Heather Roy Speech to Regional Conference
act-new-zealand
Sun Mar 18 2007 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
Heather Roy Speech to Regional Conference
Sunday, 18 March 2007, 2:46 pm
Speech: ACT New Zealand
Marching Forward
Heather Roy
Saturday, 17 March 2007
Speeches - Other
Speech to Upper South Regional Conference, Scenic Circle Cotswold Hotel,
Christchurch, Saturday 17 March 2007.
We meet here today at a time when ACT has never been more relevant to the
future of our country.
In today's competitive and globalising world New Zealand's place is not
assured. Through the decline in our world standing over the past decades,
we can no longer afford to stand idly by.
We have become victims of fate, rather than pro-active creators of our own
future. Successive governments have failed to set goals for our country.
Worse still successive governments have failed to be accountable for their
failure.
That has to change.
In a speech along similar lines, Peter Shirtcliffe, that great business
leader and inspiration for ACT, made the telling point that:
"What gets measured gets done."
Peter told us then, and it's as relevant today, any enterprise moves
forward because of its goals. Goals keep us together and heading in the
same direction. Without goals we settle for the status quo. They set a
context for addressing all the vexing questions that arise once we begin
to take action.
Questions like - Where do I start? When do I know I'm done? What do I do
next?
Our primary goal must be establishing world-class living standards for all
New Zealanders. Standards that are judged by:
* The income in our pockets;
* The quality of education, health and welfare services available to us;
* The quality and availability of our infrastructure and public
amenities;
Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
To get us there we need ideas that made economic sense. New Zealand's
geographical isolation and our lack of mineral wealth mean we have to
'work smart' on the international stage. We don't have the luxury of
sloppy thinking.
Good government must make a commitment to ensuring economic growth to
reach and hold that desired standard of living.
Sadly, no such goals have been set and with an annual growth rate of 1.4
percent when the OECD average is 2.9 percent our economy is at best
performing poorly, at worst, a dismal failure.
Imagine if we had focused on achieving a growth rate of, say, 5 percent
and then actually achieved it?
Our per capita income would have soared and the government would have had
extra revenue for increased spending on health and education while at the
same time lowering tax rates and repaying debt.
Then we would have seen:
* Highly-qualified people coming to New Zealand, rather than leaving
* Greater opportunities for the disadvantaged
* Better education
* Less crime
* Less welfare dependency
* Better health care
Governments have failed in each and every one of these categories through
a failure to set goals and then be accountable for making sure they are
achieved.
The time has come to make New Zealand's politicians and bureaucrats fully
accountable.
Right now the chances of the current government taking responsibility for
anything are slim to say the least. Witness the recent trial for rape of
Assistant Commissioner Clint Rickards.
Let's not discuss the not-guilty verdict - that's not my point. But this
was no ordinary case as Rickards, one of three accused, was in contention
for the top job until the accusation of rape by Louise Nicholas.
The Prime Minister copped some criticism for questioning whether there
could have been genuine consent when three police officers took it in turn
to have sex with a vulnerable teenager. The fact is she was speaking for
the vast majority of women in this country - myself included, when she
made those observations - and for a substantial number of men as well.
So far so good, but why did she stop there? Asked about Mr Rickards' four
promotions, after the police became aware of these horrific claims against
him, Miss Clark satisfied herself with a throwaway headline: "The mind
boggles."
It sure does. So what about some accountability? Some Ministerial
accountability? Well, the Minister that presided over, and presumably
ticked off these endless promotions, has long since moved on to fresh
pastures. But, we can say with some certainty - that had he still been
around, there would have been no accountability, no resignation and
certainly no sacking.
To be so emphatic on this score we need look no further than the blatant
whitewash that has been the Graeme Burton affair. Burton, convicted of
murder, was released by the Parole Board despite a psychologist's report
saying that he was still dangerous and going on to give an account of
offending within the prison. The Parole Board decided in their wisdom to
disallow the psychologist's evidence.
