Norman Russel: Adjournment 
Norman Russel: Adjournment 
[Volume:676;Page:21843] 
Dr RUSSEL NORMAN (Co-Leader—Green) 
: 
 I rise to speak on behalf of the Green Party. I started 2011 by saying that I was looking forward to this election year as an opportunity to put the Green Party’s positive vision for Aotearoa before the nation. Throughout 2011 in good times and in bad the Green Party has sought to move beyond the blame game and to present positive solutions and alternatives to the difficult issues our country faces. 
New Zealand is a great country. We in the Greens love it and we want to make it even better. I want a fair future where care workers on night shifts get paid the legal minimum wage for doing the important work of looking after our disabled sick and elderly. I am glad this Parliament has resolved this issue this afternoon. I want a future where all our children can enjoy our country and swim in our rivers because they are clean and free of pollution. I want a future where we live in warm insulated houses that use 100 percent renewable energy and are built by Kiwis who have ridden the wave of the clean green economy. We will deliver this future by doing things differently and by making the transition to the clean green smart Green economy. This is what New Zealanders deserve and that is what the Greens will deliver. 
The recent double downgrade by Standard and Poor’s and Fitch Ratings is actually a vote of no confidence in the Government’s management of the economy. In this term of Parliament the Government has unfortunately made some poor economic decisions and the credit downgrade has been part of the result. The Minister of Finance has done a good job in many respects but there are many decisions that we have not agreed with in terms of economic management. 
More important aside from dealing with the economic challenges of today we believe that the Government has not delivered a plan that seizes the economic opportunities of tomorrow particularly in the space of the smart Green economy. The Greens have produced such a plan and we look forward to the election campaign and to debating it. Our pragmatic economic strategy would transition the New Zealand economy to maximise our biggest natural advantage: our clean green reputation and expertise. 
We will ramp up the Heat Smart home insulation programme ensuring that it is rolled out to a further 200000 homes over the next 3 years employing 4000 people. We will retain State ownership of our State-owned enterprises while creating the right incentives for them to partner with cleantech entrepreneurs in the private sector—that is the kind of partnership we want—and develop renewable energy solutions we can patent and export abroad. 
Renewable energy is actually one of New Zealand’s most promising export potentials. With the right incentives in place we can be a player in the global market in renewable energy solutions creating thousands of good green jobs and significant export income. Through a mix of Government procurement policies tax incentives start-up funding and a billion-dollar boost to research and development we will support small to medium sized enterprises to step up and drive new job creation in the cleantech sector. That is what we are looking forward to. This is a realistic and achievable plan and it is about our country’s future. 
Our rivers and lakes are part of what makes New Zealand such a great place to be. Healthy rivers are also essential to our economy but our rivers and lakes are under threat and we have not really seriously started the process of cleaning them up. Half of our monitored lakes and rivers are unsafe for swimming in and about one-third of our lakes are unhealthy. Two-thirds of our freshwater fish are at risk of or threatened with extinction which is a terrible legacy to pass on to our children. It is not something that the Green Party is willing to pass on to the next generation. 
We will implement robust standards for clean water that set limits to the amount of water that can be taken from rivers and lakes and to the pollution going into them. This will include a minimum standard for intensive agricultural practice. Perhaps one of the most difficult problems our country faces in terms of an environmental issue is diffuse pollution. The Green Party is one of the few parties that has the courage to grasp that particular nettle. We will also use price signals to incentivise the efficient use of water by putting a fair price on its commercial use. That is another thing that this Parliament has not grasped. The revenue raised from such a price can be used to begin the clean-up project. This is a plan that is good for our economy and for our environment. 
The first victims of an unequal society and an unfair economy are children: 270000 children live in poverty in New Zealand—that is one in four Kiwi kids. International research puts the cost of not acting to address child poverty at around 3 percent of GDP per year and that is something that we have not got on top of in this Parliament. Bringing kids out of poverty is a priority for the Greens and it makes economic sense as well as humanitarian sense. We would make Working for Families work for every low-income family. We would incorporate what is now called the in-work tax credit into the family tax credit and extend it to our poorest households—those who are on benefits. That would give an extra $60 a week to some of the poorest families in New Zealand. We would also provide better support to sole parents and beneficiaries. Instead of pushing away the ladder of opportunity as we have seen in this term of Parliament the Green Party would make sure that there is a ladder of opportunity so that people can get an education. 
We would make sure our rental properties are warm and healthy for kids because 375000 kids live in cold damp houses and that is not good enough. It makes them sick. We would create insulation standards for rental properties to ensure that there are warm healthy homes for thousands of children so they do not get sick from living in cold houses. 
We would also raise the minimum wage. It is almost impossible to make ends meet on the minimum wage. It has been tragic that this term of Parliament has not seen a big increase in the minimum wage. It needs to go up to $15 an hour immediately to help working parents provide the basics for their children. If we do not provide the basics for the next generation we can hardly expect them to support us. 
Everything I have talked about today will not happen however if MMP is not retained in the upcoming referendum. MMP has delivered genuine change and has made a real difference. One-third of our MPs are now women there are more Maori in Parliament and our democracy is now more representative of the people of New Zealand. MMP has delivered some good ideas like Kiwibank paid parental leave and the home insulation scheme which is on track to make 180000 homes warm dry and healthy. In this election MMP is especially important. Smaller parties can act as an important constraint on unpopular policies such as the sale of State assets. I am looking forward to voting to keep MMP. 
I am proud of what the Greens have achieved this parliamentary term—working both with and against the Government. We have stopped the mining in national parks working alongside the broader Green movement. We have pressured the Government to set up the office of Disability Rights Commissioner and the High Hazards Unit for mining. We took on the other political parties to make public MPs’ expenses and perks and we won that battle. 
We have also found some common ground with the Government this term and have worked with it on the formal memorandum of understanding between the Green Party and the National Government. Our biggest achievement together is the home insulation scheme. We have made more than 100000 homes warm and dry through better insulation and more efficient heating creating 2000 jobs in the process. We have also secured funding to clean up the Tui Mine and to trial pest control and we have worked with the Government on the New Zealand Cycle Trail which is a great initiative. We have also broken the 20-year deadlock on natural health products regulation and developed legislation that was passed unanimously at its first reading. We acknowledge working with the Government on those particular projects which we think are great projects. 
Mr Speaker I thank you for your role in this parliamentary term. From the Green Party’s point of view your intervention in question time has been great and we think it has made a real difference to improving our democracy. We thank all of the staff of Parliament. I will not go through and list everyone but we could not do our jobs without all of the staff in Parliament. I also acknowledge the retiring Green MPs Sue Kedgley and Keith Locke who have made a huge contribution over a number of parliamentary terms. 
For a decade now the Greens have shown that we can make change as an independent party in Parliament. The next Parliament we hope will be an opportunity for more Green change. Our vision is for a New Zealand that is richer in things that matter: strong communities a beautiful environment and a clean green economy that works for everyone. I believe that New Zealand can be this country and that we can lead the change to a better world. We are looking forward to making that happen.