Progressive Green Party closing broadcast 1996 (1.15-2.15) Rob Fenwick: “Hi, I’m Rob Fenwick and I want to tell you your party vote for the Progressive Green Party is not a wasted vote. If you are one of thousands of New Zealanders who love the outdoors and who worry about what we are doing to our environment, here is a way you can make a real difference. You see out here in Green Waitakere, National Party supporters are being urged to support the Progressive Green Party candidate. That is popular Forest and Bird man Mark Bellingham. With his winning this seat, and with your party votes, we can create a strong new voice for the environment in Parliament. So vote for the successful Green Party the Progressive Greens that help DOC get more funding this year. And who are leading the charge for light rail in Auckland. The Progressive Green Party, the only party that is really thinking about your grandchildren. Text: Progressive Greens. Alliance closing broadcast 1996 (5.45-15.45). Bold is text. Jim Anderton: “The Alliance won’t sell out after you’ve cast your vote. We’ll make education and healthcare free. We can’t keep giving away tax cuts and have better health and education. And we can’t keep selling our country and have something left for future generations. Every child will have a fair chance, if everyone pays their fair share. It is our heritage as a nation. Let’s claim it back. And I think that everyone in New Zealand should have a chance to become rich. But you don’t become rich very often if you don’t have a decent education. You don’t become rich if you don’t have a decent job. You don’t live long enough to become rich unless you’ve got some decent healthcare.” Images of Alliance event. Remember it’s all about trust. Act NZ closing 1996 (15.50-18.30) Announcer: “Act, Values not politics.” ACT New Zealand. Values. Not politics. October 12th. The Hon. Richard Prebble. Leader – ACT New Zealand: “The election is a choice between a stable future, or a risky gamble. Between securing a prosperous future, by making MMP work for New Zealand, or having the left take us through the pain again. MMP is an opportunity to break from politics as usual. To values, not politics. To ensure those that are yet to benefit from our economic success are included. Our hospital waiting lists are too long. Education standards are too low. Our welfare system traps too many in dependency. Act has fresh ideas and practical, positive solutions. Why not have a government where hard work, thrift, honesty, and individual responsibility are rewarded, rather than being penalised, by taxes and user charges. Why not have flat tax, so that beneficiaries can work their way off welfare. Let’s make student loans tax deductible. Why not make health insurance affordable for every family? Let’s have funded superannuation, so we can abolish the National surcharge. But no progress is possible without a strong economy. Act will keep National honest to its economic promises. And Act will be a check on the extreme policies of the left.” Donna Awatere Huata. Senior List Candidate: “Act is the only party that will be in the new MMP Parliament that will be brave enough to take on the real issues. Like the crisis in Maoridom. We aren’t afraid to say that Maori children shouldn’t be paid by the state to have children. To say that fair settlements for Treaty claims must be finalised once and for all, and not be allowed to continue to create a grievance industry. Act will make MMP work, because we will take on the hard issues with fresh ideas and new solutions.” Prebble: “Act New Zealand. Economic stability and sensible social reform. Giving Act your party vote will ensure that the risky left remains in opposition. Giving Act your party vote is a vote for a secure, progressive future.” Announcer: “Vote Act on the party list.” Vote Act on the party list. Act New Zealand. Values. Not politics. Christian Coalition closing broadcast 1996 (2.30) Party Vote Christian Coalition. Graham Capill. Graeme Lee. Graham Capill: “All political parties agree that there are problems within our country. Where we differ is the solutions that we offer. Graeme Lee: “Solutions tried for decades are not working. Crime rate continues to rise, New Zealand is no longer the safe place it used to be. We want to focus on victims and their families. There are more and more family breakups. All our policies centre on strengthening family life. And we will establish a Ministry of Family Affairs. Welfare dependency continues to grow. And we have positive solutions to address poverty and help the needy. Our health system is not working. We know that you are concerned about waiting lists. We want to take health back to you, and let you participate in establishing the health care you want. Standards are dropping in our schools and universities. We want to initiate choice in education and promote excellence.” Capill: “New Zealand has become like an ocean liner being steered off course with all the