Dyson Ruth: General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeDyson Ruth: General Debate[Sitting date: 06 November 2013. Volume:694;Page:14414. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon RUTH DYSON (Labour—Port Hills): Can I begin by congratulating you Mr Speaker on your New York City Marathon run and by saying that it is an excellent example to the rest of the House. I want to acknowledge Tau Henare and all the rest of the 1993 intake for their 20-year anniversary today. It feels like just the other day that Tau and I were newbies in this House. I have stayed with the same party actually while I have been in the House because I backed a winner to start with. I did not need to change parties to stay in Parliament but I still acknowledge the 20-year contribution that Tau and others have made.I want to congratulate the Labour Party on showing its support for Canterbury by having its annual conference in Christchurch. When it was first suggested those of us from Canterbury took a bit of a deep breath and said: “Woah! This is a big ask. How is Canterbury going to cope with this? How will the Christchurch Labour team handle that?”. Of course we were worried frankly that not a lot of people would come to Canterbury. It is a lot easier for the majority of the population who live north of Hamilton to go to a conference in Auckland. We were overwhelmed by the number of delegates who came to our city. People came because they wanted to support Canterbury but actually I think there was another side. They came because they knew that this was going to be a weekend of exciting debate of fresh ideas and of a clear vision for an alternative to the current Government.We want a Government that is in touch with people and that understands the needs and aspirations of and the future chances for New Zealanders and we want a Government that will give every New Zealander a stake in that future. That is what Labour talked about on the weekend and that is what we want to deliver next year. The whole conference was so energising. We had some great debates. We always do. The media were not up to the bigger-picture issues. They just shared the more contentious I suppose issues with people but I know that the debates on the floor of our conference were challenging and exciting.It does put Labour in stark contrast with the current Government. We have seen so many examples of the out-of-touch and frankly arrogant performance of the John Key - led Government that people particularly in Canterbury but I know all over the country are really asking: “What does it take to make this Government connect with the people? What does it take to make it listen to the people? What does it take to make itunderstand?”. A recent example is Gerry Brownlee with a very very harsh report from the Auditor-General about the performance of the Earthquake Commission in Canterbury and Gerry Brownlee brushes it off. He says: “Oh everyone seems pretty happy.” Well he may not have been outside his own home in Christchurch because people are not happy with the performance of the Earthquake Commission and they are not happy with the performance of insurance companies. People are feeling threatened and bullied. They are being given low-ball offers and they feel as if they have very little alternative. They are feeling powerless against the weight of insurance companies.That is why people in our city were so excited at Labour’s proposal to have KiwiAssure an insurance company that puts people first that is service-focused and that says: “Our customers are the most important part of our business.” That is what we want in Canterbury. We are fed up with insurance companies that forget that we have paid premiums to them for years for cover. When we need that response from them we expect to get what we paid for. That is not what many people are getting. We want to make sure that the business of the insurance company is about the people and their needs. We have heard the criticism from the National Party and the insurance industry just the same way as we heard that very same criticism from the National Party and the banking sector when we proposed to introduce Kiwibank and what a success that has been. We need guarantees of security. We want a business that invests in New Zealand and New Zealanders first above profit. That is what KiwiAssure will do in the same way as Kiwibank has done.National wants to sell off the profitable industries that New Zealanders have built up. We want to invest in them for the future of New Zealand and for the future of New Zealanders. Thank you.