Has National and Labour's "Great New Zealand Experiment" worked? You have certainly suffered the pain in the name of efficiency but have you received any gain? With the election date finally set it's time to examine the achievements of National's reign of power. In the last two weeks several economic, social and environmental indicators confirm that we are continuing to go backwards as a nation. National's free market policies and "hands off" approach to economic management have not only stuffed the economy, but they are tearing our society apart and destroying the environment:

• New Zealand's Gross Domestic Product increased by only 0.6% for the year and declined by 0.3% in the June quarter
• Statistics NZ also report that the current account deficit has increased from $4.8 billion, or 4.9% of GDP, to $6.2 billion, or 6.3% of GDP for the year to June.
• We are failing to pay our way in the world with the biggest contributing factor being our $1.636 billion merchandise trade deficit - the fifth June deficit in a row - so much for the benefits of APEC and free trade! More on that later.
• The latest jobless figures show that the number of registered unemployment has risen by 9.4% to 213,760 people at the end of June. This is both an economic indicator - skilled people not working is a waste of productive capacity - and a social indicator - the consequences of unemployment on society are immense. Either way, why are there more people out of work if, as National keeps telling us, the economy is recovering?
• The Lower Hutt Family Centre's low income family survey reinforces that there is no connection between economic growth and equity. Over a quarter of low income people are spending half or more of their income on rent, half couldn't afford to go to the doctor at least once last year, and half couldn't afford provide at least one meal for their family. The government hasn't ensured that economic growth is benefiting those who need it the most.
• And what use is a growing economy if it is at the expense of the natural environment? New Zealand's biodiversity is in decline to the point that Forest and Bird says our national icon, the kiwi, is threatened with extinction.

New Zealand needs a new government with the vision, the commitment and the talent to tackle these real challenges facing our country. But merely swapping National with Labour will not put us on a path to becoming a just, sustainable society. That's where the Greens have a pivotal role to play. We challenge Labour's conventional approach to the economy and propose instead what we call an Eco Nation framework for Aotearoa - New Zealand. The starting point is how we should measure progress. Both National and Labour are fixated by that single economic measure, Gross Domestic Product, but GDP actually distorts reality. It only counts those activities where money changes hands, so spending time with your kids instead of working a second job has no value. Even worse GDP doesn't discriminate between activities which add to our well-being and those which detract from it, such as crime and pollution. Which is why the Green Party wants a modified set of national accounts which distinguish between good and bad economic activity, a set of social indicators running alongside these to provide a measure of how well off we really are as a society, and national resource accounts to ensure that there is a reduction in the rate at which resources are consumed and wasted. We are not promoting the eco-nation concept because we think it's a nice idea. The problems facing this planet are vast and complex, but they come down to 6 billion people reproducing at an exponential rate and stripping the earth of its biotic capacity to produce life. According to the best scientific advice, every living system on this planet is in decline. We have decimated much of the world's forests and fisheries, in many places we draw more water from the ground than is replaced by rainfall, we lose billions of tons of fertile topsoil into the oceans every year, and we inject toxic substances into our food chains where they are mixing into a suicide cocktail. What's more, despite the level of exploitation, resources are so poorly distributed that at least 20 percent of the earth's people live below the poverty line. Conventional economic growth only worsens environmental degradation and human inequality. Of course the Greens want to facilitate growth in a whole host of areas - public transport, renewable energy, recycling, production of durable goods, environmental restoration, wellness and well-being. But we're also committed to reducing pollution and waste, to stopping the destruction of native forests, and to ending the chipping away of urban green belts. Our vision of the future is where technology is harnessed to extract more value from each unit of resource rather than to extract more and more resources from an already depleted earth. We want New Zealand to be a country where human needs are met without damage to the other species which share the earth with us. We believe New Zealanders also want a future where each generation, starting with this one, passes on our soil, air and water in a healthier state than we inherit them. A future where human potential is free to flourish, not stunted by overwork or under-employment, by inadequate housing or access to education, by chemical residues in food and water; by unhealthy buildings and work practices; or by