Eckhoff Gerrard: Appropriation (2002/03 Supplementary Estimates) Bill — Second Reading Imprest Supply Debate 
Eckhoff Gerrard: Appropriation (2002/03 Supplementary Estimates) Bill — Second Reading Imprest Supply Debate 
[Volume:609;Page:6393] 
GERRARD ECKHOFF (ACT NZ) 
: 
 I listened with some incredulity to Mr Mark Peck that well-known cold-climate sex symbol from Invercargill criticise a colleague of mine for accepting a scholarship to London where she will be studying. She will be actually seeking knowledge. [ 
Interruption 
] Yes she is guilty of seeking knowledge overseas and yes she is guilty of having talent. That is something that Labour Party members need not concern themselves with. They need not worry about accepting a scholarship overseas or anywhere else. What a mean-spirited bunch they are to deny any person in this country the opportunity to go overseas and increase his or her knowledge base! What a pathetic speech Mark Peck delivered! 
In the short time I have I would like to talk briefly about a scoreline that this Labour Government knows nothing about. I give members the scoreline of Australia: it is 145 and New Zealand’s is 15. Does anybody in the Labour Government have any idea what I am talking about? Well they should because it is probably the single most important scoreline that will affect New Zealand for years and years to come. I refer to the number of trade negotiators. I think that even the Labour Government recognises the importance of trade. Australia has 145 full-time trade negotiators overseas doing the business for Australia—and what do we have? We have 15. I look at the supplementary estimates and I see—oh it is pathetic! Members will have to excuse my laughing. I would cry otherwise; it is so pathetic. We have a paltry $3.5 million to support the World Trade Organization negotiations. The Australians have 145 people full-time; we have 15 and we are increasing our expenditure by $3.5 million! It is so pathetic and it clearly shows to everybody in this country that nobody in this Labour Government understands the importance of the rural sector the manufacturing sector or the export sector of this country. It is just absolutely tragic. 
Let me ask the House this question: how much has the Prime Minister cost us in terms of trade with her gaffes over the last 3 or 4 months or so? How much have her gaffes cost us? It is very very clear that the Prime Minister’s heart is a long long way from her lips. What the Prime Minister says about positioning New Zealand in the top half of the OECD does not really matter to her because she knows that once she is done with the ordinary people of this country—[ 
Interruption 
] Yes she knows all about ordinary people as somebody observed a wee while ago. The Prime Minister has studied ordinary people. She has spent some time looking at ordinary people. 
One of the greatest problems this country has is the absolute refusal of this Government to understand the significance of the rural sector to this country. The Government has increased expenditure roughly speaking in the order of $13 million. Then it took it all back. It whacked the rural sector with an $8.5 million levy—which it said would never happen—on flatulent sheep and so on. No other country in the Southern Hemisphere has even considered doing something as dumb as that. The Government has whacked the productive sector yet again. That seems to be the only sort of philosophy this Government has. Accident compensation levies and occupational safety and health levies are all costing this country.