New Zealand Parliamentary Debate

General Debate [4434]

Hon TONY RYALL

: I am quoting, Mr Assistant Speaker. Mr Dalmer said he had no independent recollection of the conversation other than what he had recorded in his file note.

Hon LIANNE DALZIEL( Minister of Commerce):

Following on from that member, the Hon Tony Ryall, I remind him that I have a very good memory and I remember the names of all of the people who made representations to me. This Government listens to business. When we talk business, we do not exclude the people who work for the owners of business and we do not say the issues are the same at both ends of town. We know that most of our businesses are small, and we need to help them grow. We do not talk down to businesses like the National Party does-that is, if it deigns to talk to them at all.

Where are the speeches from the Opposition spokesperson on small business and the Opposition spokesperson on commerce? There has hardly been a word from them since the election last year. It is no wonder the National Party wants to sell its women MPs- they are not doing their job; that is why it wants to sell them. Business people are sick to death of the Opposition MPs, whose personal attacks masquerade as political debate. One message that business people have asked me to bring to this Parliament is for those who are not prepared to debate the issues but want only to debate the personalities, and it is that they should pull their heads in. Not one of the business people I have met out on the road commented on any of the contributions made by the Opposition spokespeople to the debate on the very business-friendly environment this Government introduced while loosening the shackles of the Employment Contracts Act to enable New Zealand workers to start to catch up on conditions that other countries take for granted, like paid parental leave and 4 weeks' annual leave.

The National Party has no policy. I listened to John Key speak to the Canterbury Manufacturers Association. He was asked what National's policy was. He said: I can't tell you that yet. We're a long way away from an election. So at least National members now know we will go full term. But what he did say was: You can trust me, because I care. This is a money market dealer saying he cares! The only difference between a gambler and a money market trader is that a gambler is a money market trader who has lost his or her edge. Now we know why John Key has come to Parliament.

The National Party cannot stand the reality that we have a Minister of Finance who runs a tight ship so that this generation and future generations can benefit from his stewardship of the economy. National, on the other hand, was willing to steal from the future in order to win a general election. I say shame on the National Party. Dr Cullen ranks as one of the best Ministers of Finance New Zealand has ever had. That is the same status accorded to our Prime Minister: one of the best. And that is just what National Party supporters say about them. Our people-Labour people-say they are definitely the best.

The Opposition cannot stand the fact that our leadership is so confident and so good. Its president told people at its conference to follow the leader. What did they say? They asked: Which way did he go?, and that is what they are still asking. They are asking not just which way he went but who it should be. That is why they chose Elvis Presley. He is shaken and he is rattled, but when will he be rolled? That is the question the National Party conference has challenged us to ask.

On the business side of the House, Michael Cullen and Peter Dunne released a business tax review yesterday that has already caused those people who said it was only the headline rate that mattered to think again. They have been confronted with a document that lays out choices. The word I am already hearing back from the business sector is investment. Investment is what matters if we are to transform the economy-