Speech: Little - Labour Party Conference
E nga mana
E nga tapu
E Te whanau o te roopu
reipa
Tena koutou katoa
Talofa lava
Kia
orana
Malo e lelei
Nǐ hǎo
Namaste
Jacinda,
thank you so much for that introduction.
Can I
acknowledge party president Nigel Haworth, and all of our
hard working New Zealand Councillors.
I want to thank our
wonderful MPs. You are well served by your caucus. There’s
only one problem – there isn’t enough of
them.
Winning Mt Roskill and getting Michel Wood adds
one. Next year, we add more.
I also want to acknowledge
the great team who’ll be leading the campaign next year.
Our wonderful new General Secretary and campaign manager
Andrew Kirton, and Campaign chair Phil Twyford.
I
especially want to thank my deputy Annette King. You know,
last year a journalist described Annette as a cross between
your favourite grandmother and a Mafioso boss. I make no
comment on that, but Annette’s doing a great job.
Last, and most of all, I want to acknowledge you, our
fantastic party members.
I’ve had the chance to see
many of you over the last two years.
Those of you who saw
a certain rug probably got a chance to see more of me than
you wanted.
Honestly though, I was very flattered by that
rug’s depiction of me.
They really made my arms look
much bigger than they are.
I think the style of art for
that rug is called socialist realism. I’m just thankful it
wasn’t cubism.
Delegates, we’ve had a fantastic
conference.
Yesterday we launched out Future of Work
report, which yet again proved Labour is the party of ideas
in New Zealand. Grant Robertson thank you for leading this
very important project.
For over 100 years now, Labour
has been New Zealand’s party of ideas. No organisation in
our country’s history has the same record of delivering
progress for our people.
From building the welfare state
to restoring the mana of the Treaty of Waitangi;
From
going nuclear free to winning marriage equality;
From our
first sovereign wealth fund to tackling the future of work,
Labour is the party that has done the things that define us
as a country, and that laid the foundations for progress for
our great nation.
That is our legacy. It's up to all of
us to build on it.
Section One:
Helen Kelly
I would like to take a moment to pay
tribute to Helen Kelly.
The Labour movement has lost a
warrior.
New Zealand has lost one of its greatest
daughters.
And many of us have lost a friend.
All our
thoughts are with Steve, Dylan, Cath, and Max as they come
to terms with losing Helen.
To them, Helen was a
partner, a mother, a daughter, a sister.
To all of us,
Helen was a champion, an advocate, an agitator. She was an
inspiration.
Whether she was fighting for fair wages,
safety at work, or for access to medicine, Helen epitomised
the best of New Zealand values.
When she saw others in
need, she offered to help.
When she saw wrong, she
strove to right it.
Helen stood in no one's shadow, and
we will miss her greatly.
But, delegates, Helen would
say:
“Don’t mourn, organise.”
The best way to
honour Helen’s memory is to keep fighting without tiring,
without flinching. To never give up and to make the changes
we need.
Delegates, I’ve been the Leader of our Party
for nearly two years now.
In that time, I’ve had the
opportunity to meet some incredible New Zealanders.
Kiwis
who are doing amazing things, leading the world, helping
others.
People like Peter Beck of RocketLab whose passion
for outer space and sheer determination will see New Zealand
as one of the few countries in the world offering commercial
services in small satelite deployment. Which for me was
unthinkable as a 15 year old bopping to Mi-sex singing Space
Race.
People like the senior boys at St Thomas College
in Christchurch who, every year, enter the nationwide young
enterprise scheme, and insist on an entry that has social
benefits, not just commercial benefits. And who every year
win recognition for the quality of their entry and the
compassion behind it.
People like the young couple who
ten years ago started an online retail business in their
garage selling baby clothes, who now, have a staff of 15,
and insist that no one gets paid less than the living
wage.
It comes down to this. We are a great country
because we are a great people.
We’re fair minded.
We
are not, by nature, mean-spirited.
We’re ambitious and
we grab opportunities with both hands.
If you give New
Zealanders a fair chance, a decent shot, there’s nothing
we can’t achieve.
Delegates, that’s what our party
has always believed.
For 100 years now, we’ve stood for
that fair go. For everyone.
Our time in government has
been about building a country where everyone can live up to
their potential and no one is left out or left behind.
And right now, that is the approach we need more than
ever.
Because there’s another side to our country
today.
