Field Taito Phillip: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Field Taito Phillip: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
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Hon TAITO PHILLIP FIELD (Minister of State) 
: 
 That was a very disappointing speech made by a so-called front-bencher of the National Party. I start by wishing New Zealanders who are listening to the debate the very best for 2004. They have a year—and a future—of hope to look forward to under a Labour Government. 
We are debating the Prime Minister’s statement which not only referred to a very successful 4 years of administration and to policies that have seen significant and outstanding economic and social results but also revealed to the New Zealand public what this Labour-led Government’s programme is for the next 12 months and beyond. I am proud of the fact that we have a very competent number of men and women on this side of the House who are committed to doing the right thing for all New Zealanders. 
Judith Collins 
: Name one. 
Hon TAITO PHILLIP FIELD 
: We have an outstanding Prime Minister in Helen Clark. That is more than I can say about those very desperate members opposite. They are desperate and they have a desperate leader to match. I note that a recent press report by a political analyst states that the National Party has what it deserves. It has a man who has been elected through the party list and who has been rejected by the electorate twice in two elections. The National Party looks to an old man to lead it. I say to the House that no political stunt like the one adopted by the leaders of Germany in the late 1930s and 1940s which misled the German people and played on people’s prejudice will succeed in this country because eventually it will be seen for what it is—nothing more than a political stunt and a dishonest one at that. 
Dr Wayne Mapp 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. I am sure you know what I am drawing attention to. It is well known that in this House members cannot compare policies of parties in this Parliament with those of Nazi Germany in the 1930s. 
Clayton Cosgrove 
: He didn’t say Nazi Germany. 
Dr Wayne Mapp 
: Yes he did—Germany in the 1930s. 
Hon Mark Burton 
: I was listening to the member very carefully. The first mention of Nazi Germany came from Mr Mapp in his point of order. There was no such reference in the speech being made by the member on his feet; he simply referred to a period of European history and to policies at that time which has never been ruled out. I think that if we get to the point of ruling out such a broad reference then it will be impossible to say anything in this House. 
John Carter 
: We will get into serious difficulty if we do not abide by the convention that has been set in this House that whether by direct reference or imputation there is no way we compare parties in this Parliament and in this country with those of Nazi Germany or with the history around that party or to communist Pol Pot or to any other authoritarian structure that we find abhorrent in this country. Although the member may have been clever enough not to refer specifically to Nazi Germany anyone listening would have known he was referring to the regime run by Hitler and we take objection to the fact that there was any reference at all in so comparing us or any other party in this country with that regime. Madam Speaker we ask that you ask the member to cease and to not continue in that vein. 
Hon Mark Burton 
: If a member from any party had made an accusation as specific as Mr Mapp suggested I would have objected even if it had been one of my own members because I think it would have been grossly inappropriate. The member referred to a broad period of history a tumultuous time in the history of Europe. He did not refer even to a specific country as I recollect. 
John Key 
: Yes he did. 
Hon Mark Burton 
: In any event that was a period of social upheaval in that part of the world and in that country. Mr Field made no reference to a political party and no reference to a particular political leader. 
Dail Jones 
: I was listening to the speech. It was very clear to me that the Labour member referred to a period of German history—he said “German history in the 1930s and 1940s”. One would have to be a complete idiot not to know what he was referring to and no one in this House is such an idiot. We are absolutely sure about what he was referring to and he should be asked to withdraw and apologise. A member has taken objection to it as well. 
Hon TAITO PHILLIP FIELD 
: Speaking to the point of order I withdraw that part of the statement. The reference was really in terms of political stunts based on prejudice and that was in reference to a period of German history. That was an example. The emphasis of the statement made referred to political stunts based on people’s prejudice. 
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: I think the members who have spoken to this matter have spoken very clearly and I rule that such reference could lead to disorder. I think that the inference was fairly clear so I ask the member to withdraw. 
Hon TAITO PHILLIP FIELD 
: I withdraw. It is clear that New Zealanders will not fall for these sorts of political stunts. The real issues that people are concerned about are the economy health care education and the employment of our people. Anybody in this country can work out the fact that Maori have been disadvantaged and disproportionately represented in terms of the poorest statistics. They have the poorest health the poorest educational results and achievements and the poorest employment figures. We can be proud of this Government’s track record in the past 4 years in doing something about it. As the Prime Minister said in her speech as a result of 9 years of disastrous administration by the previous National Government we ended up not only with an economic deficit but with a social deficit that affected certain sections of our community including Maori and Pacific Island people. 