resulting problems. We need people who are concerned about families, principles and values back at the helm. The Christian Coalition offers a new approach to politics. Not the politics of mud slinging and pulling down the opposition. A politics of working together to make New Zealand a better place. We want to put the record straight. We do not intend to recriminalize homosexuality, we just don’t want it promoted to our young people. We don’t want to make abortion illegal, we just want the law upheld the way it was intended. We don’t discriminate against Jews or anyone for that matter, we have a Jewish candidate. The Coalition has no policy on capital punishment, and our two parties are not going to separate after the election. We intend to continue to work together, just as we are now.” Lee: “Our vision for New Zealand is a place where you can walk down the street in safety, any time of the day or night. A place where work is readily available, where few have to rely on the state to survive. Where families are strong, communities are caring and supportive.” Capill: “If you share this vision, a vision that consists of principles and values, and want a secure future for your children and grandchildren, the Christian Coalition would urge you to give us your party vote tomorrow.” Party Vote Christian Coalition. Graham Capill. Graeme Lee. NZF closing 1996 (10.10) (from YouTube link no longer working). Bold is text. New Zealand First Winston Peters: “Tomorrow we New Zealanders are going to create history. It is our first MMP election. But tomorrow is more than just about history. It is about being given the chance to create a better New Zealand. A prosperous, a healthy, and a fair New Zealand. Over the past four weeks, I’ve met tens of thousands of New Zealanders, and listened to their hopes, their dreams and their aspirations, and, yes, to their concerns. And if there is one thing that binds us, if there has been one common cry, then it is this: we all want a better tomorrow for ourselves, for our family, for our community. No matter where we live most of us have children and we rightly want a better world for them. The past 12 years has been pretty tough on New Zealand. It has been tough on a lot of New Zealanders. More and more of our country has ended up in foreign hands. Public assets, our assets, our resources, our heritage, have been sold off for private gain. Now that’s not stability. Crime has rocketed out of control. Its sad, you know, last year 45,000 New Zealanders were bashed, raped or murdered. 45,000 New Zealanders. That’s not stability. Unemployment has bedded in at 150,000 plus. 150,000 unemployed. And the truth is half a million New Zealanders are now dependent upon a welfare cheque. That’s not stability. And both our mortgage and business interest rates are the highest in the western world. Highest interest rates Our dollar is driving many farmers and exporters to the wall. That’s not stability. Almost 100,000 New Zealanders are on hospital waiting lists. 100,000 New Zealanders. And we are experiencing a child health crisis, the second worst in the OECD. That’s not stability. Child health crisis And to be fair it is simply unacceptable. New Zealand First was formed for one main reason: to let New Zealanders regain control of their country, their future, not foreign businesses, not rich corporates, but we who call ourselves New Zealanders. We have attracted support from across the party lines, from people who have the best interests of New Zealand at heart. And we have formed a party that owes its first loyalty to you, to your family, to the people of this great country. It wasn’t easy to start, but we have built a great movement which involves all sorts of people, of all sorts of backgrounds. And we’ll not sell these people out.” Rev Ann Batten. Spokesperson Woman’s Affairs and Consumer Affairs: “I joined New Zealand First because it has a message of hope. Because it is a party that respects New Zealanders, that is prepared to put itself on the line to create that better tomorrow. New Zealand First is a party that understands New Zealanders, our needs, our concerns, and our hopes. That is why the health policy of NZF is so important. Free doctors’ visits and free medical prescriptions for all children aged 12 years and younger. Free Doctors Visits. Free Prescriptions. Family health teams to target at risk communities and at risk families so that poor parenting does not bar a child from decent health care or a decent education. And a real policy to reduce hospital waiting lists, with maximum waiting times and an extra $150 million per year to pay for the operations that people need now, not in the never-never.” Reduce waiting lists. Peters: “We’ll abolish the surtax and NZF will treat the elderly with the respect that is their right. Abolish the surtax Asset testing will be abolished, as will existing asset-testing charges on family homes. Abolish Asset-testing We are going to conduct a review of the value