Bakshi Kanwaljit Singh: Debate on Prime Minister’s StatementText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBakshi Kanwaljit Singh: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement[Sitting date: 10 February 2016. Volume:711;Page:8869. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]KANWALJIT SINGH BAKSHI (National): Thank you for the opportunity to participate in this debate on the Prime Minister’s statement for 2016. First of all I would like to touch upon the issue that is very close to my heart which is law and order. Today we had Commissioner Mike Bush in front of the Law and Order Committee and he mentioned that the crime rate is lower. He joined the Police Force in 1978 when the crime rate was at the same as today which means that we are doing very well on law and order. I would like to congratulate the New Zealand Police which is well respected not only in New Zealand for doing a good job but I think it is well respected overseas also.Recently we saw that more than a hundred police officers were called to Australia to support the G20 summit over there to protect the VIPs and the dignitaries who came to participate in G20. The New Zealand Police were there to support them.I would like to touch on some of the points that the previous speaker Carmel Sepuloni has raised on the National Government’s achievements. She mentioned cancer patients. We were sending our cancer patients to Australia for chemotherapy but under this Government we are making sure that our patients do not go anywhere and they get the health facilities in New Zealand. She also mentioned that we do not care about the people who are on benefits. We have raised the benefits which has not happened in the last 43 years. These are the things that are happening under the John Key - led Government and I am proud of it.Some more things that I would like to say have happened under this Government include the highest number of houses being built in Auckland. There is a real shortage but we are trying to fix it. Billions of dollars are being invested in roading projects in Auckland to reduce congestion on the roads. We are also putting in billions of dollars to make that rail loop that has been talked about for a long time. These are the things that are happening under the John Key - led Government.The interest rate which is at its lowest level in the past many decades is benefiting households who have more money in their pockets and more ability to service their loans. These are the things that are happening and we should not be deluded: the Government went through a very hard time during the world recession.I would like to touch upon the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) which has been talked about a lot and which is not only going to benefit the exporters but is also going to benefit all the small to medium sized enterprises who are participating and helping the exporters to manufacture products or produce products that we export. With the TPP agreement ultimately we will benefit by more than $2 billion a year having invested it in this economy. These things will not only benefit us by creating jobs but they will improve our lifestyle which we look forward to.As the previous speaker Carmel Sepuloni mentioned when her parents migrated to New Zealand they had the dream. I also came to New Zealand with the same dream: that future generations would feel that the economy is growing that they are in a safer place and that they have opportunities to grow themselves. We have to take steps from time to time to ensure the economy grows.Opposition members keep on complaining that the Government is not doing enough to create jobs. When we try to do something then they also criticise us that we are doing something that is not right. So they have to take a side—whether they want the Government to create jobs and grow the economy or whether they do not want it. That is what the Prime Minister said yesterday when he talked about the “TPP” or the “Two-position Party”. They have to be fair in saying what they want and what they do not want.With the Trans-Pacific Partnership we know that 40 percent of the world’s gross domestic product is among those 12 countries and we have signed an agreement to have access for our exporters to that market so that we can benefit in the long term. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to participate in this debate.