Motions — United States—Election of Donald Trump

on behalf of the Prime Minister: I move that the House convey its congratulations to President—

💬 Mr SPEAKER: Order! Sorry, the member just needs to seek leave to move the motion first.

I seek leave to move a motion without notice in support of the election of the President of the United States.

💬 Mr SPEAKER: Is there any objection to that course of action being followed? There is none.

I move, That the House convey its congratulations to President-elect Donald Trump on his election as the next President of the United States, and to Vice-President-elect Mike Pence on his election, and in doing so express our desire to work with the incoming Trump administration to continue building on New Zealand’s already strong relationship with the United States. New Zealand and the US have an excellent relationship and it has gone from strength to strength in recent years, as demonstrated by the visit of the USS Sampson to Auckland next week for the International Naval Review marking the Royal New Zealand Navy’s 75th anniversary. Secretary of State John Kerry is currently visiting New Zealand and is also travelling to Antarctica where we are, of course, natural partners. New Zealand and the US recently cooperated to create the world’s largest marine protected area, in the Ross Sea. This will cover roughly 1.55 million square kilometres, and showcases what we can achieve when we work together.

The people of America went to the polls yesterday, as we know, and will soon have a new President. The Prime Minister will be writing to President-elect Trump to offer his personal congratulations and to reiterate our commitment to continuing to work closely with the US on trade and economic cooperation, including progressing our shared regional interests in the Asia-Pacific region. We share many common values with the US: democracy, human rights, the rule of law, and a belief in free markets. Our two countries are very close defence and security partners, working to bring peace and security in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other parts of the world. An open and engaged United States is very important to New Zealand. The US is a valued trading partner for New Zealand. It is our third-largest trading market, worth over $8 billion. New Zealand will seek to build on this already-strong relationship with the incoming Trump administration, in order to advance our shared interests.

In closing, I would also like to pay tribute to the outgoing administration led by President Barack Obama. President Obama has been a good friend to New Zealand, and we wish him all the best in the future.

The Labour Party congratulates Donald Trump on becoming the 45th President of the United States. I also want to congratulate Hillary Clinton, who achieved much in her public life, and who has been a good friend to New Zealand.

There is no doubt, over the year-long, divisive presidential campaign, that many Americans have been left fearful and concerned as to where they fit in their country. I call on Mr Trump to follow through on his words and pledge last night: that it is now time for America to bind the wounds of division, and that he will be the President for all Americans. We can take heart from Hillary Clinton’s comments this morning. They must accept the result and look to the future. She said they owe the new President an open mind and a chance to lead. We support those sentiments.

I also call on Mr Trump to uphold the rule of law, the principles of equal rights and dignity, freedom of expression, respect, inclusion, and understanding, because these are the values that lie at the heart of a liberal democracy. In the Labour Party we do value our relations with the United States and we are committed to continuing those relationships, while at the same time making it clear that we will speak out against bigotry, racism, misogyny, or hate whenever and wherever we see it.

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” These are the words of one of the truly great Americans, Martin Luther King Jr.

Yesterday’s result in the US elections has left me and the Green Party even more determined than ever to fight for the values that we believe in. We have generations of families living in poverty; people who face uncertain futures, without proper housing or healthcare or education; and people who do not believe that being involved can make a difference. That is something that we can—that we must—change. We must use the Trump election as a powerful motivator, a motivator to stay involved in the governance of our country, and to include others in that process; to organise; to be strong; to listen to each other; to speak truth to power; to find hope; and to be kind to each other—to be kind.

So, no, I will not support this motion to congratulate Trump, and neither will the Green Party. We vow to fight the climate change denial, the misogyny, and the racism represented by Trump. We will not let hate triumph. Thank you.

A week ago today I was honoured to speak in wine-growing territory in Marlborough, to its chamber of commerce. In a speech entitled “The Grapes of Wrath”, I predicted what so many experts did not.

💬 Hon Members: Oh!

That was—not after the event, but beforehand—who would win, and who would become the 45th President of the United States. And that cacophony of embarrassment is not going to deter us today. Like so many other speeches we have made on matters so important to this country, the media and the experts and the pollsters, and this House as well—that side, of course—decided to ignore it, and that is why they were shocked by the outcome yesterday. It was all foreseeable, all predictable, and all forecast. But, no—these people who think they have got the prescience of mind to understand and run a country sit there in their snobby, sniggery way today and think that that is an excuse for their presence here. There are too many people in politics and experts who give their subjective judgment, laced with their personal preference, who think that that passes for professional comment. Well, it does not, and you are letting your country down. Everyone is entitled to their personal view on either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, but politicians are meant to have some understanding of the environment in which they operate and the consequences of what they say both here and abroad.

