Ryall Tony: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Ryall Tony: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Volume:660;Page:8998] 
Hon TONY RYALL (Minister of Health) 
: 
 It is a great privilege for me to stand in the House today to support the Prime Minister’s statement and the tremendous leadership he is providing for New Zealand. It was a statement that showed the failed policies of the past and of the previous Labour Government. That Government cannot be remembered for anything other than its members who squandered the best years this country has seen for many many years. When the members of the previous Government had an opportunity to invest in putting more money in peoples’ pockets through tax reductions to reward New Zealanders for their hard work they said no. When they had an opportunity to improve the standards in New Zealand schools they said no. They had some pin badges which they put out. Did those badges say “Wassup!”? That was their education policy. 
I tell members to know that this Government has an education policy that is being rolled across this country with great support from parents and right-thinking teachers with 74 percent of New Zealanders backing national standards. Those 74 percent of New Zealanders are backing national standards because they know we have to do more for the one in five kids who are leaving school unable to read or write. That is not good enough. It is good that we have strong support across the country. The unions and the media can beat it up as much as they like but in the end parents know that they should have the information on how well their children are doing. The Minister of Education Anne Tolley will provide them with Plunket book - type charts to show parents how well their kids are doing and what they need to do to work with their teacher to help their children get ahead. We are totally in support of that. 
I also back the Prime Minister when he talked about the need for a growth-enhancing New Zealand tax system. We simply have to do more to create incentives for people to work hard improve their skills and get ahead to encourage and boost productivity and to be fair to all New Zealanders. The Prime Minister has been very clear. This Government is considering a tax switch to get this economy moving further ahead from what we inherited from the previous Government. How many people here know that the statistics that crowd over there used to justify their growth all had to be changed? How many people here know that the Minister of Finance has revealed that there were revisions to official statistics issued late last year? They showed that in the last 3 years of the failed previous Labour Government before the impact of the global financial crisis our economy grew by less than 1 percent a year. The previous Government members did not tell New Zealand that before the election did they? They did not tell New Zealand how they were wasting the best years in a generation. We say to New Zealanders that our Prime Minister has set out a comprehensive plan of work that this Government will do to improve public services in New Zealand move resources from the back office to the front line and provide a safer smarter and healthier New Zealand. 
Judith Collins is providing strong leadership in a portfolio area that lacked leadership for 9 years. When we needed a tougher approach in our prisons and stronger support for the police who did we get? 
Hon Members 
: Who? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: George Hawkins Damien O’Connor and Phil Goff. That is all the previous Government could provide. Judith Collins has delivered more police into South Auckland a focus on the crimes that matter and a much tougher penal system in New Zealand which sends a clearer message to the criminal element that this Government will deal with them. 
This is also a Government that has capped the Public Service. The core Public Service grew by almost 50 percent in the 9 years of the previous Labour Government. It grew by 5 percent a year year on year and that meant more growth in bureaucracy policy analysts and officials in Wellington and less service for the public. It is part of our responsibility to have the Public Service backing the economic recovery New Zealanders need. We have capped the growth in the core Public Service. That is a major achievement by this Government. We have capped the growth but at the same time we have moved a lot of extra resources into improving front-line services. There are more front-line people at the desks in the police in the prison service in Child Youth and Family and in our various Work and Income offices which are providing support for beneficiaries. We are lifting the quality of the public services we inherited. 
Goodness would it not have been easier to be in Government when members opposite were when there was more and more money every year? They had billions of dollars extra every year and still they could not deliver the quality public services that New Zealanders needed. More money was going into the health service year on year but fewer people were getting the care they needed. More and more money went into bureaucracy and less and less money went into the front-line services that back New Zealanders. 
While we are talking about backing New Zealanders I ask members about encouraging innovation. The Minister of Research Science and Technology is doing great work to invest in research science and technology and to roll out the Primary Growth Partnership. I think that is superb. There are real opportunities there for New Zealand. As for infrastructure the Minister of Finance was in Auckland today and will be again tomorrow with the Minister of Education talking about what this Government is doing for strong investment in our infrastructure. The previous Government talked about it for 9 years. Do members remember all the strategies plans and directions? Annette King was launching a new road plan every 5 minutes but never a new road— 
Hon Phil Heatley 
: A paper road! 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: That is right—Annette King and her paper roads. We have started large new State highway programmes in Christchurch the Waikato and Auckland. We have made real progress on Auckland’s rail network. There is the $1.5 million investment in ultra-fast broadband. We have made a huge investment in schools. The Minister of Education Anne Tolley is putting tens of millions of dollars into building new schools in our communities that the party opposite never would. This Government is also putting millions and millions of dollars more into building our health infrastructure in New Zealand and making sure we back it with the improved quality services that New Zealanders want. 
The difficulty we inherited from the previous Government is appalling but this Government is determined to make the changes we need to get this country moving. People should be confident that the leadership of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance and the strong support of the parties that support National are delivering New Zealanders the future they deserve. 
I think the Minister of Education was right. I do not think the Labour Party lives in the real world. Trevor Mallard lectures the Parliament on education. He does not realise that when he was last a teacher 26 years ago education was different. It has moved on from when he was a teacher 26 years ago when he first came to Parliament. Times have changed and parents have higher expectations of the schools than when Trevor Mallard was there. It is 26 years since he was last in front of a classroom. Children want to learn and that is why we have our national standards policy and our Youth Guarantee. It is a huge investment in education for New Zealand. 
The Prime Minister is providing the leadership that this country needs. Members of the party opposite who as has been said are struggling with relevance deprivation syndrome will continue to grasp at straws and lose every opportunity they have to show New Zealand that they could once again be in a Government of this country. Chances are they are still a very long way away from that opportunity.