United Future
Hon Peter Dunne

Why work with Labour and not National?

Thank you for contacting me about my speech in response to the Prime Ministerís Statement at the resumption of Parliament this year.

I used the occasion to set out United Futureís view on a number of current issues. I was not seeking to position United Future alongside either of the Labour or National Parties, but simply to state where we stood. I make no apology for that. As the countryís only genuine centre party United Future has to be able to work with both sides of politics, as circumstances require, to moderate the excesses of the extremes, and to contribute to good and stable government. In that regard, we consider a National-led government beholden to Act and New Zealand First to be no better than a Labour-led government beholden to the Greens.

It is worth recalling that the outcome the voters dealt at the last election meant that only two government arrangements were possible: a Labour government, backed by the Greens, or a Labour government backed by United Future. A grand coalition on the right, involving National, Act, New Zealand First and including United Future, even if it could have been established, would not have been a majority in Parliament. Therefore, United Future took the responsible position of doing all it could to shut the Greens out of formal involvement in government because of their anti-family, pro-drugs, anti-growth policies. That is why we entered into the confidence and supply relationship with Labour because it would have been irresponsible to do otherwise. Where United Future does not support the government on legislation, the composition of the current Parliament means the government can look elsewhere for support, whether we like it or not. That is democracy.

With 8 seats out of 120 in Parliament United Future does not have, nor do we seek, a veto over legislation. New Zealanders have had enough in the previous two Parliaments of small parties being the tail wagging the dog and throwing their toys out of the cot if they do not get their own way, and we campaigned strongly against that at election time. As a moderate, centrist party, committed to working constructively to achieve goals in accord with our policy objectives, we recognise that politics are often far more about the achievable than the desirable, and that pragmatic compromise leads to more progress than rigid ideological extremism.

Where ideological extremism gets in the way of common sense we have not hesitated to oppose the Labour-led government, on issues like increased ACC fees; the new occupational safety and health laws; the establishment of the Maori Television Service; changes to the holidays laws; the re-centralisation of the tertiary education system; the response to the Kyoto Protocol; the Care of Children Bill; the abolition of the Privy Council, etc. And we will continue to do so in future instances. Again, this is exactly in line with the commitments we made before the election. Common sense is our yardstick.

On moral issues, which are treated as conscience votes rather than party votes, United Future has also stuck to its principles. All our MPs voted against the Prostitution Bill at every stage, and we also strongly opposed the Death with Dignity Bill. Two of our MPs are currently working on plans for a citizensí initiated referendum on prostitution to coincide with the next general election.

At the same time, we have delivered on the four key elements of our agreement with Labour. New Victims Rights legislation has been implemented; the Families Commission is being established in exactly the way we envisaged; the new transport legislation will ensure progress on better roading and transport infrastructure across the country; and there has been no change in the legal status of cannabis. In short, we have kept our word because we recognise that honesty is our best policy.

I appreciate there are those who believe we should be more naturally aligned with National than Labour. I have to tell you we have no particular preference in that regard. We have worked well with the Labour-led government to date and see no reason why this relationship should not continue for the balance of this Parliamentary term. New Zealanders made their abhorrence of New Zealand Firstís break-up of the National/New Zealand First coalition in 1998, and of the Allianceís implosion in the Labour/Alliance coalition in 2002, utterly clear.

United Future has no intention of repeating either of those arrogant follies, and knows how strongly New Zealanders would punish us if we were to do so. And they would be entirely justified. Despite the rhetoric, even the National Party acknowledges, at least privately, that we should honour our commitment to provide stable government for a full parliamentary term. After all, if we terminated our agreement with Labour half way through the term, there is absolutely no reason why we could not do the same to National in a similar situation. The last thing New Zealanders deserve right now is another round of political instability because a support party cannot stand the heat. When New Zealanders vote they have a right to expect that the government they elect will govern for a full three years, and not just at the whim of the party supporting it on supply and confidence.

For the future, United Futureís position is equally clear. Votersí preferences should be paramount in the formation of a government. Therefore, we believe that the party securing the largest number of seats at election time should have the first right to attempt to form a government. Any negotiations we entered into with that party would be exclusive and on a good faith basis. We would not partake in parallel negotiations like we saw in the 9 week 1996 Winston Petersí circus. If we were able to conclude an agreement with that major party, so be it; if not, then and only then would we explore other possibilities. That was the position we took in 2002 - even though as I said the results meant Labour was the only party capable of forming a government then - and will also be the position we take in 2005.

Yours sincerely,

Hon Peter Dunne

MP for Ohariu Belmont

Leader, United Future