Goff Phil: General Debate 
Goff Phil: General Debate 
[Volume:646;Page:15275] 
Hon PHIL GOFF (Minister of Defence) 
: 
 It ill behoves Bill English to question the sincerity of others. That member was part of a Government that came into power in 1990 promising not to cut superannuation no ifs no buts no maybes. That member was part of a Government that then imposed the most Draconian asset and income-testing that has ever been imposed on superannuation and specifically that member as Minister of Finance in 1999 introduced legislation into this House cutting superannuation from 65 percent to 60 percent of the average wage. This Government as a result of being re-elected gives a married couple on superannuation $35 a week more than they would be getting if Bill English had stayed on as Minister of Finance or leader of the National Party. I say to the senior citizens of our country that it was Bill English who last year described the provision for retirement through superannuation schemes in New Zealand as too generous. He was being consistent with National policy because it was National that froze the incomes of superannuitants for 3 successive years in the 1990s. 
But it is not over now. On television on Sunday John Key said that he would review the annual inflation adjustment for superannuitants. The senior citizens of this country know what that means. 
Hon Bill English 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Not only is that statement not true but also the member knows that the Labour Party clipped the transcript in order to distort what John Key said and it did so deliberately. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: That is not a point of order. It is a debatable point. 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: Let me help the member out. John Key when asked whether he supported annual adjustments to benefits said: “We are looking at those policies. I mean at the moment um some of them already have built in clauses and others don’t. Ah we’ll be reviewing those in due course.” The spin doctors of the National Party have failed the mask has slipped and that National Party which has a track record of cutting the incomes of people who cannot defend themselves is now on record as demonstrating that it will do that again. 
I want members to contrast that with the fact that yesterday yet again Labour delivered for hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders. It delivered not only on superannuation student allowances and benefits but also on the minimum wage. Let us contrast that with the hypocrisy of a person whom I can remember said that he stood for the underclass yet over 9 years the National Party adjusted the minimum wage on only one occasion. 
Hon Bill English 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The member may think that he is free to repeat an error to the House as he did before but he is not free to use the “h” word. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: If the member did use that word he is well experienced and knows that he should not do so. If he did use it he should desist. 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: I remember one John Key saying that National stood up for the underclasses and would do something for them. National had 9 years in which to do that and in those 9 years National adjusted the minimum wage once—once in 9 years. Yesterday those folk on the minimum wage got an increase to $12 an hour. That is the eighth increase under this Government for the people in this country who are the low-paid workers. Contrast the policies put into practice by this Labour-led Government with the rhetoric the double standards and the dishonesty of the National Party on that issue. 
Yesterday was a red-letter day too because we introduced employer contributions to the KiwiSaver scheme. Bill English will not say whether National would preserve that scheme. There are 500000 New Zealanders who have been encouraged to become savers because they have had the opportunity to do so under KiwiSaver. Just as the elderly folk in this country are not safe and should be very afraid of what Bill English might do in that area so too should those New Zealanders who for the first time in their lives have had the chance to save for their retirement because of the incentives provided by KiwiSaver. 
If we want another example of double standards it is the business tax cut that came into effect yesterday. It is down to 30 percent and there are 15 percent tax credits on research and development. The National Party voted against that. Its members voted against it. I suppose that is consistent because in their entire history in modern decades they have never cut tax for the corporate sector—the sector that creates jobs in this country. They have not done what this Labour-led Government has done to promote research and development and to ensure that New Zealand remains innovative creative and able to market its goods to the world. Labour has delivered; National has not. John Key was called slippery last week; he has lived up to that reputation.