Rt. Hon Winston Peters
Leader NZ First

Address: Public Meeting

Date: November 23 2011

Time: 1.30 pm

Venue: RSA Memorial Hall
Takapuna

Why They Don’t Want NZ First In Opposition

A funny thing happened on the way to the election this week.

No sooner had New Zealand First explained we were going into Opposition to act as a public watchdog than the sound of thunder erupted from the other parties.

How dare you act in the public interest they roared!

How dare you not seek the power of government!

We never expected such a reaction.

The leadership of the National Party got quite purple-faced about it.

Even the Greens co-leader had a hissy fit.

And the Labour Party used the opportunity to steal some more New Zealand First policies, announcing them as their own.

The extreme reaction from the other parties has raised a question that all voters should be aware of.

It’s this. Why don’t the other political parties want New Zealand First in Opposition?
We’ve got a fair idea and it’s like this.

For the past three years there has been no effective opposition in parliament.

Nobody has been acting like a real watchdog for the people.

The parties that have been in parliament over the last term want that same, safe situation to continue so they can get on with their cosy arrangements and agendas.

New Zealand First is going to shine some sunlight on these.

This is where we start:

First: The Crafar farms. A company set up by the communist government of China is waiting to buy thousands of hectares of prime dairy farmland.

Receivers for an Australian owned bank are behind the deal. An application has been in front of the Overseas Investment Office for over eight months.

Nothing has happened. And do you know why?

The National led government is hiding this sellout of our farmland until after the election.

They won’t front up about it during the election campaign. It’s secret.

Second: Another little secret. Four claims of customary title to the foreshore and seabed are being discussed behind closed doors in parliament.

The negotiations are not being shown the light of day.

It’s one of the jack-ups between the National Party and the Maori Party.

Four major areas of foreshore and seabed are being handed over and privatized without any other New Zealanders having a say.

This is disgraceful. This is why you need New Zealand First in Opposition in parliament and this is why they are desperately trying to stop us.

Just cast your minds back three years.

At no stage did the National Party say they would take the foreshore and seabed away from Crown ownership and transfer it to some kind of marine limboland.

They’ve left it open to be taken and plundered.

Now the third point: Along with the foreshore and seabed sellout there is another process going on called a constitutional review.

The basic aim of this is to create a new system in which everyone becomes subservient to the Treaty of Waitangi.

The Treaty will become the centerpiece of a new constitution which will give different rights to different races.
It’s interesting that none of the parties in parliament during the last term has said anything about this.

They are all in on the act. And they certainly don’t want New Zealand First in there asking awkward questions about the rights of all New Zealanders.

This is a serious situation. So why the secrecy?

Why the conspiracy of silence over an issue that goes to the heart of our unity as a nation?

New Zealand First believes strongly in the principle of equality of citizenship.
We agree that the injustices of the past must be sorted out.

But we will never move on – we will never achieve true adulthood as a nation - if we have separate systems for different races.

Acquired victimhood and contrived reparation are obstacles to a prosperous unified future.

In Opposition in parliament we would be at pains to explain this and we would also suggest ways to overcome these barriers to progress.

The fourth point of contention is the sale, or part sale of taxpayer owned assets built up over the generations.

Our power stations were planned and built by people of vision so that New Zealand would always have a cheap source of hydro-electric power.

It was to be a renewable source of energy to provide electricity for factories, farms, homes, hospitals and just about every source of activity.

Now there is talk of selling large chunks of this system overseas.
They’ve finally admitted it.

The finance minister went around Asia before the last Budget trying to flog off at least half our energy resources.

Where was the opposition?

Well the big trouble was the Opposition had also been guilty of flogging stuff off.

New Zealand First has drawn a bottom line over this issue and that is why they don’t want us in Opposition.

We would vote against any such move.

So those four points are very important to us.

1. No more sales of our farmland to foreign buyers.
2. No more secret deals over the foreshore and seabed and back to Crown ownership.
3. No new constitution based on the Treaty of Waitangi.
4. No sale of taxpayer owned strategic assets.
In their haste to form a government before the election, the other parties are actually trying to thwart the will of the people.

We say let the people vote and then the politicians can start sorting out their government.

And when they do we’ll be there watching over their shoulders just to make sure they don’t get into any deals that are not seen out in the open.

We say to all the parties take the people into your confidence.

Tell them what’s happening. It’s called democracy.

And as part of that democracy New Zealand First will be sitting on the Opposition benches with open eyes, open minds and the interests of all New Zealanders in our hearts.

We are going to make sure you get a fair go - no matter who forms the next government. They’ll just have to get used to the idea.

ENDS

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