Ardern Shane: Crimes Amendment Bill Local Government Amendment Bill Sentencing Amendment Bill (No 3) — Third Readings 
Ardern Shane: Crimes Amendment Bill Local Government Amendment Bill Sentencing Amendment Bill (No 3) — Third Readings 
[Volume:658;Page:7531] 
SHANE ARDERN (National—Taranaki - King Country) 
: 
 I rise in support of the Gangs and Organised Crime Bill which has now been divided into three separate bills as the Minister said to amend the Crimes Act 1961 the Sentencing Act 2002 and the Local Government Act 2002. I thank members on the Opposition benches for their passionate heartfelt speeches against what can only be described as a group of thugs who wreak havoc on our society. Whatever we can do as a Parliament to bring these thugs to heel so be it. That is the reason why I support this legislation. 
But I was reminded of one simple thing when I listened to the passionate speeches from the Hon Shane Jones and the Hon Clayton Cosgrove and it is that they are honourable gentlemen which means that for 9 years they were in Government; for 9 years we had a Labour Government. It was quite interesting to listen to them launch their attack on the Maori Party. Our colleagues in the Maori Party said that they talk tough but they do not actually do anything; the rubber does not hit the road. Well after 9 long years of a Labour Government we are at this moment right now addressing this issue. I have to ask the question. I know that the Hon Shane Jones has a strong political career ahead of him and I know that some time in the future probably four or five Parliaments away he will be back in Government and that the  
Hansard 
 record will still be there. It will be interesting to know what they may do in respect of law and order when their time comes again. 
But in the debate in the House today we are dealing with this group of people and as the Minister said it is not necessarily Maori who wear patches. They are worn by all sorts of people. Some of these people wear suits but they are just as insidious. As one who represents the electorate of Taranaki - King Country which has 17 small towns right across it with very low socio-economics—places like Kawhia Te Anga Kinohaku and Bennydale where socio-economics are very very low—one knows the havoc these individuals cause the type of activity they get involved in and the damage it does to the community. So anything we can do in Parliament that will assist our law officers that will assist in the investigations and that will assist in any way at all to bring these people to heel we should do with the utmost vigour that we can apply to it. 
The issue of resourcing is an interesting debate. There is a finite amount that we can put into any particular social issue at any one time. What I resent most of all about the constant reference to resourcing of the police or any other type of resourcing is that under 9 years of Labour we had the best economic times that we have experienced in a generation. What happened during that time? We squandered that opportunity on a scale that this country has never experienced. That is exactly what happened. So when it came to funding police cars when it came to funding law and order when it came to funding our courts—the whole arm—the third and very important leg of Government what happened under 9 years of Labour? We saw decline. We never saw the growth that we should have seen. We did not see the opportunities that this great little country had. We saw them squandered. We saw industries that could be double the size they are now taxed into non-existence. 
We saw the Australians thrash us in the commercial world; they absolutely thrashed us. The mantra we constantly hear about Australia having minerals and digging them up is absolute nonsense. This country has more minerals per capita than Australia. We have more opportunity than Australia because of our abundance in agriculture. We are better than our Australian counterparts in every single way in terms of our opportunities in the commercial world going forward. I tell Mr Jones that that growth would fund police cars and fund the law and order and social standards that he would like to see. Those kinds of things are important to New Zealanders. 
We are debating in the third reading of this legislation today the issues the Government confronts concerning the way to deal with this insidious group of individuals who come from all backgrounds all walks of life all social groups and all cultural groups. They come into our society from overseas and from within New Zealand. The proposals put forward by the Law and Order Committee—a good committee with good cross-party support most of the time—enhance the legislation and I can see nothing but good coming from its passing and receiving the Royal assent in the near future. Thank you.