Brownlee Gerry: Wine Bill — Second Reading Procedure In Committee Third Reading 
Brownlee Gerry: Wine Bill — Second Reading Procedure In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:612;Page:9499] 
GERRY BROWNLEE (National—Ilam) 
: 
 First I want to return a remark or two to the New Zealand First Party—a party well known for its party spirit and for its ability to make considerably important decisions at very small hours in the morning. How is it that a party led by none other than the Rt Hon Winston Peters a man who often proclaims himself to be a friend of the producers of this country is now buying into the argument being advanced by the Minister that the only way the world can be assured that New Zealand produces good wine is to have a Government inspector put a stamp on it? The only way we can be sure that New Zealand wine is good is if it has a gold medal from a Government inspector! I think that is a sad day for the industry and a very sad representation of an industry by a party that I am afraid is way out of touch with what is going on in the commercial world in New Zealand. 
I want to talk about the appallingly low incomes that New Zealanders have to endure under this Labour Government. A couple of weeks ago the Government Statistician produced new income figures for New Zealand. Members might be a little confused about why I am talking about that during the debate on the Wine Bill. Fortunately in his bit of a whine to the Committee the Minister opened this debate to very wide-ranging topics so I want to make it very clear that New Zealanders are becoming poorer by the day under this Government. 
One of the most fascinating statistics produced by the statistician was that if the income of all New Zealanders from wages and salaries was aggregated—part time and full time—the income from that source alone is only $337 a week per person in the workforce. That tells us that lots of New Zealanders are struggling out there. Lots of New Zealanders have trouble buying just the groceries let alone contemplating buying a bottle of gold medal Government inspector – stamped wine. Then there is the issue of people who are full time in the workforce. Full-time wage and salary earners are now earning $550-odd a week. Then we got a crowing statement from the Government that that represented a 5 percent increase and was it not doing well! 
I noticed something— 
Hon Matt Robson 
: You have never bothered to struggle in the supermarket. 
GERRY BROWNLEE 
: I do walk around supermarkets Mr Robson and I have noticed that many people put products out of place around the supermarket. They have gone about with their trolleys and taken the items they wanted but suddenly worked out that they cannot afford them and have had to ditch them all over the place. That member should look out for it next time. It would be a new experience for someone from the Alliance the Progressive party and the “What Other Name Can We Come Up With Next Party?” to go around the supermarket like ordinary people do a couple of times a week. If that member did he would see that people are having to make hard choices about the food they buy for their families because this Government has them screwed down on very low incomes. Unbelievable! 
Hon Marian Hobbs 
: That is right for the great city of Wellington but Fendalton supermarkets? Get a life! 
GERRY BROWNLEE 
: Well there we have it. Marian Hobbs the Christchurch deserter is referring to the Fendalton New World supermarket—a supermarket very well run I might say by the Turner family for over 67 years—and suggesting that people who go to that supermarket do not have a problem. It might interest the Hon Marian Hobbs to know that my electorate has one of the highest number of State houses in the country. I want to tell that member that despite their income-related rents those people will continue to vote for me because they know that I have an interest in their well-being—unlike the Labour Party that enjoys their poverty. This is the Government that spouts that New Zealanders from all sources of wages and salaries are now earning an average of $337 a week and says: “Aren’t they well off?”. That is the typical Helen Clark response. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Ann Hartley) 
: I realise this is a robust debate. However— 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Wide-ranging now. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Ann Hartley) 
: —and it is a wide-ranging debate. However I would remind members from all sides of the Chamber that they need to come back to the Wine Bill now.