Norman Russel: General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeNorman Russel: General Debate[Sitting date: 23 July 2014. Volume:700;Page:19401. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Dr RUSSEL NORMAN (Co-Leader—Green):Together it is possible to build a cleaner fairer smarter New Zealand—a New Zealand in which our rivers are clean enough to swim in again and our beaches are safe from oil spills a New Zealand in which every child has enough to thrive and a New Zealand that is built on a smarter greener economy that benefits every one of us.However this vision of a richer country is not the New Zealand that National has left after 6 years in Government. Under National two-thirds of our monitored river swimming sites are now so polluted that they are considered unsafe for swimming. Swimmable rivers are a birthright of our children but the opportunity to swim in our sea and our rivers is not the only birthright that National is denying our children. There are 35000 more children in severe poverty in New Zealand now than when the National Party was elected to Government. Fifty percent of all New Zealanders have seen no real increase in their net income at all once housing costs are taken into account.It is really no surprise that only a small number of New Zealanders are getting ahead under this Government. National’s pollution economy is jobs poor. It favours low-value simple commodities over high-value innovation. Evidence of National turning its back on an innovation economy is its plan to cut Government research and development spending by 10 percent in real terms over the next 3 years according to its own statistics. Three more years of National is not a safe option for New Zealand. Three more years will put our environment our children and our economy at risk.The Green Party has a comprehensive plan for a cleaner fairer smarter New Zealand. We will make our rivers clean enough to swim in once again. In Government the Greens will establish a protective rivers network to permanently safeguard our most precious rivers. We protect the best of our habitats and our landscapes in national parks; we can do the same for our rivers. We will also keep our wild rivers wild by not building any new dams on our wild rivers. We will put in place proper water rules that ensure that no New Zealand river is allowed to degrade further and that our rivers and lakes are clean enough for swimming once more.New Zealanders have a choice: the Green Party’s plan for rivers that are clean enough to swim in or National’s plan for polluted rivers that are so polluted that even if you touch them if you dip your toe in them you have a serious risk of a serious infection. I know which option I prefer.Persistent and damaging poverty and inequality another legacy of this Government grate with the sense of who we are as a nation. But child poverty can be eliminated. We need to have a plan and the Green Party has a credible and costed plan to ensure that all New Zealand children have enough to thrive. For a start in Government the Green Party will extend the 20 hours early childcare subsidy to every 2-year-old. For parents of the 40000 children aged between 2 and 3 years who currently miss out on the 20 hours of funding support this will mean they will be up to $95 a week better off.At the same time as reducing the cost of early childhood education to parents we will embark on an ambitious plan to improve the quality of early childhood education for all our children starting with restoring full funding to those centres that employ 100 percent trained teachers. Good quality early childhood education has a profound lifelong impact on a child one the Government simply does not understand. It can mean starting school ready to learn and being in a position to get the most out of education. Research shows that investing in early childhood education is one of the most effective investments a society can make. For every dollar spent on early childhood education between $3 and $16 is returned. The Greens will invest in our kids so they can thrive and we will get them out of National’s poverty trap.It is time also to get serious about building a smarter economy. If we want to provide for our social needs and aspirations we need to be at least as innovative as other nations. That means making high value-added manufactured goods and services and not simply selling commodities like raw logs and milk powder as is the National Party’s plan. To kick start a transformational shift in how our economy creates wealth the Green Party will invest $1 billion in new Government funding into research and development unlike cutting it as the Government proposes. We will also fund an additional 1000 places at tertiary institutions for students of engineering mathematics computer science—Mr SPEAKER: Order! The member’s time has expired.