Copeland Gordon: General Debate 
Copeland Gordon: General Debate 
[Volume:650;Page:18710] 
GORDON COPELAND (Independent) 
: 
 On the eve of this year’s general election it is time to take stock of the social statistics of this country as many of them have deteriorated during the 9 long years of this Labour-led Government. I want to give a list: violent crime domestic violence child abuse youth crime is up by an amazing 47 percent fatherlessness single-parent families teenage pregnancies the number of abortions the rate of home ownership—whoever believed it would get to this sorry state—truancy misbehaviour in schools and promiscuity. The time has come for change because if we do not change nothing will change and we will see those dreadful statistics continuing on their downward path. If we do not begin to change and address them now we will leave a terrible legacy for our children and our grandchildren. 
The Kiwi Party which I am proud to represent will have some positive policies to bring before this year’s election. First of all we will stop the criminalisation of good parents by repealing the anti-smacking law and appoint a royal commission to understand and address the wider causes of family breakdown family violence and child abuse. Secondly we will invest in marriage preparation marriage enrichment and parenting courses through faith-based charitable iwi and other third sector organisations. Thirdly we will raise the drinking age back to 20 years and establish detoxification and rehabilitation centres for those struggling with drug and alcohol abuse. Fourthly we will put victims’ rights including full restoration for property crimes before criminals’ rights with no bail parole or home detention for violent criminals. Fifthly we will change the law and practice so that the number of abortions is greatly reduced and require parental consent prior to under-age abortions. Sixthly we will introduce income splitting for couples with dependent children and we will reduce the burden of rates by removing GST. Seventhly we will reinforce our democracy through regular binding referendums on controversial issues. 
The Kiwi Party will establish a nationwide goal of home purchase affordability for the medium price of a house at four times the average annual wage. Currently it is about 6.6 times the average annual wage which is totally and completely unacceptable. We will recognise parents as being primarily responsible for the education of their children and ensure that funding follows the student. We will reduce hospital waiting lists through patient-focused funding involving both public and private hospitals. It is pretty simple. We will let the money go with the patient. It will be patient led from top to bottom. We will protect every family’s recreational hunting and fishing rights and we will ban the aerial application of 1080 poison. We will address injustices occurring in our Immigration Service and adopt more family-friendly immigration policies. I could go on and on. We will address the social consequences resulting from the Prostitution Reform Act. All of these are commitments and pledges that we will carry through. 
When I talk to people across this country who have different ethnic backgrounds and different nationalities and who speak different languages they tell me that although they love this beautiful country they are saddened they have to bring up their children in a country that now has the second-worst social statistics in the OECD. In all those categories I have mentioned this country is near the top of the list. We are either in position two or position three and that is simply not good enough. We have drifted along. We have allowed the moral fibre of our country to be stretched to breaking point. We have systematically removed the moral signposts that used to guide our generation and previous generations in the way they should live their lives. We have allowed lawlessness and anarchy to reign in far too many areas of our society. 
New Zealand has been the least corrupt nation in the world which is something we should be proud of but sadly this week we have begun to see corruption arise in so many different areas of our national life. When I sent my letter to the Speaker raising the question of the Owen Glenn donation to Winston Peters I was not out to get Winston Peters; I was out to get to the truth. I say to this House that if we go away from that measurement of truth then we as a nation are in big trouble. We need to get back to those good sound values that have served our country for so long. Thank you.