Alexander Marc: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Alexander Marc: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
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MARC ALEXANDER (United Future) 
: 
 I rise to carry on United Future’s contribution. I thought that the Prime Minister’s statement touched on a lot of interesting points some of which I certainly agree with and could not fault. The support for the Families Commission was certainly welcome but I think that Labour has congratulated itself enough on that and I do not need to do so here. What I would like to touch on are three different areas that are close to my heart and matter most to me: crime the foreshore and seabed debate and the economy. 
The first thing that strikes me is that we did not hear much about crime prevention at all. We did not hear much about pushing for more victim support. We did not hear much about the police force being given sufficient numbers or resources to do the job that New Zealanders expect of it. We did not hear much about what the Government will do to combat the scourge of drugs like P. We have come out with initiatives to try to combat P by advocating for a Western Australian – type model to seize the assets of gangs. Labour has not taken that up. I hope that the Labour members will think about it and come to the table and start pushing for it as we are. Labour has not talked very much about community policing either. That issue is of great importance to Christchurch where community policing is actually being cut back because of the lack of resources. Community policing has done a great job in Christchurch and to cut it back simply diminishes the ability to prevent crime before it even begins. That is a failed policy and I would like to see Labour put some effort into maintaining and extending community policing. 
I would now like to talk about the seabed and foreshore issue not so much from Labour’s point of view but in relation to the debate that has been brought about by the Leader of the Opposition. I think it is high time we had the debate and brought the issue into the open. It is something that has been simmering for a number of years. I am not altogether comfortable with the way in which the Leader of the Opposition has brought up the issue but that it is to the forefront of our consciousness is a good step because unless we debate the issue and bring it to the forefront we will not settle anything. Otherwise it will be one of those things that is under the skin of New Zealanders without there being an outlet to debate it reasonably. However the problem is that a couple of things have become confused. The main issue I believe is that most New Zealanders are sick and tired of the Waitangi gravy train. That is not a slight against Maori. It is a slight against the individuals—an elite group—who are making a helluva lot of money out of the process. I believe that that is what most New Zealanders are angry about. It has nothing at all to do with the rights of Maori and the customary obligations we have to them. 
The Leader of the Opposition has certainly outlined the destination but he has not given us one word about the journey to get there. He has not given us anything constructive about how we can get there in the vision he is trying to espouse. Oddly the National members have raised the debate to a level that they probably did not expect. One of the interesting things is that they now find themselves scrambling as to what to do for an encore. National seems bereft of ideas. It is like a balloon that has been extended and has now been popped and the National members are all standing around thinking about what to do now. It seems incredibly destructive to have raised the debate and then to have no follow-through. National members have to realise that while we should never be held hostage by history—and I think everybody must agree with that—we should at the same time never trample on our history either as though it is of no consequence at all. We hope to be able to support the Government’s measures regarding the seabed and foreshore but that will depend on the detail of the legislation we have yet to see. If we do not support the Government the sad fact is that the only party that will then support it will be the Greens and I do not think any New Zealander would be comfortable with that. 
If we look at the economy we see that most Governments like to take credit for the good news in a buoyant economy. I suppose that is understandable but the credit actually belongs to private enterprise. It belongs to those New Zealanders who get out there start businesses employ people and provide services. Instead of passing the advantage of the Government surplus that has accrued from that process back to the public—which created that wealth in the first place—through lower taxes we have an increasing tax burden through increasing compliance costs. That makes no sense whatsoever.