of care givers in the home or the community, be they women or men. We don’t want them disadvantaged. And our compulsory super savings scheme will let all New Zealanders retire in comfort and dignity. And it will free us up from the dependence on international money.” Rev. Ann Batten: “The family, in all its forms, is the heart of New Zealand. Strong families build a strong country. New Zealand First’s early childhood policy builds that firm foundation for every child. A maximum of 20 children in the classroom, a 15% increase in early childhood funding, pay parity for early childhood educators. Maximum of 20 children 15% increase. Pay Parity Our children deserve the best.” Peters: “New Zealanders voted for MMP because they wanted change. They wanted politicians to listen. They wanted Parliament to hear. Only a vote for NZF will keep that conversation going. Will keep the doors open, will make the interests of you and your family the centre of new politics. You know all we’ve heard about in the last four weeks is coalitions, coalitions, coalitions. Sadly, people and their problems have been lost in the debate. We are going to have a coalition, that is true. But if a coalition delivers up what we’ve had in the last 12 years, then we new Zealanders will have got ourselves exactly nowhere. Worst still, we will have bedded in all the worst features of the old way of doing politics. Tomorrow should be remembrance day. A day to remember what happened these last 12 years. The great majority of us, after all, have paid a great price. And, if we are not careful, we’ll go on paying it for another three years. Remembrance day because we need to remember who it was who sold over 16 billion dollars of state assets, from Telecom to our largest man-made forest. Politicians who can do that won’t stop there. Next it will be our water and electricity. Remember when privatisation of health started. And who was it who began hospital closure? Twenty-six in all in just two years between 88 and 90. Remember when police numbers were run down? And how violent crime has doubled in just 10 years. All these things started with Labour. And National has carried on. Same horse, different jockey. In 1990, the people of this country threw Labour out in the largest landslide this country has ever seen. Why? Because Labour broke its promises. In 1990, National promised to change all that. And they simply broke their promises too. Remembrance day, election day 1996. A day to remember, so we will not repeat the mistakes of the past. That is why New Zealand needs NZF. We are a new party. And we believe in a new way of doing politics. Where promises are made that can be kept. Because our budget has been costed and we know exactly how it will work for you. We are a moderate centre party, we don’t want to pit one part of New Zealand against another. We want to put New Zealand back together. You know we can live our lives the same way that we play our sport: with our whole team striving for excellence. Using all of our talents. NZF is a team that will work in partnership with you. NZF is prepared to work with any party that puts the people before the party. People before the party. That puts principle before politics. Principle before politics. New Zealand needs a strong NZF party because we are going to make the government we form an honest government. Honest Government. If that is what you want, then tick New Zealand First. We didn’t start a party to behave in politics the same way as we’ve all seen these last 12 years. We are the change. Tomorrow all I urge of you is to vote for a better future. To vote for a land that we will own and that we will control as New Zealanders. To vote for a society that is fair and healthy and prosperous. To vote for a political system that you control, and not one that controls you. Above all, vote to make our political system honest and accountable. NZF has a proven track record for doing just that. And we will go on doing that in the future. We won’t buckle to pressure, and we’ll keep our word. If that is your wish, if that is what you want, then NZF is your party. Tomorrow let’s start rebuilding New Zealand. Together, let’s put New Zealanders first. “ New Zealand First will provide the leadership, the vision and the policies to build a fair and healthy society for each and every New Zealander. Tomorrow Put New Zealanders First. New Zealand First. United New Zealand closing 1996 (31.10-33.50) United New Zealand Clive Matthewson, Leader United NZ: “People are telling me that me that they want to vote United at this election, but they are worried that might waste their vote. Well let’s put that to rest. Peter Dunne will win Ohariu-Belmont; the polls have got him 30% ahead. What that means is that every United vote will count, that every vote for United counts. Just over 1% we get two MPs. Two percent gives us three MPs. Three percent, for MPs, and so on. You can waste your vote at this election. But not by voting United. So