Chadwick Steve: General Debates 
Chadwick Steve: General Debates 
[Volume:616;Page:11934] 
STEVE CHADWICK (Labour—Rotorua) 
: 
 Today I want to talk about Mr Brash the banker not a politician held in high regard. A contemporary politician fronts the House has the hard debate in the House not on the  
Holmes  
show and has rigour behind policy. This is a man who is intent on selling the family silver. Where I come from the silver tarnishes when it is exposed to the air. Mr Brash’s extreme and still-hidden agenda will also tarnish over time as fair-minded New Zealanders chew the fat over the rhetoric and the lack of substance in policy that is emerging from the real mean agenda of the Opposition. 
We have heard about the selling off of Kiwibank—200000 New Zealanders will object to that. As well National will flick off Television New Zealand and Radio New Zealand—a perfect venue and medium for us to tell our story and proudly talk about who we are as New Zealanders. He will send troops to Iraq—we have already heard about the agendas changing in the United States and Australia as people rise up to see that real agenda for what it is. He will dump our proud New Zealand nuclear-free status—it will be gone before lunchtime he has already told a visiting delegation to New Zealand. 
There is a threat of no superannuation for those under 50. My kids are facing huge student debts from a mean Opposition that brought in the student loan scheme in the 1990s. They cannot save for their superannuation; they have hardly even hit the threshold of having any savings in their bank while they pay off their interest from the mean policies of the 1990s. 
Do not bank on generosity and inclusion with National. It will sell off the assets. Do not bank on peace; it will go to war. Do not bank on democracy in district health boards; National knows best. It will privatise the easy bits take away community elected members and force district health board mergers on our communities. We will become progressively less secure. Opportunities will be reduced social mobility for the less privileged will be harder and social solidarity will be eroded. 
The agenda is mean race-based and divisive. It is elitist and favours the privileged with tax cuts for the rich. It takes us where average fair-minded New Zealanders never ever want to return to and they need to be reminded again and again that that is where they will go if they listen to the Opposition. 
We want opportunity for all. We are focusing on literacy. We are lifting the standards for all New Zealanders. We have doubled resources in schools. We have got over 35000 kids now starting to learn how to read and to write. Teachers are now getting access to professional development such as never before and the Minister opened a programme in my community—Te Korowai Whakaora—last week where we are looking at kids aged 9 to 11 who are about to opt out of the school system. Those are the sorts of programmes this Government supports. 
We have record numbers in industry training. Last Friday I met middle-aged men who told me: “I’m learning. I am undertaking a skill. I am having a wonderful time.” Why did the Opposition ever drop apprenticeships in 1992? We have 450 people in apprenticeships in Rotorua and they are absolutely loving it. We are building links between schools and the workplaces. We have five local colleges in the Gateway programme and those kids will never leave school without knowing what skill sets they need to put into their basket of knowledge to be able to secure a job in the future. We are putting over $25 million every year into apprenticeships. We are pouring it in and that will build a better society for us all in New Zealand. 
In conclusion I acknowledge the passing of Noel Pachoud in my community. He was a stalwart Labour pacifist and a humble man. Noel I could not be at your funeral; you inspire us as a Labour Party to continue in our work to make New Zealand a fair place for all New Zealanders.