Wilson Margaret: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Wilson Margaret: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Volume:615;Page:10889] 
Hon MARGARET WILSON (Attorney-General) 
: 
 This afternoon we are debating the Prime Minister’s statement to the House and the purpose of that statement is to foreshadow the work programme of the Government for the coming year. The statement is also an opportunity to illustrate the policy framework within which the Government is advancing its programme and the means through which it is achieving its primary goals of economic growth through innovation and social cohesion which can be implemented through an involvement of all the people in the decisions that affect them. So it is an opportunity for us to debate to reflect upon the programme that the Government has been advancing over the past 5 years and will continue to advance in the forthcoming year because of the success it has had so far. 
As the Prime Minister stated the Labour-led coalition has taken a longer-term strategic view on the reconstruction of New Zealand’s economic and social well-being. New Zealanders were sick and tired of the self-serving political decision-making of the late 1990s that placed self-interest of political parties ahead of the well-being of the country as a whole. This Government has provided not only purpose but also a firm direction on its core mission to build a confident and dynamic nation. We know that rhetoric and political stunts are no substitute for the serious business of Government. We also know that we cannot build an innovative growing smart economy that will deliver jobs and opportunity for all and higher standards of living unless we involve all the people who will be affected by those policies. 
That is why this Government is so different from those that preceded it—because it has engaged all sections of the community in that debate and discussion. We have done this through a variety of means. One example is partnerships with local government and local community organisations—consultation processes that not only see officials going out to talk to groups but involve Ministers meeting face to face in dialogue with all sections of the community. This does not mean that everyone agrees with the decisions that are made but at least it means that everyone knows why the decisions are made and the reasons for them. As the previous speaker said that has been a distinguishing feature of the Minister of Education—his willingness to engage face to face with the communities to explain why in the current review the well-being of all pupils in New Zealand is important. This is the reality of an open government policy. This is fundamental to the way in which this Government thinks that democratic government can be implemented in practice and not only in rhetoric. This Government respects and values people and recognises they must be part of those decisions that affect them. 
Our approach to responsible Government has produced results as can be seen by the fact that the Government is on track with its economic programme to meet the goal of lifting New Zealand into the first half of the OECD ranking. Last year our growth rate topped the OECD. The New Zealand economy has expanded for 13 consecutive quarters with gross domestic production up 3.9 percent in the last 12 months. Every region in New Zealand is experiencing growth. We see that as we travel around New Zealand. The villages and small communities that once looked depressed are now thriving with new enterprises starting and we can feel the sense of confidence in the future that people have. My own region of the Bay of Plenty has experienced a 3.6 percent increase in economic activity in the past 12 months. 
For me however the most important indicator that the Government’s policies are working has been the dramatic decline in unemployment. Not being in paid employment has left many people without hope in the future or any ability to improve their economic and social well-being. That decline has been I believe the distinguishing feature of the success of the Government’s policies. 
And we have achieved that success in reducing unemployment at a time when we are also experiencing amongst the lowest number of work stoppages on record. Normally in periods of high employment and low unemployment we get an increase in strike activity. That has not been the case in this country simply because we have put in place an employment relations framework that is based on good-faith bargaining and negotiations and that has a much more rational approach to the well-being of not only employees but employers so that we can all benefit from the economic growth that we are now experiencing. 
We also see the success of that policy which has been much derided by the Opposition and its political lobbyists in the fact that average weekly earnings are up from $668 in 1999 to $752 today. Although we have experienced that deriding and continue to do so we cannot ignore the fact—neither can the Opposition—that these policies have been succeeding. 
We hear much about compliance costs which members opposite have heard are being experienced yet that does not equate with the facts. The facts are that in the period since the Employment Relations Act has been in force there have been over 25000 applications for mediation and 80 percent of those have been resolved in 8 weeks. But what is more significant on the compliance cost issue is that we have seen a halving in the number of cases that have gone to the Employment Court. This not only has saved time and expense for employers and employees but also has introduced a level of certainty into the relationship. All of this has been against a background also where we have seen the birth of small to medium enterprises exceed the death rate of those enterprises and that shows that there is certainly a confidence amongst people within New Zealand to be able to start small businesses and to have a go in ensuring that they also can benefit from the economic success that the Government is providing. 
What Government policies are doing in effect is provide an environment where the value of labour is at long last being recognised. This is not only because it is the humane and decent approach to take but also because it recognises that New Zealand is facing as is the rest of the world a labour shortage particularly a skilled-labour shortage. We as a Government have been preparing for that future. We have been doing that by increasing the skill base through both our education policies and the apprenticeship programmes and also through the practical steps we have been taking to encourage people into those sectors of the economy where skills are needed and we have been doing it through a sensible innovative immigration policy as well. We are also doing it by facing reality and through hard work to ensure that we can face the future with confidence. It is the economic base that then enables us to go on and provide the social cohesion that must accompany any economic programme. That social cohesion is based upon the valuing of people no matter what their position is—no matter what their gender their ethnicity or the region they come from. No matter where they are and what they are doing everyone in this country is valued and important. 
That has been the basis of how we are building the nation that the Prime Minister foreshadowed in her statement to Parliament. They are the programmes we will continue to do despite the distractions that are created by Opposition parties in order to get attention. That is not what New Zealanders want; they want the sort of economy and social cohesion that this Government is producing through the policies it is pursuing and it will steadfastly do that because we have a vision for the long term not the short term.