First.