Heather Roy For Ohariu-Belmont

Ohariu-elmont candidate confirmation 7:30 pm, Monday 1 September "Jay's Bar", 1 Disraeli Street, Johnsonville

This meeting is convened for the important purpose of selecting Heather Roy as ACT's candidate to be the next MP for Ohariu-Belmont, an electorate that is in real need of real representation.

The electorate of Ohariu-Belmont could determine not only the next government of New Zealand but also the shape of our country's future.

I have a deep affection for a significant portion of the electorate, namely Khandallah, Ngaio, and Cashmere. These suburbs put me in as MP for Wellington Central and put ACT into parliament as a fresh new movement.

The action of the so-called independent boundaries commission in removing those suburbs from Wellington Central achieved their purpose in removing me from Wellington Central.

I note that those suburbs also voted for Peter Dunne. They did so believing that he would continue his voting record of supporting the centre-right.

No voter, with I suspect the exception of Mr Dunne, expected the United/Future party to become the welcoming doormat to Helen Clark and Margaret Wilson's socialist republic agenda. Mr Dunne's and his taxpayer funded Family Commission define "family" in the same way as the Mafia can be called a family. There is no doubt that the Black Power qualifies.

United MP Murray Smith can issue all the press statements he likes that United has taken `lesbian fathers' out of the Care of Children Bill. I have news for him. Gay couples are a family in his party's family commission and the Minister, Lianne Dalziel, said that she removed lesbian fathers only after being told by officials that the bill as drafted allows for the concept. I hate to be the first to tell this to Mr Smith - but there have always been fathers who are gay.

United's first vote was to extend welfarism so that a woman can make the state the father of her child and never have to make any attempt to provide for herself.

Peter Dunne and Murray Smith never told us that was what they meant by family values.

Peter Dunne appealed with a claim that he would bring new high standards of accountability. Last week, the United MP on the Select Committee enquiry into Corngate voted with government MPs not to have Helen Clark account for why she lied during the election over the possibility that corn planted in this country was contaminated with GE. I have no doubt that the United MP, Larry Baldock, voted on Peter Dunne's instruction after Mr Dunne had made yet another deal with Labour.

Peter Dunne now knows that when Helen Clark said during the election "there was no GE contamination" - that was a lie.

When Helen Clark said that John Campbell's TV interview was "unethical ambush journalism" - it was not She was well aware of the issues and her claim to have been surprised was a lie.

When Helen Clark said during the campaign "I believe in total disclosure in this. The government has nothing to hide. All government advice will be made public" - that was a lie

As was also her claim that the government has been making up until last week that "all the documents" had been released is also a lie.

He knows that when the government claimed to have a "zero tolerance" to GE policy - that was a lie.

Peter Dunne knows, when Helen Clark told the nation ten days before the election that all government documentation relating to corngate had been released - that was a lie.

Why is Peter Dunne assisting the PM to lie?

In the same week that Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair has fronted up to a Commission of Inquiry in Britain, Helen Clark, thanks to Peter Dunne's crucial vote does not have to answer the questions -

· Did she receive the Ruth Wilkie memo saying the corn may be contaminated?

· Of course she did.

· Did she also read in that memo that the government's policy of claiming zero tolerance against GE was "counter to reality"?

· Of course she did.

· Did she know that Dr Prebble, the Head of the PM's department had suppressed the Wilkie memo?

· Of course she did.

· When did the PM realise that the smoking gun memo had not been released? Answer - within a day of the information dump, when no journalist came questioning the contradictions in Helen Clark's answers.

· When did the PM's department release the memo to the public - as promised by Helen Clark? Answer - never. The document was released by the parliamentary select committee who only got it by noticing the memo was referred to in other documents but was not in its papers.

Why won't Peter Dunne explain why his party is a willing accomplice in this cover up?

The people of Ohariu-Belmont were deceived by Peter Dunne.

But should we have been deceived? Peter Dunne in 18 years in parliament has done nothing except things no other MP should be proud of.

· He has been a member of more different parties that any other politician in New Zealand history.

· Mr Dunne appears to be infinitely flexible in his views. From 1996 to 2002 he had an almost 100 percent centre-right voting record. Now Labour Ministers say he is more reliable than the Labour Maori caucus.

· Mr Dunne announced recently that the United party would support whatever party had the largest vote. A decision that's not only unprincipled but also undemocratic.

The voters of Ohariu-Belmont who, if the polls are correct will elect about three United MPs as well as Mr Dunne, won't have a say on who the government will be - that's to be determined by others.

Ohariu-Belmont is a centre-right electorate.

Peter Dunne is an accidental MP elected as a result of Bob Jones' foray into politics.

The voters of Ohariu-Belmont do not support $55 million on Maori TV, America's Cup challenges, and this government's diet of political correctness.

They don't support declaring the beach not to be Crown property but a republican public domain.

All we have had from Labour this year is prostitution bills and Maori land grabs.

The contrast between Peter Dunne, (even he does not know where he stands) and ACT's Heather Roy, could not be clearer.

Everyone knows what ACT stands for and even more importantly what ACT stands against.

Heather Roy has, in just 12 months, established herself, along side Deborah Coddington, as the best new MPs.

Heather has taken on the most difficult issue facing New Zealand, the state of our health services.

The critics have said that her chapter in ACT's book Liberal Thinking is the best contribution.

I learnt of things about our health system that as an experienced MP I was not aware.

I did not realise that race based health services were so pervasive or so insidious in their effect.

Auckland is the place to have a heart attack. Why? Because Auckland hospitals get more funding as a third of the population is Polynesian.

Here in Wellington we wait longer for a heart operation simply because not enough of us are Maori. Mind you, the number of the population discovering themselves to be Maori is rising faster than is biologically possible.

Heather Roy also has some practical positive solutions for health:

· First, to say that there is not enough money in the treasury for a health system that rewards people for not taking care of themselves. We need a health system that rewards instead of penalises you for taking personal responsibility.

· Second, we need to realise that the private sector can bring efficiencies and savings into health just as it has in every other area. Labour's ideological fixation on state ownership and control has been to the detriment of efficiency and service.

Heather Roy is an ACT MP - principled, hard working, fearless, and will never budge from her commitment to you - that it's you that counts, not the government, it's your values that matter, not some politically correct ideology.

She will always fight for your freedom to make your choices. I cannot think of a better person to represent the voters of Ohariu-Belmont.

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