Election Profile: Paul Swain

Paul Swain Name:          Paul Swain
Age: 50
Place of Residence: 37 Kowhai Avenue, Upper Hutt
Family status: Two Sons, 20 & 18
Current Job: MP for Rimutaka
Minister of Commerce, Communications, Information Technology Associate Minister of Finance, Revenue, Energy, Justice, Land Information

At the last election, the Labour Party made seven pledges that it would deliver when elected. I am pleased to report that, unlike previous Governments, we kept our word.

We have:

  1. Created jobs through promoting New Zealand industries and better support for exporters and small business.
  2. Focused on patients not profit and cutting waiting times for surgery.
  3. Cut the costs to students of tertiary education, starting with a fairer loan scheme.
  4. Reversed the 1999 cuts to superannuation rates. Guaranteeing superannuation in the future by putting a proportion of all income tax into a separate fund which cannot be used for any other purpose.
  5. Restored income related rents for state housing so that low income tenants pay no more than 25 per cent of their income in rent.
  6. Cracked down on burglary and youth crime.
  7. Not increased income tax for tax payers earning under $60,000 a year. No increase in GST or company tax.

This Election - 27 July 2002

The key concerns for every election are health, education, crime and so on. However if we are to continue to make progress on these issues, we need to make sure that our economy is growing at a rate similar or better than most other developed countries.

For this to happen, we need to encourage new businesses to start up and existing businesses to grow. We need to educate, train and upskill our people so that they can take up high-skilled, high paying jobs.

We will need to encourage new investment for New Zealand jobs and put extra effort into new areas where kiwis are becoming world leaders - our biotech information and communication technologies and creative industries.

From this higher growth rate will come more funds for hospitals, schools and roads. Retired New Zealanders will be better off, and crime should be reduced.

I hope a Labour led government, of which I’m a proud member, will be able to continue the important work we have started.