Moroney Sue: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Moroney Sue: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Volume:637;Page:7308] 
SUE MORONEY (Labour) 
: 
 Well today has been all about leadership. It has been no contest really because the woman who does not need to prove that she is a world leader a leader of world quality Helen Clark just proved it yet again with her speech to the House today. Helen Clark continues to lead from the front. She leads from the front because she does it decisively and she does it with principle. Once again that was proven. She talked about the substantial gains that New Zealand has already made but is she resting on her laurels? Is this Government resting on its laurels because substantial gains have been made? No way because we are setting our sights on new goals. We have new targets to set. 
One of those targets is about environmental sustainability. That is right it is about environmental sustainability. If we talk to anyone out on the streets in New Zealand they will say that that is a key issue for them. The Government of course will lead by example. Yes it is the public service that will in a world-leading move ensure that the 39 core public service departments will begin immediate work to achieve carbon neutrality. That is part of a Labour-led Government’s push towards sustainability. The Government will also lead in buying eco-friendly goods and services. Businesses that provide sustainable goods and services will be the winners in this campaign. And yes the Government will lead by example in ensuring that ministerial cars will meet tougher emission standards. So the Government is leading from the front—that is leading by example. 
Helen Clark outlined two other key areas today—challenges that we have to ensure we can sustain family and community living standards. An example of that was the announcement we have coming up on 1 July that will ensure all 25 to 44-year-olds will have lower doctors’ fees. It will complete the coverage of lower doctors’ fees for all age groups in New Zealand. The third area Helen Clark outlined was a programme to sustain our unique culture our values and yes our national identity. 
Here is why only Labour can deliver on these goals. Helen Clark said that delivering on these goals requires “smart active Government working with key stakeholders across the economy and society”. Labour has proven time and time again that it is the Labour Government that can actually do that. If one is looking for smart active Government then one must look to this side of the House. 
We are looking at leadership today. By contrast what was the swaggering best-man-at-the-wedding-type speech about from John Key? Would anyone buy a second-hand car from that man let alone let him run our precious country? He talked about stripteases in his speech. He treated climate change with derision. Then he showed his contempt for New Zealand families and this is how he showed that contempt. 
This year Labour introduces 20 hours of free early childhood education for all 3 and 4-year-olds. What was John Key’s response to this policy in his speech? Well there was a kind of gloating response where he hoped that the providers would not buy into that scheme. He was egging on providers to reject the 20 hours of free early childhood education. So what does he have against women? What does he have against hard-working families? What he was trying to bring on with that speech was to ensure that hard-working families do not get 20 hours of free early childhood education. Lots of people came up to me over the summer adjournment and talked about how important that 20 hours of free early childhood education will be to them. Families have told me that it will improve their income by $120 or $150 a week—and these are people with just one child for whom those 20 hours will be available. 
I welcome the new member for the National Party Katrina Shanks. She adds to the number of women in this Parliament. But please could she do something with her leader because the other women in her caucus have not been able to. She should talk to him about why he should not be using language like “striptease” in his speech and why he should not egg on providers to not give women 20 hours of free early childhood education. These are some of the issues that the women in the National Party really need to start talking to their leader about because it is not working. New Zealand families will come to understand very quickly how much John Key wants to ensure that they do not get those benefits. 
Then there was the strange debacle with Mr Key and the Maori Party earlier this year whereby Maori Party members seemed genuinely to understand that John Key had told them that National would keep the Maori seats intact. Well they were wrong. When Mr Key was asked by the media why he had flip-flopped on his position on this matter he said simply that he was trying to be polite when he talked with Maori Party members. Perhaps that is why they got the wrong impression of what he really meant to say—because he was just being polite. New Zealand voters should remember this. When they hear what they think Mr Key is telling them he wants to deliver perhaps that is just John Key being polite. Perhaps he is telling that audience what he thinks it wants to hear. 
It is interesting; my colleague Lianne Dalziel was talking about the aspirations of the deputy leader Bill English. I had the opportunity again over the summer adjournment to share a platform with the Hon Bill English. It was at the Parachute festival at Hamilton in the Waikato. We were on a platform in front of about 3000 people—a huge number of people to whom I thought Mr English could have espoused the treasures of his new leader. He should have been promoting his new leader. I was looking forward to hearing what he would be saying about Mr Key. Not one word did he utter to that audience of 3000 people about the new leader John Key. He never mentioned Mr Key’s name once. What he did talk to them about was his own member’s bill. He thought that bill was the best thing he could promote to that audience of 3000—not his own new leader. 
There are no policies coming out from the National Party and again with Mr Key’s speech that was clearly obvious—not one policy. Anyone reading  
The Hollow Men 
 over the summer adjournment will understand why. Clearly with the rifts and divisions in the National Party caucus those members simply cannot agree on any policy. So their strategy is to have as little policy as possible and no discussion because that would expose the rifts. In any case they know that if the New Zealand public knew what they really wanted to deliver they would be unelectable. So their strategy is: “Please say anything but no policy.” 
I will finish with a story that I think shows the key differences between the Labour Government and what the National Party wants to offer this country. 
Chris Tremain 
: Is it about racehorses? 
SUE MORONEY 
: No it is not about racehorses but that is a good story in itself because the Labour Government has done much more for the racing industry than the National Government ever did. But this story is about Waharoa a mainly Maori community just north of Matamata. During the reign of the last National Government I was part of a group of people who formed a human ring of protection around State houses there to stop them being picked up in the middle of the night as was happening and being shipped up to properties in Auckland—they were State houses—so the Government could charge higher market rents for them. State houses were being taken out of poor communities and shipped up to Auckland in order to make money at market rates. 
But here is the good news. Under this Labour Government new State houses are being built on those same bare sections where National got away with lifting State houses and taking them to Auckland. That is the difference between the two parties in Government. That is a story of success and it is making a real difference in this country.