Moroney Sue: General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeMoroney Sue: General Debate[Sitting date: 18 June 2014. Volume:699;Page:18623. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]SUE MORONEY (Labour):Was that not very interesting—that Bill English had nothing to say about what that Government’s future is for this country? All that Government members could do was get very excited about a letter about an MP advocating for a constituent. That is all they can get excited about. Well I can assure New Zealanders that on this side of the House we are excited about the future of this country under a Labour-led Government because it is under a Labour-led Government that we will actually get that brighter future that so-called brighter future that that lot have been promising for year after year but most New Zealanders are yet to see. What New Zealanders see instead is those at the very top getting more and most New Zealanders going without and struggling every day to make ends meet.Those are the issues that concern us. Those are the issues that concern the Labour Party. So we are doing something about it. We are not going to go into this negative sort of picture that the Government members are going into. Their politics is the politics of negativity and of trying to muddy the waters. Ordinary New Zealanders know that they will not make progress until there is a change of Government and they know very clearly now that it is a Labour-led Government that will actually look after the interests of ordinary New Zealanders—actually look after the interests of ordinary New Zealanders.New Zealanders have seen our fabulous Best Start policy. They have seen it and they know it means that families with newborn children will get $60 a week extra for the first year of that child’s life and if they are low-income families they will continue to get that $60 extra a week until that child’s third birthday. Those are the sorts of things that New Zealanders want to hear about when they switch on their TVs and watch Parliament TV. They want to know what that lot over there are doing to make ordinary New Zealanders’ lives better and the conclusion they are coming to is that most New Zealanders need a change in Government to actually get a fair go in this country.It is clear that the economy is starting to improve. It has taken far too long but it is starting to improve and what ordinary New Zealanders want to know is whether they are going to get their fair share. Under a Labour-led Government they know they will. They know that a Labour-led Government is one that actually knows that investing in the early months of New Zealanders’ lives is going to make a big difference. That is actually smart economics and smart politics and ordinary New Zealanders know that if we get it right in those early months and early years all of us get to reap the benefits.I was dismayed to see the games that have been going on about our bill to extend paid parental leave to 6 months. The Government has got nothing better to do than to try tricks and games to stop that bill from going through. Despite the majority of parliamentarians wanting it and despite the majority of New Zealanders wanting it that Government is putting all of its energies into stopping that from happening. Well here is good news for New Zealanders: the bill can go through now with a two vote majority and there is time for that to happen before Parliament rises for the election.I look forward to the National Party trying some positivity for a change. Try to do something positive and stop filibustering on that bill. Stop trying all your tricks. You might think it is smart to have those tricks here in Parliament but New Zealanders are watching. It is absolutely offensive to try that sort of trickery around a bill that is important for New Zealand families. You might think that you are funny having a go at the Labour Party but actually if you get in the way of support for ordinary New Zealand families they will not forgive you for that.So I look forward to the Government actually getting its act together using the next two members’ days properly and not trying to get in the way of a very good bill that should have its support. If the Government is trying to convince New Zealanders that it prioritises families and children then here is its chance to prove it. It has a chance in the next 5 weeks to prove that it will let democracy take its course that it will let children have that support of 6 months’ paid parental leave in the first year of their life and it has a chance to prove that it is worthy of leading this country.