Burton, was let out of prison by an inept parole board, and then left to
go about his business of hanging out with gangsters; drug taking; and
collecting an arsenal of weaponry, while the woeful Corrections Department
wrote him letters and frustrated all attempts by the police to have him
locked up. The price for this has been paid for with the life of an
innocent man and goodness knows how many more lives changed forever.
The simple truth is that Parole conditions are not being enforced up and
down the country. Widespread failure is the responsibility of this
government.
Helen Clark, last week waded in yet again, criticising Corrections and the
Parole Board but not a word about her Minister of Corrections, Damien
O'Connor. He actually went on television to say he took responsibility
for ensuring something like this didn't happen again.
Excuse me, but if he can take responsibility for that, how about taking
responsibility for the fact it happened in the first place?
As I say, not likely!
Labour has got "covering its own back" down to a fine art.
That's why Rodney and I are so hot on accountability and that should start
right at the top, with the Ministers. There was a time when Ministers fell
on their swords, in the Westminster tradition, when their departments
displayed such appalling ineptitude. Remember Cave Creek?
And what bigger botch-up can there be than to let a "thug", like Burton,
out to kill at will?
I believe in accountability. Now all we need is for enough people to
agree that accountability at the highest level makes sense and we will be
able to do something about it. I long for the day.
And such accountability should begin with setting goals and end with
achieving them.
The lack of goals must become a major national issue. New Zealanders need
to understand that our economic performance over the past decades has not
been anywhere near good enough. We currently occupy 22nd place out of 30
in the OECD when you consider GDP per capita - slipped from 3rd place
through most of the 1950s and 60s. All the talk by Helen Clark about the
top half of the OECD is irrelevant and unattainable when she sets no goals
at all.
There is but a single economic goal - a low inflation rate.
That's all very well but what we don't have is a standard of living goal.
That lack of vision is one of the reasons we find ourselves floundering.
Economic growth must become an explicit part of the national contract -
with clearly established goals government is then expected to honour in
return for our hard earned tax money.
And government must be accountable to the people for ensuring such a goal
is reached.
Imagine if our Prime Minister and Treasurer had to front up and be
accountable for achieving or missing an explicit Standard of Living goal.
You can be sure that every policy decision would be judged on its actual
impact on the economy, rather than for its potential for short-term
political advantage. Education, for example, would be treated as a key
input to the economy rather than as the plaything of the politically
correct.
Well run businesses set explicit goals for managers, and require them to
be met. I don't see why the shareholders of New Zealand Inc should be
expected to settle for less from our public policy managers.
In New Zealand most public discussion has been crippled by an obsession
with the division of wealth ahead of the creation of wealth.
The reality is that most politicians are scared to commit to any goal for
economic growth, even one as modest as 5 percent per year. They would
hesitate to commit to a real target for which they could be held
accountable. They would see all of the political obstacles in the way -
all the special interests who want to protect their own patch. They would
understand that policies and priorities would need to change. In short,
most politicians would see commitment to such a goal as heroic for the
country but bordering on the suicidal for them personally.
But, without such a commitment, without such challenging goals, without
such accountability, New Zealand will continue to slide down the economic
performance rankings.
We can do it. We are a nation of smart people with significant
intellectual capital, a tremendous natural environment and a heritage
studded with innovation and competitive success.
All we need is leaders with the bottle to set a specific, unambiguous
long-term goal and the courage to achieve.
And what example are we currently set?
Taito Philip Field. Need I say more?
A Government in denial until public outrage finally won the day.
Every act geared to self-survival and winning yet another term.
Has the government given any thought to what New Zealand will look like in
ten years time? Twenty years? Fifty years?
I have. I want New Zealand to be a country where my children see a
future. Like me, I expect they will want to travel, but like me I want
them to at least have the choice of coming home permanently because New
Zealand is a great place to live and work, a great place to bring up their
children. I want New Zealand to be a land of opportunity for them.
