and also increasing population, thank you. I call Ron Mark. Thank
you very much, Mr Speaker, and can I
say happy New Year to you and the
other speakers of the House. I rise
to speak on behalf of New
Zealand First and I have to say, I return to
the House, Mr Speaker, with
a little bit of, well, let's say,
some reluctance because the
Christmas break did give one an
opportunity to reconnect with the
communities, put our ear back to the ground,
reconnect with the communities, put
with friends, whanau, family, and remind us what it is we're
actually in this House for. I have to
say, Mr Speaker, listening to
some of the dribble that we have
been subjected to, the only light moment in
this House was from the leader of,
the Rt Hon Winston Peters,
who as always speaks straight from the
heart, straight from the shoulder, and as
one of the things I
admire as he actually tells it as it is, and
increasingly, Mr
increasingly, Mr Speaker, New Zealanders are telling all of my
caucus colleagues that they
are tired of hearing
some of the rhetoric that they have
just been listening to over the last hour or
so, they want to hear more
Parliamentarians,
Parliamentarians, more politicians speaking, saying as it is,
speaking their language, articulating what
is really happening in the
community, not falling back on a raft
of statistics that are
actually meaningless when you are sitting in
your electorate office with
someone in tears trying to help them. Those
figures are wonderful, reminds me,
the speech from Bill English here
today reminded me of
something that I heard over the holiday period
from someone who used to be
a National Party supporter, who
said the trouble with the National Party
today is it has lost its way.
In its endeavour to move to the centre,
it has moved left. It has gone left.
And worse than that, it
has gone left, left, left to pander and Kate
tore the Maori Party and others
like it who think that they will succeed
in this country by emulating
the Labour Party. Remind me very much
of a speech that I gave down in
Southland first and later at the
conference where we
actually pointed out the National and Labour are the
same. There is no
difference. Pepsi and Coke, one in a remember wrapper,
one in a blue, pour them both in
a clear glass, try to
tell the difference. One can't. This wasn't
me saying it over the holiday
period, it was good, staunch,
rural folk used to
period, it was good, staunch, rural
members of the National Party who are now joining the
New Zealand First party and in actual fact
joining our committees,
Tracey Martin has seen
it, Richard Prosser has seen it. Ria Bond has
seen it, Clayton Mitchell has seen it.
Sarah, isn't it wonderful. I'm so pleased
that member chipped
in because that member needs to go home, stay
home, listen to her people otherwise that
person is actually going
to lose her seat because there are people
in Invercargill that are telling us
that had a gut full of their
representation down there.
But Mr Speaker, I listened to Bill
English's speech. Now I
like Bill. He's a good guy, a nice guy and a
lot of
He's a good guy, a nice guy and a
cannot say Bill is an offensive chap, Mr English, the PM, but he
sounded like he was
giving one of those Clinton speeches, you
know,
because we're managing it brilliantly and we're a fine
manager of the national economy and
of business, we deserve
to be
economy anymore. Because actually people are looking at it and saying,
poor, not just talking about the people living on poverty, they're
talking about people who have a job
and can't make it. People who have
two jobs and can't make
it. People, families where dad comes home
from work and mum goes out to work. And
can't make it! And if
this National Government doesn't get it,
stop and spend five minutes talking
to the cleaners who clean this building!
Listen to them. Spend some time
with them because I only have to do one
thing that I do
them because I only have to do one
story. So when you have a young man who is a shearer, don't tell
me he can't work or lazy, don't tell me
Got it! Half the National Party used to work in shearing sheds, wool
sheds, but they wouldn't have a
clue what the heck that is these days. I
said,
what the heck that is these days. I
going to Carterton. He told me said,
going to Carterton. He told me Mortons Road. Give me the number,
I'll drop you right there. Oh,
I need to stop at
the Sellies. What for. I got a stove in
this backpack and I need some money
in the week and I reckon I could
get 40 bucks for it. 40 bucks! What's happened.
