Hereora Dave: Address in Reply 
Hereora Dave: Address in Reply 
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DAVE HEREORA (Labour) 
: 
 E tu ahau ki te mihi nui ki a tatou o nga tangata kei roto i tenei Whare Paremata no reira tena koutou tena koutou tena koutou katoa. 
[ 
I rise to extend a huge greeting to us all the people in this House of Parliament and so greetings greetings and greetings to us all. 
] 
Mr Deputy Speaker I congratulate you on your election to the position of Deputy Speaker and I congratulate our Speaker and Assistant Speakers. I congratulate you all. I also take this opportunity to respond to the Speech from the Throne made by the Governor-General. But first I too would like to acknowledge the passing of our colleague the Rt Hon David Lange rangatira of the people and a person who had the ability to embrace our nation. I also acknowledge the recent passing of our colleague Rod Donald. I recall the article in the obituary section of the  
Dominion Post  
on Thursday 10 November that stated in bold letters “Integrity and honesty”. That I am certain described the very essence of Rod Donald. May those colleagues rest in peace. 
Re-entering this Chamber and this Parliament for a second term is indeed a privilege and I know that it is a privilege not often presented to many. Knowing full well that these debates are reported by Hansard and become historical records I also place on record my acknowledgment of the passing of my mum and dad. My mum Polly left us after a short illness in June this year and within 3 months my dad Tai Hota Hota followed her just 2 days after the general election. Obviously losing one parent is a huge loss but to lose both within a 3-month period has been devastating for my whanau. I also take this opportunity to mention the passing of my dear uncle Lyndsay Ewen Subritzky. He was 81 and we buried him yesterday. He was a very dear uncle. On behalf of my whanau I extend our sincerest thanks to all those who have extended their kind condolences and support. I assure them that it was much appreciated. Moku mama toku papa toku rangatira a Lyndsay ki a ratau haere atu ra haere atu ra haere atu ra. 
[ 
My mother my father and revered uncle Lyndsay: to all of them farewell journey on and goodbye 
.] 
I look forward to the coming term ahead. There are many challenges and there is much to do particularly within Maoridom. Moving out of grievance mode and into development mode has been a critical policy for Labour over the previous two terms and a real building block as we look towards moving Maoridom forward. In the past 6 years we have set that course and we need to take this opportunity to measure it. The recently released national unemployment rate figure is 3.4 percent but when Labour came into Government in December 1999 the rate was 6.2 percent. That is a huge reduction. If we compare that with the Maori statistics we see that in December 1999 the Maori unemployment rate was 14.4 percent. Today we are registering 9.1 percent. But although for the first time in 20 years the Maori unemployment rate is down to single digits we still have a long way to go. We need to use that figure as a continuing measure to determine whether we are indeed applying the right policies. 
We all know that employment encourages participation within the community and contributes to the economy. There is a need to uplift our skill base moving into the jobs that new technology demands matching the unemployment rate prioritising quality education and moving from dependence to independence. Homeownership through the KiwiSaver scheme is one of Labour’s key policies as is the acceleration of Treaty settlement applications. Those are just some of the policies that we intend to continue to administer. 
Health is another issue for Maori. In South Auckland 100000 school students are getting vaccinated to guard against the meningococcal B epidemic. The success of the Government’s largest-ever mass immunisation campaign has been a huge team effort involving schools staff students and parents and they all deserve the thanks. Last week marked a major milestone in the programme with 1 million young New Zealanders receiving the first of three jabs to fight the disease. Those are policies that Labour intends to continue to push this term. But we cannot do it on our own. We need some support and assurance from in particular our Maori colleagues across parties in this House. That I believe is the key to ensuring we make the necessary changes that need to happen. In saying that I was a bit disappointed particularly throughout the negotiations and in the formation of a new Government that the Maori Party actually considered joining in coalition with the National Party. 
Dr the Hon Lockwood Smith 
: They’re not socialists. 
DAVE HEREORA 
: Yes. For me that sent a very difficult signal. I wondered why the Maori Party would consider that. We all know that the National Party was pushing for the abolition of the Maori seats yet the Maori Party was looking for a coalition with it. I also could not understand the claim that Maori do not believe in mainstream. To this day I am still wondering why a coalition with National became a real option for the Maori Party particularly when we know that National’s leader stumbled through the election and continues to underperform in the House. I also know from looking around the House on a daily basis that the new Nats coming along are biting at Dr Brash’s heels. So we could be in for a change—we never know. The point I am making is that the Maori Party seeing the National Party as a real option sent out a very difficult signal particularly when we know that the supporters of the Maori Party supported Labour with their party votes. However it is important that we can get on together and enhance our relationship so that we can achieve the things we want to achieve. To that end I congratulate Dr Pita Sharples on his elevation to deputy chair of the Maori Affairs Committee. I look forward to working with all the members of the committee to ensure that we get on with the job that we need to get on with. 
 I want to acknowledge a few people at this time particularly those who helped me throughout the election campaign in Clevedon. But firstly I would like to extend my congratulations to Judith Collins on her success in that campaign. I would like to thank our unions particularly the Service and Food Workers Union the Engineering Printing and Manufacturing Union and all the unions associated with the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions for their help and assistance not only during the election but before and after. So I extend that acknowledgement and a huge thank you to them. I also acknowledge members of my campaign team for their help. It was a long hard campaign but they were prepared to give full support and commitment to it and I extend my most sincere thanks and appreciation to them. 
So we are now in a third term. We are looking at the real option of trying to make it a fourth term next time round and I understand that that could be a reality in 2008. To make that a reality we will need only to continue with the work we have been doing. We have done a lot for New Zealanders to ensure that there is a balance and we will continue to ensure that there is a balance particularly for those people who are in need. 
No reira kua mutu taku korero i tenei wa nei a tena koutou tena koutou tena tatou. 
[ 
And so I end my address here at this point in time. Greetings to you and to us collectively 
.]