Hayes John: Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill (No 2) — Third Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Hayes John: Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill (No 2) — Third Reading 
[Sitting date: 28 March 2013. Volume:688;Page:9081. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
JOHN HAYES (National—Wairarapa) 
: 
 Can I join those other colleagues who have wished Roland a very happy birthday today and let us hope he has a very happy Easter celebrating his advancing years. 
I want to address the comments that have come here this afternoon into the House from the Green Party. These are the people who think that money grows on trees and when it does not they find a photocopier and they produce it. They are going to give money to all directions of our community and try to buy the young person’s vote. I say to you Mr Hughes that the young people in this country know that money does not grow on trees and they will not be voting for the Green Party in large numbers because they have got far more sense. 
Apart from the Green Party growing money on trees we have got the Labour member for Dunedin North I think—the “Red Reverend” Mr Clark—saying yes we have got to give more money to everybody and that this is a bad piece of legislation because it is not giving enough money to our students. Can I say this: money does not grow on trees. Money comes out of people’s pockets. It comes out of all of the pockets of those people who work in this country including Roland. He pays his taxes. Money for these students comes from the workers’ pockets and you would say to the workers: “Here’s some money—we’ll take it out of your pocket and give it to the students. And by the way students you don’t have to pay it back.” What nonsense! 
Metiria Turei 
: You did it. You did it. 
JOHN HAYES 
: No we did not do it. No we did not do it. We watch the students sitting on the roofs of their houses in Dunedin burning their couches and saying: “No no no; we don’t want to pay this money back.” Well I have got a lot of taxpayers in my electorate who advance money from their pockets to the Government to advance to students. There is no problem about lending money to students. We want to see them do well we want to see them educated but we will not put up with the knowledge that these people do not need to repay their obligation to our society for using that money interest-free for a period of time while they complete their studies. 
Metiria Turei 
: You pay your loan back—you pay yours back. 
JOHN HAYES 
: I paid my loan back—and my children paid their loans back too to the community. My family has met its obligations unlike you. My family has met its obligations which I suspect is more than is the case for you madam. 
Hon David Cunliffe 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. It is a sad thing when a member of the growing experience of the member who is currently speaking has drawn you into debate by speaking to you. He may have been referring to the very eloquent co-leader of the Green Party who was entering into the spirit of the discussion I see but there is no excuse for drawing you into the debate. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Thank you for that and the Assistant Speaker has noted it. 
JOHN HAYES 
: He was the member yesterday in the Shane Jones committee who was sitting there wriggling with great excitement because every time Jones was getting shafted he was benefiting from that—you know using the Audit Office to benefit from that inquiry. 
Let me come back to the Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill (No 2)— 
Hon David Cunliffe 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Using the misrepresentation rules in Standing Orders and Speakers’ rulings I will just clarify that I recused from the matter in which the member was alleging that I was present— 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: No that is it. That is a debatable issue and there the matter ends. 
JOHN HAYES 
: This is a bit like the BBC programme  
Repetition 
—you know I am sick of it—from that fellow on the other side of the House. He needs to sit and listen and learn and look after his colleague Mr Jones. 
This bill is about repaying money borrowed from taxpayers and used by our children for education. They need to learn that a core policy of this Government—one of the priorities of this term—is building a more productive and competitive economy. It is only by lifting our economic performance that we can create jobs boost incomes improve living standards and provide world-class public services that our children and their families need. That is why we are making this student loan scheme sustainable into the future by reducing the need for more Government borrowing and preparing students for jobs for the future. Our interest-free student loan scheme is one of the most generous in the world and we are going to keep it this way. I support this bill totally.