Turner Judy: Adjournment 
Turner Judy: Adjournment 
[Volume:650;Page:19297] 
JUDY TURNER (Deputy Leader—United Future) 
: 
 I rise on behalf of United Future and in particular on behalf of the Hon Peter Dunne to speak in this adjournment debate. I begin by thanking all those who staff the precincts of Parliament for the wonderful support they give this House. The Hon Peter Dunne would like me to especially mention his ministerial staff from the Inland Revenue Department and the Ministry of Health Rachel Baxter Margaret Denny and Kevin Moar for the impressive support they have given him in fulfilling his roles here in Parliament. 
In a small party the staff we rely on are so incredibly invaluable that it is very hard to do credit to them but I would like to mention their names because we are hugely grateful for 3 years’ support from them. I would like to mention Anne Small Rob Eaddy Ted Sheehan Mary Binnie Caron Hoare Hayden Cox and Luke Chappell and our out-of-Parliament staff Shirley Simcock Sue Lock Lori Fretwell Joe Burton Denise Krum and Vicki Rogers for all the support they have given us with constituents. We are very grateful. 
I also pay tribute to you Madam Speaker for the great leadership you have shown. It has been a great pleasure to be in this House for our first woman Speaker. I thank you for your friendship and for your guidance. I would also like to pay tribute to the Hon Clem Simich the Hon Marian Hobbs and those others who are retiring from Parliament at this time. I thank you for your friendship. It is also important that we pay our condolences to the family of Brian Donnelly—a person whom we hugely respected—and also give our condolences to our New Zealand First colleagues at this time. 
This for United Future has been a successful parliamentary term and we have delivered on all the policy gains negotiated in our confidence and supply agreement with the Labour-led Government. We have for instance lowered business tax—a $3.4 billion tax reform package that we hope will promote investment in New Zealand create more jobs and enhance New Zealand’s business competitiveness globally. I recognise the fact that this is the first business tax cut in nearly 20 years and it is interesting to note that last time the business community got such a boost the Minister of Revenue was at that time the Hon Peter Dunne. 
Perhaps the issue I am the most proud of in terms of what we have gained in this parliamentary term is the huge boost we have been able to capture for charities. In the 2007 Budget we saw the removal of the cap on tax rebates for charitable donations. This has meant a huge boost to philanthropy in New Zealand and it is something that I am hugely proud of. Also I am very proud of the ongoing work that the Hon Peter Dunne has done around issues like payroll giving and the payment of honorariums to the staff of these wonderful community groups. 
Better access to medicines is now available for New Zealand families as a result of the National Medicines Strategy which was part of the confidence and supply agreement with United Future. We have improved access to living allowances for tertiary students. We remain committed to a universal student living allowance so we will continue with others in this House to chip away at that goal. But we are pleased to have delivered better outcomes for tertiary students in the short term. 
We have also delivered a number of other small things that were not part of our confidence and supply agreement but have been quite delightful. In partnership with the Nelson City Council and Mark Holmes it was United Future that was able to push forward and gain an extension to daylight saving by 3 weeks—something that we are all coming into and will enjoy at this time. I want to mention the Hon Peter Dunne for getting on to the Order Paper a bill to raise the driving age. We look forward to seeing that progressed. Even this week as we complete this parliamentary term United Future announced as part of our confidence and supply agreement the creation of a Wild Animal Control Advisory Committee and the ability to do better both environmentally and recreationally for the hunters and fishers in this country. 
One of the other interesting things that has happened in this Parliament has been the progression and the evolving of MMP. I want to particularly honour others from MMP parties and thank them for the new collaboration that we have begun to experiment with. We have discovered that when we focus on what we agree on there is much to be gained. We always accept our differences and that is why we exist separately from each other but the MMP parties have begun to discover and explore the new opportunities that MMP provides us with together collectively. I think this is an area that is only going to grow over time and we look forward to that ongoing relationship. 
United Future is we believe a stable party in Government. We are under-rated and possibly we will only ever be appreciated if we are not here. We believe that the people of New Zealand deserve the certainty of a permanent Government and regular elections. We are a dependable group of people and the public can trust that once we have signed the confidence and supply agreement with the Government we will stay true to our word until the next election. We did it in 2002 and in 2005 and we will do it again in 2008. 
Within United Future we believe that where New Zealanders have voted they have the right to expect that their votes are decisive and will last for the full term. It is not the case that we will work with any party. Our principle is that we will work with whatever party shares our goals and aspirations for New Zealand and once we have agreed to work with a party we do and we do not back down or sidle away even when it gets tough. That is hard work. We do not get attention for not being stroppy and shouting. We do knuckle down and work to make meaningful differences in the lives of everyday Kiwis and everyday Kiwis can have confidence in the knowledge that bit by bit the job is being done. United Future makes that happen and we are proud of the support that we have been able to offer this Government. It is not a glamorous job but it is a good one. We look forward to this election period and to making our case yet again to be a part of the make-up of this Parliament. We wish all our colleagues well.