I have often been asked what have been the political highlights for me in the past 12 months.  If a highlight is something positive then frankly I struggle to find one because its been a difficult year for our communities.

The new National-led Government promised it would use its majority in parliament to “improve the wellbeing of New Zealanders”.  Despite this promise, the change of government has meant a change of policy and spending priorities in areas which hurt our communities 

This has been a government that has looked after privilege – the highest-paid 3% took 30% of the tax cuts legislated.  The multinationals and the polluters got a $110 billion subsidy from the Emissions Trading Scheme legislated.  This subsidy will be paid for by hardworking Kiwi taxpayers, not the polluter.  The corporate heads have continued to draw fabulous salaries without a word of criticism from National.  Prominent amongst this corporate group were reports that the Telecom CEO received a pay package of about $7 million at a time when up to 1000 telecommunications engineers around the country staged industrial action over Telecome plans to make engineers owner/operators.

The burden of the recession has been allowed to fall squarely on hardworking ordinary Kiwi families who have been told it is they who have to make sacrifices.

With 150,000 people on the unemployment benefit we now have the highest number of unemployed since 1999.  In parliament this week, the Prime Minister boasted that 60,000 Kiwis losing their jobs was a “pretty good result”.

That kind of statement suggests that when you have $50 million dollars in your bank account you have no idea whatsoever of the trauma of losing a job, the stressful situation of trying to meet daily cost of mortgage/rent, petrol, power, phone and food, let alone thinking about meeting children’s expectation during the Christmas season.

This has been a very painful year for many families.  It hurts even more when the Government tells us that we should all tighten our belts and then we learn that the Minister of Finance claimed he lived in Dipton in order to get a housing allowance, but at the same time to get eligibility for a self-drive car he said he lived in Wellington.  It also didn’t go down well when there are reports of the Act Party leader who promoted himself as a perk buster by condemning parliamentary privileges while secretly taking advantage of it on his recent travels.

This week in parliament the Government introduced its 3^rd Bill in their implementation of the new Auckland governance super city structure.  This was like the final nail in the coffin for Manukau City and other local authorities in the Auckland region.  This 3^rd Bill highlights that two other powerful structures will exist – Watercare to control our water services and Auckland Transport which will control funds tagged for our roading system. 

These are not democratic organisations they are business entities.  It simply means a whole lot of power in the hands of a handful of people who’ll be making decisions behind closed doors, decisions that will hit the pockets of every Aucklander.  The Government was never going to allow something like democracy, fairness, inclusiveness, diversity, to get in the way of creating a Supercity, super mayor, super powers and controls over the Auckland region, its people and its assets. 

The bill also increases the spending limits for mayoral campaigns from $70,000 to $580,000.  This is only a spending limit for the last 3 months.  The message most people will take from this is: If you have money, you can buy power & control.

It is difficult to let go of cities like Manukau where so many people, both past and present, contributed their heart and soul to building something special for the people by the people, for the benefit of the people.

While we have the right to grieve and lament the loss of our cities, we must also look to find new opportunities and seize them in the New Year – opportunities for new & inclusive leadership.

Which brings me to the only real highlight for me during the year – its you, the people, our communities.  Thank you for all you do in your families and our communities.  Its been a tough year for all of us. Despite how difficult life has been, despite how Government control policy and resources which impact on your lives, you continue to push forward in your homes, in your churches, in our communities.  We survive the challenges and move forward.

Thank you for persevering and the services you provide in our schools, our Citizens Advice Bureau, our wardens, our youth groups, our homes for the elderly, our small to medium businesses, and those who volunteer their time and energy in so many different ways.

Thank you for your on-going support of me and my role. 

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a safe New Year. 

Ends.

Customs Minister Maurice Williamson needs to explain why Hamilton International Airport is being lumped with a $450,000 bill to pay for immigration services, Labour’s customs spokesperson Sua William Sio said today.

“The conduct of Customs in this issue leaves a lot to be desired. No other established airport is paying this fee so why is Mr Williamson taking on the people of Hamilton and the people who visit the city?

“Customs seems to be taking advantage of the brief period where Trans-Tasman flights to and from Hamilton ceased to introduce this new charge on the airport.

“I see the Airports CEO is reported as saying it’s a blatant attempt by Customs to increase revenue and I happen to agree with him.

“It doesn’t make sense that an airport in one of our main cities is the only one being charged this fee by Customs.

“Mr Williamson sat back while Bill English stripped nearly $3 million dollars from the Customs in May’s Budget and it seems he is now looking for ways to recover the money.

“It’s likely passengers will pick up the tab through a $4.50 levy and I suggest the people of Hamilton let Maurice Williamson know of their opinions about that.

“The Minister should take the opportunity to explain why he is singling the people of Waikato out and why they should have to pay for immigration officers at their airport when others do not.”

It’s premature for Prime Minister John Key to be congratulating himself over the recent drug busts at the border – when his own Customs Minister is on record as saying he doesn’t know how much of the drug and precursors cross our borders undetected, says Labour’s Customs spokesperson Su’a William Sio.

