1999 Labour Closing Helen Clark: “Good evening. At tomorrow’s election you’ve got a choice to make. It’s not just a choice between Labour and National, it’s a choice between two very different futures for New Zealand. Let me tell you about the New Zealand I want. I see a nation where education is a right not a privilege. Where achievement is recognised and rewarded, where retirement’s a pleasure, where people, all people, are valued. If that’s what you want as well, then you can do something about it tomorrow. Give Labour your party vote, and we’ll make an immediate start on giving you the country you want, the country you deserve. We’ll start by getting rid of the party hoppers. Leave your party as an MP and you’ll leave the parliament. There’ll be no more opportunists without a mandate holding the country to ransom. And we’re not going to wait around for a referendum, you’ve already spoken on this one. We want integrity back in government and the public service. The waste of public money has to stop; every taxpayer’s dollar must be accounted for, every dollar will be well spent on the people of New Zealand. From next year, with Labour, full-time and low-income students won’t pay interest on their loans while they’re studying. We’re going to fund New Zealand superannnuation properly, and on the first of April 2000 we’ll reverse last year’s superannuation cuts. We’ll reduce the waiting times for surgery. Our public health system will focus on people not on profits. We’ll create jobs by promoting New Zealand industries and supporting exporters and small businesses. We’ll make sure that low-income tenants in state housing pay no more than 25% of their income in rent if they can’t afford any more. We’ll back our police force, so we can feel safe in our homes and on our streets. We’ll build a dynamic trading economy, producing goods of higher value, creating more wealth, leading to a higher standard of living for everyone. We’ll build a country that’s better for ordinary working families, better for businesses large and small. There’ll be no increase in GST or company tax. And, if you’re one of the 95% of New Zealanders earning less than $60,000 a year, you won’t pay a single extra cent of personal income tax. What’s more, the extra 6 cents in the dollar only kicks in above that $60,000. It’s a small amount per person but added all together it helps a lot. We can start rebuilding our health system. We can invest in education. We can set in train a secure future for ourselves and for our children. We’ve costed it, and it is affordable. We can’t change the world overnight, but we can do it. And we will. Everyone’s telling me it’s time for a change. Labour’s offering you a fairer more caring society. We want to take the pressure off you and your family, so life is more than just the daily grind, so you’ll have time to enjoy the things that make our country so special, our sports, our environment, our arts and culture. But we can’t do this unless we’re the government. That’s the choice you have to make. If you want a better economy, a better society, a better country, come out tomorrow and vote for Labour. We need your party vote. That’s the one that decides who is the government. In the end it’s only the party vote that counts. My appeal to you is this. Come across to Labour now with your party vote and give us the strength we need in the next government to build a better New Zealand. Labour can make a difference. We will make a difference. We’ll make New Zealand a better place to live. That’s my promise to you and I intend to see it through.” 1999 National Closing Jenny Shipley: “Others have offered seven promises on a credit card. I want to talk to you about the seven things I hope you’ll think about when you go to vote tomorrow. Text: Change The first is the issue of change. I believe New Zealanders want stability, not more change. We’ve got a stable and growing economy, more jobs and a health system that’s really settling down and making good progress, so let’s not go back. The second issue is how we actually get more jobs and growth for New Zealanders. Text: More Jobs and Growth Without a high performing-economy no political party will have the money to provide better health, education and police services. National has, and will deliver for you. Text: Taxes The third is taxes. Lower taxes are a way of rewarding New Zealanders for their hard work. Lower taxes help us keep our best people from seeking a life overseas and other countries. Lower taxes leave money in the hands of those who’ve earned it, and they then invest in small businesses which helps create economic growth and jobs. Text: Strikes The fourth is the issue of strikes. You know there was a time not too long ago when many New Zealanders felt they were held to ransom by union strikes. Remember those Christmas strikes on the Cook Strait ferries? National’s employment law has stopped that nonsense. Strike action is actually down by a staggering 88% since 1990. So let’s