Goodhew Jo: General Debate 
Goodhew Jo: General Debate 
[Volume:657;Page:6812] 
JO GOODHEW (National—Rangitata) 
: 
 Today I would like to concentrate on what this Government is doing to see New Zealand through these very difficult times. But first of all I will spend some time telling the House how disappointed I have been on so many occasions lately as we have had to listen to the misinformation and scaremongering from members on the other side of the House. Have we heard those members’ alternatives? We have heard some of them and I might add that some of them have been quite ludicrous but I will come to that in a moment. Have there been any concrete alternatives to getting New Zealand through this recessionary period or any economic policies? No those members have not been forthcoming at all. 
Right now New Zealanders are telling me and all my colleagues as well that they are focused on us and they want us to be focused on New Zealanders’ well-being entitlements health care services and education and on this economy growing and being sustainable. But New Zealanders are not actually seeing that focus from the Opposition. I am disappointed because right now New Zealand needs its members of Parliament to work together on some things if at all possible instead of indulging in this petty politics of envy. We have heard about welfare for millionaires. That was a really good idea of Phil Goff’s. He is backtracking on that one but probably not fast enough because the damage has been done. New Zealanders do not like the idea of millionaires getting welfare. We have heard about welfare for property investors. That was a bit of a coup as well. Goodness gracious me! It is hard to believe that Labour would back on the front page of the paper somebody who had so much property yet it was feeding him the idea that he was entitled to welfare. Another idea was free condoms for all. We have heard some demeaning comments here. I am really sad to say that we have heard some demeaning comments from the Opposition today about that policy. We thought that Labour would maybe be giving out free condoms for the good of all but no we had silly suggestions instead. 
There is also a suggestion about raising the age of entitlement to superannuation. That was a scary thought and it did not come from this side of the House. The Prime Minister has promised that superannuation entitlements will remain as they are and so too will the age of entitlement. That suggestion came from Phil Goff. What a ghastly thought. We have also heard here today that New Zealanders are not putting their hands in their own pockets enough. We have also heard from other members of the House that businesses are not doing enough to raise wages. Well hello! First of all people have to earn something before wages can be increased. When I talk to business people in my electorate I give them a big pat on the back and shake their hands if they are paying tax because quite frankly this country needs more people who are successful enough to be paying tax. I can tell members that we need this Government’s movement through this recessionary period for that to happen. 
This Government is focused on addressing the tough questions taking the best possible steps to address law and order issues and putting infrastructure in the places where there are gaps because that has hampered New Zealand’s growth. Our reform of the Resource Management Act will go a long way as will the second tranche of our reforms to getting this country going and it is only when this country is moving forward that we will move out of this. New Zealand got to the recession before most of the rest of the world. That was a sad indictment on the 9 years of squandering of the economic good times by the Labour Government. New Zealand got there first. How sad is that? I say thank goodness we have seen a slight change—a 0.1 percent change—in this last quarter. We need this country to turn round. But we cannot thank the previous Government for having achieved the best possible growth out of the economic good times that it had. 
This Government is focusing on front-line services the services that see social workers doctors teachers and nurses delivering on the front line. It sees Work and Income’s front-office staff sending at least one in three of the people who come through its door to get an unemployment benefit back out the door and into a job. That is the good-news story. If Opposition members believe that we can be in a recession and not have an increase in unemployment then they are in la-la land. It just cannot happen. Of course unemployment will rise. We are focusing on the younger people who are on unemployment benefits. There are nearly 17000 opportunities for young people. This was decried in the House this afternoon during question time but truly there are 17000 opportunities for young people. That is not to be mocked. That is not to be scoffed at. There are job opportunities happening in my electorate of Rangitata. 
The debate having concluded the motion lapsed.