what is United offering for your vote? More whinging and whining and grizzling? No! More smug, complacent arrogance? No! If you like either of those there is a party to suit you. But if you are about both self-reliance and compassion, if you think we are heading in the right economic direction, but we can do a lot better on social policy, then your values and our values are exactly the same. Investing in children has got to be our nation’s number one priority. We know for a fact that the kids who get a bad start in life, don’t get their glue ear picked up, don’t get the right food, get bashed up, don’t learn to read, they are overwhelmingly the ones who end up as truants or drug abusers, or criminals. And we know how to fix it. Intensive Plunket-style home visiting. Good access to health care. Everyone into preschool. Then we can turn it around. Turn those lives into fulfilling ones. Our caring for kids policy has got those details. And we’ll make sure that whoever is in government makes that investment. We are not extremists. Our candidates are caring, but they’ve also capable, and real common sense. They know the importance of keeping the economy on track. That is basic. Remember that we don’t have to reach any 5% threshold. A vote for United will not be wasted. Give us the mandate and we will deliver. United New Zealand. Labour Party 1996 closing (33.57-44.55) Helen Clark: “This is my last chance to talk to you before you cast your vote tomorrow. Labour’s gone into this campaign full of optimism for New Zealand and its future. It is possible now to do all kinds of things that have just been dreams for many years. There has been the start of an economic recovery, that is terrific, but a lot of people have not seen much evidence of it in their daily lives. It is time for ordinary New Zealanders to have better living standards, good public health services, and affordable education. Our young people come into education full of hope. We owe it to them to honour their hopes, their aspirations. We are going to put more money into early childhood education. We’ll make sure there is adequate funding in primary and secondary schools. Parents shouldn’t have to drive their children across town to find a school with enough funding and decent facilities; they should be able to find that in every local school. Our secondary schools should be a beginning, not an end. I give a commitment that no young person under 20 will leave school to go on the dole. They’ll be leaving to take up a job, to start a training programme, or to go onto further education. Investing in education is investing in our future; we need to educate our children to their highest potential. But many young people are so afraid of the crippling debts a higher education brings, they miss their best opportunity. I was talking to a mother in the north the other day; her son had been accepted for a Polytechnic course, which assured him of a good future. He went down to Auckland ready to take on the world, but when the day came to sign up for the student loan he knew he just couldn’t face the debt that loomed in front of him. He turned around and went back home. What of his future now? Many of our students leave university with a debt higher than a lot of mortgages. Some of them, particularly the women, will still by paying off that debt when they are 50. That is scary enough when you are in the workforce, when you are just leaving school it is terrifying. In my day, fees were ten percent. It was affordable, and we thought it was fair. We’ll bring fees back to that level. Students will pay around $1000 a year in tertiary fees. We’ll peg a universal student allowance to the dole. It makes more sense to pay people to do something positive, than to do nothing. I take pride that the first Labour government gave us a social system that put the impossible within reach. I come from an ordinary hard-working family. Dad was a farmer all his life, mum was a school teacher. I’m the eldest of four sisters. We all went to a little four room country school; the sort which is out of favour these days. But it gave us a great start in life. The start that helped me be the first person ever in my extended family to go to university. I’m determined, that the young New Zealanders of the future will have the same opportunity as I had, regardless of who their parents are, regardless of how much money they have. That is their birth right in this country. So is a decent standard of living. Poverty is corrosive in New Zealand society; it affects all of us. It results in sickness, and anger and crime. It strips our people of dignity and hope. Did you know, the Methodist Mission in Auckland is providing almost three times as many meals to the hungry as it did in the Great Depression? Did you know that Income Support is having to send people to Food Banks? Did you know that many of the people going into these Food Banks actually have jobs? Jobs that pay them so little they can’t afford to