Benson-Pope David: Valedictory Statements 
Benson-Pope David: Valedictory Statements 
[Volume:650;Page:19195] 
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE (Labour—Dunedin South) 
: 
 Kia ora Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker and colleagues it is hard to imagine what more might be said but I would reinforce some of the comments that my colleagues have made and add some further observations. 
The last 9 years have been full of remarkable policy achievement. Who would not be pleased that the kept promises of this Government are now improving the lives of New Zealanders? We can all celebrate and should do so that under this Government superannuation is secure the Working for Families package is making a real difference to thousands of families and Kiwibank and KiwiSaver are helping to assure our future. It now costs much less to visit the doctor prescriptions average $3 and preschoolers have 20 hours’ free early childhood education. I am personally proud of the passage of legislation that I inherited and that Tim and others have referred to in respect of civil unions and the care of children and I note also the success of the reintegration of Child Youth and Family Services into the Ministry of Social Development family. Stunning reductions in unemployment beneficiary numbers—from 161000 in 1999 to fewer than 20000 now—have enabled the implementation of new initiatives such as Working New Zealand and programmes to improve access to health services and to support and strengthen vulnerable families. I want to acknowledge the leadership in this area of the Ministry of Social Development and I am delighted to see Peter Hughes Sue Mackwell Doug Craig and Don Gray in the gallery today. I want to extend to them and to my former ministerial staff Debbie Janet and Linda my thanks for their dedication their professionalism and their friendship. 
Another area where we are making progress—and we surely need to—is in respect of the violence in our households. I remain appalled that in a country with our awful level of domestic violence anyone should seriously advocate the need to provide a defence for violence against children. Let us hope that gradually our communities are coming to agree that it is not OK. But we should all be frustrated that not enough objectivity is applied to the charades that happen in the community and in this place and that Opposition parties and other parties in the community indulge themselves so uncritically in playing to the basest motivations in our community. Government is about facing up to hard decisions. How could it be that this country debated a “fart tax”—which was not about either farts or a tax actually—and then the Government was criticised by those who had built the deceit for not moving fast enough on issues relating to global warming? I guess the latest exercise in similar cynicism is the extraordinary argument—it is not a discussion or a debate—around energy-saving light bulbs. Really? So now it is a bad thing to encourage everyone to save money save energy and make a practical contribution to the challenges we all face? Well if that is PC bring it on. 
It is because of a lack of serious informed debate that I consider it a tragedy that too many journalists have become players not reporters. Some of them want to be the news; they no longer want to merely report events. Those who were once watchdogs have appointed themselves attack dogs and some are about as endearing and useful as the nastiest pit bull. Our community in my view needs to give more attention to the key role of the media in ensuring the dissemination of accurate information on issues and improving above all the quality of debate. Last week I was reading the words of a British media commentator who outlined her view of the media responsibility for the quality of the conversation as much as for the quality of the presentation of the news. That responsibility in our community is not enhanced in my view by journalists who consider it acceptable for example to text the Leader of the Opposition during question time and it is certainly not achieved by the open articulation of personal political views. 
When I became senior Government whip in 2002 my colleagues told me that in that job I would see the very best and very worst of human nature. The list of the achievements of this Government fills the first category as do the relationships with some wonderful colleagues both political and staff. The fascinating idiosyncrasies and dark revelations will have to wait I am afraid for the best seller but I do want to spend a few moments on the lower levels of debate in this place in the last few years. One of the episodes I consider most disgraceful has been the constant attack on the National Certificate of Educational Achievement. The policy as we all know was introduced by National. I have watched and been involved in the introduction of that qualification both as Associate Minister of Education and as a parent of high school students. I have seen the positive effect on my daughter and son and the motivating effect on them and their friends. That is a common experience. Are they satisfied with Achieved? I do not think so; Merit and Excellence are the targets. Is it not great to have in our country a qualification designed for New Zealand and New Zealand’s needs? So how destructive it has been to hear the constant criticism of this initiative and the inevitable demeaning of the efforts and achievements of our young people and the work of so many great Kiwi teachers. It was not I think the Opposition’s proudest moment. 
The real low point for me though given the hours that a senior whip in particular spends in this Chamber has been the repeated veiled insults and other misogynistic behaviour toward female presiding officers in this debating chamber. It is ugly stuff; hard to put up with but difficult to do anything about. I hope this is something to which a future Parliament will give attention. 
But let me turn to happier thoughts. My special thanks go to voters in Dunedin for their support during 23 years as their city councillor or MP. I hope I have always repaid their loyalty with my hard work. I say thank you to all parliamentary staff who make this building function so well including those we do not know who clean up after us while we sleep; to Gina Anastasiadis who has wonderfully managed the challenges of parliamentary whips and ministerial officers; to Trudi Sunitsch my Dunedin office manager who has delivered a level of service to our community that would make any MP look good; and to my family for putting up with it all and even delivering leaflets occasionally. 
We are coming up to an election. We again own Air New Zealand the rail track the rail corridor—the whole operation—and a world-leading accident compensation system that is not being privatised. This Government will not sell them—eventually. Best of all young New Zealanders are not coming home from their OE in Iraq in body bags. They would have been had voters made a different choice in 2002 or 2005. For me that makes the choice this year pretty clear.