Young Jonathan: General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeYoung Jonathan: General Debate[Sitting date: 19 March 2014. Volume:697;Page:16811. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]JONATHAN YOUNG (National—New Plymouth):What a disgraceful outrageous fabrication of fiction came from that member Chris Hipkins as he listed off some great New Zealanders who have done more for this country than the combined members of that Labour Party. You have got to be amazed at that. What this country needs is an Opposition that does the job properly instead of maligning New Zealanders for the political pleasure and advantage that they see at this particular point in time. You know New Zealanders deserve an Opposition who will be people—men and women—of integrity and I think we have been disappointed today by that speech.We have got to say that this Government is doing more for this country particularly in the area of the environment than we have seen for decades. As a number of members have stated in this House in terms of a policy group the Bluegreens group is working very very strongly and bringing some great policy initiatives that bring the right balance that keeps New Zealand working well but also builds a great environment. You know I am very privileged to come from the region of Taranaki and I stand here to say that as a region it stands out in its ability to maintain strong economic growth alongside a strong commitment to environmental conservation and enjoyment. Growing up in Taranaki enjoying our environment is a birthright. We understand and we know that—from mountain to the surf and all the beautiful countryside in between.New Plymouth was named best place to live by North and South magazine beating all the big cities in New Zealand. We won the best small city in the world category in the International Awards for Liveable Communities. Yes that was back in 2008 but recently—just a few weeks ago—2000 people responded to a survey sent out by travel experience provider Experience OZ and NZ and voted Taranaki top spot on the list of New Zealand’s best destinations. It is in a region that utilises and develops its environment. We have intensive agriculture. We have oil and gas exploration. We have all of those activities that utilise our environment yet people still vote that it is the best place to come to and that it is the best city. So we have got it right in terms of being able to develop an economy and protect an environment. I think New Zealanders ought to and should continue to look to Taranaki as a great example of this.We can be assured that the National-led Government and the National Party are continuing to do tremendous work around the environmental care and protection of our country. You know we believe that resource use must be based on sustainability. We have a sound record on better environmental management. Successful economic and environmental policy can and must go hand in hand to provide a cleaner greener brighter future for all New Zealanders. I believe that we do have it right and we are not lurching from one position to another position. We are science based and we are making methodical progress. We believe in the values of having a great environment but we also believe that we need to not just enjoy the environment but be able to afford to live in this great country.A number of our speakers have raised what must be a frightening story of what has just happened in Tasmania to the Labor-Green coalition there. For a long time it drove a very very strong environmental programme and ended up—Hon Annette King: 16 years in Government.JONATHAN YOUNG: You have got to be frightened Annette King. You have got to be frightened of the coalition partners that you are looking at. There were 16 sad years—16 years that ended up with an economy with 20 percent unemployment and a continual deficit. Finally the voting public and even I think the union members tossed the coalition out. You have got to understand that people have now reacted and are now swinging back and are probably swinging back too far. That is the problem about a Labour-Green coalition—it swings far too far. You know it was reported by the Sydney Morning Herald that the new leader of the Government that is going to come in there went in there with a promise that it was going to turf out toss out the peace agreement that was forged between the labour markets and the environmentalists and—