This contest was never about the Democratic or the Republican parties. It was about those old parties being captured by big vested interests and controlling Washington—and the American people knew it. Seventy-two percent across the divide did not trust what was going on. That is why Bernie Sanders won 22 states in the contest with Clinton. That is why Donald Trump, an utter outsider, beat off 16 insiders for the nomination. It is not difficult to perceive what was going to happen. This was about the laid-off auto workers in Grand Rapids, Michigan—the ones who have seen their jobs moved to Mexico. It was about the workers in Arizona who lost their jobs when the parts they once supplied to Apple were no longer needed. It was about the workers in Circleville, Ohio, as General Electric closes a factory there. They flocked to hear Governor Mike Pence, now Vice-President-Elect, tell them why they should be in work and not looking for a job.

Does that sound familiar? These people are not the deplorables, but are honest, hard-working middle-America. They are real people. They are not uneducated; they are smart and they are motivated by promises that have turned to ashes in their mouths. It is not unique to the United States. They are people who expected the American Dream instead of a minimum-wage job packing shelves at Walmart. Like the Brexit campaign in the UK, you can pull out all your smart alec experts, and you did; every huge-salaried banker, and you did; every defender of the indefensible in terms of the economic and social malaise confronting ordinary people, and you did; but why would the ordinary person listen to these apologists for elitism?

💬 David Bennett: Why are we having this commentary?

Why, the man who is actually retired, Mr Bennett—who is retiring—has not even got a party decent enough to thank him for being an absolute wet blanket all the time in the House. Mr Bennett, what are they going to do without you? Why would the ordinary people listen to politicians who defend the appalling concentration of wealth in the hands of the few at the expense of the many?

The US election repudiated the Trans-Pacific Partnership. New Zealand First will say what we told you on 4 February this year: we told you so. There is nothing so antiseptic as the statement “We told you so.”, but we darn well did. Instead of Nick Smith and John Key and “Mr Fixit”—“Mr Novopay”—and every ace amateur over there saying they might have something, no, they carried on regardless, at a cost of $5.5 million now, and there is a bill on the Order Paper today. How do you like that, eh? [Interruption] None. They are blinded to reality, sitting there, about to go, of course, and go they will because they are part of the process. There was an opportunity cost, you see, associated with the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, which has been diverted away from real free-trade agreements.

At the beginning of this year we predicted that on 23 June the Brexit campaign would be victorious in the UK. Mr Key, of course, and all his experts in the National Party said they were supporting Mr Cameron—supporting the Remain side. You know, the campaign was hardly over, and what happened? Mr Key said: “Oh, we’re going to the UK to get a free-trade deal.” This guy has got no shame, and he has got no principles, and he has got no ability either. This man from Merrill Lynch has been exposed for what his is. He forgets what he said in the last hour and all of a sudden he is going to ring up Donald Trump. He has been dumping all over Donald Trump—dumping all over Donald Trump—and so have others in this House.

My message to members of Parliament in this House is that this is about the American people. It is not about the President. It is about the American people, and we need to continue our relationship that some of us worked hard to build up. But, no, no, the banality, the arrogance of these people knows no bounds.

💬 Hon Member: Thank you, Winston.

And up they got—oh, no, no, do not call me Winston. You call me collect.

I want to say something: last year there was a by-election in Northland. What happened there happened in the UK. What happened in the UK saw a hung Parliament in Australia when Turnbull called a snap election and dissolved both Houses. What happened in Northland happened in the hamlets, in the villages, in the towns, and in the clothes factories of America yesterday—all so foreseeable.

I look around at some of the faces here today sneering and scoffing and I want ordinary New Zealand workers out there to know one thing: these people are staring at you. They are staring at your dreams and hopes. They are so up themselves; they are so arrogant that they think any decent sentiment about housing, health, education, and First World jobs is not worthy. No, no—they would rather have their own ephemeral, high-blown concepts and ideas prevail and to hell with the working people of this country. All the small businesses, all the medium-sized businesses are hard up against it now in a Government that has got no plan.

I have got 2 minutes to go and just want to say this: from Kaitāia in New Zealand’s Far North, to Lerwick in the UK’s Shetland Islands, and to New Orleans in Louisiana the elitist neo-liberal Mammonic curtain is collapsing around the globe. And it is coming to a place near you, because that is what this Government represents. The people who were most fearful yesterday, all around the country, were those small handful of highly wealthy, foreign-owned—in the main—people who support the National Party. [Interruption] What do you want, boy?

💬 Mr SPEAKER: Order! Apologise to the member.

💬 David Seymour: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. The member has now been speaking for over 8½ minutes and he has used a range of devices to avoid taking a position on the motion—

💬 Mr SPEAKER: Order! That is not a point of order. The member has a 10-minute slot. He can use it.