feed their families. If we put money into housing, into healthcare, into education, if we give people a job and a decent basic wage, if we increase family support and pensions, we can win the war against poverty, we can lift people off the breadline. We are committed to all those things. Did you know there are sweatshops in New Zealand in the 1990s? Backyard factories paying people under the table less than the minimum wage. No sickness benefits, no holiday pay, no ACC, just cash in the hand that no-one can live on. Young people, women, immigrants are being exploited. I want to help them. So we are going to introduce new employment law to ensure that working people can bargain in good faith for better wages and conditions. We are going to make sure that unscrupulous employers don’t push disadvantaged people back into Victorian labour conditions by flouting those laws. You’ve told us health is one of your greatest concerns. I’ve heard horror stories of people whose surgery is so urgent they won’t survive the waiting lists. Some have spent their life savings on private surgery that should have been their’s by right under the public health system, only to find out their cancer was too advanced, their heart too damaged, for that surgery to save them. That is a double grief because that money that could have provided comfort in the time they had left and support for their families. If we can’t guarantee operations for people in urgent need, what hope is there for the rest of us. There are a lot of conditions that won’t kill you, but they’ll destroy your quality of life, your mobility, your independence. Why should you wait through years of pain and misery for an operation that takes a few hours to perform, a few days to recover from in hospital? Waiting times must come down. If you need an operation you should get it. We’ve got to put the heart back into health. Hospitals are there to serve, not make a profit. Let’s have patients again, not clients. Let’s have wards, not business units. Let’s stop thinking of old people as bed blockers, and make sure that hospital beds are available for those who need them, regardless of income, regardless of age. I’m distressed by the number of old people I meet who are being stripped of their assets, their security, and their dignity. People who have worked for 30 or 40 years to contribute to this country and have earned the right to our support and our respect. These are proud and independent people. They shouldn’t have to go to social welfare and beg. It is all very well to say you should save for your retirement, but many people can’t save. It is all they can do to survive. They’ve brought up their children in hard times, they may have dependent parents. If we don’t act now, they’ll end up in despair. An old lady came to see me recently. She had lived in her state home for 40 years. Her rent had gone up to $220 a week. That left her just $50 per week for food, telephone, electricity, medical bills and transport, everything. She said I can’t do it. And she shouldn’t have to. We have to bring down rentals for state housing. Twenty-five percent of income is affordable and fair for the superannuitant, the beneficiary, and the low income family. We’ll abolish the surcharge, and increase pensions in line with the cost of living. We’ve already introduced legislation to abolish asset testing. National has blocked it. But a Labour-led government can and will pass that legislation. With the baby boomers getting closer to retirement the cost of superannuation will soar next century. Years ago Walter Nash said lets pay 1/6 in the pound to fund our health and superannuation. It is a great idea, but no-one wants a 10% tax increase. So we are going to tax 8 cents in the dollar for the tax dollar you already pay and bank it separately and form a New Zealand Superannuation Fund that will build and grow. It’ll help today’s retired people, it will help those of us who are working now, it will help generations to come. It is affordable, it is sustainable, we can do it. We are committed to economic growth. This country mustn’t go back into debt. We have to keep the confidence of the business community, both here and overseas. We’ll work in partnership with business and unions, and earn that confidence. There won’t be any u-turns, we must keep investment coming in because investment means jobs and opportunities that will bring us prosperity. Prosperity means we can honour our promises to the citizens of New Zealand. And we will honour them. I know that some of you turned your backs on Labour a few years ago. Promises were broken and people were hurt. That won’t happen again; I give you my word. Labour is back on track. This is the party of Michael Joseph Savage for the late 1990s. The party for all New Zealanders. I believe in work for those who want it, security for those who can’t work, and public health and education systems we can all be proud of again. We are looking at a very different style of