NZF 1996 opening (17.48) How do you feel about the National government? Woman with glasses: “Well I don’t think much of their performance in the last six years, or even before that. And they seem as if they are in a different world. They only know what half the country is doing; they don’t know how the other half live. Bald man: “And I was one of the strongest National supporters you could find. But after 1990 I gave it away. When Bolger didn’t keep his promises.” Young man: “What is happening right now isn’t terribly wonderful and people are people are disillusioned with Bolger so.” Young woman with baby: “It is very unknown the future for everybody and it is hard to say but if they are going the way they are now I know my child won’t have anything, there won’t be anything, there won’t be anything for him there. Education will be costly, health will be costly, he won’t have anything to call New Zealand his own. Older woman: “What have they done, what have they done about the gangs, what have they done about crime, and what have they done about health? They’ve just made the country a mess. They’ve looked after themselves, and I think they are money mad and that is not good enough for me. Bald man again: “What annoyed me was the superannuation surtax, I remember he said watch my lips and the first thing he would do was abolish it. And what happened? On the first of the budgets Richardson put the cost up. And from then on it has been a disaster. National got in with a huge majority in 1990 because everyone was sick to death of the Labour Party with all their problems. And we thought thank goodness that the National Party is in so we can clear away what Labour had done and Rogernomics. And what have they done? Older woman again: “What is stable about letting people get away with the crimes they are getting away with? What is stable about letting people go hungry and there are people in this country who are hungry. And that is disgusting. It is not a stable government, no way. How do you feel about selling state assets? Woman with glasses: “It is not so much about me and my future, it is about our children and grandchildren we’ve got to think about. Bald man: “And it has got worse and worse and worse. Education, health, you name it. And this selling off of all our assets is absolutely criminal, absolutely criminal.” What concerns you about health? Woman with baby: “Well I believe that children should be free. It is very important that children come first when it comes to health. They suffer a lot of health problems at a young age. Woman with child: “I think that especially as young mums, your children should be able to get the best care possible if they are sick. You know basically these days if you go on a waiting list you future are on there for three or four months before you can get in to see a specialist. And children are our future so that is really important. Man with glasses: “I don’t like the idea of paying for health insurance when we are already paying taxes that are going into a health system that is being underfunded. Do you think old people are being neglected? Young man: “There are a whole lot of old people here and there is nothing wrong with that because they’ve been neglected as well, and they are a big force in New Zealand with the population ageing as it is in another 20 years or so the population is going to be an ageing one and you need to address their problems right now with the surtax and so on. So I think Winston has obviously got a lot of support from Grey Power and with the older people, and good on him because we all get older, and so in another thirty or forty years we’re all going to be looking at old age concerns.” How do you feel about Winston Peters? Young woman: “Well I think he’ll stand by what he says he is going to launch, definitely. I believe he is an honest person and will do what he says he is going to do. Woman with baby: “He is a great leader, he is a born leader really. He comes across very well and I have complete faith in him. Young man: “And he is the only one who is standing up for New Zealand people’s rights. So we need him, he is the voice of New Zealand.” The Leader of New Zealand First Winston Peters Winston Peters: “Thank you for this chance to talk with you. Twelve years ago you became the subject of a far right experiment. The new Labour government decided to forget all its campaign promises and plunge New Zealand into the brave new world of Roger Douglas and Richard Prebble. They promised you prosperity. They promised you freedom. They promised you a better tomorrow. They delivered exactly the opposite. Then six years ago National was elected, promising to fix all this. Well, they fixed it alright. National’s decent society turned out to be a place where they ditched their manifesto promises, and a society that rewarded just the few. Because, you know, for some people this is a better place. It is better for the rich, better for criminals, better for party political appointees. It is better for foreigners and private interests who now own over $16 billion of state assets that once used to belong to you. It is better for foreign companies like Telecom, who farm us New Zealanders for obscene profit, and then run down democracy and the kiwi spirit to other foreign investors. For them, for their selfish concerns, New Zealand is the land that National and Labour promised them. These few truly have had a recovery, but for you and your family, for ordinary people, for hundreds of thousands of forgotten New Zealanders, New Zealand has become a meaner place, a harsher place in which to live, and in which to raise our families. Unemployment hasn’t gone down. Where over 320,000 people living on welfare benefits. 320,000 adult New Zealanders living on welfare. Welfare benefits graph. That is a truly staggering number because it doesn’t include the children of the beneficiaries. Were that done then the figure would be close to half a million. How can anyone honestly say that New Zealand is working if the best future we can offer half a million New Zealanders is a welfare cheque. And on crime National’s record of the past six years is simply appalling. Violent crime graph. “Last year over 45,000 New Zealanders were the victims of violent crime. That is 120 New Zealanders a day. Raped or bashed or murdered. And National’s answer? They are chopping over 500 front-line policing positions. That really is criminal. The unfair surtax remains. A number of new taxes have been introduced. Hospital waiting lists have more than doubled. And that is a sad and truly gloomy tale. To make matters worse, our economy is now going backwards. National’s obsession, and that is the only word for it, obsession with this zero to two percent inflation target means that you are paying the highest real interest rates in the western world. Graph: “Real” interest rates (OECD) And of the 24 OECD countries, only Turkey rates worse. Our kiwi dollar is at record levels, and that is really hurting our farmers and exporters, the people who create real wealth for this country. Graph: NZ’s trade deficit “We now have the worst trading deficit in over 10 years. All thanks to National. It is National’s obsession with having a tight monetary policy, instead of a balanced economic policy, that has inflicted this type of pain. Interest rates are up, the