Laban Luamanuvao Winnie: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Laban Luamanuvao Winnie: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
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Hon LUAMANUVAO WINNIE LABAN (Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector) 
: 
 Kia ora talofa lava and warm Pacific greetings. I thank the Speaker for the opportunity to contribute to this debate. 
One of the good things about having a break away from Parliament over Christmas and New Year is that it provides an opportunity to spend time with ordinary New Zealanders and to see and hear what is happening in the many communities that make up our nation. What I see and hear is that times are good. Times are good because people have jobs. Times are good because people are getting off benefits and into work. Times are good because the economy is good. Times are good because we are healing some of the divisions of the past. 
The economic policies of the 1990s scarred this nation deeply. It is taking time to heal the wounds of massive unemployment and the erosion of social capital that was the product of benefit cuts and other divisive policies that put profits ahead of people. Profits and the accumulation of capital do matter but people and the accumulation of social capital matter too. We have to get the balance right. Times are getting better because for the last 6 years a Labour-led Government has been getting right the balance between economic policy and social policy. 
The year 2006 started with the good news that more New Zealanders are in work. We have seen a huge change in our communities with more people than ever before moving into work. Importantly those gains have been shared with all regions of New Zealand. That has happened on the back of sound management of the economy leading to strong economic growth. New Zealand has the lowest unemployment rate in the OECD. Unemployment benefit numbers in my Mana electorate have fallen by 20 percent in the last year according to the latest statistics provided by Work and Income centres in Porirua and Kapiti. That drop is further evidence of a strong economy across New Zealand and across the regions. Results from the quarterly benefits survey by the Ministry of Social Development show that for year ended December 2005 1902 local people were on the unemployment benefit which is down from the previous year’s 2373 and is a drop of 20 percent. Compared with the 1999 figures when Labour took office the total number of people receiving an unemployment benefit in Mana has dropped by 2353 or 55 percent. 
Times are better because people are getting off the benefit and into work. There have been warnings of an economic downturn by the doom merchants in the Opposition but the truth of the matter is that our economy is as forecast currently slowing before it is expected to pick up again in late 2007. We have had good jobs growth and an overall reduction in the numbers of people on any kind of benefit. The labour market is still tight but our local economy is in good shape. It is time for people to stop talking the economy down and to get on with business. I get sick of the tire old cliché that too many people are on benefits and are a burden on the State. The latest statistics show that in 2005 the total number of people receiving any kind of benefit in Mana fell by 6 percent. Between 1999 and 2005 the total number of people on the unemployment benefit domestic purposes benefit sickness benefit or invalids benefit dropped by 16 percent. In other words 1510 fewer people were receiving benefits. 
 Behind those statistics is the reality of Kiwis getting on with supporting their families working towards individual goals and making real contributions to our communities and our local economy. Long-term unemployment creates lethargy whereby people lose their sense of self-esteem and often withdraw from their community because they feel they have nothing to contribute. It is a downward spiral that erodes the cohesion of our communities. But when people have jobs they have more time to put into their local community. They participate in their community and add to the social capital of the nation. Social capital is the glue that binds and enriches our communities. 
Let me give an example of how that is happening in my community. On Waitangi Day I spent most of my day at Te Rauparaha Park a wonderful quiet green space in the centre of Porirua City. On Waitangi Day Te Rauparaha Park was a musical sea of colour filled with people enjoying the vibrant Festival of the Elements. During the day all the elements—rain sun wind and fireworks—made their presence felt. The festival was set on course by Ngati Toa kaumatua Puoho Katene and opened by Mayor Jenny Brash. Representatives from the Governments of Mexico Russia France the United States of America and Germany and a delegation from Nishio Porirua City’s Japanese sister city attended the festival. People from Porirua and from up the Kapiti coast turned out. Thousands turned up that day to enjoy the show put on by 1000 performers. The Porirua Community Arts Council is to be congratulated on building up the Festival of the Elements each year for the last 14 years. Wonderful Kiwis like Bob Cater Helen Smith and the team have done a great job all based on voluntary effort. 
As I watched the shows on the main stage at the Trust Porirua Aquatic Centre the Porirua Recreation Centre the skateboard park and throughout Pataka’s performing and exhibition spaces I could see what a vibrant community we live in. Porirua has moved on since the 1990s when unemployment was high and there was anger and ill will on the streets. Porirua has as a city with support from our Government invested in public spaces where the community can meet and where people can enjoy themselves and celebrate the good times. 
Waitangi Day is a day of celebration and reflection. Amidst the art the music the dancing and the other performances in Porirua there were opportunities for reflection. The travelling exhibition Treaty 2 U was packed throughout the day by people finding out more about Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Hundreds visited and studied the exhibitions. Most people left with copies of the Treaty in the English and Maori texts and with further study material. The great Jamaican singer and philosopher Bob Marley whose birthday was coincidentally on 6 February said: “If you know your history then you would know where you coming from”. He was right. Knowing our history is important for us all so that we can build our nation on the basis of shared understanding. 
As I stood watching the fireworks at the end of a great day in Te Rauparaha Park in a space named after the great local Maori leader who was one of only two men who signed the Treaty twice I wondered whether he would have thought then that 166 years later his descendants the descendants of the other signatories and a host of later arrivals would still be discussing the document that founded this nation in 1840. Things are good because there is healing in the air. In my own community of Mana we can see the future of New Zealand writ small. The New Zealand of today is a multicultural nation where we are beginning to understand and to respect each other. We have plenty to celebrate in New Zealand. 
I also congratulate Joris de Bres on bringing the leaders of the Muslim community and Jewish and Christian leaders together with the editors of the  
Dominion Post  
and the Christchurch  
Press 
. They showed us that potentially divisive issues can be resolved by people of goodwill listening to each other and respecting different views. 
I am very optimistic about our future as a multicultural nation. I think that one of the keys is to develop a society where everybody feels that their unique identity is respected and that they have a place of belonging. That is the politics of inclusion and unity and it is the antithesis of the politics of exclusion and division that was the hallmark of the 1990s. 
As Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector I have been very very humbled to visit many community organisations built on voluntary effort such as St John Ambulance and many other community volunteers in our country. 
On 13 and 14 March in Auckland the first Pacific Trade Expo will take place. The New Zealand Pacific Business Council has organised it. All 110 stands have been sold; 57 stands from 13 Pacific countries will be represented. The event will bring business Governments and communities together and will deepen our regional connections and relationships. 
Yesterday I attended a launch of the Unlimited Potential Learning Foundation which is a partnership between the Government polytechnics and Microsoft. It is a training programme aimed at lifting information technology skills amongst disadvantaged communities. I am proud to be part of this Government. I am proud that we are weaving together strands of economic transformation looking after families young and old and continuing to walk tall and build pride in our unique national identity as New Zealanders.