Bakshi Kanwaljit Singh: Debate on Prime Minister’s StatementText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBakshi Kanwaljit Singh: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement[Sitting date: 12 February 2014. Volume:696;Page:15878. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]KANWALJIT SINGH BAKSHI (National): It is my privilege and honour to speak in support of the Prime Minister’s statement. I would like to congratulate Scott Simpson the hard-working member for Coromandel on his excellent contribution. I hope that he will continue to serve this House for a long time. I begin by congratulating my Government on playing its role in ensuring that New Zealand—to borrow an analogy—is the rock star economy of the world. Can I just take this opportunity to remind my fellow parliamentarians that you do not get called a rock star economy by chance. It happens only when the people who are given the responsibility of steering the country do so responsibly and do not lose sight of their goal no matter how tough the conditions may be.We made a commitment to New Zealanders when we got re-elected in 2011. It is with a lot of pride that I can share that our Government is continuing to implement its commitment. Every day we are working to ensure that New Zealand remains a competitive economy where our incomes and our level of lifestyle rise. Unlike our friends in the Opposition we have a plan that we have seen work. We are also working tirelessly on getting the public accounts back in surplus and reducing debt. We want to ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent efficiently on the services required by the taxpayers such as better healthcare facilities reduced waiting time for surgeries and more police on the roads to ensure the safety of our citizens. We are building infrastructure that contributes to the development of the New Zealand economy be it in Christchurch State highways or even ultra-fast broadband.The economy has grown at a wonderful rate of 3.5 percent which has earned New Zealand the title of rock star economy. The latest projections by Treasury advise that our country should be in surplus by next year. This is in my opinion an achievement of significance considering the projections of high debt levels given to us when we started 5 years ago. I congratulate the Prime Minister the Rt Hon John Key and the Minister of Finance Bill English on their leadership in achieving this.I would like to add that the ethnic community has played a very effective role in contributing to this economy. In Manukau East most of the migrants I know are engaged in employment or are entrepreneurs. The purpose of their moving here—Le’aufa’amulia Asenati Lole-Taylor: That’s not what I heard.KANWALJIT SINGH BAKSHI: I am talking of the migrants. You are not aware of those people; you are just trying to earn your own patch. The purpose of their moving to New Zealand is not to rely on the State but to work smart and hard. Ethnic communities want to ensure the economic success of themselves and their families. They also contribute to the economy by generating jobs and paying taxes.There is little surprise that the number of people moving to New Zealand continues to grow. With the growth of these numbers we can be hopeful that New Zealand will remain an attractive destination for investment tourism and the settlement of skilled migrants. This will also ensure that we can address the labour shortage in critical areas such as information technology science and research. Research from Treasury and a number of other Government agencies and private entities provides consistent evidence of the positive contribution that migrants and ethnic communities have made to the New Zealand economy. Apart from their economic contribution ethnic and migrant communities have added to New Zealand’s culture cuisine and languages. Hindi is the fourth-most spoken language in our country. We seem to enjoy more multicultural food than any other part of the world.Once again the success of all New Zealanders including the ethnic community is attributed to the policies and the programmes run by a National Government. I as a migrant thank our Prime Minister the Rt Hon John Key and the Minister for Ethnic Affairs the Hon Judith Collins for their effort in promoting New Zealand tocontributing and skilled migrants. [Interruption] That is the problem “Mr Whip”. You are yawning. You are not listening to people and you are sleeping. You need to wake up—you need to wake up.Hon Clayton Cosgrove: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I feel duty bound to come clean. It was not the senior whip who was yawning; it was me. I was yawning at that speech.KANWALJIT SINGH BAKSHI: My apologies Mr Cosgrove. You are the one who was yawning. You need to wake up.Iain Lees-Galloway: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. In fairness to my colleague he is putting us all to sleep.The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch): Order! The member keeps saying “you” which refers to the Speaker. From now on—[Interruption] All right all right—I am on my feet. I just ask the member to not bring the presiding officer into the debate.KANWALJIT SINGH BAKSHI: My apologies Mr Assistant Speaker. The Prime Minister takes time out from his busy schedule to participate in as many of the ethnic events as possible. I have accompanied him to Diwali Holi the Chinese New Year and many other celebrations. Our Minister for Ethnic Affairs has taken a number of initiatives to encourage the ethnic community of New Zealand. In 2013 her office organised the Muslim World Forum. The forum was organised for all those who have an interest in the contemporary issues relating to New Zealand’s relationship with the Muslim world and the New Zealand Muslim community. The Minister for Ethnic Affairs also organised a working group drawing together New Zealand’s corporate leaders. The purpose was to support the entrepreneurial spirit of the ethnic community the diversity of New Zealand corporations and the collaboration of some of this country’s biggest and brightest business minds. The platform’s aim is to galvanise businesses to harness the economic benefits the business gain and the GDP uplift that results from diverse leadership and diversity of thought.This National Party leadership believes in an open and transparent forum of Governments. We believe in clarity—the sharing of our vision with New Zealanders with our citizens. Our goal is to make this country a better place for New Zealand and its families. Our intention is to continue to make progress on the work and effort that we have put in during all of the past 5 years. Our leader John Key has a comprehensive policy agenda and legislative programme to share with the House at the appropriate time. Our policy agenda and legislative programme are based on our four priorities: to responsibly manage the Government’s finances; to build a more competitive and productive economy; to deliver better public services to New Zealanders; and to support the rebuild of Christchurch. The last 5 years of governance provided by National’s Government under John Key is evidence of stable leadership that has put our country on a positive trajectory. I have little doubt that we will continue to make progress and I support the Prime Minister’s statement. Thank you.