government in the coming years. We have to learn to talk to each other, to work together, to respect one another, and to find the common ground for the common good. That takes a different style of leadership as well. It requires new qualities of skills; the skill to wield together people whose agendas don’t always coincide. To recognise personal strengths and to be prepared to use them; regardless of party affiliation or personality. To negotiate, to mediate, to accommodate, and still keep the ship sailing in the right direction at a fair speed. It requires nerves of steel, a cool head and a warm heart. I believe I have those qualities, those skills. I think I’ve proved that. My colleagues, and even some of my opponents, believe I have them too. And I know I carry with me the hopes of many New Zealanders, both men and women, that the first country to give women the vote will soon have a woman Prime Minister. I pledge to you, that I will dedicate myself to your prosperity and your welfare, to ensuing that a Labour-led government works on your behalf for a stronger, more secure, more prosperous future. Tomorrow is election-day, and it is spring. The season of hope and rebirth. Let’s take that hope and go forward together to make this once again a country we can all be proud of.” Text: A message from the New Zealand Labour Party. Announcer: “If you believe health is about people not money, that education is a right not a privilege, and that families really do matter, if you believe in the dignity of old age, if you just feel it has all gone too far, so do we. Labour will doctor’s visits cheaper, put patients first and cut waiting times. Labour will invest in education at all levels. Labour will increase family support and help those most in need. Labour will abolish the surcharge on super and stop asset testing, and still keep firm control of the economy. And that is just part of it.” Text: Labour. New heart. New hope. New Zealand. National 1996 closing (44.55-1.00) Jim Bolger: “Good evening. This is the last time I will speak to you before you vote tomorrow. What you have is a stark choice, between two political directions. One direction ours, is based on a positive view of the future. The other relies largely on a rose-tinted view of the past. And it is up to you to decide which direction you want to take this country of ours. I want to talk to you tonight about the National government’s performance, the promises it offers for a better tomorrow, and the cost to New Zealand of the conflicting policies and ambitions of the Alliance, Labour and New Zealand First. For it will be impossible for the centre left to form a government without caving into the demands of the Alliance. It is a big decision for New Zealanders tomorrow. I’m not asking people to vote for me in this election. I’m asking them to vote for themselves. The great strength we have seen emerge in our economy, our confidence, our sense of identity, was not generated by the government, but by the efforts of individual New Zealanders. Yes, we provided a lead, but you carried it forward. What we are about is protecting what you have achieved: the freedoms you now enjoy and the future that promises you. Unfortunately, it is the way of modern media election coverage that you see only the leaders, and less than you should of the teams behind us. And that is a shame, because my team has achieved some stunning results for this country. That is not in dispute. We’ve all worked together in a coalition government. So it can work ,as long as the mix is right and the policies are compatible, and the egos don’t get in the way. Let’s look at what this team has achieved in terms of economic performance. The benefits that have flowed from that, and the promise that holds for the future. Without trying to say it is all rosie, that there are no poor, unemployed or sick, because that is patently not true. But it is true to say that on the whole this country is richer, healthier and happier than it has been for years. And there is every expectation that that growth path, upwards, will continue, at least you can be certain it will with National. The economy grew two and a half percent (Economic growth line graph) this year, and so long as present policies are maintained it will expand by 3.7% over the next year. And the economy is projected to grow by a further 13.5% over the next four years. That means more jobs and greater prosperity. However, the freedom to keep our prosperity can only be achieved by having a commitment to low tax policies.” Woman: “If any of the other parties get in I’d get taxed heavier, so I’m not terribly happy about that. So I’d rather National stayed in, thanks.” Bolger: “We cut your taxes this year, and if we return to government, after tomorrow, we’ll cut them again. That is not a glib campaign promise; that is something we committed to over a year ago. And it provides a stark contrast with the left-wing parties. Because each and every one of them, by