Fenton Darien: General Debate 
Fenton Darien: General Debate 
[Volume:635;Page:6310] 
DARIEN FENTON (Labour) 
: 
 I am proud to follow my westie colleagues Lynne Pillay and David Cunliffe in this debate today. I am proud to work with other Labour MPs in west Auckland as well as with my Labour North colleagues in Helensville. 
Unlike the member for Helensville who is busy trying to be the leader of the National Party I live among other westies around the communities of Waitakere village Swanson Massey Ranui Henderson and Taupaki. I have raised my family there and I am proud of where we live. There are many different families around us. Some live in State houses. Many are young families who have bought their first home. There are older people families of all ethnicities and people working hard to get ahead. They deserve a fair go and that is why this Labour-led Government has put affordable housing on the agenda. That is why we have introduced KiwiSaver and Welcome Home Loans. It is why we bought back the State houses sold by National. Under those excellent Ministers Mark Gosche and—another westie MP—Chris Carter we have built many more State houses and have made them affordable with income-related rents. 
Lynne Pillay 
: Mark Gosche did it too. 
DARIEN FENTON 
: I said Mark Gosche. 
But the member for Helensville whose office is not far down the road from where I live does not want affordable housing—particularly State housing—in his electorate even though he does not live there and it will not affect him. Plans for a development at the Hobsonville airbase which would provide for accessible and affordable housing for the whole community—young and old singles and families rich and poor—have motivated John Key to get out in his electorate. He has hosted some public meetings to whip up opposition to State housing at Hobsonville. The other day I met someone from Massey which is in his electorate who went to one of the meetings. She said it was shocking; people there were saying that they did not want “trash” in Hobsonville. 
 This is Mr Key showing his true colours; he says that State houses should not be developed on that piece of pristine land. Well do poor people not deserve views as well? And where will the future workers of west Auckland come from if they are not allowed to live in areas of new development? I suppose that National members think they should be shipped in from South Auckland—keeping them well out of the way but increasing the traffic and keeping Hobsonville and Helensville pure for the rich. 
The people in my neighbourhood are those who serve the factories and offices of west Auckland. Their lives are on the up and up thanks to this Labour-led Government. I want the future leadership hopeful of the National Party to come clean and tell those workers his plans for them. Does he support the Employment Relations Act or would he amend it delete it or get rid of it along the lines of Wayne Mapp’s member’s bill? If he had a chance would he scrap paid parental leave instead of extending it? Would he stop the fourth week of annual leave that this Government is delivering from next year? 
Jill Pettis 
: Just hire an au pair. 
DARIEN FENTON 
: Yes. Would he take away the rights of workers to get paid extra on statutory holidays? Well yes. We do know that National would renationalise accident compensation because its members said they would during the last sitting of the House repeatedly. Would he bring back those awful health and safety laws we used to have where workers had no say at all? And what would he do about paid employment equity? I am not even sure he could say the words. All we have heard from that side of the House is talk of tax cuts and insults about workers and their unions. 
The question I want to ask John Key is whether he has the bottle. Has he got the bottle to go for Don Brash’s job? Has he got the bottle to come clean with the people of west Auckland about his policies for them—or has he actually got any policies? Has he got the bottle to front up to the people of Massey in his electorate and tell them that they are too poor to live in Hobsonville? I bet he has not. Has he got the bottle to tell the working people of New Zealand that the agenda of the National Party has not changed a bit when it comes to workers’ rights? I look forward to hearing from that wannabe leader of the National Party. I look forward to his showing he has the courage and the guts to go for something— 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: The member can never challenge someone’s courage. That is a personal reflection; the member must withdraw. 
DARIEN FENTON 
: OK. I look forward to seeing that he has the tenacity to go for something he believes in because it is not clear what he does believe in. Thank goodness Labour is the Government and will be for a long time to come!