Tremain Chris: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Tremain Chris: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Sitting date: 30 January 2013. Volume:687;Page:7637. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon CHRIS TREMAIN (Minister of Internal Affairs) 
: 
 Mr Deputy Speaker can I welcome you back to Parliament and wish you an excellent year. Over the summer I had the opportunity to read Steve Jobs’ biography. As you would be aware Steve Jobs was one of the founders of the Apple company. He was an amazing individual who through sheer determination stubbornness what some would call pig-headedness and even probably a meanness of spirit changed the way that computing is done around the globe and throughout the world. One of the most memorable quotes in the book came towards the end when he was asked about his opinion of President Obama’s first term in office. Steve said that he felt he had shown poor leadership because he had not pissed enough people off. An interesting analogy. It was insightful because there is no doubt that Steve Jobs had pissed plenty of people off in his life— 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: Order! I understand what the member is doing and the quotation was perhaps all right but the member should stop there. I think we have got a better sense of decorum about the words we might use in the House. 
Hon CHRIS TREMAIN 
: He certainly annoyed many people but it was the quote that was in the book. I wanted to describe what he had had to do to achieve the likes of the iMac the iPad and things like that. That insightful leadership was about challenging the status quo. In fact that is why I wanted to acknowledge the Speaker of the House Dr The Rt Hon Lockwood Smith who has challenged the status quo in this House and has annoyed a few people throughout that period. But he has achieved some remarkable things through his time as Speaker and I wanted to acknowledge that. 
I would also like to reflect on I guess the opening salvo of the Government in the first week of Parliament this year. The Prime Minister has come back from holiday with a message for this country that he means business. His opening salvo was to reshuffle Cabinet and I can assure you that Ministers such as myself are very clear about the expectations in Cabinet and the expectations of performance. Going around the country now having made that announcement people around New Zealand are comfortable with that decision and are happy with that opening salvo. 
The second one that I wanted to reflect on was his time at Ratana and the second speech that he gave for the year where he reminded the Ratana people of some facts that were important. He made the point quite correctly that many politicians come to Ratana with lots of promises but few deliver. The first point that was made was about housing. He reminded them that the houses that are at the Ratana Pa were put there by a National Government and actually it was the houses at the Ratana Pa that had fallen into disrepair that were repaired by a National Government in coalition with the Maori Party. 
The next thing he talked about was Treaty settlements because that is something dear to the heart of the Maori people throughout New Zealand. He reminded them that over the last 20 years since we have been having Treaty settlements there have been 59 deeds of settlement and 33 of those were signed in the last 4 years—55 percent of total settlements were achieved in the last 4 years. That is a fantastic achievement and something that Maori need to understand. 
The third thing that he focused on was aspiration and education—aspiration and education—and the importance of education not only for all New Zealanders but also particularly for the Maori and Pacific Island communities in this country. We have set a goal of 98 percent of children attending early childhood education—98 percent. We are making good progress with 95 percent as we speak. Secondly we have set a goal of 85 percent of 18-year-olds getting National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) level 2. That is the minimum qualification you need for a trade in this country. 
The point I wanted to make to those on the paepae at Ratana because I have been there for 5 or 6 years in a row now is we often hear in the speaking the criticism of Governments but I want to understand where those leaders—I want to hear them making speeches about what they are going to do to encourage their people to get out and support these policies and to get their children into early childhood education and provide the aspiration to encourage their whanau to get in behind and push for NCEA level 2 to ensure that their kids get a trade. I do not hear enough of that sort of speaking on the paepae. That is what we need to hear going forward: support for some of these policies so that that paves the way into the future for their families going forward. 
The third of the opening salvos from the Prime Minister was his opening speech last Friday and what a fantastic speech that was. It shaped the year ahead in a wonderful way. In that respect he got to the heart of the challenges that we have ahead of us going forward specifically in regard to the economy and jobs. He made it very clear that jobs are front and centre for this Government over the next year and forward throughout this term. In that regard he did annoy a few of the Opposition members in terms of the policy around trade and apprenticeships. The announcement of around 14000 new apprenticeships over a 5-year period is an excellent initiative to start the year. An investment of $28 million into those apprenticeships is something that I think we can be proud of and really get in behind. 
But also the speech framed up the other Key Government’s wider goals such as responsibly managing the Government’s finances to return us to surplus by 2014-15 which is something that the Opposition really struggles to understand. It actually means that we have got to live within our means going forward and cut our cloth to measure. That is a key focus of this Government as we move forward. The second one was building a more competitive and productive economy through our Business Growth Agenda. We have a huge agenda in that respect. 
In regard to the tourism portfolio and I am fortunate enough to be the Associate Minister I am looking forward to a huge year within tourism particularly working with Tourism New Zealand as it shapes its 3-year marketing plan going forward as it builds on  
The Hobbit 
 and various other initiatives that it has had as we look at new markets—the Chinese market that is growing hugely—and the different strategies it uses there. I am also looking forward to working with Martin Snedden and the Tourism Industry Association as it shapes its plan for tourism businesses around the country and as it works out how it can better fund itself into the future without always having to go cap in hand to local governments. 
The next part of his speech was about supporting the rebuild of Christchurch. If there is anything that is important to this Government—and to New Zealanders for that matter—it is about how we rebuild that wonderful city; how we reshape her and use the opportunity that we have now to make her a modern wonderful sustainable new city. In that regard I am looking forward to my new role in local government; to working closely with the Christchurch City Council and councils throughout New Zealand. I will be responsible for the second tranche of the Better Local Government reforms. I think there are some wonderful opportunities that we can have there because at local government and central government we have got to reflect on who we are the servants of and that is actually the voters out there—constituents in places like Napier and around the world—who actually depend on central and local government to provide services that are of an excellent level and that are as low cost as possible. I am confident that in local government around the country there are pockets of excellence. I am keen to acknowledge those and replicate those around the country. 
Lastly the Prime Minister shaped his speech by discussing how we are going to deliver the Better Public Services programme to New Zealanders within tight budgets. In that regard my own department the Department of Internal Affairs has a huge workload ahead of it as it shapes up information and communications technology leadership in this country and delivers on result area 10 where the Government is tasked with ensuring that New Zealanders can complete their transactions with government easily in a digital environment. 
In that regard we launched last year passports online. Just to give you a sense of the appetite of New Zealanders for online services we have grown that from November last year to this point where close to 20000 passports are renewed online—nearly 40 percent of renewed passports are now being done online. That gives you a sense of the demand when you get it right for that level of service. 
We have a lot on our plate this year. It is going to be an exciting year. It is certainly going to be challenging and rewarding. I am looking forward to being part of this Government this Cabinet this wonderful National Government and its awesome caucus and taking this country and helping to lead it into the future. Thank you.