O'Connor Simon: General Debate 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
O'Connor Simon: General Debate 
[Sitting date: 01 August 2012. Volume:682;Page:4173. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
SIMON O’CONNOR (National—Tamaki) 
: 
 It is a pleasure to take this final call I believe in the general debate. Look it is always good to put a whole collection of facts together regardless of where you have pulled them from but they really need to come and focus somewhere. One of my colleagues mentioned that—do you realise—100 percent of mothers are women? Yes there are some statistics there. [ 
Interruption 
] I know. I am shocked. So it is all about statistics and figures. There have been a lot of statistics and figures being thrown around. We heard from another member earlier: more money for wages more money for paid parental leave and we are hearing about unpaid people in the House. Do you know what? We need more Crown funding for that as well but of course where does it all come from? Most New Zealanders are pretty smart and that is why they voted this Government in and they continue to support this Government. 
But I think one of the things that has happened in recent days is that I have heard that some in the Labour Party are supporting mining. I have not actually pushed to find out exactly what type but I think I have got the answer to what form of mining. You see the Labour Party in particular and the Opposition are very keen on strip mining—the strip mining of individual Kiwis. If you sit here today and you listen to what they have had to say with all the ideas that are coming forward that has to be paid from individual New Zealanders. They will be strip-mined of their success to pay for the dead-end ideas of this Opposition. 
But I am going to stop there because that is not exactly where I want to go today. I want to actually address some questions. [ 
Interruption 
] Well I was enjoying it really; it was thoroughly enjoyable. I want to address some questions about my electorate the great electorate of Tamaki. Can I acknowledge Minister Sharples and what he was sharing about his experience? I am conscious that another member I believe from Gisborne was up. I am sure she was trying to learn the great art of being a politician in a great seat like Tamaki. 
But I want to talk about the Tamaki Transformation Programme and what is occurring there. The people are aware that transformation requires change. It is a simple principle. If you are going to transform a community it requires change. All of us know in our own experiences and lives that change is difficult. I have been saying that to the community and it is a community that I deal with every day. I know some people will jump up and down and say: “Oh I attended a meeting.” Well done—kudos there. But in my electorate in my community I am there every day engaging. It is not that everyone is happy but no one is upset as well. What is happening is that most people understand that transformation requires change and change is difficult—change is difficult. 
I have said this to a number of people out on the street and in the communities principals those who are leaving their homes—because again I do not intend to go to meetings where people just keep screaming and yelling obscenities and empty rhetoric; I will go in to the families who are being affected sit on the floor and have a conversation. Boy is that patronising? I know they have gone very quiet. So it is about engaging with the community. I have always said to the community that these are the Crown’s houses but they are people’s homes. They are the Crown’s houses and people’s homes and this is the balance that the Government the Minister and Housing New Zealand Corporation are dealing with. It is about acknowledging that that change is difficult but doing all that is possible to facilitate that change. 
Just recently in our  
East and Bays Courier 
 there was a great positive news story of one of the Glen Innes community who has chosen to move. He has moved into a new modern home within Glen Innes within his community with his family and he absolutely loves it. So there is an immense number of positive stories out there of people who are prepared to move want to move and understand again that transformation involves change. 
I want to endorse the work that the Minister is doing and that Housing New Zealand Corporation is doing with great compassion and with great empathy. I want to add at the end that there is talk of these protests and so forth and I have engaged with some of those protesters. But empty rhetoric is not reasons and using people’s lives—particularly by political parties—to score cheap political points is just cheap politics and cheapening people’s lives. The people of Glen Innes are proud they are vibrant and they are wonderful people. They want their community transformed and the understanding is that transformation brings about change. The challenge I put to members is to actually step away from the rhetoric step into the communities and hear their voice. That is something that I continue to enjoy because again this is a vibrant and strong community—a strong community. I am very proud as the member of Parliament for Tamaki to be in that community engaging every day and I endorse what is occurring. 
The debate having concluded the motion lapsed.