Upston Louise: General Debate 
Upston Louise: General Debate 
[Volume:652;Page:1860] 
LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupo) 
: 
 I stand proudly to acknowledge a Government that is committed to keeping its promises and getting things done. Prime Minister John Key has demonstrated strong leadership and a focus on what matters to New Zealanders. What a stunning first 100 days! 
At the start of this week Prime Minister John Key announced that titles are to be reinstated in the New Zealand Honours List. This is not about elitism as the Labour Party would have us believe. Unlike the previous Government we wish to celebrate the success and achievement of excellence of New Zealanders. The Minister of Corrections Judith Collins has continued this theme with the announcement of an award to recognise newly graduated Department of Corrections officers who have demonstrated outstanding achievement during their training. This is about celebrating excellence in the corrections system. 
This Government has no problem with dealing with its priorities in the economic area and it can also progress a number of other areas with ease. One of those is recognising the people in our community who do well. The current Prime Minister John Key has the ability to deliver on our election promises as well as respond to the challenges that arise. A great example of this has been the Job Summit. Within 1 month of the Job Summit we will deliver on the Job Support Scheme—within 1 month. The 9-day fortnight has moved swiftly from being a good idea at the Job Summit to being something concrete that will help ordinary New Zealanders keep their jobs. We have wasted no time in putting this Job Support Scheme in place. This Government is working quickly as New Zealanders feel the economic squeeze. It is an interim step and it is targeted. This scheme will ease the burden on employers and will stem unemployment. We are facing the challenges head-on moving nimbly and boldly where necessary. 
The Job Summit focused on paid work but I will take a moment to talk about unpaid work—volunteers and the enormous contribution that they make to New Zealand. I celebrate the achievement of the voluntary sector. An example of this was the Ironman event held in Taupo just this weekend. There were 1288 participants who entered the water and over 2000 volunteers—which is 12.5 percent of the local community—volunteered to make that event a success. That is what we mean about voluntary service and voluntary work and the National Government is proud to acknowledge the work that our volunteers are doing to keep our communities ticking over. 
This work was undertaken by professional groups Business and Professional Women the SPCA our local schools and our kindergartens. The first volunteers were on the job at 3 a.m. on Saturday and the last would have finished over 24 hours later. 
I also celebrate the work done by the more than 8000 volunteer firefighters in New Zealand. These men and women are the heroes in our communities. They are the ones who turn up to fires vehicle accidents and emergencies in our communities. On Saturday night in Taupo I was proud to be at the volunteer firefighter awards celebrating Clifford George’s 25 years of voluntary service. This is an outstanding achievement and that is what National is about. It is about recognising achievement not bemoaning it as elitism as Labour would have us do. It is important that we recognise the voluntary work done by our firefighters. They provide an incredible service. They are here to support not only us in New Zealand. They also provide incredible support to those fighting the Melbourne bushfires in Australia. 
We have a Government that is producing results. As well as the achievements made following the Job Summit we are celebrating success and excellence in our communities and recognising the achievements of hard-working volunteers. 
The debate having concluded the motion lapsed.