For all the great things Kiwis are doing, too many
people are missing out.
Inequality and poverty are
rising.
The housing crisis is raging on.
And the
things people rely on to give them opportunity – the
health services to keep us well, the police to keep us safe,
and the schools for our kids – all those things are under
pressure.
So while more than ever goes to those already
doing very well, it’s getting harder for everyone else to
get ahead.
It’s like there’s a party on the top two
floors in New Zealand, but no one else is
invited.
Delegates, we have the opportunity in front of
us to change all of
that.
Section three: The choice
we have to make
In my speech last year, I talked
about the Kiwi Dream.
It’s pretty basic stuff.
A
decent job, more money in your pocket at the end of the
week, a warm, dry home, a good school for your kids and a
healthcare system that’s there when you need it.
This
year, I want to tell you about the chance that’s in front
of us to make that dream a reality for every New
Zealander.
We meet this weekend at a time of real
opportunity for our country.
We’ve come through a rough
time economically.
Fortunately, New Zealand was in a
better position than most to weather that storm.
Thanks
to successive governments, our banking system was in better
shape than many in Europe and North America.
And thanks
to Sir Michael Cullen, our public debt in 2008 was virtually
zero. Zero.
So when the crisis hit, New Zealand was
ready.
Our good position means we’ve come out of the
shadow of the GFC faster and in better shape than most other
countries.
That means we are now in a position to finally
address many of the challenges we face as a country. We have
billions of dollars of new debt to repay.
Contributions
to the Super Fund were stopped and we are way behind what is
needed for the future cost of superannuation.
And there
is the urgent need to invest in our people, and invest in
their future.
Delegates, it’s time that every New
Zealander got to benefit from the good times
ahead.
That’s the choice in front of us. That’s the
decision we have to make.
Do we choose to stick with
business as usual? Do we keep throwing more money at those
already doing well.
Keep running down our schools and our
hospitals. Keep eroding the things that give people the
foundation to get ahead.
Or do we invest in
people?
Invest in the things that give people
opportunities.
Better schools. Better healthcare. Safer
communities.
An end to the housing crisis that’s
causing so much misery.
That's the choice we
have.
Delegates, that is the fight in front of us at next
year’s election.
If we want to change what’s
happening now, we have to change the government.
We have
to win.
The last two years has been about getting our
great party ready to do just that.
The results of the
local elections show we can campaign to win. The polls show
it’s a neck and neck race between the centre-left and
centre-right blocs.
This is a straight fight, and I’m
up for it, we’re up for it and I’ll tell you
this:
We’re going to win.
We’re going to win
because New Zealanders know it’s time to back our people.
It’s time to invest in the future.
It’s time to
put people first.
Section Five:
National’s Plan
And look, we can do so much
better than what this Government is offering.
They’ve
been very clear about the path they want us to take.
We
should give them credit for that, they’ve been very up
front about it.
No, I’m serious. They’ve been
straight up about what they’d rather do.
They’re
proud of their plan. Really.
Do you know what it
is?
It’s pretty simple:
Tax cuts.
That’s it.
That’s their answer.
After eight years, it’s pretty
much all they’ve got left.
At next year’s election,
they’ll be asking you to believe that shaving a few points
off the top tax rate is the height of what we can achieve as
a nation.
They’ll be asking you to believe that moving
from the fifth lowest taxes in the OECD to the fourth lowest
is the best we can hope for.
And look, I get that this
government’s never met a tax cut they didn’t
like.
The economy is in trouble in 2010? Well, time for a
tax cut to get things growing again! Because you know,
trickle down and all that.
The economy’s on the rebound
in 2016? Thank god, now we can do tax cuts!
Here's the
reality about the last lot of tax cuts: it didn’t actually
make that much of a difference for most people, while the
ones already doing well got a big boost.
That’s the
problem with tax cuts – those who already have the most
always get the most.
And when National’s talking about
three billion dollars a year in tax cuts, that’s a lot of
money to give away to the very rich.
And to pay for that,
they'll keep running down our schools and our hospitals.
They'll keep underfunding the very things we should be
investing in.
This is an empty, small minded vision for
our future. And in this election, together, we're going to
show New Zealand a better way.
Delegates, Labour offers a
much more hopeful vision for our country.
While National
looks to give more than ever to those at the very top, we
will invest in people.
