Hon Peter Dunne
Leader of UnitedFuture

Breakfast Address to Chapman Tripp's
2011 Policy Series for Party Leaders

ANZ Centre, Auckland
7.15am Wednesday 15 June

Good morning. It is a pleasure to be here to speak to you in the Policy Series for Party Leaders In the lead-up this year's election, and at the outset may I congratulate Chapman Tripp for hosting this series.

Occasions like this are important events and a key part of the democratic process where the chance is given to explore, learn and - no doubt - critique all players and parties in the political environment.

It is important that you hear - and that New Zealanders generally hear - from a broad cross-section of political parties in the lead-up to what looks like being a pivotal election, not the least because come November 26, voters are going to have to make some very clear choices about how this country steps into the future.

While politicians could be accused of making that claim about every election, this one is different because of the intensely fraught global economic environment.

I am not just referring to the global financial crisis and its consequences, but also the increasingly tense global trade environment and its implications for a small, isolated trading nation like ours.

So the choices voters make in November are going to be of particular importance to our country's prospects and future.

However before I go any further, I want to draw particular attention to something rather wonderful that happened in recent weeks and slipped by with very little acclaim.

Yet it is something that gives me great hope for this country.

A politician - two actually, but one in a serious way that could have impacted badly on our nation - played the race card and nothing happened!

Yes, the Don Brash and Hone Harawira show got itself all over news and current affairs television and the print media and talkback, but in the end, nothing happened.

The public did not and would not buy it.

That is the only conclusion one draw when ACT's support rose just one percent off the back of an exercise in cynical and destructive politics.

From, Hone we expect bluster, belligerence and hatred, and I note that even those he likes to proclaim as "his" people in Te Tai Tokerau seem to be turning away from it.

But we do not expect it from the likes of Don Brash.

I think it was extraordinarily cynical of him, especially since the Don Brash I have known for about 25 years has always struck me as a man of principle, committed to social justice.

So his move seemed to be a self-serving calculation in the extreme: 'I am back on deck. What was my biggest hit last time? Orewa. Let's do it again and hit all the same old buttons...'

That may have won the admiration of the shadowy people behind his most bizarre coup, but it demeaned his reputation in the eyes of many New Zealanders.

He had in the days and weeks prior talked of seven, ten, even fifteen percent being the dividend his party would reap for his hostile takeover.

The reality is thankfully rather different: Two percent, up from one.

I think for the long-term good of our country; for our unity and our way forward as many peoples in one land, we can take real encouragement from the near total failure of this most extraordinary hostile takeover.

Much more broadly, what does the lack of return in the polls for such an approach say about New Zealand today?

Maybe it says that people know when they are being played.

Most importantly of all, maybe it shows that Maori and non-Maori live side-by-side, work side-by-side, play side-by-side, and actually like and get on with each other.

Yes, there are issues to be resolved; there are tensions and difficulties - and those are made worse, not better, by the Don Brashes and Hone Harawiras of this world.

And there is one other loser from this turn of events we should not overlook - Winston Peters.

The cool reaction of New Zealanders to Dr Brash's and Mr Harawira's playing of the race card should surely spell an end to the anti-immigrant, Asian-bashing populism of New Zealand First and its leader.

While that might also be the end of Labour's prospects of forming any sort of government after the election, it will be a very good thing for the New Zealand body politic to finally put behind it this shallow populism that has distracted our country for far too long.

Our country works best when we work together on the things that unite us, rather than when we let ourselves become distracted by what divides us.

And that means that, as ever, the answer lies in the centre, not at the extremes on either side, and New Zealanders - regardless of race - instinctively know that.

We are not extremists, nor are we angry and radical.

We like each other and, for goodness sake, we marry each other at a rate of knots, probably on a scale that few races in any country mix and match.

That counts for something - well quite a lot actually.

We are interwoven and will stay that way.

This reinforces the notion that New Zealanders are not extremists as a people, but that we see ourselves living life broadly in the middle ground.

We instinctively respond to difficulties and problems with answers that are evolution, not revolution.

We are pragmatic, not dogmatic; decent, not harsh.

We accept people for who they are, and we work with them to get the best outcome.

We like our politics to be similar - out in the open, where everyone has a fair go at putting their case - not shadowy old men from yesterday bemoaning the fact that they have not got their way, and setting out to buy political favour to rectify that.

In the last fifteen years, MMP has given voters more opportunity than ever before to shape the 'tone' of any given government.

Whatever else it means, proportional representation has ensured Parliament now looks more like the population as a whole, and governments, consequently, are likely to be more reflective of the public mood than under the previous system.

As I have said before, the next government is most likely going to be led by National.

New Zealanders in poll after poll have shown that that is what they want, and I would be surprised if anyone in this room - regardless of their political affiliation - expects any other outcome than that.

The 'why us - why UnitedFuture' in all of this, then, is also something that bears thinking about.

In 2002, a considerable number of National voters backed UnitedFuture when it became obvious that National was sunk, and the real choice became what 'tone' or type of Labour government would be acceptable to them.

Did they want a government driven ridiculously and relentlessly to the left by the Greens, or one buffeted by the quixotic whims of Winston Peters, or one held firmly to the centre by a party such as UnitedFuture which could assure a strong and centrist direction?

They gave us a strong hand and in return we helped give New Zealanders stable government, and we made sure that the government was not beholden to the far left drives of the Greens.

In 2011, we have in many respects the mirror image of that election.

As I say, National is clearly in the driver's seat to lead the next government.

So the issue is 'tone'.

What kind of National-led government do you want, and in what directions to you want it to be guided?

In that, you have ACT, the Maori Party or UnitedFuture.

