Yates Dianne: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Yates Dianne: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Volume:637;Page:7386] 
DIANNE YATES (Labour) 
: 
 I wish to thank Doug Woolerton and being a Waikato MP to reiterate his comments on the dairy industry. Mr Woolerton can take heart that the comments of Henry van derHeyden the chairperson of Fonterra in the latest  
Dairy Exporter 
 confirm what he has just said in relation to the dairy industry and his reaffirmation of the cooperative nature of that farming industry. 
I also thank the other New Zealand First members for their comments on the golden age card. I do not know whether it is just the chattering classes but from listening to talkback radio I know that many older people are very grateful for the SuperGold card but they are also very anxious. The rumour is out there that National’s policy is to increase the age of retirement to 68 years and many people are panicking about that. Many many older people are very afraid that a National Government would increase the retirement age to 68 so there is even more incentive for them to vote Labour. 
R Doug Woolerton 
: Or higher. 
DIANNE YATES 
: Yes! Seventy years was another suggestion that was made. 
I attended the funeral of our colleague Helen Duncan last Saturday. I pay tribute to Helen Duncan and value her work as a member of Parliament—the work she did in this House the work she did in select committees and the work she has done that has benefited this country. I pay tribute to the work she did for teachers through the New Zealand Educational Institute and the resultant effect of that on the lives of many children in this country. Helen Duncan was a person who worked extremely hard on pay parity for teachers. She epitomised good Kiwi values—the values of fairness of justice of equal opportunity and of access to what New Zealand has to offer and in particular of the collectivity of people through the union movement. For Helen Duncan “we” always came before “me” which is something I think we sometimes forget in New Zealand. 
I also pay tribute to someone else who was often seen in the corridors of this Parliament and that is John Head. Those members who have been involved as I have been on the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee will know that John Head was the voice of “CALM”—the Campaign Against Landmines. John was constantly lobbying. In fact there was a function in this Parliament just before Christmas organised by the Campaign Against Landmines. Not only did John represent the Campaign Against Landmines and constantly lobby for peace and against landmines but the New Zealand Defence Force must also be thanked particularly our Army for the work that has been done by New Zealanders. We can be particularly proud of our armed forces in our landmine work throughout the world particularly in Cambodia and as we are now seeing in Lebanon. So I give thanks for the life of John Head and the contribution he has made to New Zealand and for the contribution New Zealand has made to the world. 
We have heard the themes of the Prime Minister’s statement in our first sitting of Parliament this year. They were the theme of a sustainable economy—what is wrong with that; the theme of sustainable families and communities—what is wrong with that; and the theme of a sustainable unique culture and national identity—what is wrong with that? They are three very important and valuable themes. I do not mind people looking up the  
Oxford Dictionary 
 for the meaning of the word “sustainability” because it means that we want this world to continue to grow and to be sustainable. The Prime Minister has outlined eco-strategies and energy efficiency strategies. She talked about biofuels the reduction of greenhouse gases our going towards a carbon neutral public sector the VIP fleet and suggestions of what we in our households can do. 
It is always important for people to think globally and act locally. I thank the Hon David Parker who when he was asked what ordinary people could do said they could change their light bulbs. That is very important. The average person can get out there tomorrow and change his or her light bulbs and we have been working on that. People can look at their hot-water systems. Those are very very practical things. People can take the bus. In Hamilton we have a new bus service that goes around the city. Many people are now saying that the bus service is so good they can leave their cars at home and take the bus. A lot of people cannot cycle as that is not always available but Kiwis are implementing those things. 
Some of our caucus members visited Thames last week where we saw one of many recycling efforts throughout the country. These people in Thames are going through all the rubbish taken to the local rubbish dump and taking out anything of value. They have set up a little shop they are selling that waste and they are making a profit out of it. So it is recycling waste looking for things that are valuable that other people could reuse and making a business out of it. 
One other thing about the sustainable economy is the value of KiwiSaver to the country as a whole to individuals in their savings and also to families. It will enable many families to purchase their own homes and assist them into those homes. 
When we talk about sustainable families I also want to talk about health. On the one hand we have people screaming about the fact that New Zealanders are not eating then on the other hand we have the problem of obesity. It is not always that people are not eating; some of the problem is what they are eating. I want to talk about Project Energize which is a programme in the schools of the Waikato and the Bay of Plenty. Once again some of us visited Miller Avenue School and the principal there thanked us very much for the Fruit in Schools programmes. She pointed out that not only were children being educated in what was good food but also many children were now actually eating the good lunch they brought to school from home. Children had often been in the habit as children will be of putting their lunch in the rubbish tin then wanting to buy junk food. The principal said that those children were now eating their healthy food. The education programme is encouraging children to be healthy which is having an effect on their families. 
I want to talk about the millions and millions of dollars this Government is putting into the health system. Not only is it into improving access through primary health organisations but it is into building. There is building going on at Wellington Hospital. I have recently been in Tauranga where a whole new block is being built—with I might say solar heating. There is also a whole new block in Thames. Thames and some other places have had very run-down facilities and the new facilities are not only more modern and will attract better staff but are also better for patients. The facilities are much much better as a result of the spending of millions of dollars to improve New Zealand’s health system. The Working for Families programme is also kicking in with more families coming on board. 
One other thing I want to talk about is Kiwibank and all those who were involved in setting it up. We thank Jim Anderton Jim Bolger and everybody who has been involved with Kiwibank. A grandmother said to me: “Do you know—my son and daughter-in-law have a loan and through Kiwibank they are saving at least $60 a month that they would not get from other banks?”. She said: “For goodness’ sake I don’t want that John Key anywhere near Kiwibank.” He has said that he would not get rid of it in his first term. Well let us make sure that he does not get a first term. This grandmother was absolutely dead-scared that Kiwibank under National policy would disappear. There is no way that the people of New Zealand want that especially those with young families who are moving into their first homes. I thank that grandmother for pointing that out to us. 
When we come to national identity as I have said we can be proud of New Zealand—proud of our armed forces and our landmine programme. We can be proud of our sportspeople. We can be proud of our arts people particularly our film people. We can be proud of our influence in the Pacific and I am very very proud to be a New Zealander. I think all of us here talk a lot about Kiwi values and what Kiwi values mean. Somebody said to me that Kiwi values are Labour values and I can say that that is truly the case. I am proud to be a mainstream Kiwi like every other Kiwi whether he or she has been here for only a few weeks or for much longer. Mr Simich is saying that as well; he is proud to be a Kiwi too.