Hide Rodney: Adjournment — Sittings of the House 
Hide Rodney: Adjournment — Sittings of the House 
[Volume:651;Page:1028] 
Hon RODNEY HIDE (Leader—ACT) 
: 
 Merry Christmas everyone. 
Hon Parekura Horomia 
: Where’s your jacket? 
Hon RODNEY HIDE 
: Sadly the police have it and are doing forensics on it as we speak; so merry Christmas everyone. It is a very special time of year because we who are fortunate enough to now have a break and spend time with our family and our friends get to value it but we also get reminded about what a wonderful country we live in. We get to reflect on the past year and for each of us and for our country on the year ahead. It is interesting also even in the context of this debate and of the election campaign when we reflect on the arguments and the debates that we have that it is easy to focus on what divides us. But when one looks across New Zealand including New Zealand politics what we agree on is far greater than what we disagree about. It is well to remind ourselves in New Zealand how much we share a view of our country what is important and what we need to achieve. Of course there is a political debate about how best to go about that and we are so lucky to live in a democracy where we can actually have that debate out in the open and let the people of New Zealand decide on that every 3 years. 
I particularly congratulate all the new MPs. Yes I thought the 13 new Labour MPs were fantastic in their maiden speeches but I thought all new MPs gave outstanding speeches. They are in a funny place and they will be able to reflect over Christmas on what they are in for. I wish each and every one a fabulous year next year because they are very privileged to be parliamentarians on whatever side of the House they are on. 
I particularly again acknowledge the Rt Hon Helen Clark and Michael Cullen. I think we should respect people who attain high office in New Zealand and who have done so for so many years. We had a lot of disagreements about policy decisions but never about their commitment to New Zealand or indeed their intelligence or ability to work hard. I wish them a good break and also congratulate Annette King and Phil Goff on assuming the leadership. I think they showed us in our Parliament and in our politics how these transitions can occur with dignity and with a sense of renewal for the Labour Party. I wish them—well not too much success—a good break. It is important as Phil Goff often remarked in the House that we have a good robust Parliament. So I wish them success in Opposition in order to test the Government in every way. 
Mr Speaker I wish you every success. I think your job will be a challenging one—it always is. The Speaker sets largely the personality of Parliament and makes such a difference to the way Parliament acts the dignity with which our Parliament operates and indeed the way in which New Zealanders reflect on our Parliament. We have been fortunate with Speakers past and I think we will be fortunate with you sir. I wish you and your team a very very merry Christmas. We look forward to working with you in the new year. 
This year has been John Key’s year and the National Party’s year. They came through with a fantastic election campaign and election result and I think they have made a good start—an excellent start—as the new Government. Also due to the nature of MMP they have support parties: the Maori Party United Future and the ACT Party. So far it has been an interesting and a positive experience to work with the different political parties. I think National has learnt from Labour about MMP and about how one needs to work with the other parties in order to get a good result to hold and to have a stable and secure Government. John Key and his team have learnt that indeed from Helen Clark and Michael Cullen. 
I wish the Greens well. It must be disappointing that yes they did well but again they did not quite make it to Government. I tell them not to worry—we know how that feels. I look forward again to working with the Green Party along with the other parties in order to get a better result. I look across particularly to my friend Keith Locke. We have done a lot of work together in Epsom and long may that continue. 
Looking ahead to next year New Zealand confronts some economic challenges. As New Zealanders we all wish the best for the country. We will have some robust debates about the best way forward and that is as it should be. 
It is important for the new Government that we have set a target to close the income gap with Australia by 2025 and to have a productivity growth of 3 percent per year. That is a big stretch but it is clear that we have set a goal which is to bake a bigger cake and to achieve prosperity. The question I will ask when we are looking at whether policies are a good idea or a bad idea is: will they make the waka go faster? Will they actually expand the cake or will they make it smaller? That is a good first question that we should ask ourselves of what we recommend: will it actually help New Zealanders prosper and succeed in the world or will it hold us back? Clearly there is much to do. 
We all have an interest in local government. The royal commission will be reporting—that was something the Labour Government set up—and that will be a challenge for us for Auckland for Parliament and for me as Minister of Local Government. I look forward to reaching across the House and talking about the results of the royal commission and trying to make Auckland work not only for the good of Auckland but also for the good of New Zealand. Again I think we all have an interest in local government that works and works well. 
Funnily enough we also largely have agreement—although we might debate this about particular legislation—about the need for good legislation and agree that often in the past we have not done as well as we might have. In fact with my Regulatory Responsibility Bill the best help I got was actually from— 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: What about the last 2 weeks? 
Hon RODNEY HIDE 
: Sorry? 
Hon Ruth Dyson 
: You didn’t start very well in the last 2 weeks. Where were the regulatory impact reports? 
Hon RODNEY HIDE 
: Well it is interesting to ask about the regulatory responsibility reports. I was quite interested in getting one on the emissions trading scheme which we never saw—I never saw it. So we have all been guilty of this. 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: Well you’re the Minister. 
Hon RODNEY HIDE 
: Clayton Cosgrove calls out that I am the Minister. He is actually right: he is not the Minister. I thank Labour for the help I got at the Commerce Committee in considering this issue and for the recommendation from National and Labour to set up a task force. Again it must be in our best interests to provide if we can a better framework for the making of laws and regulations in New Zealand. It would be great if we could work as a Parliament in order to get a better result. I think we can do better and I am not pretending that we have all the answers. I think that as a Parliament we can work towards that. 
As is traditional I thank all the people who work in Parliament. There is almost an army that is silently and politely looking after us. I particularly thank of course the ACT team. It has been a challenge for our staff to move into Government and get up to speed with the processes and systems we need to be in Government. We have not found that easy but we have been blessed with some staff who were trained by the previous Government. I thank Dr Cullen for that; he did a good job. 
I also acknowledge and thank all the candidates who stood for the ACT Party in the 2008 election. It is very selfless to stand for a political party with no hope of getting elected but simply to fly the flag because one believes in the cause. I think that is also true for the Maori Party and for the Green Party particularly because we are smaller parties in our representation but we put up a lot of candidates who stand for what they believe in. They know they do not have a chance of getting into Parliament. I certainly thank them and all our members and supporters. 
Let us hope that all of New Zealand has a great Christmas and a safe one. We recognise that yes we face tough economic times. But is it not amazing at this time of year to reflect on the fact that all the things we really cherish at Christmas time are actually not about money but about family friends and a wonderful country that we live in and share? We truly are blessed. 
I also address the gallery to wish all the journalists a merry Christmas. The party that the press gallery put on last night was a bit quiet but I think that might have been a consequence of TV3’s broadcasting tapes that were made secretly of MPs at a party. It has had a chilling effect on nights out! But to all the journalists who are eagerly up there reporting our speeches I say merry Christmas. Thank you very much.