Pugh Maureen: General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumePugh Maureen: General Debate[Sitting date: 13 April 2016. Volume:713;Page:10478. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]MAUREEN PUGH (National): It is a pleasure to stand here and take a call in this general debate. I have been listening to some of the comments made by the Opposition today and we have heard today that the National Party benches and their rich mates have some sort of advantage. Well I do not like the thought of “rich” being used as a four-letter word. From my own experience being rich is quite subjective and does not always equate to the amount of money someone has in their bank account. For me it was only a few years ago when I worked in a service station pumping gas and cleaning a public toilet but I thought I was rich then. The thing that I would like to make as my point about that is that becoming a member of Parliament and representing your community is something that this country makes available to every citizen.We also heard from our Opposition today that young men are in the highest cohort of unemployed. I would just like to do the maths. We have heard about bean counters today and I am certainly no bean counter but this Government has been in the Government for 8 years now. Prior to that there was a Labour Government for 9 years. So in 17 years I think we are seeing the tail end of those people who went through the education system under a Labour Government. You will see too that National has now broken the cycle with the work that is being done by the Hon Anne Tolley and the work that is being done by Hekia Parata to make sure that that cycle is completely broken. So we are seeing the tail end of those educated under a Labour Government and thank goodness for that.In terms of economic opportunities I would like to focus on just some of the success stories that are happening in an area that is near and dear to my heart which is West Coast - Tasman. Rather than talking about some of the huge Government investment that is happening in that electorate like ultra-fast broadband or major capital works like a hospital or seriously big infrastructure like roading or cycle trails I will focus on a few small businesses. They are mostly family-owned and they are producing high-value products for domestic and international markets. I am sure the House would like to hear a few of those examples.Alluvial gold mining is still going gangbusters. These little operations are employing people and taking a high standard in terms of the environmental responsibility. There are families like the Birchfields in Ross and there are the Acker and Mates families in Kūmara. They have been supported by the gold mining industry for many years they create jobs and they engage local service businesses that support their industry.Dear to my heart is the timber industry and especially the harvesting of the windthrow native timber which was introduced in a concept I brought to the Hon Nick Smith and was supported wholeheartedly by this Government. We are seeing a factory in Reefton Sustainable Forest Products now adding high-value native timber to its production line. That is going into domestic and international markets. Those people too are employing and growing their businesses and helping repair properties in Canterbury after the earthquakes.Many family-owned fruit and tree nut growers account for more than 11 percent of employment in the Tasman region and Tasman supports a third of the national pip-fruit industry and employment. And there is even a specialist Waimea grower who produces 60 percent of the trees for the apple growers nationwide.I was in Motueka and Golden Bay recently and during this time I caught up with some people in the viticulture sector. It is no surprise that these people are thrilled given the 14 percent rise in their exports last year which are now worth $1.5 billion to this country. This is music to the ears of the winegrowers in Waimea.Of course there is also tourism. Tourism is a flourishing industry and this directly contributes $10.6 billion to the New Zealand economy and both the West Coast and Tasman regions thrive on tourism. It is increasingly becoming one of the electorate’s consistent job creators. Abel Tasman Sea Shuttles is a family-run business out of Motueka there is the Glacier Country with its helicopters and there are other trickle-down businesses that are affected by the growing tourism industry. All of these industries are excited about the potential of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. They are grateful that this Government shares their ambition to expand their markets and they are celebrating the new tax announcements made today. Thank you.The debate having concluded the motion lapsed.