Not bad for somebody who sits there because he is a political puppet. He got put in by the National Party. He got an office with the National Party. He got elevated by the National Party. He does not make 1 percent. The media give him an enormous amount of coverage. He just has to cough and they publish him. And he is going out of this Parliament so fast his little feet will not touch the ground. This revolution is the middle class and the worker revolution. People who work hard, pay their taxes, and just want a fair go. We have three words for these people, as in America, as in the UK, but now in New Zealand. One party, uniquely, has these three words: we hear you.

I had three words in mind and they were not those ones. I think they were pot, kettle, and black. Ha! We are here today to offer congratulations to the President-Elect, Donald Trump. Although I find it a little bit difficult, there was a collective sigh this morning and a girding of the loins for the next 4 years across the world. I am a pragmatist at heart. I like to see the silver lining around the clouds. As I look to America, I think “Well, you know what? The bricklayers are going to be happy and the concrete merchants will be happy.”, because they will be building a wall very soon to keep Americans in. And that might be because, if you watched the results as they came in overnight, you would have seen that a number of immigration sites around the world actually crashed from the inquiries of people trying to get out.

💬 Hon Member: The people voted.

But here is the thing: the people did vote. The disaffected people of America, the blue-collar people of America, stood up and voted, and they voted for Mr Trump because he represented something that we must take note of, and that is the fact that they feel disenfranchised in their nation. They feel like they do not fit in the system. But they used the politics of hate. They used the politics of divide and conquer in order to put their view across. We have seen a very good example of that just now meted out against my friend and colleague Mr Seymour.

💬 Ron Mark: Sorry, he’s your friend?

Mr David Seymour—yes, he is my friend. I have quite a number of friends in this House, across all the parties, and we will work with others. I think that we have shown, as the Māori Party of this nation, that we will work with others who want to support the advancement of our people for the value of this nation and not use the politics of hate, divide, and conquer that we see in this nation.

There is one fear I have after this election. The fear that I have is that we have opened the door for the redneck comment at the next election—the iwi versus Kiwi, the “brownmailing” of the Government, and all of those things that they throw out against Māori. That happens every time an election comes up. It has started already. It has started already. So all I say is that we must take note of the voice of the people, because that is why we are here. With that I agree. We need to understand that the voice of the people for Māoridom, which we represent, says that, actually, we like charter schools, and, actually, we want to have a say in the Resource Management Act, and, actually, we want to ensure that we have a voice in the democracy of this country. That is what we stand for. Before we start to go and point the finger in the coming up of this election that a vote for the Māori Party is a vote for National—it is not. A vote for us is a vote for democracy, just like the people in America yesterday stood up and took their vote.

We would like to congratulate President-Elect Trump, despite the misgivings that we may have, despite the girding of the loins, and despite the collective sigh that the world has given this morning and expressed today. We have to move forward and we have to look for the silver lining. One of them might be that we can thank Mr Trump for getting rid of the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

On behalf of the ACT Party, I would like to join with other leaders who have supported the motion congratulating the 45th President-Elect of the United States, Donald Trump. That occurs in the context—

💬 Hon Member: What did you say about him the day before?

—of a long friendship between our two countries—I will come to you—that happens in the context of a long friendship between our two countries and our two peoples.

I think it is important that we respect the will of the American people. There have been many commentators in New Zealand over the last 24 hours, most notably the Dominion Post’s front page, who seem to think that we should respect the outcome of a democratic election only when we happen to like the result. We have to accept the result from the American people; only then can we start to understand it.

I have to say, we actually did get halfway to that from New Zealand’s own poor man’s Donald Trump, and you have to wonder what Donald Trump—Donald Trump the outsider, that is—would think of a 40-year career politician, the poor man’s Donald Trump, who sells exactly the same product and cannot break 10 percent.

It is important that we accept that there were people in the United States who did feel that they were not being included in America’s growth and that they were being left behind by dysfunctional markets. If we are to avoid the same winds of dissatisfaction and division in New Zealand, I believe the main thing that we must do is fix our dysfunctional markets in housing and in education. That is actually something that this Government is making a serious effort at doing, because there are no ideas on the other side of the House, particularly from New Zealand First.

I do want to quibble slightly with the President-Elect on one particular point, and that is that I know that many women in the US and many women in New Zealand are deeply disturbed by the comments made by a man who has now been elected the leader of the free world and one of the most powerful men on the planet. I certainly hope, on behalf of that sentiment and on behalf of those people whom he has disturbed, that he will back away from those comments and apologise. With that minor quibble, I join with other leaders in celebration of democracy and in congratulation of the 45th President-Elect of the United States, Donald Trump.