Mapp Wayne: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Mapp Wayne: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Volume:645;Page:14124] 
Dr WAYNE MAPP (National—North Shore) 
: 
 I have to say of that last member that he must be suffering from amnesia. It may not have occurred to him that his party has been in Government for 8 years and he holds a ministerial warrant. But what does he do? He complains about the Maori Party as if that is the source of this country’s problems. There is only one source of this country’s problems and it is that Government. There have been 8 years of lost opportunities. I have to remind members across there those Ministers sitting in those seats that they have squandered the best years of prosperity that this country has known in a generation. They have sold our country short. That is why I stand in support of John Key’s motion which simply states that we have no confidence in the Clark-led Government because it has failed to make improvements in the areas of real importance to New Zealand because it lacks ambition because it is tired and bereft of ideas and—members should get this final point—because it has simply lost touch with New Zealanders. And the previous speech tellingly showed that very point. 
I ask any one of the Government members whether he or she can answer any one of these questions. Why does New Zealand now have the second-highest interest rates in the OECD? They are up from 4 percent 8 years ago to over 8 percent today and they are climbing towards 10 percent. Why have 70000 New Zealanders left our shores for a better future elsewhere? Is it because the wage gap between New Zealand and Australia has widened dramatically? Why have New Zealanders had to wait 8 long years for a tax cut? We know that it is only a cynical manoeuvre being made by Labour for election purposes. 
Why are hospital waiting lists catastrophically long? Why is it that every single day now Dr Coleman in Northcote and I are receiving letters emails and telephone calls from residents on the North Shore complaining about the crisis at North Shore Hospital? It is so bad now that the Health and Disability Commissioner is having to undertake a full-scale investigation into that hospital. Why can New Zealanders not buy their first home at a reasonable price? 
Those are the questions I would put to any one of those members opposite. I ask whether in their numerous speeches they have answered those questions at all or whether they have even attempted to address those questions. The answer is no. The reason is that those members cannot. They know that they have failed on each and every one of those points. 
The telling point is this: real wages in this country after taxes have not grown. I know that the Government talks about there having been greater growth in the country but it is largely due to increased employment not to individuals having real growth in their wages after taxes. That has not occurred and New Zealanders know the truth of that matter. Labour has had 8 years to fix those problems. We know what happens when a Government has had 8 years in power. I have had the experience of being in a Government in its eighth year and I knew what the situation was. I knew that we were struggling at that point and I see exactly the same things happening on the Labour Government benches now. When Government members have to hark back to Ruth Richardson’s Budget in 1991 as if that was the cause and when they have collective amnesia about their having been in Government for 8 years with no answers then we know that it is a Government on its way out. I remember when we used to talk about what Labour did in 1984. It did not even convince us so it certainly did not convince the voters of New Zealand. I tell the Government not to look back to 1991 but to look at its own record. It should justify its own record and answer the questions that my colleagues and I have been asking. 
It is not just an issue of rhetorical debate in this Chamber; the country wants answers to those questions. National will provide those answers. For those members who say that National does not have any policy let us just go through the discussion documents we have produced which are typically 30 to 50 pages long on the environment health local government foreign affairs and aged care. Those are the substantive works we have done. As well we have had speeches on youth crime sentencing and policing. This is our platform of policy. 
Phil Heatley 
: Housing. 
Dr WAYNE MAPP 
: I know that my colleagues will be producing more documents more speeches and more comprehensive policy on housing on infrastructure on broadband and—ultimately of course—on taxes. 
I want to talk about two portfolio interests that directly affect me or more important the city of Auckland. Labour’s answer to that issue has been to set up another committee. It will be three worthy people I admit who will be appointed to a committee to give an answer. It has taken 8 years of course for Government members suddenly to realise that there is an infrastructure problem a roading deficit in Auckland. After 8 years those members have decided that the solution to that issue is to deal with it by way of a committee. 
Hon Harry Duynhoven 
: There were no roads built during National’s time Wayne. 
Dr WAYNE MAPP 
: I have just heard Mr Harry Duynhoven slip into exactly the same area that we are talking about. He said that it was all due to National in 1991. Well I tell Mr Duynhoven to get real. He has been in Government now for 8 years and it is time that his Government took responsibility for its decisions because the voters will hold it to account for those failures. 
National will have a comprehensive plan to lift Auckland and we will deal with the critical issues. We will act. We will deal with the issues of governance. We will deal with the issues of transport including public transport. We will deal with the international connectivity issues around broadband—connecting our most vital businesses and communities to the globe with fast broadband not the slow track that Labour would have us on. In truth that plan will produce action because it will be about action not talk and that is the difference. We listened to that speech today and I was just incredibly struck that this is as good as it gets. The only thing Government members can produce after 8 years in Government is a whole lot of footling little plans that do not amount to a hill of beans. 
Another area of great interest to me which I have been interested in for many many years is defence. Labour was elected in 1999 on a promise to transform our Defence Force—more depth less breadth. As a principle that has some logic and coherence to it; I understand that. I was on the select committee that produced the report  
Inquiry into Defence Beyond 2000 
 that dealt with that very issue. So after 8 years we should be reasonably able to measure whether that has been achieved. It is one thing for the Government to say that it did not do it in 2003 but it is quite another thing to ask it whether it has achieved it after 8 years. But we have the figures out from the Government. These are the Government’s own figures. Let us look at all the troubles in East Timor. I thought it was telling that the Government is anxious about deploying one extra platoon to East Timor because Australia is about to deploy 250 people. On a same-ratio basis we would expect to be able to deploy 50 or 60 people but we are anxious about deploying 25 people. I know that the Minister will talk about there being all sorts of policy reasons and so forth but I suspect there is another reason—that is a lack of people. 
These are the facts. We have two infantry battalions. They are supposed to have three rifle companies each and each with 120 people. In fact both of those battalions have only two rifle companies. One of those is already deployed into East Timor and another one is largely up in Afghanistan. That is why the Minister is anxious about the numbers. So we do not have the depth. After 8 years Labour’s own prescription has failed. I have to say that in that one little instance is a microcosm of Labour’s fundamental failure. It is all rhetoric no action and no dealing with the real issues. The truth is this. New Zealanders know that this Government has failed. They know it is time for a change. They want action not talk and they will get that at the election later this year. 
Sitting suspended from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.