Lole-Taylor Asenati: General Debate 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Lole-Taylor Asenati: General Debate 
[Sitting date: 29 August 2012. Volume:683;Page:4879. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Le’aufa’amulia 
 ASENATI LOLE-TAYLOR (NZ First) 
: 
 I think I would like to remind the members on the other side of the House that this country will not be a good place for us to live in unless we make it a good place for all of us to live in. It has been 6 months since I gave my maiden speech on my aspirations as a new member of Parliament and the aspirations I have for this country. I believe it is incomprehensible that this Government which boasts of having business and scientific minds at its disposal is not willing or able to address not only the needs of those from my electorate in Manukau East but also the needs of all New Zealanders in general. 
 Members on the other side of the House need to be reminded of who they are. This is our country. Cherish our natural wonders our natural resources and our history and romance as a sacred heritage for our children and our children’s children. Do not let selfish men or greedy interests skin your country of its beauty its riches or its romance. 
If I was to sum up the progress of the National Government up to now it would be in one word and that word would be “betrayal”. But hey why not broaden it and include its coalition partners as well? Poverty is still here. It is still with us. It is not getting any better or brighter. Poverty has a huge negative impact on the general psyche and general well-being of our nation—even the bells and honking horns of sycophantic morning talkback hosts who bang on about their beloved John Key cannot mask that. As I look around my electorate the question keeps popping up: where are the houses promised and where are the better schools health services and jobs? I believe they are still sitting with the committees the talkback hosts and the Government’s thinktank. The poor have been dispossessed of their housing to facilitate the few who do not pay tax. We are still talking about charter schools which we know do not work. Health services have been thrown a few peppercorns through Whanau Ora to shut the natives up. I see that they are roping a few well-intentioned smiley Pacific faces into Whanau Ora just to try to give it a bit of credibility. Pacific people know very well that this does not work and they are throwing good money down a very large public convenience. 
Then there is the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs. What Pacific Island affairs? If National does not seem to think it is an important portfolio then what hope is there for the people in my community in Porirua Otara Glen Innes Papatoetoe and so on of South Auckland? You would think that with high-end statistics on most fronts the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs would be given a fair go. Can it not be trusted with enough responsibility to design its own realistic Pacific policies? We need to address the issues that our Pacific communities confront with urgency if we are to make any beneficial process or progress. Many of our poorest spend far too long sleeping on friends’ floors. This in turn creates relationship stresses with their spouses and fanau and aiga who also are poor. They will often be angry and distressed. They will not be supervising their children well enough or caring for them because their capacity to do so is lowered by real options available to them. Many of our people are pouring money into casino gambling machines in the vain hope that they will hit a jackpot. In reality the jackpot for them is either scraping up airfares to Aussie joining the dole queue or receiving Salvation Army social services who not only are doing God’s work but are now struggling with the ever-increasing evil of child poverty. These are the factors that contribute to a bleak future for our people because their physical mental and educational development is restricted. 
Knowing what is right does not mean much unless the Government does what is right. New Zealand First believes in creating wealth for our country not just for the few. We hope our Government wakes up and finds real solutions—real solutions for all New Zealanders.