Robson Matt: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Robson Matt: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
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Hon MATT ROBSON (Deputy Leader—Progressive) 
: 
 Helen Clark’s statement to Parliament outlined the progress that had been made and will be made by the Labour-Progressive Government. I am not surprised that an unimaginative National Party put a motion of no confidence. I was surprised that the Green Party since Green members vote as part of the 63 votes that give a majority to the left in this Parliament would fall into line with National on that. Confidence has been rising in the Labour - Progressive Government because of the dramatic improvement in our economic development and social well-being.  
The last speaker made reference to the area of corrections. That is one example of a dramatic growth in confidence in the way the Government looks after the well-being of our people. Today a sentence under the new Sentencing Act was given for a particularly heinous crime. A serious offender who is in the category of needing to be separated from the public for possibly the rest of his life has been sentenced. That Act was passed to deal with the few dangerous offenders. It also pointed the way towards dealing with the sad many who fill up our prisons and mental institutions. This Government is acting on both sides. There is a lot that has been done and there is a lot to be done for public safety but this Government is committed to doing it.  
Many speakers on the Government side of the House have outlined the achievements of the Government but it is worth repeating a number of them. First there is a dramatic drop in unemployment which means there has been a dramatic increase in jobs. The basis of that has been the planning and commitment to investing in New Zealand and to developing our regions. My leader the leader of the Progressive party—which is a partner in the coalition Government—Jim Anderton has played a very big role in that. That is not only because of his own ability—he undoubtedly has a lot of that—but is also because he has been part of a programme committed to using the resources of the Government and putting them back alongside the community. Now we have 15500 fewer people unemployed than a year ago and 123000 more jobs than in December 1999.  
In community safety and care for the public we have passed the Victims Rights Act and we have made sure that there is a balance between what we are doing with offenders what we are doing for victims and what we are doing with early intervention. We have increased teaching positions and dealt with the issues of assisting those students who are in tertiary education to have lower fees and certainty regarding the fee structure they will have. Six thousand Modern Apprenticeships will now come on stream this year. In environmental matters the Kyoto Protocol despite the huffing and puffing of the Opposition is in place and is putting us at the forefront of the world of dealing with those issues—as has the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification by putting in such a comprehensive set of guidelines. The Progressives are proud to be part of that set of achievements.  
Of course we want to go further than that. We entered the election with a set of cornerstone commitments. Those were to move towards full employment and to have free education and health care support of families that leaves no one behind strong safe communities and investment in New Zealand. Each of those will be discussed in the Budget round and we will seek to move as quickly as possible on their implementation.  
In particular we are concerned with taking effective steps to eliminate poverty over all areas and especially child poverty. Poverty takes many forms and is often not recognised for what it is. Poverty exists in the family that struggles to make ends meet. In this Budget round and in ministerial policy debates we will discuss the following: setting a timetable to eliminate child poverty prioritisation of spending on poverty issues reviewing all Government spending for its impact on children supporting more inter-departmental and inter-agency approaches increasing Family Start and early intervention programmes and complying with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Yesterday Michael Cullen advised the Finance and Expenditure Committee as reported in the  
Dominion Post 
 that his priorities were “a big rise in family support payments and incentives to get beneficiaries into paid work … because many children in low-income families underperform at school because they move houses and thus schools frequently.” Such steps are what the Progressives are working for to attack poverty at its roots.  
The Prime Minister in her statement referred to the Labour - Progressive Coalition agreement to promote work and life balance policies. As part of that balance the Progressives have introduced my Holidays (Four Weeks Annual Leave) Amendment Bill. We want the substantial part of the lower-paid workforce that is deprived of the leave entitlement that management—and members of Parliament—give themselves to gain that increased quality time of rest and recreation with family and friends. We are hopeful that other parties will act on that issue of equity and will support the measure. With the trade union movement and community organisations we will campaign for that balance between work and life.  
International events also confront us. We face the most serious question of all for a nation: the threat of war. The Progressives stand unequivocally as part of the Government for the principles of international law. That means working in the United Nations for the rule of law not the policy of might is right. As Helen Clark said in her statement the New Zealand Government like most governments has sought to uphold the principles of multilateralism the international rule of law and the authority of the Security Council throughout the crisis. The people of Iraq deserve that protection and respect. It is possible to stop by weight of world opinion the United States launching that war which is a war it wants in order to advance its political economic and strategic interests. The last time that the United States initiated a regime change in Iraq was in 1968 when it installed Saddam Hussein. It was not a good idea then and it is not a good idea now. I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. Do I not have a 1-minute bell? 
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: No. The speech was over 5 minutes. 
Hon MATT ROBSON 
: My apologies.