INDEPENDENT NEWS

Peters Speech: Breaking Old Party Stranglehold

Published: Mon 1 Nov 1999 10:17 AM
Theme ~ "Breaking the two Old Party Stranglehold a Plague on Both their Houses!' ~
There was a debate on TV3 the other night, which many of you will have seen.
The layout of the studio was an accurate reflection of New Zealand Politics today.
Two sets of parties, clutching at each other for support- not from conviction, but from convenience.
As for Richard, the commentators say I put him off his presentation - it's not true, even I heard the elastic in his underpants snap. Anyone who's ever driven on a country road has seen that sight a hundred times - it was pure possum in the headlights.
But enough of that.
For we're here in Auckland today to create a watershed in New Zealand Politics. A revolution in the way we appoint our politicians, to restore hope and a smile to the faded face of our once great country.
New Zealand First is standing a candidate in every electorate - we are a unique party.
You won't see us withdrawing candidates to jack up a constituency vote for another party, or stabbing loyal hardworking candidates in the back because they don't suit the party's backroom deals - or pretend to hold a pre-election poll, or propping up another party's straw leader, or claiming to have a coalition agreement when no voter and no-one in the party knows the terms of the agreement.
You won't see New Zealand First MPs engaging in any grubby fabrication of a pre-election coalition, for we are here today to break the stranglehold of the two tired old parties, now and forever.
We don’t intend to tell you how sad this country is economically and socially, you know that already. It's enough for us to agree that our economic performance is way below the reasonable expectations of what it should mean to live in New Zealand and be a New Zealander.
We will not be talking about the promised land that other parties keep seeing over the horizon. We New 7ealanders have lived through and lost the promised land, and we want it back.
We remember when our country was great on the world economic playing field, and rather than relying on our sporting heroes to give this country some kind of international recognition, we want an economy that used to do that, doing that again.
Nobody wants the All Blacks to win in this election more than National. That is how temporary our feel-good factor as a people has become.
Not for these Labour and National worshipers of greed and blind ideology the satisfaction of good public health, the assurance of free education, the security of decent old age care, the protection of our vulnerable and our young, or the tranquillity of a peaceful law abiding society.
The tired old parties having miserably failed on all five counts these last fifteen years, now sees National looking to the All Blacks hoping that somehow they alone can restore a nation's respect and some esteem for a few weeks to take our minds off our social and economic losses at home.
And each of these losses has thousands of human faces which National and Labour have turned their backs on.
A few vested Interests, here and abroad, have done very well. They've become extraordinarily rich while the rest of us have become much poorer.
We are here today to break the tired old party stranglehold, of tweedledum and tweedledummer, on New Zealand politics—now and forever.
Ladies and gentlemen close your eyes just for a moment. Remember these last 15 years, of who started these policies and who continued them - remember the personalities, Douglas, Probable, Cullen, Caygill, Richardson, Lockwood Smith, Birch and now English running our economy and selling our assets to foreigners.
A fortune built up by our forebears frittered away in a fire sale.
Or Clark and Shipley, together responsible for closing scores of hospitals and both emptying thousands out of mental institutions to become abandoned victims and victimisers on the streets of New Zealand.
Recall the billions wasted on consultants, spin-doctors and advisors In your heart you know these old parties are no different.
To paraphrase Shakespeare: 'They cried havoc, and let loose the dogs of exploitation.”
In this campaign New Zealand First is not going to be concerned with the hirelings and klingons – we are going head to head with just two of the old parties who have abandoned principle for power, honour for office, tradition for trappings and toadyism.
They are no different. They are the same . For example: neither will change the Reserve Bank Act to support our export dependent nation and our resources - We Can and We Will.
Neither of them will attack Telecom's gouging of New Zealand businesses and households - We Can and We Will.
Neither of them will regulate against retail power companies ratcheting up prices - We Can and We Will.
Neither of them has a plan to create the export wealth to pay for free education and free health - We Have such a plan and We Will put it in place.
Neither of them will prosecute the corporate donors to their party coffers, who stole hundreds of millions from the New Zealand Taxpayer—We Can and We Will.
Neither of them has any plan for law and order - like a mixture of employment and tough laws - We Do and We Will implement them.
Neither of them is showing leadership and direction for our young people, like a choice of either CMT or Community Service and exciting experiences like Outward Bound and the Spirit of Adventure. We Can and We Will.
