Mitchell Mark: General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeMitchell Mark: General Debate[Sitting date: 10 April 2013. Volume:689;Page:9242. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]MARK MITCHELL (National—Rodney): One thing is for sure: that story would be a great cure for insomnia—there is no doubt about that. I want to speak about some of the good things thathave happened in my electorate of Rodney. In transport investment continues in the design and construction of the Pūhoi to Wellsford road of national significance. This road is extremely important to the people of Rodney for regional economic growth reducing congestion improved safety and reliable journey times. I would invite any of the members opposite to come to Rodney and visit and see just how important this is to the people of Rodney and Northland.In health in Rodney four midwives and 36 nurses have registered to work in hard-to-staff specialties or communities in the Waitematā District Health Board area through the Government’s Voluntary Bonding Scheme. This is an example of Rodney directly benefiting from National’s Voluntary Bonding Scheme.In education the Government has set a target of 85 percent of 18-year-old school-leavers attaining National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) level 2 or above by 2017. In the final 2011 figures Rodney had 771 school-leavers sitting NCEA level 2 or above. With 624 attaining it that is an 81 percent success rate. To reach 85 percent our electorate will need an extra 31 students attaining NCEA level 2. Working together we will achieve this.I come to the Ultra-fast Broadband Initiative. From July 2013 the following Rodney schools will have ultra-fast broadband: Red Beach School Stanmore Bay School Whangaparaoa School Whangaparaoa College KingsWay School and Mahurangi College. By the end of 2015 97.7 percent of schools and 99.9 percent of students will have access to ultra-fast broadband.When I was privileged enough to be elected as the representative of the people of Rodney I understood clearly that my life and the life of my family were about to change. With the responsibility of providing leadership and advancing and protecting the interests of my communities also came the acceptance that my life actions and character would be subjected to a high level of public scrutiny and require a high level of transparency. One of the first tests of this level of honesty and transparency is the completion of the Register of Pecuniary and Other Specified Interests of Members of Parliament statement that I was required to make. Every parliamentarian understands the importance of this document. It is not a document that you take 10 minutes to complete. It is something that every single one of the MPs who sit in this House makes sure they have right.Most of us have a mortgage and financial commitments that we try to plan for and $50000 is a hugely significant amount of money for any Kiwi family working to get ahead. How on earth did the leader of the Labour Party the man who wants to become the Prime Minister forget an offshore bank account containing at least $50000 and probably a lot more than that? The thing that I find incredible and I feel brings Mr Shearer’s decision-making ability and credibility into serious question is that the money that he failed to disclose was that earned while he was working in environments where bribery kickbacks corruption and fraud were prolific where there is a history of UN officials—often in very senior roles—having been investigated charged and convicted for serious fraud with the ill-gotten gains often being recovered in accounts around the world including New York.I have stated publicly and in this House previously that I recognise and respect the work that Mr Shearer has done around the world in delivering aid—something close to my own heart. But he has shown a stunning lack of judgment by failing to declare this account not 1 year but 4 years in a row. Once you could forgive twice is harder to ignore but three or four times must bring into question intent. The Leader of the Opposition must consider that he has failed to disclose money that he has put into anoffshore account that was likely to have been deposited while he was working in conditions where there are regular accusations of kickbacks and bribes. If he wants to remove doubt then he must be prepared to front up and explain.Finally we have been caught in a global economic storm for the past 5 years. We have watched bigger economies than ours founder breach and take on water. But we have had a Prime Minister at our helm who has hunkered down and kept us pointed into the wind and moving forward when others are failing and sinking.