They are effectively the three choices to set the 'tone' of the next government; the three choices about which direction a support party will push or assist, depending on your view.

These are the only three parties who in reality can work with National.

So it will be the harshness of the far right with ACT, or an increasingly activist Maori Party fighting for its own survival, or a future path firmly and carefully held to the centre with pragmatic and responsible policies.

The bottom line is this - the success of the John Key-led government has been its ability to govern in step with the aspirations of a majority of New Zealanders.

That is the feature New Zealanders are most likely to vote for a continuation of in November - leaving the very stark question of which support party in style and tone is best equipped to work with that government.

As I say, ACT will take the revolution not evolution approach, and if they get much of a hand on the wheel, it will be a sharp and brutal veering to the right, while the Maori Party will simply have to become more activist for its own survival.

So I am sure, now, the 'why us, why UnitedFuture' is becoming clearer.

I intend laying out further and more compelling reasons over the weeks and months ahead, with policies that will tie directly into the raison d'etre, the guiding philosophy of UnitedFuture: making New Zealand the best country in the world in which to live and raise a family.

It will be a policy mix of 'head and heart' striking that necessary balance between making the numbers work and ensuring at the same time what we are proposing will make this country a better place for real flesh and blood people and their families.

Our focus is always on giving people choices about how they live their lives, rather than seeking to make those decisions for them, however well-meaning the intent of that might be.

In a world where so many of life's choices are constrained, it is vital in a liberal democracy like ours to allow people the opportunity to decide as many things as they can for themselves.

In this vein, Income Sharing, a policy UnitedFuture has pushed strongly, will again be on the table because we believe it gives families a real reason to want us back at the table of government.

Precisely, it will give 310,000 families with children - that is about two thirds of all families and around three quarters of all children - a boost in their household incomes of up to $9000 a year.

Income Sharing allows couples with children to combine their income and split it down the middle for tax purposes, giving them more flexibility and the opportunity to spend more time raising their children.

The concept is already a well-established among business partners - all we want is for families to now have that same opportunity.

The legislation is already in train, having successfully come through the select committee process, and is now awaiting its Second Reading.

Polling has indicated overwhelming public support for this policy.

A strong election mandate will bring it closer to reality.

Indeed, Income Sharing is a reminder that UnitedFuture was the original family party.

We were the family party before they invented family parties, or more to the point, before everyone jumped on board and tried to clip the ticket.

It was not so long ago - just 2002 - that Labour delivered a Budget that did not once mention the word 'family'.

Yes, they are all family parties today!

Well, Income Sharing is one policy that holds them to account on that.

It will be a test for them - and parties that oppose it are simply opposing giving more choice to families about how they live their lives.

Other policies that we will be expanding on closer to the election include extending paid parental leave to 13 months - again consistent with the choice and freedom argument - although we acknowledge that will be costly in the current fiscal circumstances.

We also want to introduce a free annual health check, initially for those over 65, but with the aim of eventually making it universal as finances improve, so we can get on to conditions and illnesses early.

The upfront cost of this personal warrant of fitness will be more than outweighed over time by the savings in hospitalisation and other treatment costs.

We also want to revolutionise the student loan / allowance system to reduce both the immediate cost of tertiary education for students, and their longer-term indebtedness.

We would do this by abolishing student fees and paying for them substantially through the funds we now allocate to student allowances, which would also be done away with.

Students would be able to borrow, but for living costs only, up to today's maximum of $170 per week.

Such a policy would reduce the maximum debt for a first degree to just over $20,000, and the debt of degrees like medicine and engineering to just over $40,000 - figures vastly below current debt levels.

We need to do something about our young people stepping into life, earning their first pay packet, with huge debts already to their names.

It is debilitating and demoralising and it is just not fair.

That is not how someone's working life should begin.

It impacts on too many life choices and decisions for young graduates.

Carrying huge debt makes them more likely not just to do their OE, but to effectively become 'economic refugees' overseas; and it has a potential impact on ongoing life choices such as when it is viable to have children, or perhaps buy their first homes.

Student debt is not just financial; it is a burden with huge personal and social implications.

Again, our policies are about reflecting on what is needed by normal people to make their lives better in New Zealand, while maintaining an economically responsible approach.

They are consistent with our goal of making New Zealand the best place in the world in which to live and raise a family, and to re-establish the Kiwi dream.

An important part of that dream is the privilege New Zealanders have to enjoy one of the most pristine and impressive natural environments in the world.

Preserving public access to our mountains, forests, lakes and rivers is a high priority for UnitedFuture, and we make no apology for that.

We want to ensure our natural environment is preserved for the use and enjoyment of current and future generations who want to tramp, hunt or fish, or who just like the idea that our mountains, forests, lakes and rivers are there for all of us, and not locked away by those who view human beings as some sort of pest.

Generally, New Zealand needs to start rethinking some of the ways we do things, and take a longer term view.

We think New Zealanders are more than ready for that approach - whether it be on matters like our future constitutional arrangements, or the way we develop our economy or organise our communities, and we trust them to make the right calls when the time comes.

We need to balance the heart and the head in our policy mix and we need to do so while taking a responsible centre-path.

Ours is a programme that is about promoting what is achievable for New Zealand and in the interests of good government.

We are not interested in yesterday's old ideological battles, or trying to wind the clock back to where Sir Roger Douglas left off in 1987.

Our focus is New Zealand today - and its future.

We are the party most well-placed to give National a centrist support and to keep them from the fringes and the extremes.

UnitedFuture is the support party that will support National, while helping it to stay in the centre ground.

This is our New Zealand.

A people at home neither on the far left or the far right; a people of evolution, not revolution; a multicultural society with a bicultural history.

A country united in its aspirations and positive about its future.

ends.

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