Hutchison Paul: Address in Reply 
Hutchison Paul: Address in Reply 
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Dr PAUL HUTCHISON (National—Hunua) 
: 
 Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker for the opportunity to speak in this very important Address in Reply debate. I must say I was most inspired this afternoon when I heard the Hon Tariana Turia acknowledging the courage of the new National Government. I emphasise that it was an inspiring delivery from her. She said there was considerable courage from the new National Government in its agreement with the Maori Party. 
Of course elements of that agreement have surprised quite a few people but they have caused a wave of approval up and down the country. They include the agreement regarding the status of the Maori seats. The National Government will not seek to remove the Maori seats without the consent of the Maori people and accordingly the Maori Party. National will not be pursuing the entrenchment of the Maori seats in the current parliamentary term. 
It is also clearly stated in the agreement that the National Party recognises the concerns of the Maori Party relating to the current foreshore and seabed legislation. Concurrently the Maori Party recognises the public interest and concern of all New Zealanders to ensure that the usage of the foreshore and seabed is protected. As we all know some fairly mischievous newspaper items appeared during the recess and it has been made absolutely clear by the Attorney-General that they had no substance whatsoever. 
It was very pleasing and as I said inspiring to hear that speech from the Hon Tariana Turia this afternoon. 
The feedback I have had up and down the country from the Waikato the East Coast and down in the South Island has all been extremely positive. In fact a few weeks ago we had the honour and privilege of the Maori Battalion Association visiting Pukekohe. Over a beer or two afterwards I was deeply impressed with the feedback I got from members of the association and from some of the old warriors themselves. They felt that there is a new wave of leadership in the country through John Key that is very much a uniting force in this country—and a very positive one. 
I must say that during the recess I read a wonderful book about Nelson Mandela and about how he used rugby to forge national unity during those very pivotal days of the early 1990s. It describes him on one occasion dropping in by helicopter to a training run of the Springboks. He shook them all by the hand and announced to them that he would be providing them with a singing tutor for the new national anthem. Of course the Afrikaners had their traditional anthem which they were fiercely proud of and were very much against the idea of a new anthem. On the other hand the Boer dynasty or legacy was anathema to the African National Congress. Mandela brilliantly—and with tremendous background work—created that unity whereby on the day of the World Cup he came out in the number six shirt and both anthems were sung. 
In many respects we have an analogy here in modern-day New Zealand with John Key announcing that he is prepared to fly the Maori flag over the Auckland Harbour Bridge and throughout New Zealand on our national day. I must say that I have heard waves of approval throughout New Zealand regarding that. 
Hon Steve Chadwick 
: This is terrible! 
Dr PAUL HUTCHISON 
: Those members over the other side might scoff but by God they never did it. Certainly it is one of the great leaps forward. 
I also heard a most uninspiring speech from Labour’s finance spokesperson the Hon David Cunliffe. He is one of the pretenders to Goff’s crown. The competition is between him and the Hon Shane Jones. We do not know which one it will be and we do not know when it will happen but it will happen before too long. 
One of the extraordinary things about David Cunliffe’s speech was his claming that New Zealand needs an integrated comprehensive plan to face the economic crisis. That certainly was a bit rich coming from David Cunliffe from a fellow who could not even recognise that the National Party had outlined very clearly before the election a clear integrated plan which was reiterated during the Speech from the Throne. In the succeeding 84 days it has been rolled out day after day in a methodical fashion. 
It was a bit rich coming from a finance spokesperson whose party presided over a legacy that meant no gain in productivity in New Zealand over 9 years. His is a party that left New Zealand with a legacy of deficits for 10 years projected out to the future and a Labour Government that forgot to mention $2 billion—or was it $2.3 billion?—that was just not quite there in the employers’ account of the Accident Compensation Corporation. It was a Labour Government that presided over an unparalleled growth of bureaucracy from 26000 to 39000 people not to mention a Government that introduced the most anti-democratic legislation in New Zealand’s history. That has to go and it will go. 
Today I was looking at a report from the Auditor-General on one of Labour’s so-called flagship policies the primary healthcare strategy whereby $3.2 billion has been expended between 2002-03 and 2007-08. That is $3.2 billion. It is a huge amount of money and the report from Kevin Brady will make very interesting reading. He was deeply concerned about how poorly monitored the expenditure of that money was and how poorly monitored the outcomes were. 
I think it is important to now spend a little bit of time on the Speech from the Throne which outlined a wonderful new breath of fresh air for New Zealand. After all it was in that speech that the point was made that on the very day it was given to the House the Government would be tabling a bill to reduce personal taxes from 1 April 2009 which actually happened on that very same day. 
Since then we have seen legislation rolled out to help our economy and to ensure that we have a far better system through amending the Resource Management Act. My word! That legislation has been long overdue. It has been holding up business development right throughout this country in so many ways. The Mayor of Franklin rang me today to point out that a particular project that has been held up for 3 years will be held up for even longer because of Labour’s legacy of bureaucracy through the Act. There is no doubt that it is long overdue that we streamline and simplify the Act. The Hon Nick Smith has put in some excellent propositions to ensure that that happens. 
Before Christmas we announced the restart package to help those New Zealanders who are worst hit by redundancy. And it goes on and on. Today we announced the infrastructure package and we have also spoken on how to reduce crime. The news under the National Government is very good.