Moroney Sue: General Debate 
Moroney Sue: General Debate 
[Volume:630;Page:2709] 
SUE MORONEY (Labour) 
: 
 How do we describe this Opposition? It is hard to work it out but I have heard a few of my parliamentary colleagues use the phrase “headless chooks” and I think that fits. It is a very very apt description. Why are Opposition members headless chooks? They are headless chooks because first of all they are leaderless. There does not seem to be any leadership coming from the Opposition whatsoever and they are running around in circles like headless chooks. They are running around in circles because they cannot decide what their policy platform is and what it is not. As we have witnessed in previous months they have been scratching around in the dirt as headless chooks do. That is what they have been spending their time doing. 
In today’s debate I think we have seen that the description of headless chooks has been even more apt because there has been a really good impersonation of Chicken Little hanging around in this debating chamber today. Chicken Little—the sky is still falling. That is what we have heard during this debate. The sky which we have been waiting to fall in for 7 years now is still about to fall in. Headless chooks are being Chicken Little yet again today. So the sky has not fallen in and even though we have had those predictions now for 7 years we just keep going forward and New Zealand keeps going forward in terms of its statistics in the OECD. We keep proving ourselves and the country is going forward. 
Just like headless chooks Opposition members are all right when they are kept in the coop. If they are kept cooped up they can run around in circles bump into the fence and peck each other but they are still contained so it is not too difficult. But what happens when they are let out of the coop—if they are given a parliamentary adjournment? I ask members what happened during the parliamentary adjournment. First of all we had the National Party regional conference. I was looking forward to seeing what its vision and strategy would be; I thought good policy could come from the regional conference. National members were let out of the coop—let out during the parliamentary adjournment—and sadly once again they quickly exposed their lack of strategy and their lack of cohesion. 
 So what did we get from the regional conference? We got a lot of confusion about what actually is the National Party’s stance on the Maori seats for example. That comes hot on the heels of the debacle of National’s last caucus gathering in Taupo during the last parliamentary adjournment. Really the chickens should be kept in the coop. They are displaying no leadership on the important issues—issues like the Maori seats and antinuclear legislation. What is the National Party position on those issues? Confused? It certainly is. 
David Bennett 
: What about economic growth? 
SUE MORONEY 
: That must be particularly confusing for that member and the other new National MPs. It must be particularly confusing for them. They add further confusion to the mix. As Ruth Berry noted in the  
New Zealand Herald 
 the maiden speeches of National’s new MPs raised more eyebrows in the House because of their repeated acknowledgment of matters Maori. That is true of the new male provincial members in particular. Ruth Berry wrote that National’s “PC Eradicator” Wayne Mapp “must have wondered where he was supposed to look when Napier’s earnest Chris Tremain delivered nearly half his speech in te reo.” That just adds to all the confusion. It is no wonder there is division in National. 
Hon Paul Swain 
: Where is the “PC Eradicator” I wonder? 
SUE MORONEY 
: Yes where is he? It is no wonder there is division in National’s caucus. In contrast—and thank goodness there is a contrast—to that performance is Labour’s. Labour is in Government to make a difference for the better and we are making a difference for real people in real families in good practical ways. We are not fighting against ourselves; we are getting on and doing the job. 
So what did getting on and doing the job mean for the Labour Government during the parliamentary adjournment? It meant that almost three in every four New Zealand families with dependent children are now entitled to family assistance tax credits. I am sure that while we were working during the parliamentary adjournment and while school children were on holiday that policy made a real and practical difference to New Zealand families. I know it did. What else was going on during the parliamentary adjournment? Well students were having their first interest-free break from lectures. What a relief that must have been for them. New Zealand is going forward.