Dunne Peter: Adjournment — Sittings of the House 
Dunne Peter: Adjournment — Sittings of the House 
[Volume:614;Page:10772] 
Hon PETER DUNNE (Leader—United Future) 
: 
 This is supposed to be the time of goodwill for all. I want to begin in that spirit by wishing every member of this House whatever party they represent whatever disagreement we have had during the year the very best for Christmas and the New Year. I also extend that best wish to all the staff in Parliament Buildings—the people whose services we rely on yet take for granted and whose job does not end when this House adjourns but who will work on often over the Christmas break to ensure the smooth functioning of this organisation and the fact that we can do our job. 
I thank particularly my own team of members of Parliament—the United Future team who have contributed so much this year—our staff and all of the people who work with us and I wish them all the very best for Christmas and the New Year. 
I wish you Mr Speaker in that same spirit the best for this coming holiday period and I place on record our appreciation of the continued strength of leadership that you show this House as our Speaker. You are one of the few Speakers who has carried on that function over successive Parliaments without any loss of your mana or reputation. But having paid you that compliment can I be allowed a minor quibble—I am sure Mr Prebble would agree with me—that having to always speak after the Greens in the House means that we speak to a nearly empty Chamber. I would like you in the New Year to take some steps if you are able to rectify that matter. 
This has been a momentous year for New Zealand in many respects. I want to say to all members of the House that as we review it 2003 has been a time when some significant legislation—of which we might have different views—has been passed. It has been a time when some significant new ground has been set and some significant new directions have been charted. In that context I was intrigued by the speech from the Leader of the Opposition. He indicated that his party shared the same commitment to family values and family policies as my party. 
Jill Pettis 
: He was mistaken. 
Hon PETER DUNNE 
: He was indeed mistaken as the member says because only last week his party was vehement in its opposition to something that Plunket has described as the best Christmas present New Zealand children could ever have—the establishment of the Families Commission. 
Once more I say to Dr Brash and his colleagues as they contemplate the Christmas that lies ahead that United Future’s position is absolutely clear. Our commitment to families and the well-being of families is unshakeable. We will not support any party in Government that does not share that commitment and does not share our support of the Families Commission. I made that speech last week. The National Party pooh-poohed it. I repeat it today and I repeat it in the light of Dr Brash’s pretence that somehow the members of his party and mine have similar views on this subject. By their record they have demonstrated they do not. 
I think that goes to the heart of the role that this party is attempting to play in this Parliament. Dr Brash chided us for not yet having withdrawn our support from the Government. I do not think he actually meant that because in an MMP system of Government a party like United Future needs to be there to provide support to the public’s choice as the majority Government of the day. Reverse the scene for just a moment. Would Dr Brash be so keen for us to be withdrawing our support from a National-led Government? I do not think so. The fact that he can say that tonight suggests that actually he is a fair-weather friend. He knows in his heart of hearts that whatever the numbers stack up to be if he is going to be in a position to form a Government after the next election he will need to broaden the base of his support. By then saying to us: “Prove yourselves to be unreliable prove yourselves to be a party that cannot be trusted but work with us.” he is in effect destroying his own argument. 
 I am proud of the contribution my colleagues have made over the last 12 months. Come April of next year when the confidence and supply arrangement between ourselves and the Labour Government will I am certain still be in operation we will have exceeded in duration the total time of the National – New Zealand First coalition Government. By this time next year we will have exceeded in duration the total time of the Labour-Alliance Government. We will have demonstrated that for the first time in three Parliaments MMP can be made to work because the support party works constructively with the major party of government on the issues it agrees upon but it also reserves the right to oppose them vigorously on those matters that it opposes and disagrees with the Government on. We have demonstrated that throughout this year. 
I have been forthright in my criticism of what I regard as an overly politically correct attitude by the Government on a number of issues and I will continue to take that view but at the same time we recognise that good government requires a balance. Good government requires a party to be kept on its toes. Good government also requires constructive opposition. That is the one thing we have not had this year. It is the one thing that we have attempted to provide from time to time as well as our role of support. 
I think that this is a time of year when New Zealanders are simply politicked out. Whatever the great issues of the day New Zealanders are now focusing much more on the time that lies ahead for them and their families over the summer break. As they go away to their barbecues and their baches over the summer they will want the assurance—which I am confident they will be given tomorrow—that New Zealanders will not be drawing up the barricades behind the barbecues against fellow New Zealanders on the beaches. New Zealanders will recognise that the one thing we all have in common is that we are all in this together. We have no future as a divided society and in that respect I want to say that I have no truck with those who seek to play immigrant New Zealander against immigrant New Zealander of whatever generation colour or calibre. Every single one of us whatever our length of time in this country is an immigrant. Every single one of us by virtue of that fact brings something to the table that contributes to our unique spirit as New Zealanders. 
I go back to the words of Norman Kirk in that respect. He was a truly great New Zealand visionary with a sense of where this country could be—a sense about the contribution that all New Zealanders make to that national ethos of being a Kiwi. What we need to be doing and what we ought to be thinking about and embarking upon over this summer period is how we can rekindle that spirit of nationhood how we can set aside the petty and the puerile divisions that divide us and how we can come together on the basis of what we show to the world as the unique spirit of our New Zealand nationhood. 
If we are able to achieve that it does not mean that we set aside our political differences or our differences of principle but it means that we recognise what we have in common. If we are able to achieve that then as we approach 2004 and beyond this country will be more positively focused and will be better able to address some of the great issues with regard to our identity our future and our common bond as New Zealanders that we have to confront but are incapable of doing so at the moment. 
What this Parliament needs to focus on next year and the years beyond are the things that bring us together rather than for ever dividing itself and tearing itself apart over the things we disagree on. If we do that then the matters that Sue Kedgley and Ross Robertson and myself in a previous time have raised in relation to the behaviour of members of Parliament will be addressed. If we do that then those issues of principle about what it means to be a Kiwi today and how we contribute to a positive future and to moving forward will be addressed. If we do that then we will not end up with the sorts of petty divisions that see this Parliament vilified by so many New Zealanders as not representing their aspirations and their hopes. 
Finally I express my hope for 2004—that all of us come back reinvigorated from the challenge of the summer break and committed as never before to working positively in the interests of this country for a better future rather than simply tearing ourselves apart as I suspect we have done far too much of during 2003. My best wishes to all members as this House adjourns.