McClay Todd: General Debate 
McClay Todd: General Debate 
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TODD McCLAY (National—Rotorua) 
: 
 I will start my speech in the general debate today by thanking the previous speaker from the Labour Party. He has made my job easier; not only because of his speech am I much more likely to be entertaining but he has gone a long way in making me seem much more intelligent than perhaps I am. I thank the member again for that. 
After being here for almost 5 months now and sitting here listening to this debate for the last 5 minutes I have worked it out: the members opposite have no friends and they have run out of ideas—those over there have no friends left and no ideas. But in my view from sitting here since 8 November 2008 it seems that now after 9 years in Government all of a sudden they have all of the answers. The members have all the answers after 9 years but no ideas left anymore. I think the people of New Zealand see that Labour is in denial and that there is a lot of confusion on the opposite side of the House. The members are walking around as if they have lost their souls. They are wandering the corridors of Parliament late at night shell-shocked and in denial muttering to each about where it all went wrong. They had this great big philosophy for 9 years but they are now wondering where it all went wrong. “Where did it all go wrong?” they are asking themselves under their breath. 
Do members know what the answer is? Labour stopped listening to everyday New Zealanders out there in the streets. Do members know what happened in the electorate of Rotorua? They stopped listening to the people of Rotorua and it took 9 years for us to work out that Labour members had given up on us and run out of ideas. Labour members still think they have all the answers but the people of Rotorua have moved on. Do members know who else has moved on? With the election last year the people of New Zealand have moved on. 
I have heard all the members opposite talk about Auckland and I respect most of their views but I have listened very closely to National members who probably represent more people in Auckland now than members opposite do. There are many more National members of Parliament from Auckland than there were 3 years ago and certainly 6 years go—a great party vote for National. 
I understand from turning on my TV 3 weeks ago that the Leader of the Opposition was wandering around parts of Auckland delivering leaflets and trying to re-engage and talk to people. When a lady in the street—I think she was from Auckland central and she was looking for a job—was asked what he was doing wandering around parts of Auckland she was heard to say: “I think he’s lost. He’s in Mt Albert but he thinks this is his own electorate next door—Mt Roskill.” Labour members seem to have all the answers now but how can Mr Goff be out campaigning so early in an electorate like Mt Albert before Labour even has a candidate? I suppose when he is desperate when he has lost his way and when he is a new leader of an old tired party he has to win in any way that he can. So I look forward to turning on my television this weekend and seeing Mr Goff filling in for the candidate who has not yet been selected in Mt Albert walking around and telling the people of Mt Albert about how much he needs their support how desperate he is to keep his job and how after 9 years it has all gone wrong. 
What has this National Government done since it came to office? What have we been focused on? Let us start with the economy and the job summits the first of which was in Auckland. Was it not surprising that members opposite could not find very much that was good to say about what was going on in those job summits? But what of some of their friends—members of unions who were involved in the process people from around the country business leaders and people involved in employment—who sat there listened and put their ideas forward? They found that all of a sudden the world had changed. After 9 years of nobody listening to them and nobody caring they have a new Government that is willing to entertain other ideas look for good ideas and bring those ideas forward to help New Zealanders. 
In other parts of the country—for example in the Waikato—there were great job summits. In my electorate of Rotorua 2 weeks ago we had a Bay of Plenty job summit. There was a great turn out. Mayors were there councillors were represented and there were employers from business and industry. The Chamber of Commerce was there as were workers. They were talking about the problems we face and some of the good measures we have brought forward as a Government that are happening in the Bay of Plenty. Do members know what those people were saying? They were saying: “We have confidence in this Government. We believe that this Government is moving us forward and that when the economy changes when we come out of this recession we in the Bay of Plenty and Rotorua will be ready to make the most of it. We are focusing on training people. We are looking forward to the investment of money in infrastructure in our region we are looking forward to having better and newer broadband in areas that Labour did not care about at all and we will be ready to make the most of the changes.” When the world’s economy changes slowly and improves the Bay of Plenty and Rotorua will be at the front of that and making the most of it. 
Do members know what else people at the job summit in Rotorua were saying? A man stood up and said “You know I haven’t always voted for the party in Government. I have not always been sure that I’ve liked what that party has spoken about but I like what I hear now and I like this new Prime Minister John Key. He is listening to me. Every day I turn on my television and from what I hear I think he is listening to me.”