Street Maryan: General Debate 
Street Maryan: General Debate 
[Volume:638;Page:8419] 
MARYAN STREET (Labour) 
: 
Tena koe Madam Speaker. Tena koutou te Whare. On Sunday 1 April there will be some significant policy implementations that will improve the lot of families around New Zealand. 
First of all we will have 4 weeks’ annual leave. It is coming in effective from 1 April but during the course of the following year people will be entitled to 4 weeks’ annual leave. A number of people in New Zealand have 4 weeks’ annual leave so we are trying to look after the most vulnerable workers and make sure that a minimum provision that exists in comparable countries can apply here as well. The second thing that will happen is that there will be the eighth increase in the minimum wage in 8 years and it is the biggest increase yet. There will also be a 5 percent increase in Government superannuation and an extra $10 per week per child in tax credits to families. These are constructive policies that are supportive of young and old families. 
In order to get this kind of constructive policy and phased implementation one requires vision commitment and prudent resourcing. Such policies require careful phasing in notice to all parties affected and leadership that is principled reliable and clear in order to achieve useful outcomes. 
Let us compare that with what is on offer by the National Opposition. We have in John Key a political hobbyist not a potential Prime Minister. While our Prime Minister was out of the country advancing New Zealand’s interests John Key was sounding off in an area about which he patently knew nothing. We can look to the media for reports of people who were present there and who said things about Mr Key’s outburst. For example “Key’s outburst has raised eyebrows among Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade staff travelling with Clark who thought National had decided to take a bipartisan approach to foreign affairs. His comments also angered expatriate business leaders in the US with one saying yesterday he thought Key had made a ‘prat’ of himself with the remarks.” 
Those are not my words but I am not going to contradict them. Let me give another quotation from the  
Press 
 where it was noted: “She”—meaning the Prime Minister—“received support from global fast-food giant McDonald’s yesterday. The company’s vice president for government relations Dick Crauford said Clark’s visit had made a significant impact. ‘Domestic politics in the US are rather difficult … but I must say that the reception of the Prime Minister here by the administration as well as by the Democrats in Congress has been outstanding’ he said.” These are the words of people who were present and of people who were observing. 
Last week Mr Key is reported to have said that he would be asking questions in this House of the Prime Minister regarding what he referred to as “a failure to deliver” on a free-trade agreement. He was quite bullish about that; he promised that he would ask questions in the House and that he would not be silenced on this matter. But where are the questions? There have been no such questions this week. They have not materialised. There has not been one. There has been none. The mouse that roared has now reverted to being just a mouse again. Clearly in the National caucus the greater intellects of Murray McCully and Tim Groser have prevailed and pulled Mr Key back into line. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: What about John Hayes? 
MARYAN STREET 
: I was referring to the greater intellects. Perhaps Mr Key decided to talk to his foreign affairs advisers like Jenny Shipley but perhaps he did so only after he had spoken and not before. 
The questions in the House that were promised have not been forthcoming and the silence has been ringing. Even those who do not vote for Helen Clark recognise her ability in matters of foreign affairs. People know that she is in her element in foreign affairs. Mr Key needs to work much harder on issues of substance if he is to graduate from political hobbyist to potential leader. 
Other people’s assessments of the Prime Minister’s performance include: “The Prime Minister was in top form—knowledgable engaging thorough and unflappable. She impressed audiences wherever she spoke.” and “Key’s most damning claim—that Clark’s trip to Washington was a foreign policy failure—is wide of the mark. In fact it’s an embarrassing indictment of National’s own slippery grasp of foreign affairs.” National has no substance.