insecurity and alienation. One of the greatest indictments on our society, and on successive governments in particular, is that thousands of people languish on the dole while many more have become the working poor. Not having a job is bad enough but it's no better for those on minimum wages. Yes, they have a job, but it doesn't pay enough to live in dignity and provide their children with a future worth having. It's past time to stop this tragic waste of human potential. Wanganui has lost more than its fair share of jobs in recent years, many as a direct result of the government's economic policies. There have been a rash of job losses and business closures in the clothing and footwear industries, seafood processing, baking and the wool industry. Jobs have been slashed in health, there have been cutbacks in other government services and the Wanganui computer has moved it Auckand. Its therefore not surprising that, according to WINZ, 4,343 people in the Wanganui area were out of work and looking for jobs at the end of June. While this number is down slightly on the year before it is extremely disturbing that over 60 percent (2,844) of these people have been unemployed for more than six months and 30 percent are Maori. The figures for Wanganui are worse than in many other towns but this isn't just about figures. We are talking about real people - your friends, family members, neighbours, former work-mates - and they deserve better. I suspect unemployment would be even higher in Wanganui if it wasn't for your young people moving to the cities, either for their tertiary education or in the hope of finding work. That exodus not only undermines your local economic infrastructure, it also destroys the social infrastructure. Fewer people means fewer volunteers for the local fire brigade and fewer candidates for councils, school boards and PTAs. Voluntary effort is the glue which holds our provincial communities together. Policies of successive governments have torn apart the fabric of our society. This downwards spiral must be stopped. The lack of jobs, particularly in provincial areas, should be a major issue at this year's election. It is certainly a big issue in the public's mind, rating the highest or second highest pressing concern for voters in opinion polls. All the political parties should be vying with each other to convince the country that they have the best strategies to ensure everyone who wants a job can get secure, rewarding work in return for a comfortable income. It's not happening. It's not happening because the "old grey" parties don't have any commitment or vision, let alone passion, to get this country working again. The National Government continues to sell the wage workers and small business people of this country down the river with their destructive economic policies, all the while wringing its hands about the consequences. Labour at least recognises that there are serious problems but they are too wedded to the global economy for their "third way" to have a decent impact. ACT doesn't even rate employment as an issue in the campaign. They are only targeting voters who don't believe governments have a role to play in creating the right social and economic environment for people to flourish. The Green Party believes governments are responsible for creating the right economic conditions which lead to full employment so that everyone who is capable of working has a real job which pays a living wage. We are serious about getting New Zealanders working again. We believe jobs for the future will come from valuing different things - looking after people better and looking after the environment better. Taking this course is an act of political leadership, not just a business development strategy. Our enterprise and employment policies are solutions-focused. They tackle the structural causes of unemployment. They reflect a radically different outlook from the other parties - the best solutions are not state imposed or solely market led. They are developed with the community as a whole to achieve a partnership between the government, the business sector and the citizens. Of course we want to end work for the dole, which punishes the victims of the government's economic policies and reinforces the myth that the unemployed don't try hard enough. Of course we want to increase the minimum wage and reduce taxes on low incomes so that parents can bring up their children in dignity on the equivalent of one full-time wage. Of course we want to increase public sector investment, and therefore create jobs, in, for example, pest control to protect and restore our natural heritage. Of course we want to boost employment through the voluntary and welfare sectors by recognising through direct support the valuable contribution many organisations are making to their communities. But tonight I want to focus on two Green strategies to generate jobs and achieve prosperity. The first is organics. We want New Zealand to be internationally recognised as an organic nation by the year 2020 with half of all exported food certified organic by that time. We will encourage and support a major shift to organic food production, for export - taking a lead from the success of Freshco and Heinz-Watties - and for the domestic market. This strategy will cost some money but it is many about leadership, leadership which has been so desperately lacking from successive governments. First and foremost, we would