Scott Alastair: Debate on Prime Minister’s StatementText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeScott Alastair: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement[Sitting date: 11 February 2015. Volume:703;Page:1482. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]ALASTAIR SCOTT (National—Wairarapa):As you have heard from the Deputy Prime Minister this afternoon the economy is in good shape. Interest rates are low GDP growth is in good order and jobs are being created. Social statistics are also heading in the right direction. Crime is down education statistics are good and waiting lists in the health sector are shrinking. All those things are heading in the right direction. The number of jobs created is at a record high. The number of sole parents is falling dramatically. Tourism dollars are up. In my electorate of Wairarapa tourism dollars spent are at a 6-year high. Why is that? We have a cycle network on and off-road. We have balloon festivals we have wine festivals and we have vintage car and plane festivals. These are initiatives created not by a Government but by the Wairarapa community. More cars were purchased in the Wairarapa than in the previous 12 months. This is a sign of a growing economy—more dollars being spent and more jobs created. According to Paymark’s statistics $41.9 million was spent in Wairarapa in January. That is 6 percent more than the previous January and well above the national average.I am telling you this because Wairarapa is just an example of what regional New Zealand is heading towards. It is just one of the prosperous regions that are working under this Government.Darroch Ball: Give us one more example.ALASTAIR SCOTT: I have just given you some examples. The question of course is: how does this happen? How does a Government manage to pull all this together? How did the Government win the last election with such a strong mandate? Part of the reason is the policies because they are good. Part of it is to do with our experienced and capable Cabinet. Its members are also very good. Part of it is to do with the rejuvenation of the caucus. There are 14 new members in our caucus and they are talented members if I may say so myself. Part of it of course is due to our popular and extremely capable Prime Minister. But the most important factor and the reason it is working is that we are working together. All of these things are coming together. We are facing the same direction at the same time for the betterment of all New Zealanders. The people of New Zealand know this to be true. They know that we are working for them.Brett Hudson: They have confidence.ALASTAIR SCOTT: You have taken the words out of my mouth. This builds confidence—confidence in the economy confidence in their families and confidence in their businesses. This confidence enables them to take risks and enables them to invest further in their businesses creating more jobs and more wealth. So that is why the results are good. Kiwis know we are a team that gets results for them.Of course the opposite is also true. A team without inclusiveness a team with two or more factions and a team with public disagreement will never gain the confidence of the New Zealand public. Imagine if Conrad Smith or Ben Franks publicly said they wanted Richie McCaw’s job. Imagine if Richie McCaw said: “Right boys we’re going to be playing a free-flowing game of footy this weekend.” and then Sam Cane said: “I’m not happy with that statement. I think we’re going to have to discuss this in caucus.” So too the Labour Party continues to be segregated and dysfunctional. Andrew Little’s policy of Māori sovereignty—note that it is Andrew Little’s policy and not Labour policy—is rightly questioned and labelled to be out of touch by his own caucus. No wonder the New Zealand public gave the Labour Party such a hiding at the last election and rightly voted back the National Party which has a united team doing lots of little things well working well and getting the results for all New Zealanders.