te Heuheu Georgina: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
te Heuheu Georgina: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Advance Copy - Subject to minor change before inclusion in Bound Volume.] 
Hon GEORGINA TE HEUHEU (Minister for Courts) 
: 
 I think there is at least one thing on which I agree with the previous speaker this evening Kris Faafoi and that is the importance of education. He is absolutely right. He is Pacific I am Maori and we come from a tradition where some of our people have not gained the best out of the education system in the past. Also we are from families who value education. That is hugely important but it is also why it is a great shame that he has joined a party that went out of Government in 2008 with one in five Maori leaving school without literacy and numeracy. Over 50 percent of Maori boys were leaving school without National Certificate of Educational Achievement level 1 after 9 years of a Labour Government. So yes I can identify with the previous speaker absolutely. He is Polynesian; I am Polynesian. Our families put great store on education but he has joined a party that put nothing absolutely nothing into the education of young Pacific Islanders and Maori. If it had we would not have inherited the results it bequeathed to us in 2008. 
When I say that Labour did that I liken it to committing a crime. Labour committed a crime because it ran surpluses and it was in a position to invest more in the education of young Pacific Islanders and Maori and it did not. It is no wonder that when the recession came 2 years ago young Maori and Pacific Islanders were hit hard by the loss of jobs and by the inability to get new jobs. Where were those young Maori and Pacific Islanders 9 years previously? They were coming through a school system that Labour was in charge of and Labour refused to use the surpluses to build the knowledge the learning and the skills of young Pacific Islanders and Maori. 
National has a plan. It is important to have a plan—absolutely. Our country can do so much better and it will do so much better pursuing the plan that John Key leader and Prime Minister unveiled last week and which he presented to this House earlier in the week. The plan is not rocket science. 
Hon Member 
: It definitely isn’t that. 
Hon GEORGINA TE HEUHEU 
: No no. It is easy to understand and I will tell members why it is easy to understand. Thousands of New Zealand families have to manage their household budgets daily. That is what they have to do. In the same way this Government will grow and manage our economy so that we can get the best out of it for those young Pacific Island and Maori children who missed out—many are young adults now—when that member’s party was in power. The plan is this: people cannot spend what they do not earn we cannot live off the borrowings of others and we have to pay our way in the world. That is what households have to do and that is what we as a country have to do. Interestingly up at Waitangi where one would expect Maori to be saying “Well Georgina what are you guys doing?” many of them understood the plan we outlined. We must save. We will build savings we will boost investment and we will boost exports. 
The other thing I found interesting is the way the previous speaker talked about jobs. He said that there were no jobs as if we can just grab jobs out of the air. The economy has to be rebalanced to make sure there are permanent jobs so businesses will invest in jobs. To do that we have to support businesses. They should not be loaded up with red tape and regulation. National has cleared a lot of that. We do not get more jobs by creating a bloated public service and that is what that party did in Government. It created a bloated— 
Grant Robertson 
: What would you cut? 
Hon GEORGINA TE HEUHEU 
: We will not cut anything—and we have not particularly in areas where we have returned value for money to taxpayers. There will be no cuts where we can see that front-line services are hugely important to New Zealanders. They deserve to have services where value can be extracted and not to have as under the previous Government a public sector that grew just willy-nilly to create jobs and New Zealanders were living on a whim. Labour had New Zealanders living on an idea that they were doing well when actually the country was going down. That was 9 years of a Labour Government. So basically we build a stronger economy. We build the conditions that will get growth in the economy—something that that party does not know anything about. Without growth we cannot get the jobs—there you are. 
Sue Moroney 
: Where is your plan for growth? 
Hon GEORGINA TE HEUHEU 
: New Zealanders understand what we are doing. We will encourage and build savings. We will spend only what we earn. Sue Moroney can shake her head. She does not understand the basics. We will build the skills and the knowledge of our youngsters. 
Hon Members 
: How? 
Hon GEORGINA TE HEUHEU 
: By investing in education—members heard the Minister of Education previously—by building the skills and knowledge of young people young New Zealanders. They are our future. 
The member Kris Faafoi knows that within 25 years one out of every second baby born in New Zealand will be either Maori or a Pacific Islander. That is why we have invested $91 million—nearly $100 million—to specially make sure that the participation of young Maori and Pacific Island children in early childhood education is increased. They are the future workforce of New Zealand and unless we want to see them have a wasted life then we have to invest in their future. That is what National is doing. That is what National has done. We have put more money into early childhood education. Anybody who says that we do not care about a good start for young children needs their head read. That is so untrue. No matter how many times those members say that this has been cut or that has been cut it is not true. I am looking at those who want their Pacific Island and Maori children to have a decent start in life— 
Sue Moroney 
: Go and visit them. 
Hon GEORGINA TE HEUHEU 
: Yes members can go out to some of the church-based early childhood education centres which know exactly the importance of this plan. We will support them. We will build on what is happening in that sector. 
I turn to national standards. Teachers ask why we are forcing national standards on them. I ask what the composition of Maori children is in their school how they are doing and whether they are succeeding. The teachers cannot tell me whether they are succeeding. So I say that our national standards will make sure that children do not leave school without literacy numeracy and the learning they need to come out of college with qualifications and to go on to tertiary education. 
There is a plan. It is a very simple plan but it is a very important plan. People cannot spend what they do not earn. We must encourage savings. We will build savings we will encourage investment and we will build assets that grow the economy. That is what we are doing. In my 2 years as Minister for Pacific Island Affairs I have been hugely hugely impressed by the willingness and the understanding of parents mums and dads who want to work with our Government to make sure that their children do well. Of 60000 children who started school 2 weeks ago 12000 of them will leave school without basic literacy and numeracy unless we do something pretty determined—those are the children we are aiming for. We are doing that right throughout all sectors: education health and the justice system. Our Addressing the Drivers of Crime programme is in order to ensure that we stop the flow of youngsters into the courts—and as Minister for Courts that is of huge interest to me. We are growing initiatives that will make sure that we cut the numbers of youngsters who enter the court system and cut the number of youngsters who end up in prison. 
National is doing a lot. We have more to do. The potential for New Zealand is huge and we can realise that potential only through our young people.