Bridges Simon; Mallard TrevorHon SIMON BRIDGES (Leader of the Opposition): The New Zealand economy is heading into deep recession and today is the pivotal day in relation to our economy and our health. Today determines how deep and how long this recession is. It determines whether we come out of this sooner and stronger or later and weaker and whether many businesses and workers—by their thousands—stay in business and whether those workers keep their job. I regret to say that in this package which I'll come to for some of those businesses there's not much at all.Last week Grant Robertson in the Budget Policy Statement wouldn't actually talk about a recession; it was effectively in his words business as usual. I'm glad that Grant Robertson and the Prime Minister now are facing up with this package to the seriousness of where we are at today. You go to any business in New Zealand today—from the exporters to the manufacturers to the tourist businesses to the travel agents—and they'd tell you what's happening in the lay-offs and the four-day weeks and the very significant problems they've got with their banks. The same is true—in fact you talk to any economist they like me have been facing up to this for many many weeks.I say to Grant Robertson in relation to the package—the significant package $12 billion; $12.1 billion actually so they could just be bigger than their infrastructure spend—$12.1 billion is significant. I accept there is as I have been calling now for weeks a wage subsidy programme in this. But I say this shows your confused and your muddled priorities as finance Minister and I'm going to go through that right now.You see Grant Robertson said that it would be the people first. In a $12.1 billion programme—where the Prime Minister has told us we're best in the world and we're doing everything right and we've got this when it comes to coronavirus—how much does health get? Half a billion dollars; by the way that doesn't cover the current deficits that are in the DHBs today Grant Robertson. You haven't even done the deficits in the health package in this budget and the issues that are there right now. It's too little too late and that's because you've prioritised other things—and I will come to that very shortly.We have a situation in New Zealand right now when the health officials make quite clear that we haven't got the ventilators we haven't got the overflow we haven't got the personal protective equipment and the masks and we haven't got the testing equipment that we want. It seems to me that you haven't put people first in this budget in relation to the crisis that New Zealand and the world has on its hands right now when it comes to health coronavirus and testing—as I've said a number of times.See half of the money of this $12.1 billion—fully half; actually I think slightly more—is over four years right? They are baking in the things that they want to see and some of them are OK. But bluntly what we see in this package today is money flowing faster into the hands of beneficiaries than the workers and the businesses that will lose their businesses and their jobs over coming weeks and months. You know that to me is a crying tragedy. The Prime Minister told us repeatedly actually—dare I say it she swiped my line but that's OK; it was a good one and it's the right one for the time that we are in and the deep recession that we are facing—her priority she said was to keep businesses in business and workers in jobs. But actually what we see is being prioritised is the winter energy payment for wealthy older New Zealanders—not all of them; some of them are doing it tough and I acknowledge they will welcome that funding. Beneficiaries baked in: $25 more a week. I acknowledge that for beneficiaries on the breadline that will be deeply welcome.But I look at the business package and the job support package—12 weeks; let's be clear there: that is not going to be long enough for the crisis we face in New Zealand or around the world. Five hundred and eighty five dollars—OK—capped at $150000. So let me tell you what that means: that only pays for the first 21 workers full time for the first 12 weeks.So let me tell you Grant Robertson about some businesses that I've talked with personally in the last week. There's a tourism business just outside of Tauranga; it runs a great operation. He has 40 staff. He begged me to fight for stopping the minimum wage halt by the way. He is laying workers off right now—and your package Grant Robertson doesn't cover his workers. So they will go on the dole and I suppose they'll be glad because they'll get $25 more a week. But your package Grant Robertson—$12 billion you've spent and you didn't even cover medium sized businesses in New Zealand. This is a situation where I got an email from wool exporters about 30 workers; they've gone to a four-day week. This package does not fully cover them. Now I acknowledge small businesses and the 12 weeks they'll get but there are many tens of thousands of medium sized businesses who are not covered by this package in the way that it has been done.And they will do it tough now. And this package doesn't cover them now. It covers year three and year four and the things ideologically that Grant Robertson and Jacinda Ardern believe in—and I acknowledge they believe in those things deeply—but this package has confused priorities and it doesn't deal non-ideologically with the issues we face in New Zealand right now today.Our Prime Minister says she's gone harder faster. I don't see it Jacinda Ardern I just don't see it. I tell you again and I encourage you: go out meet any 30-person business anywhere around New Zealand and talk to them about the issues they face and the problems they'll face this week next week and the week after—right now. It's today that's critical; not what's coming not the nice words you'll have in due course. It's right now that matters. I note that this is a package in relation to that $150000 of best