Maharey Steve: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Maharey Steve: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Volume:606;Page:3289] 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY (Minister of Social Services and Employment) 
: 
 It is a pleasure to follow on in this debate behind the Hon Jim Anderton He has worked tirelessly in this Government not only to be a good coalition partner but also around the regions and the regions are a testament to work because they have come alive again after 3 years of this Government.  
This is my 13th year in the House now and I know that members tend to look forward to each summer as a time to refresh re-energise and re-think—to get out there get a little bit of sun on their skin and think about what they are going to do in the year ahead. I know that at the end of last year National MPs were really looking forward to their break. They needed the chance just to go out there and do a little refurbishment if one likes of what the party was on about. I imagine that over their last week before coming back into the House they were already wishing that summer could start again. In fact they must be here in the House now already looking forward to next Christmas for an opportunity to be able to refurbish.  
Today in the House the member who calls himself the Leader of the Opposition Mr Bill English got up and moved a motion of no confidence in the Government—a motion that sounded as though it was describing the National Party. He said there was no purpose no direction and no challenge. I thought—and I guess everybody in the House thought—“That’s about the National Party!” Then he made one of the clangers of the year already while his members sat behind him shaking their heads in disbelief. He said: “This is a 3-term Government.” Well we know that. In my speeches I often tell people that we intend to be a long-term Government and “honest Bill” who once a long time ago leaked a paper that told us we were on the right economic track has confirmed that. He cannot help telling the truth. Today he is here to the stunned amazement of those MPs who were hoping to come back and get a bit of a roll-on again. The Bill English nostrum for the year is that it is all over and that the Government has won the next election already.  
What do those MPs do? Well Gerry Brownlee has been testing the waters already. He has been telling us that he wants nuclear ships back in the harbour. He thinks that the Treaty of Waitangi gives special rights to Maori and he shares the view that seems to be coming through from the National Party now that everybody in this country must live like Gerry Brownlee in Fendalton—that if they want to be part of this country they all have to fit the same large jacket that fits him. They are not allowed to be diverse they are not allowed to be different and they are not allowed to be part of any society that tolerates celebrates and wants diversity. According to Gerry Brownlee they have to look like those folks from Fendalton. I say to Mr English that I am told that Gerry Brownlee was seeking the limelight. Gerry Brownlee says that he was not. Who does one believe? We are starting off down the track again this year— 
Hon Jim Anderton 
: Who cares? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: As my colleague says: “Who cares?” Maurice Williamson who has been described as the “fourth Bee Gee” is the enfant terrible from the other side of the House. He sits back and comments on what is going on. He says that Mr Brownlee is OK by him. He has already endorsed him as leader. We know that he thinks Mr English lacks charisma. Mr Williamson has been leading the charge for the National Party to become a niche player in the system. He wants to become offensive to more and more people—“You offend everybody” according to Mr Williamson “because you want to focus only on those pure right-wingers who can fit in the phone booth near you for party meetings.” That is the kind of National Party that he wants—pure but small. Well ACT and New Zealand First already are that are they not so I do not know quite where they will fit in.  
However National does have Mr Brash. Mr Brash outlined his vision—and I stress those words “his vision”. He is a man who came on to the front bench of his party. He is its spokesperson on finance. He gives us “his” vision. He tells us what “he” personally thinks. We know that only he personally thinks it because as soon as he told us that the future was for unemployed people to have no dole but to line up at a post office if they can find it and work on a sort of “cash for service” basis getting paid off at night time going to the local government folks as an employer of last resort if they want to—time-limited benefits and the whole horrific scenario we thought we had got rid of around the world and in this country—Bill English and Katherine Rich said: ``Well it’s interesting but we’re not going to do it.” 
 Do those folks not talk to each other? Does the person who is the “Minister of Finance in waiting” he hopes not talk to anybody? Does he not have to say to Mrs Rich as the spokesperson on social services that: “By the way I intend to announce that we ought to have something like no dole.”? But she gets no say in it. What we are watching is a National Party in which no one leads or talks to each other and in which everybody has his or her own crackpot idea. No one is operating as a member of a team—and it is no wonder; they think we are a three-term Government! Mr Brash on the back of saying he wants those things today has to face the fact that there is a 4.9 percent unemployment rate in this country.  
Why do we not hear some policies from the National Party about growth jobs how to get skills how to get regions going and what to do with businesses? No National members want to spend their time bashing beneficiaries again. They say that beneficiaries vote for the Labour Party and will carry on doing so. Well hell they have just guaranteed that every single one of them will do that! Not only do we respect those people but we want to give them real opportunity—real jobs. The National Party will thank them by giving them work for the dole rather than committing to getting them real paying jobs so they can buy houses bring up their kids and have a future as New Zealanders should have. Mr Brash has just guaranteed us every single one of those votes in perpetuity by the thoughts he has raised.  
On this side of the House we have a very clear idea that we are a party for this nation and a Government for every single person who lives here. We do not want to be a niche player. We do not want to talk to just a few people who agree with our weird right-wing ideas as Mr Brash wants to. We want to represent this nation. We want every single New Zealander to achieve his or her potential. We stand for growth through innovation and a knowledge-based society where knowledge is used and applied in every aspect of our lives so that we have smart businesses families communities and individuals. That is how we will make our living prosper and afford social justice in this century. It is unequivocal and very clear. That is what we stand for. We have clear values: fairness tolerance respect and inclusiveness; recognition of tangata whenua as the first people of this land of families of whanau and of communities; and the wisdom of having strong public institutions and of working together as a nation to make the best of all our talents to give us the kind of future we want.  
We stand for a Government that gives practical strong and smart leadership. We will not wash our hands and walk away. We will not let the market decide everything in this society. We will provide a Government that gets its sleeves up goes out there and does things with New Zealanders. We believe that we can best be effective if we work with New Zealanders—with local government with Maori with Pacific Islanders with business and with students. We want partnerships. We do not want to be isolated. We do not want to do what Maurice Williamson says—offend everybody so we can be pure. We want to work with those groups to get the best for our country. We think that economic growth is great but it is not enough on its own. We want environmental sustainability and social justice in this country. Those words mean something to us. We are committed to every single person so he or she can achieve that kind of future and we welcome diversity.  
Mr Brash is here today. I say to him that members on this side of the House do not fear a debate about the treaty or any other aspect that might surround those kinds of issues because we are clear that we welcome diversity. We contrast ourselves with a party that is becoming so small-minded that only a few similar people can even fit into its vision of the future. We want diversity. We celebrate the differences between people and those people will share a future in this country because they are all New Zealanders and we respect what they have to bring to this country.  
This will be a great second term. I am enormously excited about the prospects of this Government being a three or four-term Government. We have a lot of work to do from building our cultural identity to getting our economy going to improving our security and to reducing inequality in this country. We have an agenda. What we know after today is that we are the only grouping in this Parliament that cares about this nation. We are a nation-building Government. Every other party—ACT New Zealand First National—is for the few. We are for the many.