give the Bio-Gro and Demeter organic standards government endorsement for export and domestics purposes. We would help farmers over the transition period to organic production, when yields can drop, through a mortgage guarantee and interest free loans. We would establish and advisor service with some government funding, redirect Public Good Science funding into organics and incorporate organic growing into agriculture and horticulture courses. This strategy recognises New Zealand's crucial role as a niche player in the international market place. It trades on our clean green image while, at the same time, giving substance to it and it recognises that the best value added is in the essence of a product rather than how it is processed or packaged. The second key Green strategy to secure New Zealand's future prosperity is greater self reliance, not only to create jobs but also to reduce our dependence on imported goods and foreign capital. To achieve this we need to reclaim our economic sovereignty as a nation rather than further expose ourselves to the predatory global economy. That means tackling the myths of free trade and making New Zealand self-reliant. Free trade has destroyed more jobs than it has created. Free trade is the reason why New Zealand is not paying its way in the world and instead is borrowing and selling off our assets to fund our excessive consumption. Free trade is why we import a whole host of things we should be making ourselves. Despite constant claims from the government that New Zealand is experiencing an export-led recovery, for the last five years in a row we imported more goods than we exported. As I said at the beginning, our trade deficit for the year to June 1999 was a massive $1.636 billion, the worst in New Zealand's history. The preceding deficits were: 1998 - $599 million, 1997 - $290 million, 1996 - $807 million and 1995 - $471 million - to give a total cumulative deficit for the last five years of $3.8 billion. By way of comparison, there was only one deficit in the previous eight years. What used to be a cyclic event has now become a permanent fixture under free trade. But the Shipley Government continues on its trade liberalisation crusade despite the lack of empirical evidence to demonstrate that as a nation we are better off in net terms as a result. Reducing tariffs at a faster rate than our trading neighbours has led to New Zealand importing goods which we used to make ourselves, putting people out of work in the process. Not content with having destroyed tens of thousands of workers jobs through two decades of tariff reduction, the Government has just endorsed at APEC a $16 million "communications strategy" the most repugnant part of which is a "Buy Global" campaign. If it succeeds, manufacturing could die in this country and tens of thousands more workers would be thrown on the scrap heap. The export of New Zealanders' jobs is the single biggest 'achievement' of Labour and National's free-trade policies. According to a BERL study, for every million dollars worth of goods we import 20 jobs are lost in New Zealand. On this basis, 60,000 jobs have disappeared in the last decade because of the increase in consumption goods alone from $3 Billion per year to $6 billion. What's more, precious non-renewable resources are being used to transport these goods around the globe when they could have been made at home by local people. Every time we buy a packet of Arnotts biscuits we are providing jobs for workers in Australian instead of New Zealand. We are exploiting workers in China and putting New Zealanders our of a job almost every time we buy an item of clothing from shops such as Hallensteins or Glassons. The same goes for discount importers such as The Warehouse. We must stop the export of New Zealanders' jobs to Asia and Australia. Cheap imports are very tempting, especially if you are unemployed or on a low income but remember, the more cheap imports we buy the less chance those who need a real job will ever have of getting one that supports them and their family. Those of us who have more discretionary income have a moral obligation to buy locally-made products. As Tim Hasledine says in his recent book Taking New Zealand Seriously - the Economics of Decency: "Imports may be the spice of life, but they are not the meat and potatoes of a healthy national diet." We want to rebuild that healthy national diet from the bottom up . But vibrant community level economies aren't just an antidote to the APEC globalisation agenda. They are the foundation stones of a decent society, a self reliant nation and a sustainable future. Many communities are poor because their resources are extracted without any value being added through local processing. The money which people do have to spend on food, petrol, clothing etc also goes straight out of the area, often overseas, because more and more businesses have no local roots. Supporting local businesses - businesses which are locally owned and staffed and businesses which source their products and services locally - is a good place to start. It stands to reason that if you support a local business there's more chance they will support yours if you are in business and support the community by creating more jobs. Think of the local economy as a bucket into which money flows from local people and shops. If money is being siphoned off or the bucket is full of holes then the money will disappear pretty quickly. So