Goudie Sandra: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Goudie Sandra: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Volume:660;Page:8705] 
SANDRA GOUDIE (National—Coromandel) 
: 
 As I have often said the Opposition could not manage a piggy bank let alone anything else. I think the New Zealand public have said loud and clear that they could not have wished for anyone better than John Key and Bill English to dig them out of the hole that this country was rapidly falling into because of the Labour Government’s totally ineffectual leadership and management and its complete overspend of every single hard-earned taxpayer dollar. 
John Key has heralded a sea change. It is a new era that is positive pragmatic financially astute and dedicated to getting New Zealand back on its feet. National members care far too much to have allowed the suffering at the hands of members opposite to continue. We are determined to lift New Zealand’s productivity and economic growth as we continue to fulfil all the pledges we have made to New Zealanders. Our economic policies are aimed at shifting the economy towards exports and productive investment and away from consumption and borrowing. More exports and productive investment and less consumption and borrowing will make the difference and will also provide the jobs that keep our people employed. 
I will go over a few of the things that we have achieved in the short time that we have been in office. They far outstrip anything that Labour did during the whole of its 9 years—its very unfortunate 9 years—with its profligate waste. So what have we achieved? We have clamped down on gangs and P. We have taken action on violent crime including introducing tougher sentences for crimes against children giving the police the power to DNA test offenders arrested for imprisonable offences and putting in place stronger bail laws. We have boosted police funding and powers including providing $200 million for 600 extra police. We have passed anti-boy-racing laws which include the ability to crush the cars of repeat street-racing offenders. 
We have approved the roll-out of 720 Tasers to front-line police which will get under way this year. That is long overdue. Members will recall that the previous Government passed the buck about making a decision on Tasers. It could not make simple decisions that would have made a big difference in saving the lives of and giving some protection to our front-line police. It just could not do it. The National Government has no problem with making good solid decisions protecting and supporting our front-line police and getting the job done. And the police know that. They know that we have got their backs. 
We have passed laws that put victims first with on-the-spot protection orders and a victims’ levy and the Fresh Start programme for young offenders with its initiatives and programmes to steer young people away from a life of crime. Paula Bennett an excellent Minister is dedicated to that programme. It includes $72.4 million over 4 years for new youth justice initiatives. 
Our focus this year in terms of justice and youth crime is to reform the criminal justice system by improving legal aid court processes and victim treatment and to pass the Sentencing and Parole Reform Bill with its “three strikes” policy for the worst violent criminals. It will be interesting to see whether Labour once again passes the buck on that one. That bill is designed to provide appropriate consequences for offenders and ultimately to help New Zealanders to feel safer in their homes their streets and their neighbourhoods. We will reform the liquor licensing laws—something that was left to languish by the previous Government—with the purpose of reducing the crime and harm caused by binge drinking by reducing the number of liquor outlets in our communities. We will also pass the Fresh Start legislation with its new Youth Court orders and youth programmes to ensure that fewer young people embark on a life of crime. This initiative will be supported by a range of programmes and interventions. We will continue to support the police to develop new proactive crime prevention strategies expanding and intensifying the results demonstrated by new approaches in Counties-Manukau. 
We will roll out a new public-private partnership model for our prisons to bring innovation and fresh ideas to our prison system. But of course the Opposition does not support that idea. Those members do not have any fresh ideas so I ask how they could support the fresh ideas of anybody else. They do not have any innovation so they do not support innovation put forward by anybody else. We will boost prison capacity with container cells and double-bunking and I think that is another great initiative. So much was not done by the previous Government. In fact it made things worse. We all know that because of what it did to the bail laws. Those changes got people out of prisons early which meant that other members of the community were put in harm’s way. 
One thing that is very dear to my heart is tourism. I am delighted that tourism is one of the focuses of the current Government. It is one of New Zealand’s key export industries. What is more a strong tourism brand enhances New Zealand’s profile and benefits other exporters not just the tourism industry. Last year the Government boosted by $20 million the funding available to market New Zealand as a tourism destination and a number of new campaigns are being rolled out this year in key markets such as Australia the United States and China. We had up to a million Australian visitors during the previous year as Australians looked to travelling closer to home and that was absolutely fantastic. 
We also have the wonderfully successful 2011 Rugby World Cup tournament coming up. It is a priority for this Government. Ministers have ambitious programmes not only to ensure that the tournament is a success but also to maximise the wider benefits to New Zealand in terms of jobs and growth. That is why the Rugby World Cup website is such a great initiative; people can go on to that website and log their services accommodation or whatever else they might want to offer to overseas visitors. It is really important that people take up that opportunity. 
I digress for a moment to mention another tourism initiative. It is one of many that are happening around this country where communities get together and through a lot of hard work and voluntary effort create events. The Whangamata Beach Hop involves over 2000 pre-1970s vehicles. Up to 30000 people go to Whangamata for 4 or 5 days to look at all the magnificent cars. I defy anyone not to be impressed by that incredible event. In April there is the Festival of Speed in Whitianga. A boat races against a car and a helicopter. What could be better fun than that? It is fantastic. And there is drag racing with a difference: they do not use cars. Communities make a huge effort to get those sorts of festivals rolling in order to entice visitors and give them an experience they will never forget and will come back for. Those sorts of initiatives support our tourism industry support Tourism New Zealand and bring people to our communities. They bring visitors to New Zealand. That is how we will get back some of our productivity—through our tourism industry. 
I am delighted at the vision and the focus of this current Government. That is what will take New Zealand forward. It certainly will not happen through anything the Opposition has to offer.