O'Connor Damien: General Debate 
O'Connor Damien: General Debate 
[Volume:655;Page:4593] 
Hon DAMIEN O’CONNOR (Labour) 
: 
 We cannot blame the member Jo Goodhew for the speech she has just delivered; it was written by the National research unit and it is the standard old line that unfortunately is about as far from the truth as one can possibly get. 
Simon Power got up and told us that we had a driven Prime Minister; he did not tell us who drives the Prime Minister. That is a question we will continue to ask. Which of his rich mates which of the people on the Business Roundtable drive the Prime Minister? We have been told that we are facing the worst economic crisis since the 1930s. We have also been told that this Government—the National-led Government—cares about what happens to people and that it cares about jobs. It called the Job Summit in the hope that it would solve everything. Well what has that Job Summit done? Since that Job Summit we have lost 16000 jobs in this economy and 16000 New Zealanders have gone on to the scrap heap of unemployment. But the Job Summit saved 345 jobs. That is the total number of jobs saved through the initiatives from that massive Job Summit and I believe on top of that 32 jobs have been saved by the 9-day working fortnight. It is an absolute disgrace. The cycleway which is the other big initiative to come from the Job Summit has created one job that I know of and another one has been advertised for the next 6 months. That is how pathetic it gets. 
But I have to say that some jobs have been created. Whom have those jobs been created for? Firstly a job has been created for Christine Rankin who is a well-known National Party supporter. She has received a job. A job has been created in the Lotteries Commission for Judy Kirk the president of the National Party. That is another job that has been created. Another job has been created for Jim McLay as the New Zealand Permanent Representative to the United Nations. Seven jobs have been created in ministerial offices for the likes of Graham Scott who is an ex - ACT candidate; for Doug Martin; and for Kevin Jenkins to tell Ministers what should happen. Those are the kinds of jobs that have been created under this Tory Government. Stephen Franks a well-known ACT member also had a job created for him. 
What about the poor New Zealanders the more than 1000 people every week who are losing their jobs? Well the reality is that this Government simply does not care although I have to say that one of the smartest initiatives has come up for welders. There are new opportunities for welders moving forward because they will put together the containers that will make up the new prisons under the new Minister of Corrections. But the word “container” is an oxymoron because I can tell members that it will not contain the prisoners who will be put in them. Other jobs will be created for people training police dogs which will be needed to run round after those prisoners who will escape from the containers. 
This Government has no vision and no idea about what it should do for New Zealand or New Zealanders in the face of 1000 job losses every single week. It is a disgrace! When National members stood up on the hustings they said that there would be less of everything and that there would be more of everything. Well what we got or what they promised was less of everything. There would be less of the Resource Management Act. There would be less Government bureaucracy except this Government then said it would cap the numbers of Government officials not cut 1400 of them as has happened—1400 Government officials have gone since this Government came into office. Members opposite said there would be less tax except that that applies only if someone earns over $40000 per year. For the rest of us there has been no less tax. They said that there would be research and development money. Well they said there would be less of it in fact because they called Fast Forward an absolute hoax. 
But what happened? While promising less of everything in those areas National came into office and delivered more of nothing. What has it done? It has cut the money in the crucial area of adult and community education. The Government has cut jobs in the Public Service as I have said and it has cut tax but only for those earning over $40000 per year. 
I questioned the Minister of Fisheries the other day about what he considered was a responsibility in the new 2030 strategy. He said that jobs for New Zealanders were not part of the objective for the fisheries strategy moving forward. That is it is it not I ask the Minister. He said that jobs— 
Hon Phil Heatley 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I said no such thing. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Eric Roy) 
: That is not a point of order. 
Hon DAMIEN O’CONNOR 
: That Minister clearly stated that New Zealand jobs were not a key objective of the new fisheries strategy to 2030.