Cosgrove Clayton: Financial Review Debate 
Cosgrove Clayton: Financial Review Debate 
[Volume:607;Page:4158] 
CLAYTON COSGROVE (NZ Labour—Waimakariri) 
: 
 I rise to support this bill. The debate tonight is an opportunity to illustrate to the people of New Zealand the stark difference between the Government and the Opposition parties—and there is a stark point of differentiation. The debate tonight is an opportunity to reinforce that differentiation to the people of New Zealand. On this side of the House is a Labour-led Government that kept its promises when it came into power and in its second term it is continuing to build a social contract with the people of New Zealand. It is restoring the integrity of Parliament between those of us who govern and the people we govern. We restore that integrity by keeping faith with the people who elected us by not selling them out—by making promises before an election and keeping them afterwards. This Government is an example of a Government that is stable and that has provided strong leadership and in doing so has built a stable solid platform from which we can continue to get economic growth. 
I am proud to walk up and down the streets of my electorate in Waimakariri and when I ask ordinary men and women in the street how things are going they reply: “Hey things are going pretty well. Yes we’ve got a few issues. We’ve got a few problems to sort out.” They are proud of this Government and that is reflected in the polls. 
As evidence for what I am saying in terms of the leadership and the strong governance exhibited by this Government I want to look at some of our achievements in the last 6 months. The rate of economic growth has been 3.9 percent. That is one of the best growth rates in the OECD even in these troubled international times. There are 15500 fewer people on the unemployment benefit than there were a year ago—123000 new jobs have been created since Labour came to power. Unemployment is at 4.9 percent the lowest rate in 15 to 20 years. Those are real achievements. They are achievements that the people of New Zealand can measure this Government by. If we look at the National Party’s record on unemployment we see that for 9 years it averaged a rate of 8.1 percent. It did nothing to create economic growth. It did nothing to put people into real jobs and give them a sense of dignity. 
I was reminded tonight at a function of the law and order and the justice debate. It was Mr Richard Worth who said to me that justice is such a priority in the National Party that he is ranked No. 23 as Opposition spokesperson on justice. That is the priority the National Party puts on law and order and justice. So what have we done? In stark contrast to 9 years of inaction from that crew we have put in place a Victims’ Rights Act a piece of legislation that makes mandatory the rights of victims. We said we would do it. We took some time over it. We acted logically and with honour and we fulfilled that promise. 
Let us look at our achievements in tertiary education. We held fees. If National had remained in office and we had not come in and held fees every student in this country would on average have paid $1000 a year extra in their fees. We held fees. We put $420 million into tertiary education over 4 years. We made a promise at the last election to provide 700 more teachers in our schools over and above roll growth. That promise is being enacted as we speak. We established Modern Apprenticeships and training giving our young people a start some real training—not having them as Dr Brash would have them lining up at the central post offices that were sold off by Mr Prebble collecting the dole cutting grass with scissors or whatever so that those privileged members on the other side of the House could feel good because someone was sweating for a bit of taxpayers’ money. That is what they are about. What have we done? We have put 6000 young people into Modern Apprenticeships. We had 3000 and we are doubling that figure now. That is an achievement. 
Let us look at the regional economies. That crew over there sold out the regions. They gave up on them. They waved the white flag of surrender. Max Bradford disposed of the regional business development boards. The National Party surrendered. It did away with the position of Minister of Regional Development. It sold the regions out—every region in the country. Every battler in small places such as the West Coast Gisborne and other regional economies was sold out by that crew. What is our achievement? Our achievement is 12 regional economies achieving a rise in economic growth this year. That is a solid achievement. We have created stable government strong leadership and solid economic growth. Without being smug we are a popular Government and that is a popularity we must continue to earn every day. We must never take it for granted unlike that mob over there who for 9 years gave up and surrendered on the people and said: “We’re born to rule and you’ll line up and vote for us.” but the people did not. 
I have dealt with the Government. Let us contrast that with the Opposition. There is a rebranding going on in the Opposition parties—with ACT and with National. Let us deal with National. What is this rebranding? The rebranding is coming and it is coming in the form of Gerry Brownlee or Don Brash or Simon Power or maybe even that bastion of National Party conscience Maurice Williamson. There has been no policy in 3½ years from that crew—just whingeing and whining. 
Then we turn to the ACT mob. They are going to rebrand. They are going to call themselves the Liberals. The “member for Waiheke Island” Rodney Hide got up tonight and tried to slander members of Parliament again. He got up tonight and had a go. When we are talking about misuse of taxpayers’ money I would like to know why Mr Hide’s leader and he shook hands and gave out tickets at the Wellington Fashion Show and the Auckland Fashion Show of the Pipi Foundation. They shook everybody’s hands. They knew deep down where the money was coming from—Industry New Zealand. Yet old spongy pud Rodney Hide gets up here and has a go. There is a word I could use for him but I will not. But I will use the phrase “double standard”. 
I would like to know who paid for Rodney Hide’s stomach stapling operation. I would like to know who did it. I would like to know whether the member is going to sue the doctor for medical misadventure because it obviously did not work. He sits there as a member of the party of rorts. Those boys over there have form. [ 
Interruption 
] Not Mr Ewen Street. Rodney Hide has the audacity to get up in this House and throw mud around still. I say that Rodney Hide has guts. I have always said that Rodney Hide has guts—a tonne of it. He stands up here after Owen Jennings and the pyramid schemes and after he went to a scam Fiji conference. To this day he has never got off his chuff in this House to explain why when he came back from the Fiji conference and discovered there was a scam he never got up and tried to blow it apart why he never tried to protect hundreds of New Zealanders who lost millions of dollars. He is the great scam buster! He laughs at the people of New Zealand who lost money. 
Then we have Donna Awatere Huata and her problems—the Pipi Foundation. I repeat that their leader shook the hands of everybody who came to those fashion shows. They knew where the money was coming from. He should think long and hard. Then we have the mobile electorate office scam but we will not deal with that. I thought I was the only person with a mobile electorate office. Mine is a bus and does move around. I say to that member that he is everything that the people detest about the ACT party. We know about his physical ill-discipline being “the member for Waiheke Island”. In his speech he talked about thugs and he did use the word. Well he would know. He certainly knows how to behave. A colleague once said to me that we should have drug testing in Parliament. Maybe we should get the breathalyser out occasionally and wave it around that member. He can sit there and he can laugh at people. I like the fact that Rodney Hide is still here. Everybody on this side of the House likes the fact that Rodney Hide is here because he shows the ugly side of the ACT party. He stands up here—what a double standard! He is trying to throw mud at the Government and trying to tear down decent members of Parliament on all sides. I know that even some of the National Party people cringe now because he is an embarrassment and the members in his party are an embarrassment. 
But the good thing about our little democracy is that people like him get found out. When someone harasses people in a pub when someone has a go at people in a toilet people talk. That is a good thing. That thug has been found out and he will be found out. The members of his party are judged every day by his lack of calibre.