I said before that this Labour Government at the commencement of its administration did not look at the easy-fix solutions we were used to under a National Government; it looked at the long-term solutions and at what had to be established as a foundation to strengthen the New Zealand economy. We can be proud that at 3.9 percent growth we cannot do better than to top the list of OECD countries. The reality is that New Zealand’s economic performance under this Government is the best in the Western world in terms of those countries surveyed on economic performance. We can be proud of that record. I am particularly proud of the social policy that this Government has put in place in the last 4 years. 
Sitting suspended from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. 
Hon TAITO PHILLIP FIELD 
: Before the dinner break the focus was on the Prime Minister’s statement. I say that this Government can take pride in its achievements. We have a very positive story to tell about how much has currently been achieved in New Zealand and about how much more can be achieved with New Zealanders working together to reach and to realise our full potential. I am proud to be part of this Government which in the last 4 years has led this country and built the foundations for change and improvement. We are now seeing the results of that emerge. 
After many years of seeing sluggish growth and social decay New Zealand has picked up momentum and is moving forward on many fronts. This year’s Budget will bring important changes for families and I acknowledge the role that United Future has played in developing families policy. The new Families Commission will be set up and start to run. It will make major improvements to the level of family income support and assistance and will introduce new initiatives for early childhood education. That is very important particularly in relation to women who need to be encouraged to participate in the workforce when they can. It is also important that we have quality childcare so that we can remove obstacles to employment for women. We have a new mortgage insurance pilot scheme between Housing New Zealand Corporation and Kiwibank which is helping a lot of low-income families. That will benefit Maori Pacific Island Asian and European low-income people. It is certainly based on need not on the race nonsense that members of the Opposition are talking about. 
I want to talk about the consultation that has begun in terms of a new housing strategy for Housing New Zealand Corporation. Again that is particularly important in the huge area of Pacific Island and Maori people. In my electorate in south Auckland 800 people are on the waiting list and we are hoping to begin to deal with those issues. We are also seeing an increasing need for recognising and promoting the skills and creativity of our people. We have a lot of talent amongst our young people which if used properly can generate a lot of employment. One hundred and seventy-six thousand jobs have been created since this Government came into power. We can be proud of that record. There are other initiatives that are working because they are focused proactive and relevant to the communities we are trying to help. 
The performance of the Government has been outstanding in the area of unemployment in the Pacific Island community. Unemployment in that community was higher than for Maori over a decade ago at 32 percent. It is now down to 8.8 percent—recently back up from 6.6 percent—which is something we can all be proud of. We are not too far off seeing unemployment in the Pacific Island community being on a par with the rest of the country and that will be a real achievement to celebrate next year when we achieve that. Those are all positive things. It is a positive message for the nation. We should be proud of the achievements of this Government in the last 4 years. Extremism is a luxury for the Opposition and long may it enjoy that. 
This Government’s core mission is to build a confident and dynamic nation based on an innovative growing smart economy that can deliver more jobs more opportunities and higher living standards together with the resources to fund world-class public services especially in health and education and world-class infrastructure. The nation we seek to build is creative; it looks after its environment; it values its diversity and tolerance towards all its communities; it takes its responsibilities under the Treaty of Waitangi seriously; and it is a good international citizen. Those goals are very much something that all of us as Kiwis can be proud of. That is building unity through removing disparities because poverty was determined along racial lines under a National Government for 9 long years. We are fixing the problems so that we can achieve genuine equality from which there can be the genuine unity of a nation. That equality we need to build is based on effective policies that remove those disparities. 
The reality is as I said that poverty was being determined along racial lines. It is a question of effective policies that will work and there have been particularly positive developments for Pacific Island communities. Unemployment levels are coming down and I congratulate the Minister of Education on lifting early childhood education participation amongst Pacific Island children. We have to build a foundation on which our children can succeed in schools. The educational failure of Pacific Island children in tertiary and secondary schools is appalling and until we begin to recognise that—until we lift early childhood development and education amongst our Pacific communities—we will continue to have educational failure and high unemployment as a result and we will continue to see poverty develop amongst those communities. 
Those are the positive initiatives and programmes this Government has put in place in the last 4 years. They are working contrary to the statements made by members on the opposite side of the House. We believe that those positive moves will bring positive results—positive for the whole of New Zealand. It will be to the benefit of every person in New Zealand when we have good race relations because we will have real equality and our people will achieve equally in all facets of New Zealand life.