Speech: Peters - Tauranga Public Meeting
new-zealand-first-party
Sat Oct 15 2011 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)
Speech: Peters - Tauranga Public Meeting
Saturday, 15 October 2011, 11:29 am
Speech: New Zealand First Party
EMBARGOED AGAINST DELIVERY
Rt. Hon Winston Peters
Leader NZ First
Address: Public Meeting
Date: October 15 2011
Time: 11am
Venue: Baycourt
Durham St
Tauranga
From a speech given by Rt Hon Winston Peters to a public meeting at Baycourt Tauranga 11am Saturday 15 October 2011
Needed – Some Leadership!
To ensure there is no room for misinterpretation, this venue and meeting was confirmed months ago.
In a few weeks you will be electing a new government to carry New Zealand through another three uncertain years.
Leadership is a serious business and it involves making some tough calls with a good measure of judgment.
One of the critical issues is timing. What to do and when to do it, then the explanation of why.
Leaders of a country have responsibilities to all their citizens and they have to tell it “like it is”.
Over the past few weeks we have seen the results of hesitation and inexperience.
When the situation is a stage managed photo opportunity everything has been fine.
But when the crunch comes we see dithering, fumbling and indecision.
Last week, as we all know, a large container ship hit the Astrolabe reef off the coast here. That in itself was a disaster but there were a number of circumstances that should have helped, not hindered, an appropriate response.
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1. It happened close to a major port
2. Nearby was a large population
3. It was known there was a large quantity of fuel with particular characteristics on board. It was known that to pump it off it had to be pre heated, a process taking about 24 hours
4. It was known that there was toxic cargo in some containers on board
5. The event occurred in a tranquil sea, or maritime conditions ideal for a response over the next four days
The ship did not run aground. It ran a reef at considerable speed, which meant it’s hull would be torn open
For four days we either observed, here or on nationwide TV, the doomed ship sitting there in calm waters while authorities and cabinet ministers left it to the companies to sort things out.
We had a window of opportunity before the weather would become a serious impediment.
In the case of the M.V.Rena, speed was essential.
For many years shippers have been paying fees to cover such an event.
It was not a disaster waiting to happen – it had already happened.
And then the weather turned sour.
Spring is always unpredictable on the New Zealand coastline as is the weather in the Bay of Plenty during October.
Every effort should have been made from sunrise that Wednesday morning to take the oil and diesel off the boat and, if possible, any dangerous cargo.
That did not happen.
Many voices were raised (including ours) appealing for leadership and action.
We did not see it.
There was an army of volunteers ready – there were offers of help from all quarters and yet what then happened was all too little too late.
In a crisis, crisis measures are called for.
This ship was operating under a ‘wet charter’ which means the owners of the ship provided the captain and the crew. The owners are responsible for any captain or crew failures.
But sorting out who was responsible was not the number one issue. Minimising risk after the disaster, was.
Why were precious hours and days wasted whilst the owners, charterers and insurance companies scrambled around trying to determine who was responsible? The nature of the charter, and who would be responsible, was known before sun up on that fateful morning. As was the need, not to rely on the owners to deal with this matter, but for the government to step in immediately and show some leadership.
Yet on day eight the owners apologised. On day eight we learnt it was a ‘wet charter’, (a captain and crew under the authority of the owner, and therefore the owner’s responsibility.) It might sound complicated but it’s not. Who was responsible alongside the captain and the crew was in question for days. But why did it take eight days to work that out?
In the immediate hours after the disaster it mattered not to the people of the Bay of Plenty who was responsible, what mattered was a sense of urgency and action by those in authority to mitigate the likely result.
The company has apologised . What comfort is that to you who live here?
New Zealand is a maritime nation.
We always have been. We have produced some great master mariners over the decades.
In 1993 -94 a Transport Law Reform Bill was introduced and passed by the then National Government. It dealt with maritime transport. The government was warned that these catastrophes were inevitable if they disregarded safety issues. That government ignored all cautions.
You cannot simply have blind faith in the competence, reliability and safety of an international shipping company, with ships operating under flags of convenience whose vessels are crewed in what we would regard as slave like conditions.
On Wednesday last week where was our team of seafarers and salvage experts? We do have many. Where was the equipment to respond to these emergencies? We do have many there. Where was our Navy? The RNZN Endeavour didn’t arrive until days later. Why? Would it not start? You are entitled to know the reason for the delay. That is a story in itself so why haven’t you heard it.
It’s our coastline and those entrusted with leadership of the country have a duty to protect it. But for days there was no Prime Minister, no Minister of Transport, no Minister for the Environment. Just repeated statements from officials and so called spokespersons that the shippers and salvors were handling it. Perhaps we should have put a TV camera onboard the ship to get the Prime Minister there earlier.