themselves and collectively, want to tax you more. Here is just one example. If you earn $35,000 per year, the Alliance has plans to tax you an extra $76 per week. New Zealand First, with its compulsory 8% superannuation levy, would take $92 a week. Man: “They’ll hike up tax rates so high we’ll get back to a black market economy, and people will start trying to avoid paying tax.” Bolger: “Vote for a coalition led by Labour, and make no mistake, it is going to cost you. None of us like being in debt, as a country we don’t like it much either. That is why the National government has worked so hard to remove the debt which has burdened this country for so long. Net public debt was 52% of all this country earned (Net public debt to GDP graph) when National took over from Labour six years ago. It will be just half that next year, and almost half that again by the turn of the century. And we completely paid off the foreign currency component of that debt two weeks ago. Tonight the country is completely free of net foreign currency debt, owed by you the taxpayer. It is only the second time this has been achieved since 1857. But why should you be impressed by that? Because we’ve paid off so much debt, foreign and otherwise, the savings that we’ll make on interest payments, over the next four years alone, will total $1.8 billion. That is money we will have available to spend on further improving our education, health and social services. If present policies continue operating (Graph: Government surplus, 1996-2000) surpluses will reach $6.4 billion by the end of the century. Again, that is real money for spending where it is most needed in the community. All this will be jeopardised if you vote in a left-wing coalition tomorrow. It won’t necessarily happen in a week, or even a month, but it will happen. Because of the policies they plan on following, and the compromises they must make to form a government. You must ask yourself, if you truly believe they will ever be united behind any policy, let alone a cooperative strategy for running this country’s economy. Anything less than total unity will lead down an inevitable road. In short order, you will see rising inflation, and that will affect you. Your mortgage is going to go up, and the value of your savings is going to go down. Man: “I’d hate to see New Zealand go backwards. I know you’ve heard this before but it is a fact.” Bolger: “But it doesn’t have to be like that. If you elect a National led government tomorrow, we’ll stay with the proven policies that have given New Zealand such remarkable economic strength.” Man: “I’d rather see National get back into power because I believe that interest rates are going to settle, mortgage rates are going to come down.” Bolger: “Let’s look at what that will mean in terms of education and health. If you want to see the future, you need only take a look in the classroom. In the past six years we’ve increased the amount spent on early childhood education by 75%. As a result, more than 90% of three and four year olds are now getting a real head start in life. The next task, is to see that all these youngsters move into the highest quality school system we can possibly provide. To ensure this happens we’ve employed over 1,000 new teachers, and over the next few years we will have to employ over 5,000 more. And we will do it.” Bolger to children: “Had a lot of fun? That is good, that is the important thing, have a bit of fun. Learn a bit on the way. And enjoy life. But it is very good. I just wanted to say, well done, congratulations.” Bolger: “More New Zealanders are now involved in education than at any other time in our nation’s history. And numbers will rapidly increase. In total, 50 new schools and 5,000 extra classrooms will be built over the next decade. And we have set in motion the biggest building programme since the post-war baby boom. It is going to cost this country more than $2.5 billion on top of the $30 million we are now spending every school day. I know education costs a lot of money. But then so too does ignorance. This spending will not end there of course. This year we will spend $5.6 billion on healthcare, up $1 billion since we came to office. And we will spend $11 billion on social welfare and retirement support. Those figures are huge. And that is why we place such an emphasis on the economy. Because if we don’t, we’ll never be able to provide for that future. Under a National led government, you can have the confidence that we will generate the money that we must have to secure this future. There is no way around the fact that this country, and this country alone, has to earn the money to pay the bills. After five weeks campaigning, I’ve been left with the clear impression that the Alliance, Labour and New Zealand First all have grand plans on how to spend money, but none of them have plans on how to earn it. And what really worries me, and it ought to worry you, is that they are so ready to toss out one of