Hipkins Chris: General Debate 
Hipkins Chris: General Debate 
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CHRIS HIPKINS (Labour—Rimutaka) 
: 
 We know that National is in trouble when it starts quoting Margaret Thatcher in defence of democracy. The Budget was a swindle. It showed that New Zealanders were conned at the last election into voting for a Government that had no intention at all of delivering on the promises it had made to people. John Key Bill English and all the National Party people went up and down the country and said to people: “You can have these big fat tax cuts. We will not cut any public spending we will not increase borrowing and everything will stay the same. We will not sell any State assets.” and they did not intend to keep any of those promises. National has delivered tax cuts that it has then taken away again through increases in GST and in the cost of living. New Zealanders are worse off. 
National has increased borrowing and it is cutting public services and of course it is lining up State assets and the family silverware for a fire sale. We know that that is coming next. National members just cannot get the terminology right. Bill English is just itching to hock off Kiwibank and New Zealand Post but John Key knows that that does not poll well. He is saying: “Bill you are spoiling my photo opportunities. Don’t keep talking about the plan to sell everything. You are spoiling it all for me. Just wait until after the next election.” John Key does not want to be Prime Minister for all that long anyway; he will then hand it over to Bill English and he can hock everything off. But they will not get as far as that because New Zealanders are wising up to the fact that this Government does not mean what it says. It is all about smiling and waving for the cameras without putting any thought into what it is actually doing which is massively increasing the cost of living for all New Zealanders. 
New Zealanders are financially worse off under this National Government. What are the people in my electorate facing? The old people in Rimutaka face increases in costs for home help. Home-help hours have been slashed under this National Government. 
I will talk about health care in particular and the impacts of National’s health cuts. I know that Tony Ryall calls them changes but let us be clear about what Tony Ryall means by changes—he means cuts. National’s cuts to health care in my electorate in particular will impact on a health care provider called Piki Te Ora. It is a low-cost health provider in Pomare one of the lower socio-economic areas in my electorate. It has had $300000 cut from its budget for the next year—$300000 has been cut from its budget. 
That primary health organisation is in the poorest community in the Hutt Valley and what is more it spends all its money on front-line health services. Tony Ryall’s administration has cut $300000 from a front-line health service in the poorest part of my electorate. I think that is absolutely disgraceful. I guess that is what Tony Ryall meant by saying that he was focusing on the front line. He was going to focus on the front line with his razor and they were the people he was going to cut. He knows that they do not vote for National anyway so he does not care about them. 
Tony Ryall is quite willing to put the boot into the people who rely on that health service but we will all pay. We will all pay for those cuts to health services because when those people cannot afford to go to the doctor they will get sick and will have more serious long-term illnesses and we will all pay. We will pay because there will be more queues at accident and emergency clinics because people could not afford to go to the doctor. We will all pay when they end up in a hospital ward with more serious health conditions because they could not afford to go to the doctor. Tony Ryall the man who promised to focus on front-line health services has taken $300000 out of the health service in my electorate. 
What else is National doing to the people in my electorate? There will be no night classes in the entire Hutt Valley this year. They are well and truly gone. They are gone altogether. There is no after-hours health service left anywhere in the Hutt Valley under this National Government which promised to focus on the front line. People in the Hutt Valley had better hope that they get sick only during working hours because there is now no after-hours health clinic anywhere in the Hutt Valley. 
People in my electorate work in the Public Service. Thousands of jobs have been cut from the Public Service. Despite the fact that the National Government said that it would not make any cuts to the Public Service thousands of jobs have gone and the people in my electorate suffer as a result of that. 
Elderly people are suffering the working people are suffering and the children are suffering. Thousands and thousands of young children in my electorate are suffering because of the cuts that the National Government has made to early childhood education. It is a disgrace.