“There has been comment from concerned government backbenchers that just 20 per cent of illegal drugs coming over our borders are intercepted,” Su’a William Sio said.

“The Minister of Customs himself has said during the post budget select committee that he did not know the true quantity of illicit drugs that go through our borders unnoticed.

“The fact that Customs has intercepted an estimated $84 million worth of P at our borders reflects the huge demand for P that exists in our communities.

“Labour supports initiatives that help tackle the scourge of drugs such as P but instead of patting himself on the back, Mr Key should make sure his government does not nobble our border control and customs personnel.

“Since the election Mr Key’s government has cut biosecurity funding by $2 million, reduced frontline staff numbers by 56, and lopped $2.85 million from funding for Customs functions.

“He should also be looking at how to stop the demand for P and whether there is sufficient drug rehabilitation centres available for those with drug addictions.

 ”John Key is not going to achieve real and sustained successes in our communities against P by sitting back and smiling while his Ministers cut money from the areas that matter the most,” Su’a William Sio said.

The debacle between the Maori Party and their maverick Te Tai Tokerau MP Hone Harawira reached an amicable conclusion this week, at least for now.  The Maori Party has agreed that Hone can stay a member of the party, and Hone has apologised again and has agreed to become a more cooperating & loyal member of the Maori Party caucus.

How long this amicable relationship remains is anyone’s guess.  This affair all started when he took off from a parliamentary meeting in Europe and went for a holiday in France, and then when confronted about this by a Maori Party supporter, he used swear words to defend his actions in an email.  Hone probably feels hard done since he openly revealed that he went to France.

However his email is only the surface of a much deeper feeling that Hone probably has towards his parliamentary colleagues. Hone is unhappy with the Maori Party being support partners of the National-Act government.  He knows from experience that a National government hurts Maori and other working communities.  He knows that his electorate voted for a Maori and Labour Party coalition.  That’s why Maori voted overwhelmingly for the Labour Party on the Maori roll.

He hates that the Maori Party is being used and manipulated by the National Party when all the time the government is forcing through legislation that hurt Maori, especially Maori in the low socio-economic levels of society.  He probably feels that it is no different today how Maori are being treated by this National-Act government as they were treated by pakeha during the Maori land wars.  The outcome is the same. Despite how much the Maori Party are prepared to work and support the National-Act government, the government goes ahead and does what will benefit their supporters and hurts the very people the Maori Party are supposedly saying they support.

He knows that the 90 Day legislation that the government passed in urgency right off in the beginning means that Maori in the workforce who are starting a new job, will not have any rights whatsoever, for the first 90 days on the job.  They can be fired for any reason, or for no reason, and they do not have rights for redress or personal grievance that they once had under a Labour government.

Hone will also know that the National-Act government are planning to introduce other legislation which will undermine workers’ smoko breaks and their four weeks annual leave.  It will be introduced on the basis that it will allow flexibility and workers will have the choice and freedom to choose for themselves.  But really it is designed to undermine these workers rights and remove it permanently.  This is a similar thing the National government under Bolger and Shipley did when they introduced the Employment Contracts Act in 1990.  It was designed to undermine workers rights and remove their collective power to negotiate fair wages & conditions.

Under this government there is now a general wage freeze throughout the public sector.  The tax cuts went to higher incomes and not to lower incomes and the costs of living continue to rise with families struggling to meet rent or mortgage, power, petrol, phone, and food prices.

Meanwhile, Mr Key pays Don Brash $477,000 for him and his mates to tell New Zealanders that the Government should cut spending on health, education and housing and cut the minimum wage by $100 a week.  Why would you pay your mates $477,000 to tell you something that you then say you would not do? I suspect, New Zealanders are being prepared for the inevitable – more cuts, and more pain. More tax cuts for the higher incomes, more GST for the poor, more privatisation of SOEs, and more cuts in health, education and health.

To add salt to wound, we now have over 150,000 people without jobs and this figure is predicted to climb.  Hone will hate the fact that the highest rate of unemployed people is Maori first and foremost.  He’ll hate the fact that the Government is sitting on its hands and there is no investment in training & skills development for the workforce. 

Then there’s the deal between National and the Maori Party over the emissions trading scheme. It shows that National is willing to reward the elite with more while ordinary people suffer the burden of paying for other people’s privilege lifestyles. Instead of big polluters paying for their pollution, and instead of forcing big polluters to reduce pollution by getting them to switch to cleaner and cheaper technology, National has reduced the share big polluters pay, and instead made hardworking kiwis carry the burden. Their scheme according to Treasury is a $110 billion subsidy for big polluters.  It is loading every hardworking family with a bill of $92,000 in today’s dollars.  It will cost our children and grandchildren dearly.

These are just a few of the things which would cause someone like Hone feel that a National Government is the same today as it was yesteryears.  It supports those with money, the privilege few, and gives the crumbs to the rest of our communities. 

At some stage, if the Maori Party continue to support reckless legislation as the National government has put up which hurt the very people they are supposed to represent, then Hone and others will say enough with the Maori Party already. I suspect timing will be everything.

Ends.