Chadwick Steve: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Chadwick Steve: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Volume:645;Page:14143] 
Hon STEVE CHADWICK (Minister of Conservation) 
: 
 Obviously the gloves are off for the next 9 months but I want to talk about a matter of style and substance. All I have heard in the House today is the bitter carping of the Opposition and if that is the sort of aspirational leadership platform that those members are establishing to fight a campaign out amongst the people of New Zealand then it is a loser. When I first came into Government in 1999 after 9 long years of being in Opposition never once did I bag the Opposition. Labour gave an aspirational platform of what we wanted to achieve we had clear and durable policies and we went out and spoke positively. If Opposition members think that by bitter carping and bagging they will become leaders and show leadership style and gravitas that will inspire New Zealanders over the next 9 months they have got off to a very bad start. 
I heard before about our Prime Minister in her statement today looking uneasy. Well this is the longest-serving Labour Prime Minister we have had in Government and there is not one division in our team. It is a team that is working hard to deliver and it helped to deliver a speech today that inspired New Zealanders. The speech had substance it had integrity and it had policies that show we will continue to deliver into the future. The challenges we faced in 1999 have been met; our promises have been kept. In the 8 years since we came into Government people remember that we have never ever welshed on our promises to the people of New Zealand. 
We now face very very complex issues into the future and these issues will not be limited by short-term fixes or by the sort of rhetoric and carping we heard from the Leader of the Opposition today. In fact I saw from the Opposition a cockiness and a born-to-rule attitude that the public of New Zealand do not like. They like gravitas they like an intelligent approach to policy but I did not hear one policy from the Opposition today—not one new idea. National held a caucus in Rotorua and I heard quite a lot back from that. One or two of them were out on the street. Taxi drivers were telling me about the comings and goings. 
But the people in Rotorua are very satisfied with the achievements of this Government. We are the beneficiaries of those 377000 more jobs that the economy has contributed to New Zealand. We have the lowest rate of unemployment that we have even seen in Rotorua. In fact we have a skills shortage which is a delicious problem to face because we have a skills strategy to fit that skills shortage. 
Anne Tolley 
: Rubbish! 
Hon STEVE CHADWICK 
: It is not rubbish at all. And we have the Youth Transition Service in Rotorua that is placing children who were once vulnerable into jobs. These are kids who are now going into jobs and training and who are proud of themselves and hold their heads up high. We have seen the impact of Working for Families in Rotorua where parents tell me they have stopped part-time work. They have chosen to stay at home with their children because of that extra $120 a week. 
We also have paid parental leave which is something the Opposition voted against and as the Minister of Women’s Affairs I will never forget that. I will say that as I travel all around the country talking to women’s groups. Paid parental leave is helping women to stay at home with their children to have bonding and attachment—strong parenting links to their children—and they are loving it. That with 4 weeks’ annual leave has been such a gift to young parents and they have also had reductions in their fees when they go to their doctors. Our communities know this. They are paying $3 for a prescription. They do remember past times and they will remember that the cap on the fees to general practitioners will change under a National Government. That is the only policy I have heard come out of the Opposition. We also have 20 free hours’ early childcare. Parents are absolutely loving this. These are policies we have delivered on along with the ones that all my colleagues have mentioned and they are taking us forward; they are not short-term fixes. In fact in our community we are reaping the benefits of a 25 percent increase in real terms to household income. That is substantial and that does not happen just by chance. 
I want to talk as the Minister of Conservation of some of the aspects of sustainability that were very big in the Prime Minister’s statement last year and—again—were used as a unifying concept when we stepped up as a country to the sustainability challenge. The Department of Conservation has six projects out for tender to get reforestation on department land. We are stepping up to the challenge of sustainability and we will be working on that. Another issue that I am very proud of and that is having benefits in Rotorua is related to the sustainable water programme of action. I have heard today about drought and we know that water is a problem. We have either too much of it or too little. But we heard in the Prime Minister’s statement today that we are going to develop a national policy statement on fresh water and this country absolutely needs that. 
Did we hear the Opposition say anything good about anything in the Prime Minister’s speech today? No National members bagged it. Well I am in a community that has 14 lakes but the Opposition when in Government did nothing about water quality and it watched water quality degrade under its very eyes. Under this Government $20 million has gone into restoration of the quality of lake water in our community and we are proud of it. We have farmers working with us. We do not bag the farmers as polluters; they are in our camp working with us. The council is there working with the regional council. The iwi is there. We have a huge community development project about restoring the water quality in our lakes and this Government is supporting us every step of the way. 
I want also to speak about the impact on our community of the Pathway to Partnership announced today. There will be $446 million allocated to non-governmental organisations in communities around the country. This is huge; it is the answer to a dream for me having set up the first women’s refuge at home and now with responsibilities as Minister of Women’s Affairs. It is absolutely fantastic to see our voluntary sector which used to depend on volunteers handouts district council benevolence trusts and goodwill—and the goodwill with those providers of services had become very very thin and stretched—so delighted. And when the Opposition says that this is a Government that is not listening I challenge the Opposition by saying that that package of $446 million is a direct response to listening to our communities and to developing a partnership that is durable and that we have delivered on with our non-governmental organisation partners. We developed that partnership model; we work with people we listen to people we find solutions and then we put our money where our mouth is. 
This is a Government with plenty more room and with plenty more energy to go forward with a fantastic team of Ministers across ministries that are working together on issues like family violence. We are proud of the work we are doing. I come from the community reeling from the death of NiaGlassie but our community is on the move and finding our own solutions. This package today will be an enormous fillip for us and for our sense of well-being. I think the address from the Prime Minister was inspirational and I am proud to be in a Government supporting this fantastic team.