Hayes John: General Debate 
Hayes John: General Debate 
[Volume:672;Page:18344] 
JOHN HAYES (National—Wairarapa) 
: 
 I could not disagree more with that man who has just resumed his seat Keith Locke. I reflect on his associations previously through his family with Pol Pot and before that through his parents with Stalin and when I think about the torture and things that those people got into it is astonishing to hear those views expressed by him in the House this afternoon. 
Last week it poured in the region from Cape Kidnappers south to Porangahau. More than half a metre of rain fell in 48 hours. When the ground was absolutely saturated there was a 4.6 magnitude earthquake about 10 kilometres offshore. Those two events have caused huge damage to about 100 to 150 farms in my electorate and just north in Craig Foss’ electorate in Tukituki. Large sections of the hillside have absolutely fallen away and been stripped to expose underlying papa. It is a really serious problem now. Some farms have lost up to 60 percent of their pasture. It is a really distressing situation because those farmers have already endured three back-to-back droughts over the last 2½ years and just as summer and autumn had been quite kind and because of the Government’s policies prices for wool beef sheepmeat and dairy products were all restoring farmer confidence this event occurred. It was really bad timing because farmers were repaying debt and getting themselves reorganised and this destructive storm has seriously damaged between 100 and 150 farms. 
I particularly want to record my thanks the thanks of the farmers involved and the thanks of the Mayor of Central Hawke’s Bay District Peter Butler for the excellent work done by David Carter Minister of Agriculture in rearranging his programme last weekend so that on Saturday he was able to come and view the area and meet 35-odd farmers at Blackhead. That visit enabled us to establish first of all the farmers’ priorities. First we have to get stock out of the region; secondly we have to get grass seed and clover seed resown while that soil is really wet; and thirdly we have to get into things such as securing fencing getting Taskforce Green workers out there organising tax relief and organising other services provided by the rural support trust. The visit enabled me to establish direct communication lines with affected farmers. Having asked questions earlier today about rural broadband I now have a system set up so that I can communicate from here with those farmers back into the Minister’s office. It really highlighted for me and I am sure for the farmers involved the importance of rural broadband and of getting it up and running in rural New Zealand. 
When I think about the comments from Mr Goff today and the comments of some of his colleagues in the Labour caucus I think back to 2008 and the election when the Labour Government not being concerned about farmers decided that it would fork out $40 million to buy back St James Station in the South Island. Why would a Government spend $40 million on buying a farm that it already owned? The farm was a leasehold property. That was the sort of waste—absolute waste—that that Government engaged in which was why we inherited an economy that was in deep trouble. If we think about Helen Clark when she left this House we remember that she said that for her “the jewels in the crown” were the transfers of Molesworth Station and St James Station to the Department of Conservation. She talked about purchasing the pastoral lease. Well the pastoral lease we already owned. She was actually buying back the improvements and they were not worth $40 million. 
I have to say that the past 2½ years contrast very strongly with Labour’s previous track record going back many years even before the global recession hit of borrow and spend— 
Dr Cam Calder 
: And tax—don’t forget tax. 
JOHN HAYES 
: —oh borrow spend and tax. Quite right! Our current forecasts show that New Zealand’s external liabilities—that is what we owe to foreign leaders—have jumped to almost $250 billion. Why? Because of poor decision-making on the part of that Government.