Fenton Darien: General Debate 
Fenton Darien: General Debate 
[Volume:634;Page:5649] 
DARIEN FENTON (Labour) 
: 
 For the listening audience this is a new back-bencher speaking. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: The member must speak to the Chamber through the Speaker not to the audience. 
DARIEN FENTON 
: I have been a member of this House as a Labour MP for nearly a year. It is a privilege to be an MP and it does not hurt to remind all the members in this House of that fact from time to time. But the greatest privilege for me is being part of a Labour-led Government that is delivering for ordinary working families—despite the invective we have heard for weeks and weeks which has so appalled the nation. The things that I particularly celebrate are those things that make the biggest difference to the people whom I have worked for for the last 15 years. 
They include the Employment Relations Amendment Act whereby vulnerable workers no longer have to worry about going to work only to lose their jobs the next day and Working for Families which is one of the greatest most significant poverty-reduction measures taken in decades with tax relief going where it should be going—to working families who are working to raise the next generation. There is KiwiSaver which is a very exciting venture whereby superannuation will be on the agenda in many workplaces for people who in the past could only dream of it. Savings will become a topic for discussion in every workplace now where before only those with real bargaining power were able to have a meaningful dialogue about superannuation contributions. 
We all know about the jobs. We all know about the unemployment rate. We know that our kids have a hope of finding decent work now and that they will not languish in the unemployment queue like they used to. We also know about the 10000 Modern Apprenticeships and the record numbers in industry training where workers now have a real chance to have their skills recognised. The removal of interest on student loans has made a huge difference to ordinary working families particularly those on modest incomes. It puts tertiary study within the reach of those people. And just this week there was the announcement of a 4 percent increase in the average weekly incomes of New Zealanders which goes along with the significant increases in the minimum wage during the time of the Labour-led Government. It is those things that people talk to me about when I am out and about and those are the things that count for people—not the incessant witch-hunt being conducted by National and its weird friends. 
It must be quite depressing to be in a party that is in total disarray. National has no unity around its leader. The plotting goes on and meanwhile that “man alone” Dr Don Brash continues to divide. The latest attempt to write off Maori and reinvent Orewa I is insulting and offensive. It is a disgrace! 
It must be particularly depressing for those members on the opposite side with naked and frustrated leadership ambitions like Simon Power—the man who was promoted by a demotion. Where does he line up? Well we know where he lines up on foreign affairs. It is called follow the US and Britain and follow them blindly wherever they go. From the Government side of the House it is very hard to know what that member stands for other than standing for Simon Power. And who would be a good running mate for Simon Power? How about Dr Lockwood Smith? They have a lot in common. They have both been demoted by Dr Brash and both—as the late great David Lange would have said—have uranium on their breath. That member wanted a US thinktank to help manipulate Kiwi opinion on our nuclear-free status. What a pair they would make! 
I am really glad to be part of a Government that is united around our leader and focused because in the end it is deeds not words that people judge us by. In my first year of work as a Labour MP I see the difference that the policies of the Labour-led Government are making and I see the difference with a Government that values all communities and all peoples. This is a country of good people. It is a country going forward under this Government because Labour is getting on with the things that matter. The people know it communities show it and society is going for it.