Mahuta Nanaia: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Mahuta Nanaia: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Volume:637;Page:7294] 
Hon NANAIA MAHUTA (Minister of Customs) 
: 
Tena koe. Nga mihi nui mo te tauhou. 
[ 
Greetings to you and for the new year 
.] 
If ever there was any evidence of a tired Opposition we have just heard it. There was no vision and no direction in that speech. In fact most of that speech—sadly for the constituents of Port Waikato—was spent criticising but not offering any direction. That is a sad indictment of what we are faced with: an Opposition that spends most of its time criticising but not offering direction. The people of New Zealand really need the opportunity to hear what the Opposition thinks what policies it has what ideas it has and how it will make things better. Did we hear that in the House today? No we did not. We heard 8 minutes of criticism but no direction. 
On the contrary the Government through the Prime Minister’s statement has given a very clear decisive strong vision for the future of this country and for all people here in New Zealand. It is about substance; it is about standing on a track record of achievement—7 years of it—unlike the Opposition which has spent 7 years in Opposition. Opposition members are looking tired. We are only at the beginning of the year and they have not offered any way forward. 
What did the Prime Minister say in her statement? Clearly a vision for New Zealand must take account of how we are doing as a country in terms of our economic performance. Economic transformation is a critical theme and it is a work programme for this Government. The other priority area is in terms of our families young and old and ensuring that every family has a stake in the future of this country ensuring that those families are cared for and ensuring that they can make a contribution to this society. More important this priority concerns national identity—making sure that every individual in New Zealand contributes to a society that is inclusive and that every individual respects one another and values the contribution we all make. Today we heard from the Prime Minister that underpinning all of those key themes that the Government has actively worked upon over the last term is the theme of a sustainable future. That is important because when we look at substance we have to look at the track record of this Government which has continued to make gains. 
Let us look at a couple of those gains and see just how much of an impact we have made. In respect of cheaper doctors’ visits we started off by making a difference for the under 5s then we moved to the over-65s then to the under-18s then to the over-45s and this year there will be cheaper doctors’ visits for all people in New Zealand. That is really important because when people have the ability to have low-cost visits to the doctor they will go to the doctor when they need to not when they have to. People will pay only $3 for a prescription and will go to the doctor because they need to not to the hospital because they have to. That is the kind of difference that this Government makes. Primary health care is a key strategy in terms of having a sustainable future and a healthy nation. That is what this Government believes in. 
Let us take another policy—income-related rentals. The National Party would have had market rentals that would see a whole lot of people spending most of their wages on rent not being able to pay for food and power. Members can bet their bottom dollar that a lot of our constituency offices when we were in Opposition were overwhelmed by the number of people coming for support because they could not pay their power bill. Is that happening now? It is happening less because income-related rentals have meant that low to moderate income families have been able to pay no more than 25 percent of their wages on rents so they can buy food they can pay their power bills and they can send their kids to school with shoes on their feet. That is the kind of difference that this Government has made. 
More than that it is not just about stopping there but going further and ensuring that New Zealanders have an opportunity to buy their own homes. We are certainly making gains in this area. More can be done—more will be done—but the signal quite clearly here is that the State has a role to play in ensuring that all people have access to affordable housing and can afford to purchase their own homes. That is the kind of difference that a Labour-led Government is making. We have more people in work. In fact I was quite heartened by the fact that in my own electorate of Tainui going into the last quarter of last year the Te Kuiti Work and Income office was able to say that no young people were on the unemployment benefit in Te Kuiti. What a great story that was. 
Shane Ardern 
: Hell yes! 
Hon NANAIA MAHUTA 
: Everybody got together. Shane Ardern will agree with me because people said that things were happening within their district and that there was a future for young people. For a community to stand up and say that no young person is on the unemployment benefit in Te Kuiti is certainly a credit to a lot of activity within the region. There has been a lot of regional economic development and a lot of partnerships so more young people are going into work. 
A lot of young people are in the Modern Apprenticeships scheme—we are up to about 9000 people—a whole lot of people are in industry training and the Prime Minister in her statement today indicated that we will move towards student apprenticeships. That will enable the young Maori boys who have been talked about by the Opposition—a lot of whom want to do apprenticeship training—to train in mechanics carpentry plumbing and gasfitting. So this kind of initiative will help those young people. Gateway is another example. A lot of our low-decile schools throughout the country and certainly within the Tainui electorate have Gateway. That has enabled young people to look at what the workforce has to offer. 
Hon Member 
: It is a very good scheme. 
Hon NANAIA MAHUTA 
: It is excellent. Anybody who bothers to visit his or her local high school—and I am sure the Opposition will not be too familiar with this—will see that where Gateway exists it works for a lot of young people. Why? Because businesses want to partner with schools. They want to be able to provide a sustainable future of employment for young people in their areas and keep them there. Why? Because young people see that it is not just about a one-size-fits-all education system. A lot of people learn by doing and there is nothing wrong with that. 
In fact the biggest advocate for trade training in our country is someone like Dale Williams Mayor of Otorohanga District. He came through trade training owned his own business and now is the Mayor of Otorohanga. He is a great promoter of trade training Modern Apprenticeships and what that has to offer. More important in members’ communities like mine lots of young people see a pathway beyond school that can help them to make a valuable contribution. It is not a case of some people fitting and some people not fitting—all people can fit under that kind of initiative. 
Another initiative introduced by the Government that has made a difference—and members of communities where this exists can attest to it—is Fruit in Schools. There are endless examples of teachers and parents who certainly give feedback to me when I ask about the success of this and how it has made a difference. Attention spans of young people in the class last longer because they are getting fruit. If we go to Huntly West down in my neck of the woods attention rates have increased. The ability of young people to sit and listen increases; therefore their ability to learn for a longer period increases. So it all has an impact. Fruit in Schools and a Labour-led Government actually helps kids to be healthy to learn and to stay in class. 
But what we all want really is to keep our kids in school. A lot of time has been spent on the issue of educational achievement but can I just say this one thing. It was under a Labour Government that the Russell Bishop study started out of Waikato University. One thing to remember if we are to remember anything about his study is that teachers make a difference. Te Kotahitanga which is an initiative targeted at a lot of our schools where underachievement is an issue has expanded under Russell Bishop. Teachers are now engaged to make a difference for all these groups of people who may not have achieved in our schools. I will talk about one school in my area. Fraser High School has just gone in and Fairfield College is in it already. The marked difference in terms of applying the research and development knowledge from Russell Bishop’s study in schools and how that is starting to extrapolate in terms of achievement is starting to make a difference—watch that space. 
Under a Labour-led Government there is vision there is direction and there is leadership. But more important there is an opportunity for all New Zealanders in our country to have a better go at it to have a better shot to lift their aspirations and to make a better lot for themselves and for their families. Kia ora.