Media Release - EMBARGOED AGAINST DELIVERY

An address by Rt Hon Winston Peters to Kawerau Grey Power, 24 June 2005, 1:30pm, Kawerau Concert Chambers, Islington Street, Kawerau.

What You Get Is What You See

Today I want to address a growing concern which New Zealand’s media keeps perpetrating.

It is this nonsense that New Zealand First is destined to play King or Queen maker following the election.

Let me make it clear to you today that we have absolutely no interest in being anybodies bridesmaid.

We are in this to ensure that the policies we are promoting will come to fruition.

As the polls are currently showing, no governing arrangement will occur without us - but that does not mean we are simply going to prop up one of the tired old parties.

You see we are the only party offering any real change.

Think about it.

Are either of the two tired old parties offering you anything to improve your lot?

Ask your self this question - are either of the tired old parties going to protect our manufacturing sector and the tens of thousands of jobs that go along with it from the Chinese onslaught of a Free Trade Agreement?

Now consider which of the two tired old parties is committed protecting our borders and reversing the open door immigration policy.

Which of the two parties can rely on for more police on our streets to make our homes safe again and to do more than just talk about dealing with race relations issues.

I could go down any long list of policy fronts and what you will see is that with the two tired old parties you either get tweedle dumb or tweedle dumber - put simply they represent more of the same.

We are the only party with the vision and the policies for real change.

You see Labour will no doubt continue down its path of warped priorities and politically correct government waste.

This is the party that has foisted gay marriage and legalised prostitution on New Zealanders and wonders why there has been a backlash.

This is the party which has made a government industry out of special treatment for some based on race and yet allows over 1300 New Zealanders, mainly seniors, to die on hospital waiting lists each year.

They are so out of touch with real New Zealanders, people with real jobs, living real lives, having to pay real bills - that they think they have done them a favour with a 67cent tax cut in three years time.

But National is no alternative.

All they offer is a 1990s rerun.

They are like watching old reruns of Shortland Street.

The script is tired and old, the jokes are corny and the hairstyles and outfits are dated.

So what is it that New Zealand First is offering?

Well unlike other parties we have laid our policies on major issue on the table for all to see.

Earlier this week we outlined our Treaty of Waitangi policy, which was preceded with years of questions and debate in Parliament.

Unlike others who only talk about these issues - we offer real solutions.

We know that if we are to tackle this problem we must go right to the core of the problem - the government sector.

So we will eradicate the widespread practice of Treaty and Treaty-related courses and training programmes at the cost of tens of millions of dollars a year across the entire public service.

We will remove all of the politically correct jobs within the public service and actually do the job that Trevor Mallard as Race Relations Minister was supposed to do and eradicate from the delivery of all government service any race based policy.

We will review the role of ministries based solely on race such as Te Puni Kokiri which has become the safe haven of the “Bro’ ocracy. New Zealand First will also remove the enforcement of unnecessary protocols and custom from public occasions, except where appropriate.

For Maori custom is a question of personal choice, appropriate for some special events, but it is not for the government to force it onto anybody.

New Zealand First will also remove all references to the 'principles of the Treaty' and associated terms from all legislation.

In addressing the issue of political representation New Zealand First will remove separate representation based on race from local government bodies, district health boards and all other government and quasi government boards.

As for the Maori seats in parliament - this can only be dealt with through the voice of the people, and that is the method we are proposing. This is a major constitutional shift and it would be totally inappropriate for a simple majority of temporarily empowered politicians to presume they can make that decision on our behalf.

Maori are growing confident of MMP pointing to a single franchise. We will also act to speed up and streamline the Treaty settlements process New Zealand first will replace the Waitangi Tribunal with a Waitangi Commission, refocusing its role as a 'Commission of Inquiry', with several associated administrative changes.

New Zealand First will also set a mandatory deadline of five years for all outstanding historical claims to be lodged with the Commission, with the Commission's reporting on all claims to be completed by 2012, and with the intention of all claims being resolved by 2015.