not go back to those bad old days. Text: Stability The fifth issue is stability in government. New Zealand simply must have stable government. We’re small but we’re successful and stable and predictable government is what’s required. National does have a record in this area, others do not. Text: Future The sixth thing I want you to think about is whether we’re on the right track as New Zealand. We are, but we can do better and we intend to. Some seem to think that you can solve every problem by spending more of your money through raising taxes. It’s not true. Raising taxes will lose jobs, not create them. Lower taxes, on the other hand, will see savings being invested in enterprises that go on and create new work. And then of course more New Zealanders are able to get full-time jobs and join the growing number of taxpayers not tax takers. And, of course then, we succeed together. We have more to share on those things that we care about. Text: Economy The seventh and final issue is how are we are doing as New Zealanders. Well despite those who talk New Zealand down, we’re doing well. For the next two years it looks like we’ll have over 4% economic growth. Wages are forecast to rise above inflation, and unemployment is down, down from nearly 11% in ‘91 to under 6.5% by the year 2001. These are facts, not just blatant electioneering. So as you go to vote, think about your family and your future. If you want prosperity and security for yourselves and for other New Zealanders, give National your party vote tomorrow. Text: Give National your party vote. 1999 New Zealand First Closing Winston Peters: “On Saturday you’ll make a crucial decision. Not easy after all the confusing political messages and vague promises of the past few weeks. To help make this decision examine the record of the politicians. When last in government did they do anything? Talk’s cheap, it’s by their deeds you’ll know them.” Text: We delivered: Free medical care for under sixes. 30,000 extra hospital operations p.a. Established a heart unit in Christchurch. Saved Templeton Hospital. Free ‘flu vaccines for the elderly. Introduced Hepatitis B screening. Removed profit motive from public hospitals. 500 extra police fighting crime. Scrapped super surcharge. Full war pensions for nuclear test victims. 20% increase in education budget. Extensive school building programme. Stopped loss of holidays. Increased minimum wage. Pay parity for primary teachers. Lowered interest and exchange rates. Increased early childhood grants. Out of school care programmes. No to a third frigate. “They all tell you that they have the answers, but they’ve not said what they will do together in a coalition. No public agreement, just soothing noises and a false sense of security. In coalition New Zealand First delivered more benefits for New Zealanders than any other party in my lifetime. We all saw that other parties didn’t want to share power. That’s why it’s time to move politics from the secret rooms of the Beehive out into the open. I’ve been listening to your concerns. You want an end to the nonsense that happens in politics. You tell me you want politics cleaned up. New Zealanders don’t want the tyranny of one-party domination ever again. Remember when Labour last had power, they promised us three years of pain and then we’d have all the gain. Fifteen years later for too many of us there have been no gains. So if there is to be a good government in the future parliament needs to stop extremist plans, support good ideas that create real jobs, that increases pensions and above all improves public health and education. Labour is asking you to give them a blank cheque for the next three years. Remember last time you did that, gave Labour a blank cheque? We lost our assets, our airline, our banks, our railways, our land and our forests. We don’t want an angry divided people, self-interest above the common good, we don’t want taxes up to 66c in the dollar. If you vote wisely, you can be certain that we’ll keep them honest. You know, when every political party’s attacking one party and its leader, that one party and its leader must be doing a whole lot right. New Zealand First is committed to New Zealand values, to running and owning our own country ourselves. That won’t happen with high taxes that drive our successful and bright young people overseas. We need a change in government policy, and we’ll vote on each issue depending on whether it’s good for New Zealand. The other day a young person said to me – government is like a car, it needs an accelerator and a brake. Without one it’s either useless or dangerous. We’ll apply the brake on bad policy, and we’ll give added support for good policy. That’s why I’m asking you to vote New Zealand First on your party vote. Text: New Zealand First: Keeping them honest. 