Neither of them will take on the political correctness that allows a fake refugee and four time rapist loose in our country, that denies parents access to their own childrens' report cards, that puts a man with a ten year old mind behind bars after infecting six women with AIDS, and doesn't prosecute the politicians and officials who let him out.
Neither of them had the accountability to prosecute those guilty of giving 300 New Zealanders a state death sentence when they received dirty blood under Labour, and then National, in our hospitals, and thereby contracted AIDS and Hepatitis C.
And neither has the commonsense to start a national Hepatitis B and Diabetes screening programme. To combat the number one killers of New Zealanders today.
In all these things we have already acted and we will act again.
The tired old parties either want to put up taxes or lower taxes—in an economy which can afford neither.
We are going to give tax cuts to encourage exporters - the people who will eventually bring us three times more export money to share at home.
Neither of them will leave off their love affair with paper shufflers and currency speculators and run the economy for the mass majority of New Zealanders.
We have no such love affair with these vested interests and we will provide government for the majority of New Zealanders.
Ladies and gentlemen - when we have a vision of a fair, good and decent society, when we dream of our country as a good Samaritan, it is a dream in which the country has earned the wealth and has the social conscience to be caring.
Today our economy has every economic indicator heading in the wrong direction. Interest rates are rising when there is no reason for it. We owe $102 billion, increasing at $33 per week for every one of us. There is a massive gap between our exports and our imports, all of which will see our nation's credit rating downgraded again.
This happens because Labour and National had a fire sale or our assets to foreigners and ran our economy for importers - not exporters. Today 226,000 of New Zealand’s sons, daughters, nephews, nieces, can't find work - because the tired old parties don't give a priority to employment, and last year we as earners saved less than one percent of our income.
Neither of the old parties have any sustainable plan to encourage New Zealanders to save to guarantee retirement in dignity, or to build up our capital resources to free ourselves from our dependence on international money and external payments to foreign shareholders.
We, in New Zealand First, have such a plan - the kind of plan that Norman Kirk had, which, if in place today, would see us a creditor nation not a debtor basket case.
Today New Zealanders are disillusioned with politics.
You're disillusioned? Well so am l!
How would you feel, if you gave up much of you adult life to work for a political party, campaigned to get them in office, opposed Rogernomics from the start, sought to expose the BNZ bailouts, warned of the defects in the Treaty of Waitangi settlement
process – only to find that party, when in office headed down the same track and betraying its supporters - just like its predecessor.
Disillusioned? How would you feel it when you campaigned for a full scale BNZ inquiry and opposed shonky business dealings you found out that the same businessmen, who had backed Labour, were paying hush money into National Party coffers so their frauds would not be exposed.
I understand disillusionment - I have lived through it. How would you feel if you had fought 20 court cases against tax cheats, and the IRD and the SFO only to win in the end, after you had personally lost hundreds of thousands of dollars to now learn that neither Labour nor National has any intention of prosecuting any of these criminals.
Ladies and gentlemen - when you see all the glossies and millions that these two old parties will fling at this campaign, when you know that money comes from corporate donors hiding behind a veil of secrecy, remember every one of those tainted dollars is being used to muffle and muzzle your voice.
This will be a dirty campaign. They have started the personal attacks already. But remember this. It is not New Zealand First or Winston Peters that they hate to have to share power with. They hate to share power with you.
They loathe the hundreds and thousands of forgotten New Zealanders being remembered at last.
They dread having their plans for the venal few questioned by the many and my God how they fear any accountable democracy emerging in this country.
Remember they are not really attacking New Zealand First—in fact they are attacking you.
That is why, when we look back at the last 15 years, we say “A plague on both your houses”.
And why are we in New Zealand First staying on despite all this?
It's because this unique independent party has a job to do.
New Zealand needs accountability - and a party to keep them honest. For no other party, by their track record can, or will.
We will, after the election, stay on the cross benches of Parliament, voting issue by issue, unless we find a party that accepts three things:
one, the need for a new economic direction
two, that, in good faith understands MMP must be made to work for all New Zealanders
three, when it gives its word on a coalition agreement, keeps it.
We will not sell the party’s soul for the baubles of power.
ln four weeks, in the quiet of a polling booth, you will have all the power.
On election day, your vote is as good, and worth as much as anyone on the Business Roundtable.
When you are alone that day, remember there is a party with principles and policies embodied in its name. New Zealand First.
Give us two ticks and we together will make our country great again.
ends

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