Bridges Simon: General Debate 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Bridges Simon: General Debate 
[Sitting date: 18 July 2012. Volume:681;Page:3633. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon SIMON BRIDGES (Minister of Consumer Affairs) 
: 
 We have heard Dr Seuss quoted with great effect by the Hon Anne Tolley and by David Shearer who was talking about  
Green Eggs and Ham 
. Well I have a quote here from Dr Seuss: “We are all a little weird and life’s a little weird and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.” Who would have thought that Dr Seuss had prophesied the current New Zealand Labour Party so successfully? 
I know that the Labour Party is currently a little preoccupied. We have got Trevor Mallard over there and Andrew Little who are clearly preoccupied wondering how they will pay for it. We have got Grant Robertson and David Parker clearly preoccupied—both thinking about the 25 reasons why they would be better than David Shearer. We have got the Opposition over here who are also thinking exactly the same thing Grant Robertson is thinking: “I would be so much better than David Shearer.” 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: This member should be a Minister. 
Grant Robertson 
: Amazingly he is. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Oh he’s not! 
Hon SIMON BRIDGES 
: Well it is an apprenticeship—it is an apprenticeship. 
I want to speak about public services. I want to speak about public services and I want to talk about what we have said many many times on this side of the House: the fact that there is a global financial crisis and how since that there has been no lolly scramble. There is no lolly scramble today. It is a lesson however that Labour and the Greens have not picked up on. Labour and the Greens of course still have this old-fashioned view that in the 2000s we have a “spend-athon” going on. [ 
Interruption 
] Well telethons died long ago and so did “spend-athons” Grant Robertson. Actually on this side of the House we know that we cannot do that. When it comes to public spending we cannot just keep on going and going spending billions of additional money extra each and every year. From 2000 to 2008 we saw that happen and it proved that more money does not equal more and better public services. 
One of the great lessons I have seen since National has been in Government has been that leadership both political and organisational in public services really matters and can really make a difference. It is not about as I have said spending; it is often about focus prioritisation— 
Grant Robertson 
: This speech won’t help the member’s leadership. 
Hon SIMON BRIDGES 
: It is a long way off Grant. Yours is not—yours is not buddy. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! The Speaker should not be included in the debate. 
Hon SIMON BRIDGES 
: I apologise. Better public services can be achieved from focus prioritisation and targets and we have got some ambitious public targets that have been made by the Prime Minister very recently. Look they will not be easy to achieve but we are working very hard on them. 
I want to talk about specific areas. We will hear very soon from Dr Paul Hutchison on health and the better public services we are providing there and from Nikki Kaye on education. But I do know actually and I have seen it in my own constituency with elective services that the focus and leadership provided by Tony Ryall there has without necessarily a whole lot more money resulted in better results. I know in my short time as a member of Parliament that although at the start of my time there were many people coming to see me about health issues and complaints and delays they are simply not coming any more. 
Another lesson that I think is very important to learn when it comes to better public services can be seen very well I think in some of the portfolios that I am involved with. And that is this lesson: not all regulation of course is bad; some is very good. And it works particularly well where we are working with industry listening to them and letting them actually tell us what they think is needed and where we work to reduce unnecessary costs and compliance. We did not see that under the Labour Government from 2000 to 2008 but we are seeing it very much now in my area. In transport we have seen that particularly well.