Ironically the M.V. Rena catastrophe is a perfect metaphor for John Key and his government – the enormous damage and cost that ensues from not heeding risk. Remove mining inspection requirements as National did, and you get Pike River. Throw out sound building rules as National did and you get thousands of rotten homes.
And in slower time another catastrophe is hitting the Bay of Plenty – the PSA damage to the Kiwifruit industry – again the consequence of gross under estimation of risk and ineffective biosecurity.
This region is not getting a fair go any more. The Prime Minister and government is obsessed with the Rugby World Cup. Instant action there. No action here.
And whilst we’re at it how come a major population centre Tauranga, far exceeding Rotorua (3), New Plymouth (3), Napier (2), Whangarei (2). Palmerston North (2), Nelson (3), and Invercargill (3) did not get even one RWC game?
The above cities got 18 games in all. The fastest growing population in New Zealand did not get one. That’s what happens when you lose influence.
We have also been told in recent weeks that the credit rating of our country has been downgraded by two international ratings agencies.
For nearly three years now there has been a steady stream of spin about the financial geniuses among the country’s leadership.
When news of the latest downgrade broke John Key said the agency would be more harsh should someone else be in power. When you get home Google the TV 3 news of coverage of this. Mr. Key simply lied.
When the credit agency pointed out that Mr. Key wasn’t telling the truth he blamed an email from a friendly spy at the Credit Rating meeting. This also was duplicititous.
Then he blamed the Labour Party for a poor individual trying to jump into the debating chamber.
We know the Labour Party is keen to get more people in Parliament but they don’t usually organize it this way.
It’s easy to play the blame game.
But sometimes someone, somewhere has to stand up and say the buck stops here.
As mentioned for the past few weeks there has been a Rugby World Cup in this country.
The opening went off with a hiss and a roar.
The hissing came from all the people stranded by the rail transport system in the Super City created by that confused and tortured genius Rodney Hide.
The roar came from the Beehive as the government – in the shape of John Key and Murray McCully - blamed the Super City.
John and Murray are really doing their bit at the world cup.
Somehow they manage to get into every photo and camera shot of the All Blacks.
We were surprised that Graham Henry did not include them in the squad as impact players. Look, we all want our team to win. Failure would be unbearable.
But what of life after the Rugby World Cup?
We have to take some bold steps to lift our country back where it belongs.
First of all – New Zealand can no longer operate as a collection of separate interest groups all vying for the biggest slice of a shrinking pie.
Second, we have to accept that we are all in this together.
Third, we cannot survive if large numbers of people live in poverty while the rich get richer.
Fourth, we can’t build a future if we export our youth overseas
Fifth, we simply have to increase New Zealand’s earnings and savings.
Sixth, we have to export our way out of our dire economic crisis and all the news coming now on the economic front is going to be bad. That is the truth and the risk that we and our country face now. This is not politics, it’s plain fact.
It is blindingly obvious to most sensible people that the worst action to take in the time of a recession is to sell profitable assets.
Those who have argued for policies to treble our exports and return real wealth to the ‘Family New Zealand’ are right. Running the economy for the paper shufflers and speculators of Queen St has brought us to this parlous state. Look at Singapore and Norway. We could match them. But not with the present government’s policies.
Now just a word about your party vote this election. You know that when New Zealand First is in Parliament we deliver. Your new bridge here is but one example. New bridge, no tolls, and no invite to the opening. The bumbling Minister now fronting M.V.Rena crisis – Steven Joyce – thought he should open it all by himself though he did not find one cent to build it.
And one thing we want to deliver when we get back is a bit of fairness.
It was totally unfair for the National party and its mates to deliver huge tax cuts for the rich and to increase the price of essentials like food for the poor to pay for these cuts.
We will do everything we can to get the GST tax rate back to twelve and a half percent over the next three years.
We will introduce a fairer tax system to pay for this.
It was plain wrong of the government to make these changes. The leadership of the country would have been among the biggest beneficiaries. John Key got four times more from the tax cuts than his PM salary.
So we will clamp down on the tax perks for the very wealthy some of whom openly admit they pay little or no tax.
Their wealth increased by twenty percent last year.
Those at the bottom of the heap remain out in the cold with soaring food, power and petrol prices.
Conclusion
The men and women who built this nation would be appalled at the inequality that now exists.
Never in my lifetime did I think I would see children going without food and their families going without hope.
We have to take our country back from the speculators, the tax dodgers and the money shufflers whether they be here or overseas..
We have to give it back to the rightful owners – you, the citizens of this country.
Take our country back and rebuild it ourselves.
We’ve done it before and we can do it again.
A party vote for NZ First is never wasted. Remember we’re on your side.
And when we win – you win!
It’s as simple as that.
ENDS
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