Mallard Trevor: Future Directions (Working for Families) Bill — First Reading 
Mallard Trevor: Future Directions (Working for Families) Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:617;Page:13443] 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Minister of Education) 
: 
 I think we have just seen why Don Brash is not prepared to hand over the finance spokespersonship. We have heard from the man whom Maurice Williamson’s good friend Michelle Boag got into Parliament on a promise that he could be the spokesperson on finance. Then they got Don Brash in as well on a late run. 
What we have heard from the member who just resumed his seat—the member who popped into Parliament from his second or third country house in Helensville—was embarrassing. That member thought about doing some work earlier in the afternoon decided against it and then decided to pop down to Parliament for a bit of fun and make the sort of speech that really is embarrassing. Frankly I am embarrassed. I was here to rebut the attack on this legislation from John Key but I sat here for the entire speech and tried to work out whether he was for it or against it. 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: He’s against it. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: He is against it. That is good—progress from Maurice Williamson. They are against it. I could not tell from listening to John Key. I am told by the member for Wanganui that ornaments on Mr Key’s mantelpiece could buy a house in Wanganui. That is why he does not understand this piece of legislation. He is spouting on about a poll on a television channel that is overwhelmingly watched by Tories. 
John Key 
: What? Television One? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: Television One—the channel that is overwhelmingly watched by people in the upper-income groups the people who can afford to spend 99c each time 100 times in half an hour to respond to a poll. They are the sorts of people who respond to that. Maurice Williamson I can see has repetitive strain injury in his finger from using his cellphone to ring up. 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: Not from my cellphone. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: He used his office phone to ring up Paul Holmes time and time again. Even Richard Prebble who every now and then is a lot of fun—he gets excited—knows not to rely on polls that people have to pay to enter. Except for the ACT polls of course for the leadership. Rodney Hide is buying it pretty well at the moment but let us leave that to one side— 
Darren Hughes 
: He got 99 percent of the vote. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
:In the ACT party I think they are desperate to find anyone to vote. I have never seen people who are less willing to talk about legislation and the issues and want to speak more about their leadership. 
Let us get to some of the issues in this bill. At this point I want to congratulate my friend Steve Maharey on the work he has done in this legislation. It is fair to say that there are often tensions between education and the labour market in deciding to work in the early childhood education area. Sometimes they can work against each other. Moving quality up in early childhood education costs but this Minister has made sure that people with three children—maybe with only one of them in early childhood education—and with incomes of over $60000 are getting support. 
National is opposed to families earning over $60000 and with one child in early childhood education getting support for that. Shame on them! Why do they care so little for the children of middle-income New Zealand? Why do they hate them so much that they say that they should not get support for their children to get quality early childhood education while their mothers and fathers go out to work? I do not understand why Tories attack middle-income New Zealanders so much. They do not care about them. They do not understand. Maybe my friend the member for Wanganui is right— 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: She’s not your friend. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: She is a very good friend of mine. 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: She’s not your friend. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: She is a very good friend and colleague. But the point I am making is that maybe she is right when she looks over there at David Carter Lockwood Smith and John Key and says they just do not understand where middle-income New Zealand is at. They do not understand the people who have to think about whether they can afford 99c to ring up Paul Holmes or whether they can afford to have their kid in an extra hour of childcare this week while they go to the dentist or the doctor. Those are the sorts of people who win out of the legislation we are debating and the Tories opposite just do not care about them. 
I think it is sad exceptionally sad that they are not commending this Government for the quality and the fairness of the package. For all their talk about the importance of work and getting people into work they are opposing the legislation that is most likely to do it. If we were outside the House they would be called hypocrites. We cannot use that term in here and I will not but I want to make it clear that these people are saying one thing yesterday and another thing today. They say they want New Zealanders to work. They say they care about early childhood education but when it comes to their votes it becomes clear to us that the people sitting on the opposite side of the House cannot make a sensible decision. 
 Do members know what is the best thing they could do? My old friend Maurice Williamson I am sure would have given them this advice. I have a lot of time for Mr Williamson on occasions. He knows a bit about parliamentary tactics and he would have told them: “When you are on a loser cut it short. Just say ‘yes’ quickly get it over with shut your eyes and get on to the new business.” When that is happening and one is being stuffed in a political sense at that point it is better to say: “I accept it. We are losing on this particular case. I want to move forward get it over with and get on to somewhere where it might be more enjoyable.” Because what is clear to me is that members opposite have not been thinking carefully about the political tactics here. They want to stretch it out. When one is being done over it is better not to extend it. 
Members opposite need to think very carefully. They need the votes of people in the $25000 to $60000 income group—not the $80000 not the $1-million-a-year people whom Mr Key is worrying about. It is the people in the $26000 to $60000 group—the families of New Zealand—and what they have given them tonight is two fingers.