We’ll build on everything we
love about our country and together we will leave it even
better for future generations.
A country that is more
prosperous. That is more just. That has more opportunities
for all our people.
Let’s start with
housing.
Everyone except National agrees we have a
housing crisis in New Zealand.
Not a housing
“challenge,” or a housing “issue.”
It’s a
crisis.
It’s a crisis when home ownership is at its
lowest level in 65 years.
It’s a crisis when
speculators are having a field day but nurses and teachers
and police officers can’t afford to buy a home in
Auckland.
And it’s a crisis when more and more of our
families are having to sleep in garages and in
cars.
You’ve all heard about the family living in a van
in South Auckland, with an 11 year old girl struggling to do
her homework in a dimly-lit back seat.
That’s a tragedy
but they’re not alone.
Lynette Haines lives in
Tauranga.
She’s 69, she’s worked all her life and
she’s been forced to live in a campground for the last six
months because she couldn’t afford a home, and now she
faces being evicted from there as well.
69 years old, a
lifetime of work, and you end up living in your car.
How
the hell does that happen in a country like ours?
When
did we decide that was the kind of place we wanted to
be?
We never voted for that.
That’s not the New
Zealand I know. That’s not the country I love.
Well, I
say: no more.
We're not going to let people languish in
poverty like this.
We're not going to let our families be
shut out of the housing market any longer.
We're not
going to sit on the sidelines, we're going to roll up our
sleeves, get stuck in, and fix housing once and for
all.
That means 100,000 new affordable homes for first
home buyers.
And we'll establish an Affordable Housing
Authority to work with developers, cut through the delays
and get those homes built fast.
And we will end the tax
loopholes that the big property speculators use to rack up
their super-profits.
We’ll scrap the negative gearing
tax break they use and if they buy a property to flip it
within five years, they’ll pay the full tax on
it.
That’s my message: no more free rides for the
speculators and a fair shot for first home buyers at
last.
With our plan, the difference is clear. We are the
party of homeownership.
If you’re trying to save to buy
a home, Labour will help make it happen.
And if you want
to see an end to homelessness in New Zealand, Labour is the
party that'll do it.
No child in our country should have
to do their homework in the backseat of a car because they
don’t have a home.
It’s wrong and under Labour,
those days are over.
We’ll build new state houses and
invest in emergency housing as well, so every Kiwi family
can have a roof over their heads.
Delegates, the next
part of our plan is about investing in our future.
It’s
about restoring the things that give people
opportunity.
It starts with making sure we’re giving
all our kids the best education we can.
I remember the
first day Leigh and I sent our son Cam off to Island Bay
Primary.
Letting your child go for the first time,
watching them walk through those school gates on their own,
it can be anxious time for every parent.
But I remember
the peace of mind that came from knowing he was going to a
great school, where the teachers would do everything they
could to give him the best start.
Finding a good school
for your child shouldn’t be a lottery.
Every Kiwi kid
deserves a world class education, no matter how much money
their parents have.
So we’ll turn around National’s
legacy of failure on education.
That means saying no to
bulk funding and larger class sizes.
It means no more
public money for dodgy charter schools.
It means ending
the funding freeze for our public schools.
We have some
of the best teachers in the world, and we’re going to back
them to do what they do best: change children’s
lives.
Delegates, we’re also going to undo the damage
that National has done in health.
You all know the old
saying that health cuts don’t heal.
Well, National has
underfunded health by $1.7 billion over its time in office.
The health budget simply hasn’t kept up with a growing
population and rising costs.
And that means people are
missing out.
Get this, in the last year 45,000 New
Zealanders were told they needed hospital treatment, but
when they got there the local hospital told them they
couldn't afford to treat them.
Every one of those 45,000
waited to see a specialist.
And they waited.
And they
waited.
And you know what?
They’re still sick and
they’re still waiting.
Heather Stevens was one of
those people. She’s working in a dry cleaning business in
Dunedin, and she desperately needs surgery on her hip.
She’s in agony, she’s not sure how much longer she
can keep working.
But she’s been waiting for four years
with no end in sight.
That’s so wrong, and we’re
going to fix it.
We’ll restore the funding that
National has cut and we’ll give our doctors and nurses and
health professionals what they need to keep people
well.
And there’s one more public service Labour is
going to invest in.
Our police.
Our police do a really
tough job, keeping our communities safe.
But years of
underfunding have made their job much much harder.
