Ririnui Mita: General Debates 
Ririnui Mita: General Debates 
[Volume:615;Page:11104] 
MITA RIRINUI (Labour—Waiariki) 
: 
 If that previous speaker is the New Zealand First spokesperson on law and order then I fear for the safety of our community. He is the sort of person who wants to arm everybody in a vigilante group—to go out and shoot first and ask questions later. 
I really relish the opportunity to speak in this debate. The deputy leader of the National Party made mention of the Prime Minister’s speech last week in terms of her statements to Parliament. I want to contribute an extract from her speech which I think is very relevant to where this country is going. It is relevant to us as a Government because our primary goal is to build a strong vibrant nation that not only values but builds on the diversity of its people. We are a Government that delivers according to need not privilege. “Our mission is clear; we want to build a New Zealand that offers equal opportunity a fair go and security for all our people. We want to unite not divide. We want New Zealanders to take pride in all our country’s achievements—economic social and creative. We want our country to be well respected internationally. In short we want to make a difference for the better. We know that being in Government is a privilege not a right and that we must earn that privilege every day.” 
Our people out there in the electorates have told us we are heading in the right direction. I am confident that the people out there have confidence in this Government. On the international stage day after day we see our people out there competing against other nations of the world. 
From the time this party was elected to Government in 1999 we have been putting in place a policy programme that looks at building the capacity of all our people. We have put in place a better public health service that acknowledges need; a better standard of affordable housing particularly social housing that targets families according to need; access to education as a right not as a privilege; and opportunities to learn for employment and to be skilled to the highest level through the Modern Apprenticeships scheme. Unemployment is down and Modern Apprenticeships numbers are up—well beyond expectation. 
The launch of the Maori Trade Training programme later this week in the eastern Bay of Plenty and the far North will indicate to the rest of the country that this Government takes employment seriously and is prepared to go out and train its people to meet needs right across industry. The greater percentage of unemployed and unskilled workers is in the Eastern Bay of Plenty and the far North and is predominantly Maori. Therefore the programme targets according to need not race. 
I want to use a term although I think I had better not because some time last week the term was considered unparliamentary. But like a dark-skinned gentleman in America during the 1960s we too on this side of the House have a dream—a dream about being a strongly unified nation. To be that nation we need to empower our people. We need to upskill them; we need to build up the capacity of our communities. 
I want to state to members on the other side of the House particularly to those who think that playing the race card is a good way of getting votes that it never pays off at the end of the day and gives us no respect on the international stage. Let us imagine our sons your sons my sons everyone’s sons on the international sports field where the best of our people regardless of ethnicity—Eurasian Pakeha Maori Chinese just name it—are shoulder to shoulder side by side stripped to the waist and doing the haka. Pukana! That is who we are. That is what our people are telling the world on the international field—that we are a unique nation and that we can be proud of it. 
No one for any political reason can ever destroy that. The Prime Minister said in her speech that she would fight to her last breath to make sure that that never happens and that goes for the rest of us on this side of the House. I know it is difficult for some people to acknowledge that greatness comes from being unified but there is an old saying: “United we stand; divided we fall.” As a nation division can do us no good; it will not help our nation to prosper. We have a very strong economy. We are up with some of the best in the world.