Dyson Ruth: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Dyson Ruth: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Volume:606;Page:3452] 
Hon RUTH DYSON (Minister for ACC) 
: 
 In the debate over the last couple of days in the House I have heard my colleagues such as Pete Hodgson refer to the fact that in Bill English’s electorate Lesley Soper his Labour opponent won every booth but one in the last election and that Bill English straight after the election closed off his electorate office in Balclutha. That is extraordinary—talk about a bad loser. He packed up his electorate office and then started advertising for some help. It was help needed desperately by Bill English in his own electorate for people to join the National Party. I have heard my colleagues Lianne Dalziel and Annette King refer to their “day of fun” in Tuatapere—if that is not an oxymoron. They had a fantastic day at the annual gala in Tuatapere and they had the pleasure of introducing the current Leader of the National Party Bill English to his constituents none of whom recognised him. That is a pretty sad indictment on somebody who has represented that proud town of Tuatapere for many years.  
Despite all those instances and despite the fact that in his very first opportunity to make a mark in Parliament for this coming year Bill English as described in his own paper the  
Southland Times 
 was “battling not Helen Clark but semantics”. It stated: “Semantics were no match for Mr English. Just to be on the safe side he shot himself in the foot and then put the foot in his mouth.” That summed it up extraordinarily well. That is Bill English’s local newspaper. That is what they said about their local MP. “Just to be on the safe side he shot himself in the foot and then put the foot in his mouth.” 
Despite all those very clear signs of a man in tragic trouble I agree with Trevor Mallard. I think that the likelihood of Gerry Brownlee becoming the leader in the next little while has considerably diminished and I will tell members why. The plan was very clearly exposed in the  
Press 
 our local newspaper in Christchurch on Monday under the headline: “Williamson backs Brownlee”. If that is not the kiss of death for Gerry Brownlee in his future leadership aspirations I do not know what is. But I do not think that Maurice Williamson has ever done anything without thinking about it and giving it a lot of consideration. It is my view that he has now gone back on Bill English’s side because he knows that Gerry Brownlee cannot do it and he knows that the path is now opening up for him. 
Hon Lianne Dalziel 
: Yes I think it’s him. 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: I think it will be him because the others are clearly not up to it. But the time will come when hopefully Maurice Williamson will be rewarded for the contribution he has made to the great once-proud National Party particularly over recent times. He was the only member of Parliament prepared to stand up for what National Party members throughout the country both of them were saying about the party president and for that he was treated in a totally unacceptable manner. He was put way down the back of the Chamber. We cannot even see Mr Williamson from where we sit over here. He is so far down the back of the Chamber. All the contribution he made in the past to the National Party including being a Cabinet Minister of very high regard was just ignored. No wonder Bill English is in trouble. 
I would like to say a couple of things about my own portfolios in the minutes I have left. I begin by thanking Helen Clark for giving me the honour of taking over the role of the senior citizens portfolio from the previous Minister Lianne Dalziel. Not only is it an honour to have the advocacy Minister portfolio on behalf of all senior citizens in New Zealand but also it is a great privilege and a challenge to follow in the footsteps of Lianne Dalziel. I want to give her well-deserved praise for her fantastic advocacy on behalf of all senior citizens in New Zealand. I hope that Lianne Dalziel is in a position to be able to hear this praise. 
What I hear from Grey Power members throughout the country is that until the day Lianne Dalziel was elected and appointed as Minister for Senior Citizens they did not know they had one. For the previous 9 years they had had nothing at all from the National Government. They did not even know who the previous Minister was. I happened to know but they did not even know who he was. Lianne Dalziel has set very high standards in the last 3 years. She has set high standards in an area that clearly this Government sees as an advocacy ministry. It is based on respect for older people. It is based on valuing older people. It is based on ensuring that the issues of special concern to all our senior citizens are raised directly around the Cabinet table and listened to. 
I will be very pleased to carry on the excellent work that Lianne Dalziel has done on their behalf. I certainly hope I enjoy it as much as she has over the last 3 years. I know that she was not enthusiastic about moving away from that portfolio; one does get attached to advocacy work in that way. I pay justified tribute to the work she has done and I hope that in 3 years’ time—or 6 years’ time because Bill English certainly has indicated that we will have another term—I will be able to hand the portfolio on to another Minister who will be as enthusiastic about it. 
I turn to one of my other portfolio areas accident compensation. On 1 February we enshrined the Code of ACC Claimants’ Rights in our legislation with its release. That was a very satisfying day for me. The Code of ACC Claimants’ Rights is as important in the spirit of its delivery as it is in the legislation itself. It is about accident compensation being fair and clearly that is anathema to people like the Hon Dr Nick Smith. He used National’s opportunity in Government to move accident compensation in exactly the opposite direction without restoring the right to sue which by the time we came into Government was a clear call. We have said no to the right to sue but we have said that the fairness that was enshrined in the original legislation now had to be reintroduced into accident compensation—fairness in the administration fairness in the application of the legislation and fairness in the method of dealing with accident compensation claimants. That includes a proactive response in raising issues that the Accident Compensation Corporation should be supportive of. I am delighted to see that code now enacted from 1 February.  
I have another new portfolio Minister of Women’s Affairs which I took over from the middle of August last year. This week in Greymouth I attended the first consultation meeting on an action plan for New Zealand women. It took some considerable time to get to the area unfortunately because Hokitika airport was fogged in as my plane was trying to land. I do not hold Damien O’Connor responsible for that but I do hold him responsible for the enthusiasm I saw all around the West Coast There was enthusiasm for the disability issues that I talk to people about and certainly at the meeting to which I just referred there was enthusiasm from women from Greymouth and surrounding rural areas for the activity that this Government is undertaking on their behalf. There was also very strong support for the local member of Parliament Damien O’Connor and I am not surprised about that at all.  
We now have over 50 meetings planned for throughout the country where women of all ages and from all regions can have a say in the development of an action plan for New Zealand women. It is over a decade and a half since this sort of work was done because women were ignored by the previous National Government as were most New Zealanders to the shame I must say of some women members of Parliament at the time. Georgina te Heuheu rightly hangs her head. She struggled as Minister of Women’s Affairs to raise issues of concern. She got no support from her colleagues. I know that and I want to pay tribute to her for at least attempting to get some issues raised on behalf of women. Well done I say to Mrs te Heuheu. I acknowledge her attempt unsuccessful though it clearly was.  
I look forward to those meetings and obviously as Minister for Disability Issues I was very pleased to have tabled in Parliament the most recent report on the implementation of the disability strategy. That is an area that is going to receive continued focus over the next 3 years because there are disability issues in New Zealand that have been ignored for decades and will not be ignored in the future by our Government. We set out a clear 3-year programme over the last term. We have done the same for this term for disability issues. Our priorities are employment education and improving the attitudes of New Zealand citizens towards people with disabilities. We want to make a world of difference by our action. We want to have an inclusive society. I look forward to being part of a Government that continues its steady progress towards that end.