Heatley Phil: Housing Restructuring and Tenancy Matters (Information Matching) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Heatley Phil: Housing Restructuring and Tenancy Matters (Information Matching) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:632;Page:3944] 
PHIL HEATLEY (National—Whangarei) 
: 
 I endorse the comments of my colleague Bob Clarkson MP for Tauranga. Certainly—and I use that word “certainly” as something I picked up from Parekura—there is much to do in the State housing sector. I am unsure whether the Housing Restructuring and Tenancy Matters (Information Matching) Amendment Bill will do all the things National wants to do but we will be targeting some things. We would have used some of these provisions to target Kiwis in need. 
There are Kiwi families up and down this country who are in genuine need. Many are in dire financial straits and all they need is financial help and a roof over their heads—often for just a short time—so they can get on with supporting themselves. Through hearing some of the comments from the Minister Chris Carter tonight and by reading press releases relating to this bill we see that Labour would rather help those people but keep them in dependency. I do not think it is a deliberate malicious effort by the Government or its Ministers to keep those people in dependency but because of the Government’s ignorance and unwillingness to look further at people’s potential it does in fact by default keep them in dependency. We cannot have a country where the Government provides welfare to an extent that it goes to first second and third generations. 
The cynical amongst us would say that welfare is cash for votes—that it is cash for votes when Labour tosses out money in New Plymouth just to keep Harry Duynhoven’s majority above 20000 votes. There are cynical people in this House who would say that Labour would keep people on welfare just to save Marian Hobbs’ seat and to compensate for the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary debacle that she oversaw. But we in the National Party are saying no—whether it is State housing the domestic purposes benefit the unemployment benefit or any other benefit. Benefits are there to help people for a time while they are in need. Labour members do not believe in that but National members certainly do. 
It is a sad thing that list members on the other side of the House who are replacing the whips—who could not organise a vote for the dog microchipping legislation last week—came in to Government on the back of the votes of many of those receiving a benefit. Some of the people receiving a benefit believe that the key to their continuing on the benefit is a vote for the Labour Party. Labour members believe that the key to their remaining in power is to throw more benefits to those people. It is a dependency culture—the Labour Party depends on the beneficiary and the beneficiary depends on the Labour Party. It is a sad thing when welfare goes past need and ventures into generation after generation of State dependency. Harry Duynhoven the member for New Plymouth and Marian Hobbs the member for Wellington Central—stumbling in the seat though she is—should be ashamed of that. 
Sitting suspended from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. 
PHIL HEATLEY 
: That is essentially why the National Party supports this part. 
Part 2 agreed to.