Chadwick Steve: Voting — Correction; General Debates 
Chadwick Steve: Voting — Correction; General Debates 
[Volume:608;Page:5705] 
STEVE CHADWICK (NZ Labour—Rotorua) 
: 
 I would like to speak in this debate today—before tomorrow because tomorrow the country will hardly blink an eye with our prudent fiscal management and New Zealanders will sleep well in their beds confident that this is a Government that admires the principles of veracity and accountability that our Opposition has recognised here today. This country knows what it has got. It is a country with hands-on leadership out there in the electorate. Every electorate is exhausted with busy Ministers rolling up their sleeves and going out to the people. We have projects coming out of our eyeballs in every electorate looking at crime reduction strategies building up primary health organisations looking at truancy and getting on with the work. We have great policy strategy long-term vision and teamwork. 
It is tragic when the deputy leader of the Opposition has to acknowledge us humble back-benchers and worry about which of us will come through with an opportunity outside of Cabinet. Opposition members cannot attack our front bench; it is too strong and they certainly should leave the leadership alone. 
I turn now to our leadership. We have brave and committed leadership leading New Zealand Inc. into the global environment. Our leader is intelligent and astute as we have seen with her handling of Iraq. Also with the America’s Cup we will be out there marketing New Zealand on the world stage. We have a leader who gets behind the tough issues and remains committed and consistent. 
I want to talk about one tough issue and that is the Maori seats which are very dear to our hearts. Our Maori MPs are certainly not second-class MPs and we on this side are proud to have a Maori caucus and that is thanks to the Maori seats. That invisible man—the Leader of the Opposition—“Mr Wiremu Pakeha” is about to abolish the Maori seats and it is going down like a lead balloon in our electorate. I want to read for members— 
Hon Roger Sowry 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. It is well known that according to the Standing Ordersmembers have to call members by their correct name. If we called the member on her feet what her colleagues call her that would be out of order. I ask you to ask the member to call our Leader of the Opposition by his correct name. 
STEVE CHADWICK 
: I forgot the name of the Leader of the Opposition and I am sorry about that. I want to read to members an article from a very esteemed Maori journalist in our local papers: “If you are in politics and out of power and out of the loop and you are looking for a headline then the best cheap shot to line up is a Maori one. The New Zealand First obsession is called the so-called treaty industry and ACT seems to just fire at anything that builds capacity moves and is Maori.” 
As a country we are not yet ready for the argument to abolish seats for Maori in this country and I think it will doom the Leader of the Opposition to invisibility for the long term. Ask the people what they want and the people will say by going on the Maori seats or on the general roll. That is what they do. Maori will decide. My children will decide and it is certainly not an issue for a referendum. 
Simon Power 
: Have a referendum. 
STEVE CHADWICK 
: No they will decide which seats they will go on and they have and they have chosen differently in my family. I have two on the general roll and one on the Maori roll and that is their choice. We will not change that and we will stand beside our Maori seats. 
Until we as a country realise until we have settled the treaty settlements—and we are on an absolute roll here with the Minister in charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations—and until we work out our destiny on arguments which at the moment are based purely on Maori representation to the Privy Council until we sort out the Supreme Court Bill the settlement the Maori seats and whether they choose to go on it we are not ready for one standard for this nation. My children are not ready for it yet. They are asserting that they want to take part in their own destiny. 
I also point out some of the other issues on health that are really rather peculiar. Sadly the Opposition is leaning on back-to-the-future policies and that is reflected by the National spokesperson on health in a letter dated 6 May stating: “I say to GPs retain your independent practitioner associations. National sets your right to set fees.” Goodness gracious! National is supporting the old network. The Opposition has not woken up to the fact that it is growing public health organisations around the country and by the end of this year we will have 40 percent of New Zealanders registered with a public health organisation and some very excited general practitioners out there.