This
year, the Government signed off on a four year freeze in
police numbers, even though we have a rising
population.
And when police aren’t on the beat, crime
goes up.
Just recently there was the dairy in West
Auckland, held up three times in three weeks.
One store.
Three weeks. Three robberies.
That’s not what we should
expect in a peaceful country like ours.
That’s why
Labour is going to put 1000 extra front line cops on the
beat.
It’ll mean fewer crimes being committed and more
crimes being solved.
It’ll mean more people able to
live their lives free of the fear of
violence.
Section Five: Labour’s Youth Jobs
Plan.
And delegates, today I want to tell you
about the next part of our plan to take our country
forward.
In Labour, we know that investing in our young
people, in giving them the opportunity to succeed and live
up to their potential is the best thing we can do for the
future.
As Leader, I’ve made this a personal priority
because I know how much it matters.
I’ve already
announced some major policies in this area:
• Three
years free education after high school.
• Helping
businesses meet the cost of a new
apprentice.
• Professional careers advice at school to
help young people make good decisions about work or further
study.
• Grants for young Kiwis who want to start
their own business.
And today, I want to add the next
plank.
Right now, we have 74,000 young people in New
Zealand who aren’t just out of work, but aren’t in
training or education either.
74,000 young people with
nothing to do, wasting away on the scrap heap.
Think of
all the talent we are wasting.
Young people with forty
years of their working lives still ahead of them, but who
aren’t getting any skills, who aren’t getting any
experience.
Think of the thousands of young people with
no prospects, with no hope, who feel like everyone’s given
up on them.
Well I’m telling you this: we’re not
going to give up.
I’m not going to give up.
Not
now, not ever.
It’s not who I am.
As a parent, as
a politician, as someone who gives a damn, I won't give up
on our young people.
Everyone has potential. Everyone
deserves an opportunity to live up to it.
That' why today
I am announcing that the next Labour Government will
introduce a jobs scheme to put those young people to work
in our communities.
We won't let them waste away, we'll
give them a job. We'll give them opportunities. We'll give
them the fair shot they need.
My commitment is this: A
future where every young New Zealander is earning a living
or studying towards a career.
Here’s how it’s going
to work:
Rather than pay young people the dole, we’ll
set them up for six months with a job working in the
conservation estate for DOC, or with a local charity or
non-profit.
We’ll put young people to work serving the
community, getting the work experience they need.
Now
these won’t be flashy jobs, but they will be a first step
on the ladder.
And every young person will be paired with
a mentor, someone who can help them learn new skills and get
them ready for the job market.
I’ve seen for myself how
programmes like these can work.
I’ve seen courses where
they gave young people who have been out of work for a while
a chance.
And its hands on stuff, they make sure they get
to work, they make sure they bring a lunch, and they work in
horticulture, they work on the land.
And by the end of
the course, they’ve learned how to stick to a routine, how
to pick themselves up when things get rough, they’ve
learned habits that will last a life time.
They’ve got
experience, they’ve got a reference, they’re providing
for themselves.
They’re ready for work.
That’s the
change we can make in the lives of thousands of
people.
This is about saying to our young people: we’re
not giving up on you. We see the potential in you, and
here’s opportunity to make the most of
yourself.
Delegates, we're going to change the lives of
thousands of our young people.
We're going to restore
opportunity.
We're going to restore hope to
people.
Section Six:
Conclusion
New Zealand, we have a once in a
generation opportunity in front of us.
And next year's
election is about whether we can seize it.
We have a
chance to make a difference.
A chance to rise to the
challenge, win this fight, and make this a better
country.
Delegates, that chance is in front of us, now
let’s go make it happen.
Let’s organise and campaign
and win the changes we need.
Let’s fight for the young
people who need a chance, who need a job, who need
hope.
Let’s fight for the young couples who are trying
to buy their first home.
For the children who want to
learn and the families who need better
healthcare.
Let’s fight for Helen Kelly and all the
changes she wanted to see.
Let's fight for young people
like Taylor and PPV who we saw on Friday. Young people with
immense talent who can do anything if we give them an
opportunity.
Let's fight for a Government that puts
people first.
New Zealand, It’s time for a better
way.
It’s time to raise our sights as a nation
Time
to restore hope to our people.
Together, let’s rise to
the challenge.
Let’s change the government and then
let’s make this an even better country together.
Thank
you.