Hereora Dave: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Hereora Dave: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Volume:637;Page:7371] 
DAVE HEREORA (Labour) 
: 
 The previous member talked about desperation. If ever I heard a desperate speech that was it. I can understand why Wayne Mapp is feeling desperate. We all know that Wayne Mapp has been demoted and stripped of being the “PC Eradicator”—we thought he was doing a really good job on that—and that there are problems in his caucus with splits and divisions. Those are the tensions that exist in the Opposition caucus. There are splits and divisions in there and by the end of the year we could be looking at a new leader—one never knows. 
But I will say about the previous member’s speech that he did acknowledge a very dear friend of ours. I also want to acknowledge the passing of our dear friend Helen Duncan. Helen was very strong in her struggle to ensure that people had their rights and protections. I accompanied Wayne at the funeral as did many other members of Parliament who were there that day. It was a very sad occasion. I want to extend my condolences to the family—to Alan—and say very briefly: e hurinoaitauaarai e te whaea kei rungai te ringa kaha o te Atua haere atu ra haere atu ra haere atu ra. A kuahurinoa ki a tatau te hunga ora. 
[ 
Turn about on that pathway dear lady in God’s mighty hand and journey on move on farewell. And so to us here the living 
.] 
In terms of the Prime Minister’s statement yesterday I stand in support of it. I want to say that the Labour Government is working well to achieve an economy that is high value high income innovative and export-led which will lead to giving New Zealanders a better quality of life. 
When we compare the Prime Minister’s speech to the Opposition speech by Mr Key we see that he just had no policy. There was no substance in his speech. I would say he was quite focused on trying to undermine the Prime Minister’s statement but he cannot undermine the Prime Minister’s statement in the absence of policy. Quite frankly that performance the other day was unacceptable particularly when we know through the book that was released that one cannot buy policy. The measure of that was through the election—one cannot buy policy—and that is why they lost and we won. 
But to get on to the Prime Minister’s statement I want to say that as part of our drive towards the economy we have been very clear and very focused in relation to ensuring that as part of that Maori development is excelling. But before we could get to ensuring that Maori development excels we had to make sure that there were more jobs out there and that we had the education processes and structures right. We have improved the Maori employment rate. We have got more Maori into education. Now that we have achieved those platforms we can move on to Maori development. We are seeing the emergence of Maori even more strongly as a significant stakeholder. Through asset holders and contributors to economic development the Maori commercial asset base is already now estimated at $9 billion with Maori owning 37 percent of the fishing quota and 10 percent of the land and forest estate. All that contributes to our combined efforts in trying to ensure that our economy is stable and sustainable as well as contributing 7 percent of the agricultural output. I think that is a marvellous outcome. I think that is the way of the future. 
Our aim is to complete the historical settlements in the next 10 to 15 years. That again is part of the development and in achieving that we will need to ensure that we move very closely to that closing date. 
I want to move on to the draft energy strategy. We released the draft energy strategy which proposes that as much new electricity generation as possible should be renewable. It aims to ensure that New Zealand develops a sustainable and affordable energy system that minimises greenhouse gas emissions and that will give New Zealand an enduring competitive advantage over other countries. That is very important as part of the pathway forward. 
With our telecommunications strategy history has been made with the Telecommunications Amendment Bill. This is the beginning of a new era. The bill equips New Zealand for the new digital age—an age where the smart use of technology will determine our continued prosperity as a country and make economic transformation a reality. [ 
Interruption 
] I hear the members making some comment. I want to get back to the splits and divisions in that caucus and I want to know whether any of those members who are commenting have been promoted within their caucus. The only one I can see is Mr Nathan Guy. I understand he is a junior whip but I do not think the other three beside him are in for promotional opportunities from their leader. 
Getting back to the Prime Minister’s statement I say that we are also raising the skill levels of the workforce. As of 30 June there were 9171 more apprentices—almost 30 percent more than in June 2005—and 123000 industry trainees overall. Almost 2300 workers have completed Modern Apprenticeships since the programme began in 2000 and the number of people taking part in this industry training in 2005 was double that in 2000. I recall that as part of the apprentice programme in the early 1990s it was one of our duties to assist employers to check out the establishments that had apprentices. There were about five apprentices at that time in the whole of Auckland. That is simply because the National Party had stripped away the opportunity for apprentices through the Employment Contracts Act. Those members are quick to forget. 
The other area of progression is through 100000 fewer people being on the unemployment benefit. I can appreciate and understand that—[ 
Interruption 
]  
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Ann Hartley) 
: The member was warned previously. His interjections are over the top. They are not allowing people to hear what is being said. He is quite entitled to interject in a reasonable way. That is not reasonable. I ask the member to desist. 
DAVE HEREORA 
: As I was saying there are 100000 fewer people on the unemployment benefit. I was shocked over the previous 2 weeks to hear that the National Party has realised there is poverty out there. At the end of the day one would think that it had never existed. But again I get back to the 1990s. The policies that National introduced enhanced poverty by stripping away workers’ rights with the Employment Contracts Act. National members need to stand up and be accountable for that. Labour however has reduced unemployment by 100000 people since 1999. That is a 68 percent drop. At 3.8 percent New Zealand remains one of only five out of the 27 OECD countries whose unemployment rate is below 4 percent. That is hard to argue against. 
The other area that needs to be placed on record is the manner in which we support firms to break into offshore markets. New Zealand firms trying to crack into overseas markets are being supported by a $64.2 million increase in market development assistance over the next 4 years. The Venture Investment Fund has received a $60 million boost over the next 3 years to assist young New Zealand firms with high growth and potential. 
Before I finish I want to say that the Prime Minister’s statement was about a pathway forward and about vision. The Opposition needs to realise that in the absence of policy it ain’t going to win again.