Sio Su'a William: General Debate 
Sio Su'a William: General Debate 
[Volume:668;Page:14865] 
SU’A WILLIAM SIO (Labour—Mangere) 
: 
 I had the opportunity on Sunday to visit some friends and relatives and to talk with Kris Fa’afoi and church leaders in Cannons Creek. I am surprised by what the previous speaker Hekia Parata just said because after meeting church leaders and families I can say to this House with much confidence that many working families there are suffering under this Government. Many families there are suffering under the tax switch; many working families there are suffering because of the lack of jobs and the lack of having a plan at all by this Government. 
The majority of those who are hurting under this Government and its particular policies are the children of Mana. It is the desire of every family that I met in Mana on Sunday to have the best for their children. They want the best opportunities in education and in health and I have no doubt that that dream is shared by people up and down this country—our children are the future leaders of this nation. But I have said to those families that under this National Government we will have to fight for that dream if we want it to come true. 
The next Labour Government under Phil Goff and Annette King will put children at the centre of policy in health education housing and social development. We have to put children at the centre of those policies if we are to achieve the dream for our children and for future generations. But as I said to the people of Mana with their help we have to fight for it if we want to achieve it. We will not achieve it under this Government so we have to fight for it if we want children to be the centre of our education policy. We have to fight for it if we want our children to be strong and healthy in the future. New Zealanders have to fight for it because under this Government we will never achieve any of these dreams or aspirations. 
The last time the Nats were in Government in 1990 to 1999 under Jim Bolger and Jenny Shipley the period was marked by industrial unrest and by the widening divide of inequality. The children of that period suffered under the same failed economic right-wing policies that this Government is now bringing up again. Wages were driven down and unemployment reached unprecedented highs during that particular period. 
Labour in its last term in Government worked extremely hard to ensure that we regained some of the losses suffered under that National Government. Working for Families helped to reduce child poverty. We had affordable primary health care so that our children who had been unhealthy under that previous National Government could access a doctor and go to the hospital when that was required. Labour restored income-related rents. Under that National Government people were kicked out of their homes and the housing stock was left unsupported. Labour introduced 20-hours’ free early childhood education and we reduced unemployment. But all the gain that was made in 9 years we have lost in only 2 years under John Key’s National Government. We have lost it and the inequality gap continues to widen. 
Industrial unrest is what we saw at Labour weekend. Unemployment is increasing and the children of our ordinary families up and down the country continue to suffer under this Government. This is not a family-friendly Government; it is not a child-friendly Government. Under this Government failed right-wing economic policies are widening the gap so we are losing. Our families the people of Mana and the people up and down this country will have to fight if we are going to regain ground and put children at the centre of policies. 
If we want to achieve the dreams of our children our future leaders we will have to fight to get a Labour Government in office. I know that the people of Mana will bring Kris Fa’afoi back as their MP because they will fight for it.