endeavours. Do you know what that means? That means the businesses can take the money and they don't even need to keep the people in employment—right? That's not what we did in Canterbury Grant Robertson. We made sure when the business who needs the money gets the money they keep the workers in work. Radical isn't it but that seems to me what is required. We in this package had we had our way would have invested this money. Now is a time for stimulus not just reaction. It's time for getting on with the job. But we would have been harder and faster for those businesses and keeping them in business and workers and keeping them in work. And that means more wage subsidy actually for more businesses than will get this—those medium sized businesses and dare I say it some of the biggest sized businesses who have existential issues as well. And I note Grant Robertson absolutely nothing here in this package today in terms of again an existential issue for businesses and workers around this country: working capital and guaranteeing some of those debts and problems and issues and loans that they need right now that they need right now and that you haven't covered in this budget. So I say: is it large enough? Yeah I suppose—$12 billion—but the priorities just aren't right here. Is it easy to access? That's hugely important and I can't tell in the 40 or so minutes that I've had just how easy it will be for those businesses to access. But it certainly isn't overall—on the most critical day this year for workers and businesses in this country—aspirational and long term enough in its focus in terms of those businesses and making sure they can see that there is a plan that there is confidence because this is a confidence game have no doubt about it for those businesses. They want to know that Grant Robertson knows what to do that he has a sense of exactly what needs to happen here—the stimulus the things that show the light at the end of the tunnel—and I don't see us getting out of this sooner and stronger. I don't see the faster harder"—or whatever it was the Prime Minister says. I see the slower less assured taking the opportunity to prioritise beneficiaries over businesses and workers in this country and what it is that they need.Let's be clear about this. Things weren't rosy even before coronavirus. And I say that because if you can't diagnose the problem you've got you sometimes don't get the medicine right. We've been at 1.6 percent growth. I expect that to be confirmed later this week in the official figures. We've got a situation where business confidence whether it's farmers and the water problems and climate change—things done to them not with them really make them feel under siege. The small businesses after industrial law changes and minimum wage increase after minimum wage increase after minimum wage increase feel set upon and unconfident as it is; even the big players right now—the Air New Zealands of this world—are talking about three-some thousand workers being laid off and nothing here to date says that. That's why John Key Bill English Steven Joyce and other colleagues of ours—Gerry Brownlee—they prioritised actually getting us back into black saving up making sure we were strong. We were managing the economy well with the team that was competent and had the experience and has the experience to do that. That's how we got through the global financial crisis the Canterbury earthquakes Kaikōura earthquakes and others. Ready for another rainy day—well the rainy day is here. We're in it. It's pouring. And I don't see from the Government other than pet priorities confused priorities the plan the stimulus that is stronger and that is bold enough to do the deal for New Zealand right now that we require. We know what to do. We've made clear our tax relief programme so that actually those workers those businesses have that confidence from the stimulus. Infrastructure the Prime Minister and Grant Robertson—hear this clearly I say to my friends in the media here this clearly—they talk about $12 billion of stimulus as if it's happening now. None of it is happening. I for one remember going to Cabinet with a $1 billion road the length of Kaikōura in Stuart Smith's electorate. I remember the special legislation we put in because we knew we had to get it on. We needed to get going. I would support that sort of approach today bringing forward nation-building infrastructure that this country so desperately needs. I would support that sort of legislation and that sort of approach but we don't see any of that stimulus confidence a boldness that I've been calling on for week after week from this Government. There are many other things that need to be in this plan. Job support's there sick pay's there; the minimum wage help for those businesses that aren't covered—they need that desperately and they need it now. The underwriting of businesses isn't there. I could talk at length about health. It is the No. 1 issue. Test test test—we haven't been. We haven't been. Not even 600 when Norway's at 8000. Slovakia's done thousands more than us. We are not getting our response perfectly right in this area. I don't mean to be critical. It was good to see something significant in the weekend. But we need to see more pace and we need to see that harder faster like the Prime Minister has talked about.You know some here say that it shouldn't be about politics. I agree—I agree. Frankly on this side of the House I'm too busy for politics right now. We're talking to businesses we're talking to doctors on the front line we're talking to concerned New Zealanders. We've got a constructive and moral duty to ask the hard questions of this Government. I acknowledge this package but in the deep recession New Zealanders will be left asking of Mr Robertson: "Please can we have some more. We've worked hard as a country for a rainy day. Give us the plan. Give us the stimulus. We need now"—SPEAKER: Order! The member's time has expired."