GEORGINA BEYER (Labour-Wairarapa): God help New Zealand! That member who just resumed her seat is apparently going to be the spokesperson on social welfare matters for the New Zealand National Party. Not one shred of policy did that spokesperson—appointed only as recently as yesterday—give us; not one piece of National Party policy, vision, hope, or confidence in this nation did we hear from Judith Collins.

Well, I have to say that is in stark contrast to the Government, because when a Labour-led Government delivers, New Zealand succeeds. We have the track record. The comments from the Prime Minister in her speech yesterday consolidated everything that this Government has worked toward for 5 years in order to enhance the quality of life of New Zealanders and the potential of all New Zealanders to participate fully in our country at every level. It has not been easy.

We have heard this afternoon from members of the Opposition. Georgina te Heuheu made almost gloating reflections on the 1980s and 1990s. The member Judith Collins went on about what will now be National’s banner—benefit bashing. That is what she did right then in her speech. I saw shades of Mrs Shipley in Mrs Collins’ delivery, right down even to the colour scheme, I might add. I also saw shades of that mean and very nasty time. I was a beneficiary in 1991 when that famous "mother of all Budgets", which cut benefits, was delivered. I was a beneficiary—of the sickness and unemployment benefits—at various periods during the 1980s, and I will tell members of one thing that the Labour Government did then. That Labour Government was much maligned for some of its very hard policies in those days, but one particularly useful thing it did that I, as a beneficiary at the time, found to be absolutely liberating was to provide an amnesty for beneficiaries who had been rorting the system. That gave an opportunity for those who felt guilty about having done that at least to come clean, clean the slate, and have a fresh start. In other words, it assisted people to get out of the benefit rut.

Mrs Collins just went on about people receiving benefits—bash, bash, bash. I heard no call for some kind of solution, and that is quite contrary to what this Government offers to New Zealanders on low incomes who are beneficiaries. We are assisting them into training. We have provided all the apprenticeship rejuvenation and industry training that are happening in the country. I certainly can and will talk about the great benefits that my electorate, Wairarapa, has received during the term of Government that we have enjoyed so far—and I hope we will be endorsed at the next election.

We achieved growth of 4.6 percent for the year ended September. That is equal to that of the United States, and, among the OECD, second only to that of Korea. Unemployment has plummeted under our watch—down 44 percent from the September quarter in 1999 to the same quarter last year. In the past 5 years more than a quarter of a million jobs have been added to this economy.

We have invested those benefits back into the things that matter to New Zealanders. The Working for Families package will invest, when fully kicked in, a massive $1.1 billion towards helping New Zealand’s working families, thereby making work pay and offering more chance to succeed. The Working for Families package announced in last year’s Budget will benefit more than 300,000 families nationwide, including those in my Wairarapa electorate. It will help to deliver up to $150 per week in extra support for low and moderate income families. The average increase in direct income assistance to families in the $25,000 to $45,000 bracket will be around $100 per week. It will help to reduce child poverty, and, nationally, 28,000 families and 33,000 children will benefit from increases in childcare assistance, with average gains of $23 per week per child from next year. Around 95,000 households will receive increases in their accommodation supplement averaging $19 per week, in 2005-06.

Those are some examples of how the Government wants to assist New Zealanders who are needy and are struggling to make it for themselves in this country. The assistance comes across a whole lot of areas. It is not just one sector of Government; it covers a whole range of policy areas throughout Government. I heard State housing talked about, and we have spoken about how much of it was sold. Income-related rents were devastating in their day.

I can tell members that I am a successful person who has, through the generosity of New Zealanders and the fairness of Governments that know how to lead this country, been given the opportunity to succeed. I am absolutely a goddam living example of that in this House. Members should just look at where I have come from. That is why we should be a tolerant society—tolerant of differences. I believe that this Government certainly promotes tolerance in all sectors of our country. That has to be good for nation-building and for feeling like one is contributing to the building of a nation that will be worthwhile in the future.

I am proud, as a Labour member of the New Zealand Parliament, that when I travel—and I travel relatively extensively—and speak to large international audiences overseas, in question and answer sessions I get questions about what makes New Zealand able to have people like me and others in this Parliament, representing true diversity. Other people can only wish for it. We have watched people in Iraq clamouring to enjoy their chance to have democracy in their country, which is something we truly support. How do we really reconcile the fact that we in this House twitter on about things that are relatively unimportant when countries overseas are enjoying democracy for the first time? We value less some of what we enjoy in this country.

With regard to the Prime Minister’s speech, I say that it held a vision for the future of New Zealand. It focused on what the future of New Zealand will be after the election this year. We hope that a Labour-led Government will be the only alternative. We certainly do not have an Opposition that looks like it is anywhere near being able to manage the country. It cannot even manage its own caucus very well, at the moment. I offered advice last year—I feel like I am repeating myself—when we debated on the Prime Minister’s statement. At that time, Georgina te Heuheu had been sacked from her front-bench portfolio and relegated to the bowels of the back bench of the Opposition. We saw that happen last year. I reiterate my offer to members of the Opposition that if the gentlemen of the front row of the National Party want to look as though they are gender-equal from time to time, I can offer them an item of clothing to put on to make them feel better, or I can offer advice on a surgeon they may care to visit.

In concluding my speech this afternoon, I reiterate that I am a proud member of this Labour-led Government. We are delivering to New Zealanders. We have leadership that knows how to lead and how to govern. We have very good, strong, sound fiscal management in this country, and we also have a burgeoning economy. In my area, Wairarapa, the towns are bubbling. Their problems are positive problems. It is about getting people into work, about providing the resources needed for our small and larger businesses in areas like the Wairarapa to go forth and provide more for our country by way of income, revenue, and pride. We have pride in this nation. I only wish the people in the Opposition had likewise.