Samuels Dover: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Samuels Dover: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Volume:623;Page:18208] 
Hon DOVER SAMUELS (Minister of State) 
: 
 A tena koe Mr Speaker. Nga mihi o te tau hou ki a koe. 
E tu atu ana ki te tautoko i te panui a te Pirimia ki te Whare i tenei ra me ana nei tautoko mihi hoki ki te whanau o Ahia 
.  
Kei te tautoko i ana nei mihi aroha ki te taupuketanga o te ngaru nui i te moana o Ahia ki runga i nga whenua o tawahi. Kei te tautoko atu i nga mihi aroha ki a ratou katoa. Moe mai haere atu haere haere koutou. 
[An interpretation in English was given to the House.] 
[ 
Thank you Mr Speaker. Greetings of the new year to you. I rise in support of the Prime Minister’s address to the House today as well as her support and acknowledgments to Asian families. I endorse her moving tributes in respect of the devastation upon those distant shores by the tsunami of the Asian seas. I endorse the loving tributes to them all. Rest there you who have passed on. Depart move on farewell 
.] 
I rise to support the Prime Minister’s statement. It certainly has been an interesting evening listening to the responses. The main reason why I support the statement is that in it the Prime Minister spelt out good news: good news for the people of this nation good news for families good news for working people—ordinary Kiwi families. I realise how difficult it is for politicians especially members across the other side of the House to challenge good news. As a politician I wonder sometimes how one could actually challenge that because some of the matters put forward by the Prime Minister are facts and they cannot be disputed. So how does a member of Parliament rebut or rebuke good news? 
Dr the Hon Lockwood Smith 
: Sit down and listen. 
Hon DOVER SAMUELS 
: It is appropriate that Lockwood Smith says: “Sit down and listen.” Perhaps he could say to his colleagues that after 6 weeks of holidays they should be defrosted by the time they come back to this House because clearly they are not. 
I have been listening to some of the responses because it is difficult to dispute good news. I understand the difficulty of Opposition politicians trying to misrepresent and misinterpret facts. In terms of the economy we are cooking with gas not hangi stones anymore. Things are moving forward. 
I want to pick up on a couple of comments made by my colleague David Cunliffe. Firstly employment figures are one of the major indicators as to how the country is going. They are the true signals to the people of our country. Opposition members from the National Party and ACT should listen and learn a few things and perhaps give credit where it is due. When I first came into Parliament the unemployment figure for Maori was 21 percent. Does anybody dispute that? 
The general unemployment figure was 11.5 to 12 percent. Is there any dispute about that? No so they are major indicators. I am proud of this Government because the unemployment rate in our nation today is about 4 percent. But more work needs to be done and I would like to see that figure go down to less than 1 percent in the current term of this Labour Government and the next. 
I look at Maori unemployment. At one time it was 19 to 21 percent and now it is below 9 percent. How can anyone argue against such good news? How can Mr Lockwood Smith argue against the facts? Like my colleague David Cunliffe I travel in the far north. I have a warrant of fitness on my car but gosh some of the roads! We have tar-sealed a few but a lot more work needs to be done. We are getting on with the job; we are doing that. 
Rural towns are buzzing. If one goes to a place like Kawakawa it is so busy the trains cannot get through. People should go to Kaitaia Hokianga Kaikohe Moerewa and even down to Kaipara; and also Warkworth—the Remuera of Northland—and Wellsford too where Lockwood Smith comes from. When he was a Minister and some of my colleagues from Northland will remember two-thirds of the shops were boarded up. Nothing was happening. The place was so depressed. Now there are no more boards the shops are open with new windows and painted. The place is buzzing. It is an indication to rural members of just how well things are going in this country. I realise how hard it is for members opposite to dispute the facts. Right now even my colleague over there does not dispute the fact that we have the lowest unemployment in umpteen years. 
In 1984 the Hon Koro Wetere held a hui taumata—21 years ago—bless his soul. Many members here will remember and acknowledge the contribution he made whereby 180 delegates turned up to the hui in Parliament. It was a 2-day Maori economic conference and a number of objectives were set out at the conclusion: I shall quote some—“to reach an understanding of the nature and extent of economic problems facing New Zealand as they affect Maori people; to examine the strengths and weaknesses of the Maori people in their current position; to discuss key policy issues and to seek endorsement of the policies which will lead Maori people to truly equal status in the economic and social life of New Zealand; to obtain from those participating in the conference their commitment to assist and cooperate in dealing with the difficulties facing the Maori people.” That was in 1984. It stated further: “A total of 76 background papers were presented at the hui. It was presented by iwi rununga federation and Maori businesses.” 
The document concluded with these comments: “Our fate as a people is intertwined with the economic development of New Zealand.” I shall repeat that because it is very important in terms of the vision of this Government. “Our fate as a people is intertwined with the economic development of New Zealand.” It continued: “If there is no growth we realise we will slip behind further and that our people will be the major sufferers. In terms of our land we need to fully utilise and maximise its productive capacity. To do this we need to equip our people to have the management skills and development initiatives. We need to have access to resource and funding.” 
In March this year the Government will hold another hui taumata. We will see what progress Maoridom has achieved in those 21 years. Not only that but we will be looking forward to the future to see how we can actually build on the opportunities and incentives our people have put into place. 
I thought the National Party and the Leader of the Opposition Don Brash would support this initiative. It saddens me that Don Brash saw fit once again to put down the Maori people in his recent speech made in Orewa in part of my electorate. He attacked the more vulnerable in our society—the beneficiaries. Who will the National Party attack next? One has already been dethroned but who will be next? Will it be the more vulnerable in our community or will it be the old-age pensioners. 
No reira tena koutou tena koutou tena koutou katoa. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Before I call Mr Woolerton I advise the House that New Zealand First has split its 10-minute speech and there will be two 5-minute speeches.