Anderton Jim: General Debates 
Anderton Jim: General Debates 
[Volume:619;Page:15033] 
Hon JIM ANDERTON (Minister for Economic Development) 
: 
 In a year’s time Helen Clark will make New Zealand history by becoming the first-ever Labour leader to emerge from three general elections to lead our country as Prime Minister. If the National Opposition denies that let its members tell us who will lead them to victory at the next election. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: Don Brash! 
Hon JIM ANDERTON 
: Will it be Mr Brash who goes overseas and slags his own country? Will it be Gerry Brownlee who cannot even get on with the Christchurch City Council or will it be Nick Smith or Simon Power? I do not think so. 
The truth is that Labour will not win a parliamentary majority on its own next year. It will be assisted as it has in the last 5 years to govern in a coalition Government. Over the 5 years that I have represented parties in coalition with Labour we have—[ 
Interruption 
] That may well be something that the National Party could study—how does one actually win elections? The National Party has no idea but we have. 
Over the last 5 years we in this Government have reached out case by case to serious Opposition parties to enact legislation that is forward-looking. We have pursued laws that enhance the prospects of job creation. I am proud of the fact that New Zealand now has the lowest levels of unemployment that it has had in a generation. 
I would have thought that when leaders of the National Party go overseas they would trumpet that fact and be proud of it. For example we have a lower level of unemployment than Australia but no we are not told that. We are told by the National Party that we have no forestry initiatives in this country while Australia has dozens of them. That came from Mr Nick Smith. I tabled in this House a list of forestry initiatives mounting to nearly $600 million. A wood processing strategy is being developed and investments have been made and are being made in New Zealand as I speak. That was tabled in the House. I do not think that Mr Nick Smith said anything further but the National Party leader went to Australia and said that no forestry investments had been made in New Zealand in comparison with Australia. I know that he would never be able to find out what is tabled in the House because he is never here. 
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: The Minister knows that he cannot refer to the absence of any member. He will withdraw that remark. 
Hon JIM ANDERTON 
: The truth is that our unemployment rate is the second-lowest in the entire OECD group of rich nations and it is well below that of Australia. Why would the leader of the National Party go to Australia and not tell Australians that? The cold hard fact is that every single region in this country is in positive growth mode as I speak. Why would the leader of the National Party not want to tell the Australians that? Why would he not want to tell the Australian community that this country has averaged a higher growth rate than Australia for the last 5 years? Does Mr Smith know that that is true? Why does his leader not know that that is true? I wonder whether he would have told the Australians that the average growth rate in the 5 years before that when there was a National-led coalition Government was well below that of Australia. It has been well above that of Australia for 5 years under a Labour-led coalition Government. 
Those are the facts that I would have thought any member of this Parliament going overseas and talking to people or writing for an overseas audience would mention. In truth that is the situation that New Zealanders are confronted with. They are confronted with a leader who aspires to be the Prime Minister of a country who should ordinarily at least be proud of that country and be a salesperson for it rather than someone who writes articles slagging his country in an overseas country that is our largest market for manufactured goods. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: He’s criticising the Government. 
Hon JIM ANDERTON 
: Actually he is criticising his country because if he were telling the truth about his country which I would think any New Zealand parliamentarian would he would say that our growth rate is higher than that of Australia. Why did he not say that? It is true but it does not fit the gloom and doom image that he wants to present—as though the country would do better if he were presiding over it when it is actually doing better than it has done for many many years. That is something that I do not think that Don Brash is coming to grips with. One cannot go around New Zealand or the world telling everyone how badly the country is doing when everyone knows it is not true. Everyone knows it is not true that we are not doing well and Don Brash insists on telling people what they know is not true.