Jones Dail: New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone Disarmament and Arms Control (Nuclear Propulsion Reform) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Jones Dail: New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone Disarmament and Arms Control (Nuclear Propulsion Reform) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:627;Page:22107] 
DAIL JONES (NZ First) 
: 
 On behalf of New Zealand First I say that I think the comment made by Mr Gallagher about ambiguity is important. As I listened to Dr the Hon Lockwood Smith I thought he was a little ambiguous at least in what he said. I just say on behalf of New Zealand First that our defence policy in our manifesto states that we will maintain New Zealand’s commitment to its nuclear-free policy. We say in our foreign affairs policy that we will remain strongly committed to New Zealand’s antinuclear policy. Is there anything ambiguous about that? In defence and foreign affairs we have made it absolutely clear that we have a nuclear-free policy. 
As has been mentioned during the course of this debate New Zealand First also opposed the sending of troops to Iraq. That is unambiguous; we clearly opposed it. Of course when we look at New Zealand First’s ability to consider Middle Eastern affairs and affairs involving Islam we can see we have the great advantage of having two members of our caucus who have been in the defence forces. Bill Gudgeon served in South-east Asia with the New Zealand forces and that area has an Islamic background and of course Ron Mark served in the New Zealand armed forces and then also served in the Gulf States. He has a smattering of Arabic and has knowledge of the way the Islamic people in the Gulf States and the surrounding areas act and react. I of course having been born and brought up in a Muslim country also know something about Islamic affairs. So New Zealand First is very well placed in so far as refusing to send troops to Iraq is concerned. As we all know it is not a question of what they would do when they got there; the question is how we would get them out again. That was always going to be the problem in Iraq and that is the problem that the Americans are facing in a big way. So we were opposed and remain opposed to the sending of troops to Iraq. From the point of view of our policy we put New Zealanders and New Zealand first. 
People have asked us what we will do after the next election. We will wait first of all to see what the people of New Zealand have to say. I understand that other political parties are making that statement as well copying New Zealand First’s stand as usual. Whether we go with one party or the other party or whether we decide to stay in the middle and do the sort of thing we have done this time which is to support good policies and oppose bad policies remains to be seen. It is dependent upon what the electors do on election day and on the decisions that will be made afterwards. But New Zealand First’s policy is very clear: we support a nuclear-free policy and we oppose the sending of troops to Iraq. 
Indeed we oppose nuclear energy altogether even in so far as electricity generation from nuclear power is concerned. One of the things we are most concerned about—and I think Ken Shirley made a very very good point about the building of nuclear-powered generators in New Zealand—is that the royal commission’s report of 1977 stated that we should have nuclear power-stations commissioned between 2005 and 2008. We should have had them by now based on the population growth we had in those days which was an increase of about 160000 over 10 years. In the last 18 years we have seen New Zealand’s population rise by 25 percent or by about 750000 people. Indeed in that time Auckland’s population has risen by 435000 which is almost the entire population of the Wellington region from day one. So we are looking nuclear power generation in the face especially if the United Future leader has his way and New Zealand’s population rises from 4 million to 5 million in 10 years’ time. [ 
Interruption 
] He says that it will anyway. Mr Dunne and United Future support nuclear power generation That is their view. New Zealand First says that we have—[ 
Interruption 
] The member said it will anyway. 
Hon Peter Dunne 
: I talked about population. The member made a comment about nuclear generation which I have never spoken about. 
DAIL JONES 
: If the member wants to interject he takes the consequences of that. He said: “It will anyway.” and I said that was what he had said—that it will anyway. I am just quoting what he said. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Clem Simich) 
: It is a debatable point which that member may clear up at the end of the speech or in his own speech. 
Hon Peter Dunne 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Although this is a robust debate if members are being deliberately misrepresented by a speaker in the course of the debate that then becomes a matter of order and the member has the right to seek your protection against that deliberate misrepresentation. 
DAIL JONES 
: Speaking to the point of order I ask the member whether he used the words: “It will anyway.”? Those are the words I was quoting. 
Hon Peter Dunne 
: I used the words “It will anyway.” in respect of population. The member then went on to say I had used them in respect of nuclear generation. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Clem Simich) 
: The member has given an explanation so we will move on. 
DAIL JONES 
: The very clear fact is that New Zealand First is committed to a nuclear-free policy. We want as a matter of interest to ensure that our Defence Force expenditure goes up to 2 percent of GDP and we will not trade defence for trade. We will not give away our rights to defend New Zealand in favour of getting a free-trade agreement whether or not that agreement is with the United States. We will not give away our rights to China as the Labour Party wants to do. We want to make sure that New Zealand is a nuclear-free country and we certainly will not support the National Party’s policy on selling New Zealand out to every Asian country with low wages that the National Party can ever find for itself.