O'Connor Simon: General DebateText is subject to correctionO'Connor Simon: General Debate[Sitting date: 23 October 2013. Volume:694;Page:14205. Text is subject to correction.]SIMON O’CONNOR (National—Tāmaki): Absolutely—it is lucky for the country that we have taken this 5 minutes. Look I was absolutely struck today in question time. We had sanctimony coming from Metiria Turei the leader of the Green Party particularly who began to lecture us on the supposed virtues of the Catholic Church. I do not stand here to speak for the Catholic Church either but I am absolutely amazed that this is happening. I look forward to Ms Turei and others taking on the fullness of Catholic social teaching the respect for life and the dignity of every person.Speaking of the dignity of every person I am incredibly proud to stand next to Sam Lotu-Iiga the MP for Maungakiekie—the MP who took a red Labour seat and turned it blue—and to work hard with this man every day to do the best that we can for our electorates in Tāmaki and Maungakiekie.What we heard today though from the Greens—particularly coming through Greenpeace; of course it has not declared directly its allegiance there—was something about which I would say shows we can count on the Green Party to provide us with fairy tales. You see once upon a time there was a land that never had to worry about oil spills or pollution. There was no intensive farming or agribusiness and no geneticengineering or modification. No one owned a car and most people walked wherever they had to go. It was a Green Party paradise.It was of course Europe in the Middle Ages and no one then thought of it as a paradise. You see in reality life in the medieval period was brutal short and tragic. Infant mortality was 25 percent. Just to help out those who cannot count that means one in four newborn babies died before their first birthday. Today infant mortality in New Zealand is 0.4 percent. Life expectancy in the medieval period was about 30 years. Now New Zealanders can expect to live to an average age of around 79. Violence in that medieval green paradise was rife. In fact scholars estimate that people were 35 times more likely to be murdered then than they are today. Life was horrible but their beaches were gorgeous.We have come a long way from there. Our quality of life today is the envy of every country in the world and everyone who ever lived before us. You may ask how we achieved this great standard of living. It has been a slow process. It is called science. It is something that the Green Party and its Labour allies and followers care little for. Science has been the driving factor. It has provided us with many ways to improve our lives but it has also provided us with the resources to do so—and by that I mean income.Last year the New Zealand Treasury received $1.9 billion from the oil and gas industry. I listen to the Greens in particular demanding that we forbid future drilling. I listen to them scaremongering and bullying people—there we go Mr Horan; bullying is there—and insisting that oil is bad for New Zealand. And do you know what? They are just plain wrong. Last year that $2 billion saved lives. It saved young people and retired seniors. It educated students and it supported welfare beneficiaries.The $2 billion we received in oil and gas revenue was enough to cover just over half the entire tertiary education budget for the year or to cover the entire budget for the Canterbury District Health Board and the Southern District Health Board for the year. In fact $2 billion could pay for every single unemployment benefit given out for the next 3 years and it could pay for about 30000 heart valve replacement operations. It could almost cover the entire transport budget or half of our law and order budget. You see this is what oil and gas means to New Zealand. It will pay for new schools new hospitals and the insulation of homes. It pays for more doctors teachers and scientists. It will contribute to income support for those who need it to aged care for the elderly and to health coverage for everyone.In contrast the Green Party is intent on blindly following a dangerous dogma that will leave people alone facing harsh realities without assistance. Without oil and gas revenues the Green Party will have to cut many of the services New Zealanders count on. It intends to turn back the clock and take us all back to a time when industry and science were unwelcome and when people lived harsh lives in grinding poverty.The oil and gas we are searching for will have a tangible benefit for all Kiwis. It will raise the quality of life for everyone especially the most vulnerable elements in our society which rely on Government assistance. Look back into history. New technology is vitally important to our lives today but without the money to run it we might as well be living in the Dark Ages with the Green Party. Now we can finish the debate Mr Assistant Speaker.