the essential platforms for growth. I’m talking about the Employment Contracts Act. Since 1992 (Employment Growth graph) unemployment has dropped from 10.9% to just over 6%. That is because 209,000 new jobs have been created in just the last four years. That has happened because the Employment Contracts Act has provided the incentive and the ability for the economy to create that work. Yet the left-wing coalition wants to get rid of it. What for?” Strike footage from the 1970s. Bolger: “That is an ugly way of doing business, isn’t it? I, and I’m sure most New Zealanders, thought we’d got rid of that adversarial way of resolving issues. Raw union muscle never created jobs in the past, and it won’t in the future. So why are the other parties so keen to bring union power back into a controlling role in the New Zealand economy? When that sort of system failed us, so miserably in the past. This generation of New Zealanders has a rendezvous with history on October the 12th. We will choose between low taxes or high taxes. Between low interest rates or high interest rates. Between freedom in the workplace or returning to union domination. Between investment and jobs or high unemployment. Between a united society or a divided one. Between going forward or returning to a failed past. Between a freer society and one in which there is more big government making your decisions for you. Because it really is an issue of freedom: yours. We in the National Party are committed to the freedom from excessive tax, the freedom to achieve the kiwi dream of buying your own home; that obviously requires affordable mortgages and low interest rates. The freedom to operate private businesses without excessive government regulations, red tape or union domination. The freedom to have a job in a growing economy, and here we are succeeding far better than most. The freedom for workers, individual workers, to make their own decisions on union membership and union representation. To retain their right to have a job without union control. The freedom to resolve issues that flow from the Treaty of Waitangi in a manner that is fair; fair to all New Zealanders Maori and non-Maori alike, and which are affordable and lasting. The freedom from debt, for a country once burdened with debt, that becomes an exciting freedom for New Zealanders of our generation, and the most important freedom is the knowledge that the state will provide a safety net when needed, throughout the life of every New Zealander. It is not overstating the case to say that these freedoms are on the line tomorrow. We will either keep going forward, or we will turn back. I’m tremendously proud to head a government which believes in New Zealanders, which has been prepared to set the framework within which New Zealanders can chart their own course, build their own success, and prepare our country for the year 2000 and beyond. Man: “I haven’t liked everything the National government has done, but the stability message is important I think to everybody. And I think a lot of people are going to vote with that.” Bolger: “So tomorrow you choose. Whether we stay with the path which has made this possible. Stay with the experience of a team which has already made MMP work. Stay with the only party which will have the unity and strength to form a stable government. Or return to a group of parties with little in common, and promising to bring back policies which have failed us before. All I ask is that you back your fellow New Zealanders. Back the opportunities for our children to benefit from the work we have begun. We have achieved so much in these last few years. This is no time to turn back.” National female MP: “The issue for this election is trust. Whether the people who are putting their names forward are people who you can rely on to do sensible things. Georgina Te Heu Heu: “A strong economy underpins everything that we think we want to do.” Indian man: “National has delivered over the last six years.” Doug Graham: “I wouldn’t say we’ve done everything 100%, but I would say New Zealand is now a better place than it has been for 30 years. And I certainly don’t want to see that lost.” Bolger: “I ultimately trust, I trust New Zealanders, I trust that they will vote wisely, and therefore we won’t go back, we will go forward.” Text: First Tick, National. Bolger: The decade of the 1990s, with a National led government, will be the golden decade of the twentieth century. We can have a vibrant economy that will blaze a trail others will seek to follow. You can have a healthcare system that is as good as, if not better, than any in the world. You can have a quality education system that is the envy of other nations. You can have an environment that is not only the finest in the world, but one that will stay that way. You can have all these things and more, all these things and more, provided you on October the 12th, first tick National. Thank you very much, god bless you.” Text: First Tick, National.