Peters Winston: Motions — Reserve Bank Funding Agreement—Ratification 
Peters Winston: Motions — Reserve Bank Funding Agreement—Ratification 
[Volume:616;Page:12403] 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First) 
: 
 I want to know when we are going to hear from the great debater. I want to know when we are going to hear from the expert on monetary policy who is the former Governor of the Reserve Bank. I want to know when he is going to speak. The speech we have just heard was the voice of utter inexperience—as Don Brash is on these matters when it comes to running the whole economy. The National Party and the ACT party do not understand that the job is to run the whole economy in the interests of the whole nation and not just for the narrow segmented sectional interests of the capital markets. The great lesson for this country since 1984 has been the disastrous experiment that the ACT party began with its founder and that was supported by the National Government over all those years. The disaster shows in a comparison between Australia’s growth rate since 1984 and ours: Australia has a growth rate that in real terms is 35 percent faster than New Zealand’s. 
And we have just heard that speech from the voice of the capital markets. That is the kind of voice I heard back in 1985 when Labour floated the dollar supported by Prebble and the acolytes of the far right. The dollar went from US44c to US72c and Roger Douglas and others were saying they would make New Zealand the capital market centre of the world. Not bad eh! When they were asked how it would happen they said it would happen because New Zealand gets the sun earlier than anybody else. It is voodoo economics the sort of economics that is thoroughly discredited in every other First World economy. But today we heard again why the National Party cannot ever be allowed to govern by itself again. Its members are narrow and shallow. They do not understand even their own history. Can members imagine Keith Holyoake making that speech? I cannot. Can they imagine Harry Lake making that speech? I cannot. But the new breed of wide boys as evidenced by their presence in this House say things such as Mr Key has just said: “We’d fix all the infrastructure in one go.” I know he has been in Parliament only 5 minutes but which politician of experience would make that bald outrageous claim and expect even one person in his caucus let alone anybody in New Zealand to believe it? 
That is what he said. He was challenged across the House to say what he would do and he said he would fix all the infrastructure in one go. It is in the  
Hansard 
 and now less than a minute later he is denying it. It is so typical of his leader who is asked time after time what his policy is. When he is asked: “Does this mean that?”; he says: “Ah I’m not sure.” When asked whether A means B or C he says: “Well we’re working on that; we have a review going on.” When will this party which has been around since 1936 with antecedents going back two centuries come to grips with itself and realise that people want policy not popularism? They want policy not opportunism. They want ideas not chance. They will not have themselves put at risk by all this inexperience. They do not want a narrow sectionist segmented interest group coming to Parliament represented by these MPs and pushing their interests over the person who matters most—the exporter he or she who goes abroad and brings more money back for the family in New Zealand. That is what we are talking about today. We are not talking about anything other than giving our exporters a fair go—the people who in a dependent economy like ours are so critical to our long-term economic interest. 
The National Party purports to represent the farmer—provincial New Zealand. No wonder it has not one more seat left apart from Whangarei in the cities of the provinces! It is because they have forgotten exactly who it is who puts life into the economy of this country and who it is the wide boys who put tens of thousands of dollars into their coffers but whose interests are not those of the mass majority of ordinary people in this country and of the women and men who go abroad and export. 
In 1985 to 1987 our dollar went from US44c to US72c and they did nothing. In 1994 to 1996 Don Brash was the Governor of the Reserve Bank. The dollar rose a dramatic 26 percent and he would do nothing. In November 1996 we changed the policy targets agreement. The dollar began to drop dramatically and as a consequence this country made a significant recovery. That is the one and only policy that one can point to for change. But what would those people in the National Party do? They do not actually know. They are opposed to it but they will not change it. 
Darren Hughes 
: They’re uncomfortable. 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: Yes they are uncomfortable. Apparently we are going to run our economy like some sort of retreat or haven for those who are unwell—“If you’re comfortable OK; if not we’ve got something for you.” It is outrageous when one thinks about it. The party that used to stand for business for exporters and the party that is going to stand for farmers fishermen and foresters is doing nothing for those people whatsoever other than to criticise at long last something in the area of monetary change. They have no policy. [ 
Interruption 
] He says he has a policy. 
 He had the chance to speak for 10 minutes and he could not outline one element of it. I say to Mr Key that that is not good enough. No wonder they call him “Don Key”. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: I am sorry I did not mean to say that but when someone describes himself as Don Brash’s “mini-me” it leads to the automatic— 
Darren Hughes 
: How embarrassing! 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: Yes it is. He is the fill-in person for Don Brash. All I can say is that “Moga-Don” no longer has any chance of being successful in this country if people hear those kinds of speeches. It comes back to the point of which other country would tolerate a do-nothing policy. Did Greenspan do nothing? No he did not. When the sharemarket crashed in “black” October 1987 he did something as did every other economy except New Zealand. We languished for decades with the sharemarket staggering at the same level because of a lack of confidence. This country needs low exchange rates and low interest rates and they can be run in tandem. New Zealand First is the one consistent party that has argued for a currency level set to be sympathetic to exporters in a country more dependent on exporting than any country I know. 
Those are the real choices in 2005 for the New Zealand electorate and for that matter for the businessmen of this country who do real things and make real money other than those who prey like the vulture and exploit the weak the halt the lame and the maimed in the financial markets of which Mr Key obviously wants to make himself a spokesperson. 
No doubt we will hear from ACT shortly. We will hear how dynamically successful that party was when its founding leaders were in Government. They sent the Labour Party almost to political oblivion. All I can say is that the good thing about the speech the House is about to hear is that it does not matter because after the next election there will be three parties standing—that is the two old tired ones and the new dynamic one called New Zealand First.