Bennett David: Supplementary Estimates — Imprest Supply Debate 
Bennett David: Supplementary Estimates — Imprest Supply Debate 
[Volume:655;Page:4545] 
DAVID BENNETT (National—Hamilton East) 
: 
 As I follow on from that excellent speech I have to say it is important that New Zealanders look at the history of the circumstances we are in at the moment. This is not a time when New Zealanders need a Government or a Parliament that is expressing wild views and desires. This is a time when New Zealanders need a Parliament that is realistic pragmatic and conservative. This is a time when some major economic issues are facing our country our people and the international community. It is not a time to make rash promises. It is not a time to say— 
Chris Hipkins 
: That wasn’t the National Party position before the election. 
DAVID BENNETT 
: This is not a time for that kind of rash talk from the Labour Party members. This is a time when we need to be out there and listening to the people working out what is needed and delivering it. 
This Budget is a pragmatic Budget. This Budget takes into account the economic circumstances we face as a country. This Budget has delivered a solution that has had international success in that we had a credit upgrade within hours of this Budget being released. This Budget has shown that financial management in difficult times can be done in a way that maintains core services but at the same time is fiscally prudent. That is the balance that the New Zealand Government wanted and the Minister of Finance Bill English deserves a big pat on the back for doing that. 
Our compatriots across the ditch in Australia were not able to do that. Their Budget was far too optimistic one could say in regard to what they saw as their growth projections and it did not go down as well in the international community as our Budget did. When people looked at our Budget from a distance they said that it takes into account what is required to provide those core services to the New Zealand public while actually providing a direction for this country to get through the recession. 
That balancing act is something the National Government can be very proud of achieving—as can the parties that worked with National on this Budget. A lot of the smaller parties in this House came through and delivered for their communities but at the same time were part of a Budget that was rational and delivered to the whole country. I thank those parties for stepping up to the mark and being supportive. I am talking about parties like the Maori Party the ACT Party and United Future. They are all very successful members in terms of getting this Budget through so that we have a strong Budget for this country as it goes forward. 
This Budget is not without sacrifices. We had to make a big sacrifice in regard to taxation and we had to make a sacrifice in regard to superannuation. But the sacrifice in regard to taxation has I think been very much one that the New Zealand public has supported. When we go about among the public at the moment they are aware that they could be losing their jobs tomorrow. That is the reality people face. Those who are in business are also aware that they are not making profits. These are very difficult times for New Zealanders out there whether they are in business or are wage earners and they wanted a Budget that took that into account. We did that. We looked beyond the political ideology that the Labour Party looked at. We looked at what was right for New Zealand in these circumstances and we delivered that in this Budget. 
I turn now to superannuation. Labour Party members are going on about superannuation but they forget that the best thing we can do to pay for superannuation is to have a strong economy going forward. There is no point in borrowing money to put on the New York Stock Exchange. I would like to see those Labour members go to their individual bank managers tomorrow and ask to borrow the value of their assets and to put them on a US stock exchange. I want to see those Labour members do that and then see how far they get kicked out those doors. The reality is that it is not prudent investment at this time. For this country to get in a better position economically borrowing is not in its best interests. For New Zealanders going forward we can build a stronger economy and we can invest in infrastructure. We can make a strong country that will grow and therefore deliver the dividends to its citizens in the future. Those economic dividends will come through superannuation in time. But to get to that stage we need to build that economic environment. 
I applaud our team for doing that. I applaud them for taking into account those fundamental policy initiatives that we have been looking at maintaining such as in education in health in law and order and in infrastructure. But at the same time those members are delivering some economic rationale which will build a strong economy for us to go forward as a country. When we look at the infrastructure it is important to note that we have fulfilled many of our election promises around that in this Budget. There was a lot of talk about the broadband plan the upgrading of schools and the investments in transport. Those major infrastructural projects will not only deliver economic growth in the future but in the meantime they will deliver jobs for New Zealanders—jobs that are very difficult to come by at this time. 
The National Government has delivered a Budget that delivers to people now and in the future. It is a sensible Budget; a Budget that New Zealanders can be proud of. It is a Budget that defines the political landscape. On this side of the House the political landscape is one of a listening Government that makes the best decisions in the current circumstances. On the other side of the House what does one have? There is an Opposition party that wants to spend. It characterises itself as holier than thou while wanting to spend all the money that may be around. The fact is those members cannot justify what they are doing and saying. Imagine if they had actually written a Budget on the basis of what they were going to spend. What would the position of New Zealand be after a Labour Budget? It would be a shameful position. New Zealanders would be paying higher rates of interest on their mortgages. New Zealanders would see a lot of spending in areas that would not provide long-term returns for this country. New Zealanders would not have pride and respect for a Government that delivered a Budget that was important in the circumstances we face. I think that is important for New Zealanders to remember. 
At the end of this Budget debate it is all right for the Labour members to say that we should have spent money here and we should have spent money there but the reality is that the money is not there to spend. The New Zealand economy does not have the money that the Labour Party members are talking about. We have to be careful of how we spend money because every dollar counts at the moment. There is no room for rash promises. There is no room for taking money and spending it on political whims. There is no room for trying to buy votes as the Labour Party has constantly done. What we needed and what we got was a sensible Budget that takes into account our fiscal position but delivers a future. 
I am very proud to be part of a National Government that has set its first Budget in stone and is creating a great fundamental base for us to build on because not only are we building a structure that can go forward but we are doing it in a way that gives New Zealanders confidence in their Government. They are not seeing politicians making Budgets for political purposes. They are seeing a political party make Budgets in the best interests of this country. That is something that has been quite different from what one has seen in the past and shows the contrast between us and the Labour Party. The previous Labour Government’s Budgets have not been in the best interests of New Zealand. They have just been there for political expediency. Now New Zealanders will see financial management that takes into account where this country is where this country needs to go and how this country will get there. That is why the investment in those key fundamentals is so important. 
When we look at the Labour Party we see them try to provide this dream and this panacea of how things were with a Labour Budget. The reality is that Labour gave us our worst economic situation more so than any other Western country. It provided us with a situation where we were in recession before most other countries and it made expenditures on things like KiwiRail that were not in the best long-term interests of New Zealand. But the National Government has picked up on that. We have tried to do the best we can do in these circumstances. We have taken the power and made sure that even though we were given a raw deal from the previous Government we have delivered a Budget that will go forward into the future.