Moroney Sue: General Debate 
Moroney Sue: General Debate 
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SUE MORONEY (Labour) 
: 
 That was an appalling speech made by the previous speaker who has just resumed her seat. She used any old smokescreen to get over the embarrassment of the dead duck of John Key’s major education policy announcement. Did members notice that there was no question today from the National Party to expose National’s very exciting education policy announcement and that very little was said about it in the general debate? Even John Key in his speech in the general debate did not really want to talk too much about his education policy. 
However the Labour Government is delivering real progress for New Zealand families. They are things that really matter and practical things that make a big difference to real families in New Zealand. The evidence has been with us as from 1 April as many of the Labour Government’s initiatives came into place on that day. On 1 April Sunday of this week a family tax credit of $10 for every child came in for New Zealand families and also a fourth week of paid annual leave for people so that they can spend more time with their families and have more rest and recreation. These are policies of substance. These are things that make a real difference to real New Zealanders. Also on 1 April the minimum wage was increased to $11.25 an hour. That is a very large increase from $10.25 as it was previously and it is the eighth rise in 8 years under a Labour Government. 
At the last election there was a lot of heat—and not too much light I must say—around the issue of low wages in this country. But who is it who has the track record of doing something quite pragmatic and very practical about it? [ 
Interruption 
] It is the Labour Government I say to Mr Power. It is the Labour Government that increases the minimum wage and does something real and positive about low pay. There are no slogans just real substance. On top of that if that was not enough on 1 April single superannuitants received an increase of $13.42 a week and $20 a week for married couples. I thank New Zealand First for the support it put behind that particular policy. But again it has been delivered by a Labour-led Government. So this is when we go for substance over style. This is the type of thing we can deliver to real New Zealanders. 
I was out at the Frankton market in Hamilton during the weekend talking to real people about the family-friendly policies of this Labour Government and what was about to be enacted on 1 April. They were very pleased indeed to see some good practical steps and not just hear platitudes—the platitudes of muesli bars and the odd trip to Waitangi for one lucky person. These policies go right across the board to make a good practical difference every day to people’s working lives and their family life. Of course it is very obvious to those people that it is the Labour Government that is family friendly. We are not just about slogans we are not just about style; we actually deliver on our promises. 
On top of this and at the same time business confidence is also up. Even though a lot of these policies are directed towards making lives more comfortable for families and for superannuitants—for people in that field—at the same time business confidence is up. In fact just today a business confidence survey was released in the Waikato that shows that business confidence has increased and 39 percent of Waikato businesses expect the general situation to improve in the next 6 months. That is up from 34 percent in December. 
Hon Paul Swain 
: You wouldn’t hear that from the National Party. 
SUE MORONEY 
: That is right. We would not hear that from the National Party. The same Waikato survey also found that 67 percent of businesses expect that their individual situation will improve over the next 6 months. Why would they not expect that because that is what they have come to expect under a Labour Government? 
This Government is clearly good for families and good for business and it does all of those things in conjunction. That is what happens when one has real policies that are well-thought-out and canvassed among the community—not policy on the hoof like John Key’s education policy. It seems that John Key had a chat with someone and thought that he had a good idea. But did he put that idea to his caucus? What about his party? Has it had a vote on this policy? Well it seems that there is no need to because he has just revived a tired old piece of National policy anyway. He has repackaged it and resold it just like any second-hand car dealer would do. Jane Clifton actually had a better description of John Key when she talked about him being “the cheerful barrow boy”. He has proven himself to be exactly that this week with his poor performance on his major announcement in education. 
The debate having concluded the motion lapsed.