Key John: Adjournment 
Key John: Adjournment 
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JOHN KEY (Leader of the Opposition) 
: 
Madam Speaker I begin by thanking you for all you have done and wishing you the very best for your years outside of Parliament. I acknowledge Deputy Speaker Clem Simich and wish him the very best and I acknowledge Assistant Speakers Ross Robertson and Marian Hobbs to whom I wish the very best as well. I also acknowledge the Clerk of the House Mary Harris and her staff the Hansard staff the Parliamentary Library staff Parliamentary Service the security guards the messengers the VIP drivers and everyone else who makes this place work. I acknowledge all the retiring MPs on both sides of the House and I take one moment to acknowledge two members of Parliament who have passed away in this term Rod Donald and Brian Donnelly. 
Labour ended its term in the way that it started it: embroiled in scandal. It began with the pledge card and it will end with the red card when Labour is sent to the Opposition benches for a very very long time. This Government has forgotten why it is here. The Government is not focused on New Zealanders and it is not focused on the things that matter. Its only agenda is “dirt over direction”. It does not care about where the country is going. It is no wonder that the polls are where they are. When Labour goes out there with its “dirt over direction” model it does not reflect what New Zealanders want. 
This is a Government of failure. Michael Cullen is the Minister of Finance who has led this country into recession. He can laugh but that is factually correct. That was not an adjournment speech from Michael Cullen; it was an apology. It was an apology for 81000 New Zealanders leaving the country it was an apology for a burgeoning bureaucracy and it was an apology to the people who found out yesterday that they were losing their jobs. He is a fair-weather Minister of Finance and he does not know what to do when things get tough. It is no wonder he said that it will be a bit difficult for the person who sits in that seat. This is a man who has not stuck to $1.75 billion as the new Budget spend. For 5 years he spent twice that amount. 
This Government has failed though its members may not want to hear that. New Zealanders do not need to hear this from me; they see it every day. They pick up the papers and see murders happening in South Auckland. They see patients going to Australia to get health care services. They see their youngsters coming home with reports they cannot understand and with educational levels they do not approve of. They see Helen Clark reheating policies like Schools Plus which she quietly cut from $160 million in January to $40 million today.She promised to do the same thing she had promised to do in 2002. For the past 3 years Labour has failed and it has the audacity to go out there and ask New Zealanders to give Labour another 3 years. I do not think so! 
Then in amongst all of that there is the state of the New Zealand health system. David Cunliffe has said: “I’m running the show.” Well guess what? David Cunliffe is right. He is running the show—badly. So is Helen Clark so is Michael Cullen. It is no wonder that people want a change of Government. 
This is the time for a fresh start for New Zealand. This is a time for fresh leadership. This is a time for a team of people who are ready to take this country forward a team of people who know that tax cuts are an economic policy not a political policy. We will not wait 25 days to raise taxes and 9 years to cut them. We know that New Zealanders are hurting out there. We know that New Zealanders want to keep their own money. We know that New Zealanders will not put up with more bureaucracy. 
The record gets worse. National will not have an emissions trading scheme that is based more on legacy than on legitimacy. We will have an emissions trading scheme that works and has New Zealand doing its bit for climate change. It is not about getting five gold stars from some organisation out there that no one cares about. We will solve the problems of law and order on our streets. We will not be in denial like the Labour Government is. When Helen Clark had to rush to announce the election date she said law and order was improving. She must be the only New Zealander who believes that and she must be the only New Zealander who does not acknowledge that there is a crime wave. We see the violent crime and drug abuse. This Government is more interested in building the bureaucracy than in putting police on the streets to help other New Zealanders. We say that is wrong. 
Labour says it is a party that stands up for those from disadvantaged backgrounds but where has the opportunity been to look after New Zealanders in an education system that should work for those who come from the most disadvantaged backgrounds? We care about standards in education. We care about every kid getting a chance. We do not care about having to tackle the unions on this sort of stuff. We know what matters. 
We will help to solve the problems in a health system that is not working. We know there is a crisis in the health workforce. We will have a voluntary bond system for doctors nurses and midwives so that people in rural and provincial New Zealand will know there is a doctor for them to see. Mr Cunliffe will not do it but Tony Ryall will. When it comes to the economy Bill English will cut taxes and he will do it well. 
Hon David Cunliffe 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. I am sorry to interject on the member’s valedictory speech but I want to know what point he was making about the health system— 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Is this a point of order? 
Hon David Cunliffe 
: Yes Madam Speaker. Quite genuinely I could not hear the point the member was making about the health system because of barracking from his own members. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: It is very difficult to hear but in this—[ 
Interruption 
] Members can talk amongst themselves but not while I am on my feet and talking. There is a tradition that this debate is a kind of end-of-term end-of-school hurrah. It is a rather loud last hurrah I must say and if members cannot hear each other then I wonder at the purpose of it. I just remind members to at least keep the noise level down so that we can hear what is being said. 
JOHN KEY 
: That contribution from David Cunliffe was the same as the contribution he has made to the health system—shocking! 
About 2 years ago I said in the House that Labour was a “Walkman Government in an iPod world”. Well the battery has gone flat on the walkman the lights have gone out and the music has stopped playing. New Zealanders look at Labour and they see the past. They look at National and they see the future. New Zealanders want hope they want opportunity and come 8 November they want an opportunity to choose a brighter future. They will not let that chance go past.