Brownlee Gerry; Borrows ChesterDEBATE ON PRIME MINISTER'S STATEMENTDebate resumed from 8 February.Hon GERRY BROWNLEE (Minister supporting Greater Christchurch Regeneration): I rise to support the motion of confidence in the National-led Government moved by the Rt Hon Bill English and to debate strenuously and of course oppose the amendment moved by Mr Andrew Little.It is ironic given that the Prime Minister of the nation not only can deliver a state of the nation speech some days ahead of Parliament opening that was chock full of policy and in particular focused on the issue of law and order in New Zealand; can come into this House at the start of the parliamentary year having successfully negotiated his way through some of the difficulties that have in the past appeared at Rātana where he was able to congenially meet with those people and have recognised the enormous progress that this Government has delivered for Māori throughout New Zealand; and can then have a very successful Waitangi Day spent with Ngāti Whātua in Auckland to find that the Leader of the Opposition who gave a state of the nation speech with no policy in it went to Waitangi to say that he was sorry he turned up and went to Rātana to say I'm pleased I turned up." and nothing more—no policy anywhere at any point—then gave a response to the Prime Minister's policy statement with again no policy but a simple claim that he was a messiah a better leader for this country and that that is why voters should support him and his Green colleagues in the Labour-Green coalition.Mr Little is no messiah. I have got to say that if his idea of presenting a clean new interesting alternative to the country is to bring back Willie Jackson and Laila Harré then he is sadly deluded. Those are two individuals who have destroyed parties one after the other. The Alliance fell apart because of Willie Jackson and Laila Harré. The far left of politics could not hold itself together with those people and now they are being brought into a supposedly centrist Labour-Green coalition.Well leadership also requires that you talk to people at various times discuss things persuade them and get them on your side. I have not heard those persuasive comments coming from David Parker or from Sue Moroney or from Megan Woods or from Rino Tirikatene. All of them are in big electoral trouble and are now being pushed further down the list by—Rino Tirikatene: Ha ha!Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: Mr Tirikatene over there he laughs. Right? That is because he does not get the polling data that shows him what a terrible state he is in; if he did he would probably read it upside down and think it was actually the opposite result. I have got to say too that in Wigram Megan Woods poor thing is in deep trouble. National has a candidate there who is out there right now and do you know what he is doing? He is knocking on every door in that electorate one after the other. What is he hearing? What is he hearing? "Who did you say is our MP?". He says "It's Megan Woods." and they say: "Oh we thought it was Jim Anderton." So there is another one down the tube.The real point though is that here we have loyal Labour Party members who toil away in this House—well actually they turn up in this House—and then they are just summarily dismissed for the flash boy Willie and the destructive Laila. It is a terrible situation and I do feel some sympathy for them. But now I understand why Jacinda Ardern who of course we all know has been considering her political future bolted for Mt Albert to sort of shelter from the storm that she knows is coming.When you have a state of the nation speech that focuses on the problem of law and order and delivers 880 new police—sworn officers—over the next 4 years which takes the increase in police staff to 1125 over that same period of time you know that there is a Government that is in tune with the needs of New Zealanders. It is recognising what sort of a proportional response you need to the growing population and to the various aspects of criminal activity in this country.It was very interesting today in the House to learn that New Zealand First does not support Police autonomy. It does not support Police autonomy. When the Minister of Police said that it was up to Police to identify where it needs to surge its staff to fight crime Ron Mark said: "No I should be doing it." Well I do not think that Mr Mark is going to get that opportunity but it will be interesting for us to explain to people on the stump that if New Zealand First gets there Police autonomy will go and it will be Winston and his henchmen who decide what the police do and where they do it.The other aspect of the speech delivered by the Prime Minister the other day was the focus on vulnerable New Zealanders. On this side of the House we know that if you keep doing the same old things in the same old way that you did them you just keep getting the same old results. So why is it that Labour members are out there saying that they want to do exactly what they did when they last had a chance of being on this side of the House? They want to do what they did as far back as the 1970s.We go out there and say: "Well actually we've tried a few things and some of the results are impressive." There are 50000 fewer children living in poverty. Thousands of people who were on the benefit are now enjoying the personal well-earned benefit of work. There have been 130000 new jobs in the last 12 months. Those are the sorts of things that make a difference to the lives and the quality of life of New Zealanders. The social investment proposals that Bill English is championing and leading with other Ministers are going to do very well for this country. Many of the people who have over the years worried about increasing benefit dependence will not listen to a Labour message that says: "It's all good."I actually thought Michael Woods' maiden statement yesterday missed the mark. It was the sort of speech that might have been good in the 1970s. It is not good to criticise the member but it is a fact and it typifies the sorts of candidates who will be on display for Labour in the coming election.I think we have also got to recognise that if you are going to propose a policy platform that is basically "Let's go back to the future; let's just look at the past." then in fact you are asking people to look at times when they felt themselves a lot less prosperous. This country is heading towards an average wage of $66000 during the next term of a National-led Government. That is something that people can put in front of themselves in a tangible way. They will measure that opportunity against the opportunity that the Labour Party offers to go back to some sort of past that did not offer the sorts of inducements to work and to produce and to enjoy life that that would bring for them.New Zealand ranks among some 200 countries as one of the most prosperous countries or the most prosperous country in the world—the most prosperous country in the world. With that being the situation—and given the information that Mr Joyce will present to the House later this year which people will consider going into 23 September—people will be able to see that a Government that does focus on growing an economy while recognising its obligations in a social sense provides opportunity for people to do more in their own lives. There is no sense in anybody hanging up their opportunities for the Labour Party to determine what they get out of life. That I think will be one of the crucial points that comes under discussion.We are also ranked as first in the world among all those countries for freedom and for civil rights. New Zealanders value freedom. They do not like being told what to do. They prefer to make choices on their own. We have learnt over and over in Government that if we give people a choice they will make the right choice and it will be a choice that is not only good for them but also good for the nation. We will be continuing along those lines as well.We also rate very highly in this country for quality of Government. I think that is very much at stake if there is a Labour-led Government that is stewing in the internal machinations that we are seeing at the present time. But I have got to be honest; I have got to be fair. Every party at some point goes through it. But do they have to go through it for as long as the Labour Party has? This is a 9-year stew in a bucket. It is horrible. At the moment you have even got someone like Poto Williams who wants to take a strong personal stand not at all supported by the machinery that she attracts funding for inside that caucus. Having to go off to a PR firm to get a press release put out—that is no—Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: It is tragic to interrupt the member but his time has expired."