1999 ACT Closing Night Richard Prebble: “This election ACT has campaigned for your party vote. To deliver positive change and to secure a productive economy, and real jobs for the future. ACT’s vision is to make New Zealand prosperous again. To make us competitive but compassionate. To give us spirit, and to make this a country where one law for all means freedom and tolerance.” V/O: ACT has fresh ideas to tackle old problems. Fair, full and final treaty settlements to end the grievance industry but ensure honest and generous compensation for legitimate claims. It’s time to cut red tape and excess bureaucracy. We must deliver significant tax cuts to create 80,000 new jobs, a low flat tax, without having to cut the current level of government spending, or raising taxes for those least able to afford it. Let’s return welfare to what it should be, a hand up and not a hand-out. Let’s have the world’s best standards of education in reading and writing by putting choice into our schools, and access to quality health care for all. It’s time to do things differently, to do them better, and do them fairer. And a party vote for ACT is the key.” Richard Prebble: “According to the polls, this election’s still wide open. If you want positive change, give your party vote to ACT. If ACT gets enough party votes then we can see a centre-right government with a mandate for positive change. If the left has enough votes for a Labour/Alliance/Green coalition, then a vote for ACT will ensure that in parliament there is a strong and effective opposition. ACT MPs have the talent, the energy and the will to fight tax increases, out of control government spending, and the threat of separate Māori laws, even a separate Māori parliament.” Text: Positive Change “A party vote for ACT is a party vote for positive change.” V/O: ACT, the party vote for positive change. Text: Act New Zealand. The Party Vote for Positive Change. 1999 Greens Closing Text: What does her future hold? Jeanette Fitzsimons: “New Zealand needs a fresh vision, a vision we can all share, which puts people and nature first.” Text: Protect the earth. Clean air. “The Green party looks beyond tomorrow. Because we know the work we do has to last for generations. We will protect our forests and our oceans and pass on our natural heritage in a better state than we received it.” Text: Make your party vote last for generations. Go Green. Text: Safe food. GE free. Better environment. Better economy Ian Ewen-Street: “The Green commitment to organics offers a safer, healthier and more prosperous future. By moving New Zealand to organics we can give substance to our clean green image, gain an edge in world markets and create jobs in local communities.” Jeanette Fitzsimons: “We’ll make it easier for people to get to where they’re going with light rail, faster bus lanes, better walkways and cycle paths.” Text: Better transport. Safer streets. Happier, healthier communities. Text: Make your party vote last for generations. Go Green. Nandor Tanczos: “Real justice is about people. We need to put victims first, make offenders face up to what they’ve done.” Text: Less crime. Safer communities. Sue Bradford: “This cuts down costs in social spending and makes for a happier safer society.” Rod Donald: “We don’t have to sacrifice people to fix the economy.” With green policies we can have both.” Text: Strong economy. Strong communities. Jeanette Fitzsimons: “Remember, your party vote could make a difference for generations to come. Nandor Tanczos: “So put a tick in the circle next to the Green party and go Green with your party vote.” Text: Make your party vote last for generations. Go Green. 1999 United Closing Michael Cullen’s voice: “We are tired, Sir, of Tory lies.” Speaker’s voice (Kidd): “Order, Dr Cullen, resume your, resume your seat.” Peter Dunne: “Sad isn’t it, parliament has degenerated into that. Here we are, about to face the challenges of the new millennium, with our parliamentary sessions resembling an out of control side-show. It has become a trivialised play-pen where the show ponies vie to make the 6 o’clock news rather than deal with the real issues facing us all. It’s time to get real. It’s time to demand a parliament we can all be proud of, and a government that can get things done instead of becoming bogged down in mindless debate. We need a government built on some good old kiwi common sense. Make no mistake, it will be a small party which holds the critical balance in the next government, the one you’re about to elect. Remember, under MMP the little guy has the power to keep the big guys honest and keep the government on track with the power of the deciding vote. So who do you want that little guy to be? More endless disruption with the likes of Winston Peters, Tau Henare and Alamein Kopu holding government to ransom. Or would you prefer the level-headed common sense of New Zealand’s only true centre party United New Zealand. Worth thinking about isn’t it? The polls predict that United will hold the Ohariu Belmont seat so a party vote for United would not be wasted. Make no mistake. Make your party vote a United party vote. Text: Make our party vote a United Party vote.