dollar is at record levels, unemployment is growing, total debt the highest it has ever been, and our balance of payments the worst in a decade. And despite this, National is promising more of the same. That is their idea of stability. For National those statistics, those failures, economic and social, represent stability. Well NZF rejects that defeatist attitude. We have a balanced positive and exciting set of policy initiatives that will make this economy grow again, create real jobs, improve child health, cut hospital waiting lists, increase police numbers, increase our investment in education. Policies that let the real kiwi spirit rise again. We are going to put New Zealanders back in control of their economy again. Not the wide boys and the hot money merchants in the financial sector. New Zealand First’s economic policy has been independently costed. It stands up, which means we’ll do all that and run budget surpluses and repay government debt. We’ll slow down those debt repayments so we can invest further in our own people, in education, in health, in employment programmes, and in housing. We have a social crisis and we must attend to it. Good social policy requires a sound economy. And NZF is the only major political party with a specific export policy to create the real wealth we need for the family New Zealand. Where government and export industries will work together to develop current markets and open new export opportunities for New Zealand producers. We’ll lower mortgage and business interest rates with a moderate monetary policy that allows the kiwi dollar to fall, and your interest rates will fall as well. We are going to put the people back in control of this country, and not foreign corporates. There will be no state asset sales under NZF, none! Those assets belong to you, they belong to all of us. We are going to remove the obscene profit motive from public health and deliver quality services to New Zealanders, regardless of their income. We are going to give all children a healthy start, by making visits to the doctor and medical prescriptions free for all children aged 12 years and under. Further, we will spend an additional $150 million per year on cutting hospital waiting lists, and guaranteeing maximum waiting times for hospital operations. There are over 95,000 New Zealanders on waiting lists. It is sad, you know, the older you get, and the poorer you are, the less chance you have for a decent health service. The New Zealand people will no longer stand for this. So, let’s stop this nonsense now. NZF will abolish the unfair surtax, introduce a compulsory savings scheme that lets people retire in comfort and dignity, give the police the men and the women the resources, the new powers to protect you and your family. 500 more police in our first term, that is NZF’s commitment. We’ll deliver a proper education system, with the focus on early childhood and primary education because we want the right foundations for your young people. 1:20 teacher pupil ratios for junior classes. And a 15% increase in early childhood funding. Those commitments, with the increased recognition of our teaching profession, is our policy. We’ll restore the heart to public education. Our policies are outlined in this brochure (Image: The Leadership, The Vision, The Policies) that is being delivered to every home in our country. It is called the leadership, the vision, the policies. NZF’s vision for New Zealand is a country that the people own, that belongs to us, we who live here. A country that puts our people first, where immigration and foreign investment must be in our interests, and not simply in the interests of foreigners and big business. A country that cares about other New Zealanders, but demands that individuals take responsibility for their actions. A country that treats people equally, and fairly, that doesn’t discriminate against others because they are young, or old, or sick or weak. New Zealand was a world leader once, economically and socially, and we can be again. NZF has the vision for a better and brighter tomorrow, with the policies and the leadership to deliver that vision. If you want an economy run for the few and the very few, if you want an uncaring society, if you want to cut out 540 front-line police, then vote National. If you want worsening poverty, if you want to damage our rural and city exports with our dollar going through the roof, if you want real interest rates to remain the worst in the western world, vote National. If you want more asset sales, a penalty tax for just being old, if you want an Americanised, privatized health and education system, then vote National. If you want uncontrolled immigration, delinquent corporates dodging their taxes, if you want third world child health statistics, then vote National. This is no ordinary election. It is an election for the very soul of New Zealand. If you want National out, vote New Zealand First. New Zealand First is the only party that can beat National. This is an election about who should own our country. About which party you can trust. About which party will put you and your family first. About which party will put New Zealanders first. If you share these concerns, then NZF is that movement. We are that party. Because we belong to the people, we belong to New Zealand. We are the party for the farmer and the exporter. The party for the family. We are the party for the retired New Zealander. We are the party for those who want this country to stay in New Zealand hands. We are the only party with the commitment, the courage and prepared to make the sacrifices to ensure government is for everybody. We are the only party that will share real power with you. We are the only party that has proven we will stick with our principles, whatever the cost. Our loyalty, our philosophy, our policies, our very essence, is with the people, it is with New Zealand, it is with you. Together we can and will create a better New Zealand. A prosperous New Zealand, a healthy New Zealand, a fair New Zealand. So let’s prepare ourselves. In three weeks’ time, let’s start rebuilding our country together. How do you feel about Winston Peters as leader? Peters: “So come 12 October, let’s put New Zealanders first.” Crowd cheering and clapping. Bald man: “He is a man of integrity, as you know, he will be a good Prime Minister.” Woman: “I think he’ll be great, he is the right man for the job. Older woman: “Because I trust Winston Peters implicitly. I’ve known him now for over three years and I know that he is absolutely completely honest. And that is what we need in this country now. And there is no other choice when you look around really, there is no other choice. Woman: “Good I think, he has a lot of people behind him. I think he’ll do great. Yeah, for sure. Man with glasses: “I’ve seen over previous years the governments have betrayed New Zealanders by promising things and delivering others. And I’m not willing to put my vote towards being betrayed again. Older woman: “Vote for NZF, when you are of voting age, because NZF cares. And if you want a good future get in there and vote for NZF, there is no other choice. Text: NZF will provide the Leadership, the vision, and the Policies to build a fair and healthy society for each and every New Zealander. Put New Zealanders First. New Zealand First.