Lotu-Iiga Peseta Sam: General Debate 
Lotu-Iiga Peseta Sam: General Debate 
[Volume:672;Page:18798] 
PESETA SAM LOTU-IIGA (National—Maungakiekie) 
: 
 It is a privilege to stand and speak in the general debate. I have heard a lot of the arguments from across the Chamber. From the speakers we have heard today the difference between the Opposition and this Government is clear. It is clear that the Opposition is all about negative tactics and pointing out the things that are going wrong. I have not heard one Opposition speaker point out a vision for this country. I have not heard one Opposition speaker talk about the issues that matter. 
In the 2½ years our Government has been in office we have been talking about the issues that matter. We have been talking about national standards for kids. We have been talking about raising the achievement level for our children particularly for the tail end of kids who leave school without being able to write and read which is very sad. 
Opposition members have not talked about the increase in the number of elective surgeries that has happened under this Government. They have not talked about the integrated health-care services that are now being rolled out across this country as part of a vision for bringing more convenient more timely and more effective health services to our communities. They have not talked about the infrastructure investment that this Government has put forward in terms of rolling out broadband and the type of road infrastructure that has certainly impacted on my community of Maungakiekie where the barriers to trade and commerce lie in infrastructure bottlenecks. 
What we have heard from the Opposition has been about BMWs that they purchased all of 4 years ago. What we have heard about from Opposition members has been about the painting of a house but the previous Government spent millions of dollars on infrastructure such as the Governor-General’s residence and the Prime Minister’s residence. We have heard vile personal attacks made against the Prime Minister from Opposition members—vile personal attacks made against the Prime Minister. I believe they are doing that because they are worried. They are worried because when the Prime Minister and I visited Onehunga last Friday he was given a standing ovation when he walked into the Onehunga Workingmen’s Club. You know that the Labour members are worried about that. When you go to afternoon teas where— 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: No no— 
PESETA SAM LOTU-IIGA 
: —I am sorry Mr Assistant Speaker—350 senior citizens of all shapes sizes and ethnicities turn up and they support the Prime Minister and welcome him for his positive attitude to bringing about change in this country you know— 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: The member cannot bring the Speaker into this. 
PESETA SAM LOTU-IIGA 
:—no no—that Opposition members are worried. 
This Budget will bring about change. This Budget will be measured and it will be responsible. It will be about making changes to some of the $5 billion a year in spending on Working for Families and student loans as well as KiwiSaver. That much has been canvassed. But it is also about the $54.5 million that will go into improving the safety and quality of maternity services in this country. Women go through a major transition in their lives in giving birth to our children and this Government is committed to supporting them. It is about the $55 million that will go towards supporting young people into jobs; that is what it will go into. It is about supporting those young people because they are our future. 
The party opposite is obviously divorced from reality. You have the Leader of the Opposition shopping in Takanini. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: No no. 
PESETA SAM LOTU-IIGA 
: Why is the Leader of the Opposition not shopping at Pak ’N Save in Mount Roskill? Mr Nash is committed to taxing incomes and taxing the turnover of businesses. Mr Nash is a bright man but he is sadly mistaken in his conviction to tax those revenues of businesses. It is sad that you have not heard about the good things in our community.