Has the Clark regime given any thought to the role of government? No, all
they think about is keeping their own jobs after the next election and
providing public sector jobs for their cronies.
The Clark regime is utterly focussed on keeping as many people as possible
dependent on the state for their income - 'Working for Families' is
actually 'Working to keep Labour in power'.
The Clark regime wants to tell people how to run their lives, raise their
families, and run their businesses. There is no better example than the
current furore over the anti-smacking bill.
This bill which will not save one child from abuse, one child from
suffering like the Kahui twins did. It is a feel good piece of lawmaking
intended to salve the consciences of MPs who think they should be doing
something to confront domestic violence but don't know where to start.
What it will achieve is turning good and loving parents into lawbreakers
when they use a light smack to discipline their children. Another example
of a PC government intruding into the lives of families who are doing a
good job of raising their children.
ACT believes in putting its trust in the people, in the knowledge they
make the best decisions for themselves and their families.
I've given plenty of thought to the role of government.
The core role of government is to provide for the safety and security of
its citizens. No more, no less.
That's why ACT believes in less government and total accountability from
our elected leaders.
We serve no useful purpose by looking back. We will only prosper if we
look to the future and I know ACT has the ideas to take our country
forwards.
Labour is stuck in the present. The National Party, engaged in a battle
to the death with Labour over the middle ground wants to retreat to the
past. ACT - to borrow the words of Bill Clinton - is determined to build
a bridge to the future.
Many of ACT's ideas have now been adopted by all and sundry - time limits
on Treaty claims, Zero Tolerance for Crime, Tax Cuts. But as we move
further into the 21st century we must look forward and embrace new ideas
that make economic sense.
I for one believe that prisoners should only be eligible for parole once
they have bettered themselves - studied, sat and passed exams. Fact, our
prisons are not full of educated people. They are full of ill-educated,
mostly repeat offenders. Educate them and they are less likely to offend.
That makes economic sense.
The Clark government has poured an extra $3.5 billion into the health pot
with precious little to show for it.
Time for some honesty. Time for some accountability. Time to tell the
people the truth. Time to honestly state just what health care people can
expect to receive and then be accountable for delivering it.
Yet all we get from Prime Minister Clark is denial. Confronted by
evidence that eighty thousand Kiwi kids go to school hungry each day, she
went into denial.
Countless thousands of Kiwis are waiting for lifesaving and life changing
treatment.
Her solution. Simple. Deny it.
Don't smack the children but by all means let them starve.
Denial after denial because the solution, the obvious solution, would be
the ultimate denial of the crazy ideology that drives this government.
Denial that the answer lays in creating a truly fair society.
A society with an accountable government. A society where people can
depend on the government to create an environment in which they can all
prosper.
Labour, awash with cash did not return the money to the people and
businesses that created it in the first place. No, they didn't want to
see a nation set free from the chains of excessive taxation.
No, rather than setting people free they turned them into beneficiaries.
Rather than tax cuts they doled out benefits making more families
dependant on government for part of their income.
The Prime Minister knows the answer is to repair the infrastructure, the
education system the health service and the people will take care of the
rest.
But no, lock as many people as possible into a lifetime of dependence on
the state, on the government, on Labour.
We desperately need a government that will put in place the building
blocks on which our people can flourish.
A government that encourages success.
A government that recognises its duty is to lead and to inspire.
A government that will not deny them.
A government that will be forever accountable.
A government with ACT at its core.
That's what we must set out to achieve.
ENDS
Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
a.supporter:hover {background:#EC4438!important;} @media screen and (max-width: 480px) { #byline-block div.byline-block {padding-right:16px;}}
Using Scoop for work?
Scoop is free for personal use, but you’ll need a licence for work use. This is part of our Ethical Paywall and how we fund Scoop. Join today with plans starting from less than $3 per week, plus gain access to exclusive Pro features.
Join Pro Individual Find out more
Find more from ACT New Zealand on InfoPages.