plug the leaks! I am pleased to announce that today we have been doing just that! Today your local candidate, Julie Priddle, and I have launched the Green Party's "Shop Local" campaign in Wanganui. We have provided locally owned and operated retailers with "Shop Local" signs for their windows and leaflets promoting the benefits of supporting local businesses. We are also encouraging joint advertising in the local paper and will be producing "Shop Local" car stickers and posters. These are practical first steps and demonstrate that communities don't have to wait for a change of government before starting to turn things around. But we are determined that the next government will invest in regional development. The only thing missing in Wanganui is jobs. We need programmes for towns which are struggling so that their existing public, private and community sector infrastructure can be better utilised and, at the same time, take the pressure off Auckland, which is growing unsustainably. Capital also leaks out of local economies. The demise of Trustbank highlights the loss of local control over where people's savings are invested and the profits spent. While many people have shifted their accounts to New Zealand's last 100% owned bank, TSB of Taranaki, this is not an option for everyone and neither is it a satisfactory way of ensuring local savings are reinvested in the local community where it comes from. There are other alternatives such as building societies' credit unions and organisations like Prometheus but these don't exist in every community or don't provide a full range of services. The Green Party will endeavour to create a new network of community banks to give people the chance to invest locally in order to provide capital for local business ventures which are having increasing difficulty raising loans from conventional banks. Another significant 'leak' from Wanganui's bucket are the tax dollars which the government siphons off. Reducing taxation is not the best way to plug this leak. Instead communities need to demand value for their taxes. In addition to getting a fair share of government-provided services a government head office, perhaps Agriculture or Employment, could be relocated here, leading to more of your tax dollar being returned to the community through the purchase of goods and services by public servants. Increasing revenue from 'exports' of goods and services and from tourism is also needed to compensate for leaks and to improve the overall well-being of the community. As I'm sure you know, identifying and marketing unique attributes - the points of difference which make a place special - are the key to boosting tourism income. I have already talked about shifting to organic production and there is enormous potential for new crops such as hemp. But all this effort is of no avail if we can't ensure that everyone gets their fair share of the wealth in the bucket rather than some people having so much they waste it and others not getting enough to fully participate in society. Between 1980 and 1994 New Zealand experienced the largest rise in income inequality among OECD countries, despite the economy growing. Simply filling the bucket is not the answer. The real challenge which Labour and National refuse to tackle is making sure 'the poor' are not left waiting for the leftovers to trickle down to them and that there is plenty of wealth reserved for our children. I believe most middle and upper income New Zealanders would rather reclaim their quality of life - secure, rewarding jobs, feeling safe in their homes, having time to enjoy the company of friends and family, sharing an environment they can cherish and knowing their children have a future - than having more money in their pockets from tax cuts. Shifting expenditure from the defence budget to sustainability projects such as public transport, sewage and waste management, public health, organic agricultural production, energy conservation, environmental restoration and the community sector would also create more work. Reducing tax on work and enterprise and introducing eco-taxes such as a carbon tax and a levy on hazardous substances would help us progress towards sustainability and justice. Realistic tariffs would benefit import-competing industries, create more jobs and help achieve import substitution. The upheavals over the last 20 years are a direct result of governments abdicating their responsibility to look after the best interests of all New Zealanders, including our children and their children. National says "the market knows best" but the objectives of the marketplace are fundamentally different to that of society and often destructive. Maximising profit in the short run, externalising costs onto the rest of society and the environment is simply not sustainable. Yet too often good people do bad things because they see no alternative. Governments are meant to balance our individual desires with the common good. National does the opposite, forever pitting our selfishness against our sense of community and then wondering why our communities are falling apart. The Green Party looks beyond tomorrow when we decide what is good for our country and the planet. Some people say the Greens are idealists. I say to them that we are the realists and the other parties are the dreamers. Our vision is relevant for the new millennium. In fact, we are the only party that's planning to be around for the next one!