Parata Hekia: General Debate 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Parata Hekia: General Debate 
[Sitting date: 18 August 2010. Volume:665;Page:13239. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
HEKIA PARATA (National) 
: 
 Members on this side of the House have a plan unlike members opposite who think that if they keep repeating their rhetoric that there is no plan somehow that makes it true but it does not. This side of the House is committed to delivering action and people from Porirua to Paraparaumu understand that plan. 
This very morning I was at the Porirua Chamber of Commerce. They cannot wait for 1 October. They want to see personal tax rates go down. They welcome the fact that the lowest two tax brackets will get the most out of that. The people of Porirua welcome the fact that they get to keep more in their pockets and that they have a Government that understands that they need incentives to get out there and work. Businesses out there are absolutely delighted that the company tax rate is going down because it gives them the opportunity to have confidence in themselves to expand their businesses and employ people. 
Let me tell members another thing. Last weekend I was at a business in Tawa. It welcomed the 90-day hire-at-will bill that we have brought in because it gives businesses the opportunity to take a risk on young people. Members opposite want to wallow in unemployment and spread gloom and doom but let me tell them that businesses in Tawa and Raumati welcome the opportunity to take a risk on young people in the Mana electorate. Those businesses are committed to giving young people the opportunity for work and they get that opportunity because this Government backs them. We are also lowering personal tax rates and company tax rates. 
We recognise that lifting education is part and parcel of this opportunity. In the Mana electorate we have a much lower achievement rate than that of the nationwide average. Nationally four out of five secondary schools are succeeding. Two of our secondary schools Tawa College and Kapiti College are above the national average but four of them are not quite there. They understand that this Government is serious about lifting educational achievement instead of wringing its hands printing more reports and feeling anxious about the lack of achievement that a decade of the previous Labour Government’s administration delivered to New Zealand students. 
We are investing $91.8 million in early childhood education as announced in the Budget. We recognise that participation rates for Maori and Pacific Island students have to be lifted and Porirua and the Mana electorate will benefit from that investment. 
We recognise that national standards will catch early the fact that primary school students are not achieving the literacy and numeracy competence level they need to in order to ensure that when they arrive at high school they have the best possible chance to leave with National Certificate of Educational Achievement level 2. They can then go on to tertiary education or a trade and have a real opportunity at a career unlike the myths perpetuated by Opposition members. 
We understand that better smarter public services have to be available and we are passing a work-ready welfare reform. Unlike members opposite we do not want to consign people to a lifelong dependence on benefits. We understand that people want to take responsibility for their own lives. We are putting in place reasonable welfare reforms to ensure that people get ready for work but will not be punished if they are unable to find it. It is scurrilous that members opposite say that somehow this Government does not care about those who are least able to look after themselves. That is utter rubbish. 
We understand that boosting infrastructure is part of our plan to get this country on to a long-term sustainable future. We have just heard the Minister of Transport Steven Joyce talk about the significant investment we are making in roading. We welcome that a decision was made about Transmission Gully. It was another example of members opposite wringing their hands and saying “Oh my goodness! We need another 20 years of reports.” This Government was in office for something like 9 months when it made a decision on Transmission Gully and allocated the money and plans are roaring ahead. 
We understand that broadband is the platform on which not only education but also the economy swoop into the 21st century and the people of Mana welcome that as well. 
We understand that cutting red tape and regulation will facilitate businesses to grow. We understand that and we have put in place reviews to ensure that the complicated red tape and bureaucracy that members opposite absolutely adored is unnecessary.