We are also totally committed to ensuring that the Treaty’s place is acknowledged as a significant historical document and of the integral part Maori culture plays in our society.

We will require that the social studies curriculum at both primary and secondary school levels more accurately reflect historical events. This must include accurate portrayals of pre-colonial Maori history through to a detailed understanding of contemporary political institutions and how they function.

Additionally we commit to promoting the expression of Maori and other cultures through Kapa Haka and similar activities in schools and our communities and to protect the Maori language. Maori language and culture are a vital part of our identity as a nation and must remain an option within our education system.

But we must break the futile circular mindset that the key to ending racism is reverse racism, or, that the key to ending discrimination is reverse discrimination.

This is a false reality and it has failed Maori and non-Maori alike.

The key to Maori aspirations is no different to non-Maori aspirations. Their pathways may be different, and their cultural practices are likely to vary, but they cannot escape the reality that quality education, employment, housing and healthcare underpin their success.

We want a nation where access to those fundamentals is not determined by race - this is the equality we seek.

We have also outlined a policy on immigration aimed at ensuring that those who come to New Zealand actually work in the best interest of all New Zealanders.

Now here is some Irony for you - just days after announcing our policy we discover that this government after calling us racist and xenophobic was actually going to implement several of them.

You see we proposed a flying squad aimed at rooting out fraudulent claims and immigrant crime. I was then to discover that the immigration service thought it was such a good idea that they set up a similar unit.

Now they deny that they were copying us - but when it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and walks like a duck - it is a pretty safe bet that it is a duck.

They now want to introduce regulations for immigration consultants - straight out of our policy.

Yesterday Trevor Mallard announced changes to race-based policy - again straight out of New Zealand First’s policy, and yet we have the New Zealand Herald and Don Brash having the affrontery to claim that they are somehow responsible for this.

Remember, Orewa was nearly two years ago, and National hasn’t done a single thing since then, unlike New Zealand First.

They are now going to create an “undesirables’ category, again straight out of our policy.

I could go on, but my key point is this.

They have acted to stop the negative publicity, but they are only into band aid solutions.

Only New Zealand First will actually bring real change - not token gestures aimed at keeping the media away.

Earlier in the year we outlined our senior citizens policy and one of our first tasks after the election will be to provide assistance to the senior citizens who have made such a big contribution to this country.

We’re going to give each and every person over the age of 65 a gold card that says you are a valued member of the community - and this is how we value you.

We will raise the level of superannuation from the current rate of 32.5 percent of the Net Average Wage individually for each married superannuitant to 34 percent or 68 percent per couple.

This will put nearly $10 a week extra in your pockets.

In the long term our aim is to lift superannuation from 65 percent or below of the Net Average Wage for couples to 72.5 percent.

We will also correct the anomaly related to the non-qualified spouse and bring their rebate rate down from 70 cents to 30 cents in the dollar like other benefits.

Our gold card also includes improved subsidies for healthcare and medicines.

We also intend to:

- improve the rates rebate scheme;

- lower charges for power, gas and telephone;

- improve access to savings incentives in the form of bonus interest rates on term deposits; and

- extend transport and other discounts available to seniors.

We propose that the card be developed as a “smartcard’ so it can be “loaded’ with all of the relevant information associated with the cardholder’s benefits.

For example, when you go to the doctors or the chemist, all the benefits and subsidies you are entitled to will be automatically recorded on the card so you won’t have keep filling out forms.

This will also apply to your lower charges for power, gas and telephone - it will all occur automatically by swiping the card.

The current rates rebate scheme is not accessed by all those eligible because many people are not aware of its existence or how to access it.

It provides too little to too few.

With our plan a swipe of the card will establish eligibility and credit the appropriate amount.

What it means in brief is this - “the holder of this card is a valued member of our society. Please give this person every courtesy”.

You can gauge a society by the way it treats the elderly. And you can gauge leadership by the way it responds to a challenge.

You see when it come down to it we are your only choice for change - a change for the better.

So remember if this is the type of change you want, then it must be a party vote New Zealand First.

Your party vote is your tool for change.

Use it well.

ENDS

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