Hobbs Marian: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Hobbs Marian: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Volume:623;Page:18307] 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS (Minister for the Environment) 
: 
 The last 4 weeks have made me very proud to be a New Zealander and very proud to be part of this Government. I always knew we were pretty good at lending a hand not in a goody-two-shoes sort of way—sort of “Look at me aren’t I the best.”—but in an unassuming practical hands-to-the-wheel response. That is generally how we behave towards each other in our communities. Given that I should have expected our response to the tsunami but $17 million from the public has surpassed even what I expected. 
However it did not remain with community generosity alone. New Zealand’s generosity will be honoured in the first place as we know by the New Zealand Government meeting that dollar for dollar. When the Wellington Chinese community raised $30000 last Saturday night for the Red Cross overnight that became $60000. In total New Zealand has set aside $68 million for tsunami relief work. 
Where is it going? I understand that the New Zealand Red Cross will build 2000 houses in the Maldive Islands. We do not hear about the Maldives very much. They comprise 1200 small islands. The waves washed straight across 200 of them and destroyed every house on them. Two thousand houses are being built there and 3500 more houses are being repaired. Oxfam provided sanitation latrines temporary shelter and water storage in Sri Lanka India and Aceh. The Salvation Army is involved in building 1000 houses in Sri Lanka. There is family tracing mosquito nets care for pregnant women measles immunisation and all variety of tasks are being undertaken. World Vision has even reached the southernmost town in Burma about which we were really worried and has guaranteed relief feeding there for 6 months. It has been a tremendous effort by New Zealanders and we are making a difference. 
The tsunami effort has been not only about cash donations. Like Mr Goff I am also very proud of the consular and aid work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and NZAID staff in the days and weeks of January. Many had a very sober New Year’s Eve on the phone. I want to thank them for working so hard for us and for contributing so many hours. 
Members will be aware that the aid agencies are beginning to close off their tsunami funds. While it has been an enormous catastrophe with up to 200000 people dead that number of people die at least every week from malaria HIV/AIDS and hunger and therein lies my other source of pride—NZAID the Government development agency responsible for New Zealand overseas aid. While non-Government organisations will argue for more Government aid expenditure they will not criticise NZAID. It is an internationally applauded Government aid agency that knows how to work with Pacific communities—not tell them what to do but how to be real partners how to grow good governance skills and how to encourage trade and business. 
In New Zealand we know that to raise productivity we have to raise the standard of educational achievement. The House should consider the Solomon Islands where only about 30 percent of the population ever get to 3 or 4 years of primary school. It costs families over there who do not have a cash economy 600 Solomon Islands dollars to pay for a child each year at school. New Zealand is turning that around. Our contribution will mean that 70 to 80 percent of Solomon Islands children will receive 5 to 6 years of free education. That is building a stable future. 
Our footprint is everywhere in the Pacific and it needs to be. The United Nations Millennium Project report has just shown that the Pacific and sub-Saharan Africa are the two areas in the world failing to meet the targets on infant mortality on clean water supply on sanitation on youth employment and on coping with HIV/AIDS. In the Prime Minister’s words: “We work to be good neighbours.” 
Sadly I fear that that work would not be supported if ever there were to be a National Government. Any aid increase would surely be gone by lunchtime or at least by the next tax cut. There is nothing on National’s website about foreign aid and nothing about New Zealand aid; it is all about trade and trade agreements. There is nothing there about being a good neighbour. 
We also work at growing peace in the world. New Zealand is a member of the New Agenda Coalition. It is a group of seven States: Brazil Egypt Ireland New Zealand Mexico South Africa and Sweden. It was formed in 1998 to pursue nuclear disarmament and a nuclear-free world. The world community relaxed a little after the cold war. It should not have. Nuclear missiles are still on alert. New nuclear weapons are still being developed and additional countries are gaining nuclear weapons. While the world is focused on new terrors the old terror of potential nuclear warfare is still there. In 2004 the New Agenda Coalition prodded by New Zealand decided to gain new allies and it presented a strongly worded statement to the UN and gained not only the support of the normal 188 non-aligned countries but also key NATO States. This is New Zealand’s work: Canada Germany Belgium Norway Turkey as well as Japan Korea and Switzerland. This year when we review the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons New Zealand will work hard to strengthen the movement across different alliances for a nuclear-free world. 
It is not headline-making work but it is about life about peace and about honouring 60 years without another explosion to match Hiroshima. It is work that this Government supports and gives leadership to. When I am negotiating overseas as I was last week I am so proud to be part of a nuclear-free New Zealand and I know that I have a Prime Minister supportive and demanding of me of energetic work on disarmament. 
Who on the other side would argue for disarmament? Dr Brash has said he would consider changing the legislation if it helped the United States - New Zealand relationship. Where is the vision in that? Where are the principles? 
Finally to a constituent who wrote angrily in the  
Dominion Post 
 today that she was fed up with women being treated as a disposable workforce in and out of the economy I agree. I never wanted that for myself and neither does our Prime Minister want women to be an extra. This Government wants to ensure that men and women have the choice to work and that childcare or early childhood education is no longer a financial hurdle that they cannot afford in order to return to work. If we are to increase productivity we need a more educated more skilled workforce. 
As a young university graduate with a toddler in the 1970s I had no choice except if my husband swapped roles and stayed home—and he managed that for only 3 months. This Government wants to provide the support to remove the hurdles of costly childcare and after-school care so that the country is able to benefit from the skills and energies of those who want to work outside the home. 
And of course parents at home work but let us have a choice and let all the income brackets have that choice not just the professionals who can afford nannies or full-time childcare. Let that be out there for all women. 
We in the Labour-Progressive Government have much more to do. We have repaired much of the damage done in the 1990s but as our Prime Minister outlined yesterday we still have a long way to go to achieve a society where everyone is valued where all can contribute and where all can grow their talents and where we can be good neighbours and advocate for a world free of nuclear weapons. It is no wonder I am proud to be a New Zealander and very proud to be a member of this Government.