Horomia Parekura: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Horomia Parekura: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Volume:660;Page:8881] 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA (Labour—Ikaroa-Rawhiti) 
: 
 The previous speaker Nathan Guy was supposedly a great shearer. He made a whole lot of outlandish statements about the leader of the Labour Party and his speech stunk like the shitty dags that we have in the— 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Eric Roy) 
: We have just spent some time on establishing with the previous speaker some protocols about what is acceptable in this House and that kind of terminology is not. 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: I apologise Mr Assistant Speaker. I thought that as a farmer you would appreciate that. That is what the member’s speech was. It was outrageous outlandish and full of statements that represented a warped and bent speech. It was not a speech for this time. How dare he talk about the leadership of the Labour Party when we know that he is trying to unseat John Key and that he wants to have my relation Hekia Parata as the deputy? That is one thing I do agree with the National Party on; that would be wonderful. We know about that because we are watching the situation. 
We ask Mr Guy what he is going to do about the people at Carter Holt Harvey in Otaki who are being put off. He is silent. He is not saying anything and he will not do anything. This is the same person who used to mistreat fleece-oes and give the workers in the shed a hard time and that is what he has continued to do on coming to Parliament. 
Hon Nathan Guy 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I take offence at that and I ask the member to withdraw and apologise. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Eric Roy) 
: I will determine what the appropriate course of action is. I had difficulty in picking up the exact diction so I cannot recollect exactly what was said. Let us all just have a breath and attempt to be a little more courteous on both side of the House in our conduct towards members across the House. 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: Tena koe Mr Assistant Speaker. E mihi kau ana ki a koe mo toku tu ki te maka korero atu mo te tangata ra. 
[ 
Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker. I really commend you in respect of my standing up and casting aspersions at that person over there 
.] 
I thought I would go into Maori so that it could be translated well for you Mr Assistant Speaker though I have learnt the English language reasonably well. But the member opposite along with other members has continued to bastardise the opportunities of workers in this country. He has done that. He has ignored workers. 
National members have flip-flopped around and puffed about their GST change and what the increased rate will do for people. We do know that 70 percent of the benefit of changing the tax system will go to 3 percent of those who are paying tax. National’s mates at the top end will certainly get away with the benefits of that while the working class is being punished. I suppose that at the end of the day when National says it is trying to increase employment we have to ask why youth unemployment has doubled on National’s watch. There is an uncanny practice continuing that was prevalent when you were last in Government—when National was last in Government. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Eric Roy) 
: The member knows what his error is. He is not to do it again. 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: My apologies Mr Assistant Speaker. When National was last in Government it put the minimum wage up by 37c. The benefit to Maori taxpayers 204000 of whom are on an income of under $38000 of the latest change will be between 33c and $1.31. What a laugh! What a crock! But that is what the Prime Minister is trying to sell to the working class in this country. National increased the minimum wage by 37c last time it was in Government. Labour increased it eight or nine times and we ensured that the economy was strong and surviving and that people were employed. 
I ask this question quite bluntly: what will the Government do about the 550 Maori in Hastings who have lost their employment over the last 9 months? What will Chris Tremain do about that? You know about it you see it and you were at the Motown Event on Saturday night— 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Eric Roy) 
: Can the member be just a little more careful in his use of pronouns. He is including the Speaker in his speech. 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: Mr Tremain was at the Motown Event trying to imitate the indigenous people. What has come out of the Prime Minister’s speeches is platitudes and a patronising of the indigenous people the tangata whenua. Tariana Turia knows full well that she has a battle on her hands. The Prime Minister preached about providing $1.2 billion but Tariana Turia knows she will be lucky if she gets a couple of a million. He starts talking about pressing waterbeds and he gets the notion that he is so sexy that when he smiles everybody falls over. What a crock he is. Is the Prime Minister aware that over 240000 Maori earn less than $30000 a year; if so why is he not doing something about it and why is there objection to a rise in the minimum wage to $15? 
I tell Georgina te Heuheu that this GST programme will put more people into hardship. The National members should be ashamed of themselves and Paula Bennett knows that. 
