Mackey Janet: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Mackey Janet: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Volume:606;Page:3415] 
JANET MACKEY (NZ Labour—East Coast) 
: 
 This is the first speech I have given in the debate on the Prime Minister’s Statement in the three terms I have been in Parliament that my mother will not be listening to and I take this opportunity to thank those members around the House who have sent me their personal expressions of sympathy. Having said that I would now say to the Green Party that 3.9 percent is very significant in my electorate because it indicates jobs houses and growth and development that is bringing the sort of lifestyle that I think most people in New Zealand and most people in this House seek for their families.  
In my fourth term in Parliament I find it gratifying to at last be able to talk about growth in the East Coast electorate. For a number of terms in Parliament I sat and watched the parties—now on the opposite benches—that were in Government impact their policies on my electorate in a way that brought a considerable amount of suffering and deprivation to those communities. I saw the closure of Opotiki Hospital and Wairoa Hospital and I saw nothing significant put in their place. I saw Maori providers sidelined although I will say in defence of the former Prime Minister Jenny Shipley that when she was the Minister of Health she did encourage the participation of Maori as provided in the health service. She got that ball rolling and I bet they wish that she were here today to put some enthusiasm some policy and some direction back into the National Party.  
Provincial New Zealand is doing well and yes I accept the comments of Phil Heatley who said that this Government has had a number of positive factors working alongside it. We have had a good economic climate. We have had good climate on the East Coast which is significant. However it is the policies of this Government the investment in rural communities and the engagement with rural communities that have made this Government’s policies work. 
For the first time since I have lived in Gisborne I saw unemployment drop below the national average. That for me is very important. This is an area where 50 percent of the population are Maori it is an area that historically has been deprived of opportunities in industry and jobs. It is an area that under the previous Government saw the relocation of Heinz-Wattie to Hastings it saw the closure of Weddell Kaiti and the loss of major industries that had employed and sustained our people over generations. Those people had no other option. They had nowhere to go. When I see our unemployment level drop below the national average it tells me that something good is happening. The members on the Opposition benches can be as cynical negative and critical as they like and they can put the Government down as much as they like but the reality for the people on the East Coast is that their unemployment level has dropped below the national average for the first time probably in 25 years. For me that is an accomplishment—one that I am proud of and will continue to be proud of.  
A number of good things have happened on the East Coast. I want to highlight some of them because for me what is significant about the growth on the East Coast is that it is not about talking about Pakeha growth and then bringing Maori up to speed it is about talking about partnerships and businesses that are showing the true spirit of the treaty where people are working together and taking more account of their common goals and sense of direction rather than of those differences that will always be there and should always be there because we are two peoples.  
One of the best examples of that are the new primary health organisations in the health system. The primary health organisations are a success in Gisborne. Gisborne and Wairoa had the first in the country. Those primary health organisations were not driven by the Government or the district health board but by the Maori providers in those regions. I want to commend in the House tonight Ngati Porou Hauora on the East Coast who have taken the non-Maori providers alongside them and engaged them in providing the sort of health service that reaches out to that community. It works in that community and it is providing the East Coast with the best health service it has ever had. Ngati Porou Hauora are leading it and taking all the other providers along with them.  
I commend organisations like the Kaiti Medical Centre—my own doctors—and the Desmond Road Medical Centre which have got in alongside the iwi health providers and are providing a service that is not just to Maori or to Europeans but in which they call on the skills and the knowledge of each other and each other’s communities to provide a more holistic and better health service for everyone in my region. That is a success that I will take with me when I leave this Parliament. It is a success that is delivering positive returns for everyone in the community at the present time.  
Like many other areas in the country we are experiencing a skills shortage and that is great. A member from another party said to me: “I went to Gisborne in the holidays and I couldn’t move for fear I tripped over a bulldozer.” That is about right at the moment. There is an enormous amount of construction work going on and like many other areas we are seeking skilled labour. I went to a Taste Gisborne festival out at Dean Witters’ property at Cedenco which he opens up to the people of Gisborne. They have music wine and food and everyone goes along. It is one of the great events in Gisborne. I went along to that and a builder came up to me and said: “So what’s the Government doing about builders?”. My first response to a question like that is: “What are builders doing about builders?” but I was able to take him through exactly what the Government is doing to enhance the skills in our community.  
The number of Modern Apprenticeships has doubled this year. The Maori trade training scheme was a great scheme and many of the interior decorators the builders the plumbers and the electricians were people who went up to Gillies Avenue stayed in a hostel and trained under the Maori apprenticeships scheme. I support that scheme coming back into our region.  
With regard to Modern Apprenticeships I say to the industry that there is a role for them to get alongside their members and encourage them to participate as well because it is no use a builder coming to me and saying that he lays people off at the first sign of a shortage of work but when he needs more builders he expects the Government to provide them. The message is that we do need to train now because this growth will be sustained. 
In areas like Gisborne we are seeing our community change and grow. We are seeing very wealthy apartments being built and hotels going up. That is very different for our community and it will bring work with it. The Gateway programme being run at Lytton High School is a way for builders to engage with young people to find those who are suitable for apprenticeships and to stand alongside them and encourage them into their industry.  
We have had a shortage of teachers. This year the Government is training 700 more teachers than predicted roll growth says we will need. That is a significant increase. 
Jim Peters 
: Too late. 
JANET MACKEY 
: I hear comments from members who actually were not even in the House when the National Government was in office. I am interested to ask them what members opposite did. They ignored the fact that there was going to be a teacher shortage and left the incoming Labour Government to pick up the pieces. We are happy to do that. It is what we always do after a National Government. We are good at it. We will ensure that the schools in Gisborne are able to attract the type of staff they need.  
I have waited a long time in this House to be able to give a speech about prosperity and growth in the regions. It took a Labour Government to deliver it. I look forward to working with any member on the other side of the House who is keen to encourage that sort of growth in his or her community and I look forward to it being sustained. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Clem Simich) 
: The slot for New Zealand First will be split with 5 minutes for each speaker. There will be a bell at the end of each 5 minutes.