I have been living in
a caravan for months now but that last big
storm had a tree come through and crush
my caravan. It broke. You know, but
being a shearer, being
a seasonal worker, we all know that for
seasonal
worker, we all know that for
under this Government's administration when it comes to
looking after those working poor,
they don't qualify, they end up in
a cue, they end up
going through the hoops and loops and
putting up with bureaucrats to get an extra dollar.
What does he do,
he takes the portable stove out of his crushed
caravan and tries to cash it
to get 40 bucks to buy for the rest of
the week. That's the
real New Zealand. That is what this election
is about
It will be people like Tracey Martin who represents rural
New Zealand when it comes
to talking education. Will be people like
Clayton Mitchell. He represents real
business people and I heard all
the stuff over here,cally
tonne is gone, just like the National Party caucus,
and I hear
just like the National Party caucus,
talking about they represent business. I don't know
where the members in rural provincial
New Zealand are, I don't know
who they're listening to,
probably their donors. But go and talk to people
who own commercial properties
in various
various areas, in Martinborough about
about the earthquake legislation, go and talk to them about
the occupational health and
saiflt legislation. Mr Hudson
is wincing right now. He's
getting monkey with me because he is
hearing the same thing, he doesn't like it. They
think this Government
is demented. think
think this Government is demented. They think they have
gone from
National. These people are implementing and passing
laws that are costing them an arm and a
leg in compliance costs in the likes
they have never imagined they'll get
from a National Government. So
listen up,
here in these benches that you have called the National
Government, the National Government has
called this electnal
National Government has called this election and we now have
a firm date. We're so pleased because we
have been working hard
and building hard and we're
actually so pleased the media has not been
attending our meetings. Why would they want to
report on a packedout meeting,
and they're overflowing out
of the door. Why would they want to report on a
meeting in Dannyverk, middle of
the week, 350350 people.
meeting in Dannyverk, middle of the
The media are going to learn what they learnt in US, UK, in
Australia, in Canada, and what they're going to
learn in France,
Germany and all over the world
learn in France, Germany and all
enough. They have had enough of being preached to
by politically correct idiots who would
shut them down and mute them because they dare
say things that
are politically incorrect. This
incorrect. This is a democratic country. These battle honours on the
walls all around us
were paid for by the blood of New
Zealanders which guarantees people the
right to speak freely and speak their mind
fear.
But, no, between two parties they have been muted. Well,
they won't be muted
have been muted. Well, they won't be
assure this House, Mr Speaker. They won't be chastised or
frowned at or sneered at by some
thinks that they shouldn't say what they're saying on immigration, on
immigration, on security. They
will just tick it and flick it.
So get ready and I know the National
Party is wincing and
squirming in their seats because they pollings have
told them. Their polling
has told them what we already know. And
so, Mr Speaker, there'll
be more New Zealand First people speaking
as this debate goes on. The one
person I'm going to give
some congratulations to in my
last few minutes is to my earth
while colleague, Mahesh Bindra, who has
been asked, appointed by the
world Hindu Democratic Forum to host and
organise a forum here in New
Zealand which will take place in Auckland
and in Wellington which 90
MPs from 20 countries will be invited. 22
speakers, all speaking
about strengthening democracy, and
that, Mr Speaker, is going to be at
the heart of
Mr Speaker, is going to be at the
democracy. Real democracy. Listening to the people, not preaching
down to them from on high
and telling them they don't understand. Not
telling that their opinion doesn't matter
because it's politically
incorrect to say such things. Not
telling them that their concerns about
security and certain ethnic
groups and certain people who come
to this country, is wrong. Not
preaching to them and telling them you got to
allow all these foreign
students allow
allow all these foreign students into the country who
are defrauding the system and cheating to get
in here and then subsequently being
abused, raising those issues
is legitimate. And it needs
to be and the only reason we're in
the mess we're in