John Hayes 
: Wrong! 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: It is not wrong and the member knows that in the Wairarapa it is time. Here is a person who has been siding with Bill English. Bill English has alleged that all of the problems are someone else’s. That is what he started off by saying. He was blaming us but the previous Labour Government left the books in the strongest position ever. In his first year in office he hid behind the global economic crisis. Everything was the fault of everybody else offshore. He did nothing to respond to the crisis other than cutting superannuation pre-funding. 
Bill English bleats that the situation is all Labour’s fault but the facts are that under Labour gross Government debt was cut in half. That is what happened and Chris Tremain knows that. Under Labour net debt was reduced to zero and members opposite know full well about that. Under Labour New Zealand achieved the lowest unemployment rate in the Western World; at 3.4 percent it was outstanding. When we came into office Maori unemployment was tracking at between 21 percent and 24 percent. We took it down to 7 percent. That is the best performance for a long time. Now I say to Mr Tremain in Wairoa in your area it is 38 percent. What are you going to do about that? That is in your area. You should not just go for a ride in the flash truck that you are using as free advertising in the airport parking lot; you should visit the Maoris and do something about that. You know full well— 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Eric Roy) 
: Order! 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: —it is a disgrace; it is a real disgrace. 
Under Labour economic growth was about 1 percent per year and that was healthy. That was outstanding. It was good for families it was good for the economy and everybody got there. People were getting educated; there was lifelong education. That shearer was talking about education. Do members know that half of the providers of community programmes have now signed off or been pushed out? So communities do not matter in the sense of the things that people go to: night classes and whatever else. I tell members not to huff and puff about education when the youth unemployment rate has nearly doubled. Does that mean that there are no real challenges today? No it does not. What it means is that Labour has a proud record that Bill English wishes was his. 
We do not see enough in relation to research and development. What has happened with regard to research and development? There has been a lot of preaching about innovation yet one of the things National did was to cut back research and development. It was like what happened to Te Waka Toi. I ask all of those Maoris over there on the other side of the Chamber why they are cutting back Te Waka Toi. Why are they knocking it over? I thought we were proud of our culture our arts and whatever else. I ask those members to tell me why that cut has been made. They are getting desperate when they are pulling funds from areas that do not really matter. 
Hard-working Kiwis deserve to be treated better than they are being treated by National and we know that. It is really important to understand that everybody has seen through this GST trick. You know there was a whole lot of ranting and raving about the gap between wages in Australia and those in New Zealand. But the last time that the National Government was in power it created a gap of nearly 15 percent and the same thing is starting to happen now. The gap held steady at that percentage. That is what happened then; there was an increase in the wage gap. 
John Hayes 
: 15 percent of what? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: The member knows full well what the gap is. It is the difference between the income per week of every household here measured against that of every household in Australia. National is sticking it to working-class people. It is ignoring them and it is playing footsie with all its well-off mates at the top end. That is a disgrace. That is outlandish. 
Paul Quinn 
: Who owns a farm? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: That is right. I own a farm because I worked hard for it; that is why I own it. I have been to cut scrub on the side of the hill and fenced in the rain to make sure I could get there. Our people do not even get that chance any more because National has denied them that through its slippery GST programme. That is what it has done. And Mr Tremain knows that that is outrageous. The Speaker did what I did. He worked in the rain; that is why he has a farm. That is why the fellow who has disappeared out there has a farm. But we had a chance and because we had successive great Labour Governments we had the opportunity. 
It is a sad day when we start to hear a Prime Minister’s speech like that one. He said today that if people are 100 percent without income that is communism. Is that what has happened to beneficiaries? That is what he said— 
Hon Member 
: He didn’t say that. 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: That is what he said. He said he was sexy; he said that too. Paula Bennett was looking at me because she knew he had slipped up. For a change it was John Key doing that and not her. [ 
Interruption 
] That is right. She was looking at me and she knew that he was really up the pole. 
I want to mention Hone Harawira. You know Hone Harawira and I worked together for a long long time and he has been chastised— 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Eric Roy) 
: The member’s time has expired.