GEORGINA BEYER (NZ Labour--Wairarapa): It is quite a pleasure to get up and speak in this general debate today and, obviously, to congratulate the National Party on having had its conference recently. After nine long months, it has finally got itself together to decide how to be an Opposition. It is coming along well, after the country had to suffer nine long years of that party in Government, with all the hideousness that occurred during that time.

Hon. Dr Nick Smith: The member won't last as long as that.

GEORGINA BEYER: I say to that member over there--Mr Nick Smith--that I would not feel too comfortable in his seat in Nelson, come the next election, because we are going to work hard to return that seat to being a Labour-held one. Mr Smith is on notice now--dare I say it, because I am talking in the vicinity of someone who had a former manifestation as Minister of Education. In fact, I would like to talk about the former member for Wairarapa.

Chris Carter: The former Minister of Health.

GEORGINA BEYER: Yes, the former Minister of Health. And we are now having to clean up the pieces and to try to put that together. Masterton Hospital has had its fair share of problems over the years. Also, when Mr Wyatt Creech was the Minister of Education, problems concerning our local Wairarapa Community Polytechnic were somewhat addressed by him in his guise as Minister of Education.

Chris Carter: Just somewhat!

GEORGINA BEYER: Just somewhat. We have again had to patch up and fulfil some of the expectations that community had for that facility. There is an announcement pending that will be positive. It should have happened a long time ago to bring surety and more consistency, and to tidy up what has been a problem for tertiary institutions, particularly polytechnics, around this country. It is a big issue, and we are dealing with it.

I have come from a meeting of pipfruit growers, particularly apple growers and orchardists, who are suffering from the ineptitude of the former Minister, Mr Luxton, who set up to fail the business that has been happening with ENZA and the independent pipfruit exporters, and all those sorts of things. These people are up against the wall. Their backs are against the wall. When members opposite were in Government they set this up to fail, so that we again have to take on board the issues--they clearly knew they were not going to win the last election, and thought they would get the ball rolling on making it as tough as they possibly could, not just for this current Government but for the people of New Zealand. That is wrong. That is not how we should be working. We should be trying to work together cooperatively on such major issues.

I see also that present at the conference was a newly renewed member: the former MP Rana Waitai. Possibly Tau Henare might come back into the fold! Well, the members now in Opposition cultivated that one pretty well when they got those waka-jumpers to help support them during the last throes of the National Government. What an outrage! This country will have an opportunity right this minute to review some of that as we go through the MMP review process. Dare I say it, if Rana Waitai is the best that National can get on board, to help establish its Māori caucus for that matter--and I note it had very few Māori attending there--then God help National. I say that simply because I can count on probably the fingers of one hand the number of times that the member for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti, as it is now, ever visited there in his guise as MP. He is not what I would call a great constituency MP, albeit that it is a large electorate, and I am very glad to see that our current Minister of Māori Affairs, Parekura Horomia, who has now won the electorate that Mr Rana Waitai held, is doing an excellent job in establishing his contacts throughout that electorate.

I say to National members that I hope they are ready for nine long years in Opposition. At the end of those nine long years they might be somewhere close to toppling this Government. We are here for the long haul. We will be providing this country with the certainty and the compassion that people voted us in for this time--and the leadership. The National Opposition's leadership is probably extraordinarily shaky. It has come out looking relatively safe in the meantime, but I dare say that before the end of this term we will see at least the second tier of leadership rearranged. There has already been some indication from the Rt Hon. Wyatt Creech that he may be considering moves such as not standing at the next election. That seems to be an obvious choice to make.

The debate having concluded, the motion lapsed.