General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeGeneral Debate[Sitting date: 20 May 2015. Volume:705;Page:3460. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]General DebateANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition): I move That the House take note of miscellaneous business. It has been a somewhat fractious afternoon. We have had pompous “gittery” in bucket loads coming from the other side and we are in eager anticipation of what may be handed down tomorrow. And for good reason too because when you look back at some of the promises pledges and foreshadowing that has come from the Government it is going to be a very interesting day indeed. For example the Prime Minister John Key when he was talking about the proposal for a Government-led building programme to ease the Auckland housing crisis—a proposal that we made some time ago—what did he say? He said: “Oh it’ll either fail miserably deliver dwellings that people don’t want to live in or require massive taxpayer subsidies.” And what are we going to see tomorrow? A Government-led building programme to ease the Auckland housing crisis. So we live in eager anticipation.Then there was this about restrictions on foreign buyers of Auckland houses. What did the Prime Minister say in April last year? He said: “Oh I think that’s a bit of a red herring. It’s not needed.” And what have we seen from the Government? We have seen just that. Then there is this about child poverty. You see we had Anne Tolley the Minister for Social Development saying: “We are working on a comprehensive plan on child poverty.” And in the days and weeks following the electionthe Prime Minister himself said: “Child poverty will be our top priority.” And what do we see now? The Government is back-pedalling rapidly and is backing out of doing anything about child poverty. So we live in eager anticipation—we live in eager anticipation. I might add also what the Prime Minister said just a couple of days ago about children in poverty. He said: “Oh children in poverty don’t have it so bad because they get lots of entitlements that better-off kids don’t get.” This is National’s attitude towards child poverty.I never thought I would say this but I have been inspired in my contribution to today’s general debate by none other than Minister Nick Smith who said yesterday that Christmas is coming for Auckland homebuyers in the Budget. So I have prepared a little contribution to today’s debate and those of you who have grown up with Christmases in New Zealand will know about the great Christmas carol rhyme and so I now offer my rendition. I say this:’Twas the night before Budget when all through the HouseThe National backbenchers were keen for a stoush.The promises were hung during the election with careOf course they would fill them; how could they not? They wouldn’t dare!September 14 was a different time;The backbenchers quite happy—some in their prime.Nestled all snug in their leather armchairsJohn Bill and Steven washed away all their fears.There had been promises of surpluses of poverty relievedOf great fiscal wonders; or so they believed.“They have got us this far” the backbenchers said“What could possibly go wrong? We’re so far ahead!”But Bill English knew he just hid his fearThat all their good words were just plain hot air.It’s great that Mike Hosking and Paul Henry are glowingBut nothing can mask an economy slowing.“We have to do something! We have to be quick!”Said John Key to his Cabinet that had run out of tricks.“Ministers Bennett and Bridges and Tolley—Forget Steven Joyce and his conventional folly.Ministers Woodhouse McCully Crosby and TextorIf there’s one thing that’s clear you’ll all have to do better.I need plans to help Auckland to slow housing pricesTo help feed the kids and fix other vices.Where’s the plan for trains trucks and bikes?My Facebook page’s tanking; I can’t get no likes.And I’m sick of seeing Andy the new man about town;He never gets angry; we can’t bring him down!”Bill English stepped forward in canonical mood:“Just stop there John. I don’t mean to be rude.You may not have noticed but we have a crisisAnd it’s nothing to do with our troops fighting ISIS.Exports are diving dairy is downThere isn’t much happening in any small town.I know I’ve said the problem’s inflationBut there’s something much bigger: John Banks’ compensation.You’ve said don’t touch taxes levies and feesBut how will we pay for this? It don’t grow on trees.”And then the talk came to a stop with a shudder.The Prime Minister knew his heart now aflutter.Up from the back came a great throaty roar;Judith Collins appeared on Parliament’s floor!“I’ve heard all your talk—me and Todd Muller.All you’re known now is as a ponytail puller.Out of the way shove this in your gob;I’m here to take over. It’s my turn in your job.”Hon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for Building and Housing): I think David Cunliffe’s poetry on Harvard was significantly better. Poetry will do for Mr Little’s career what it did for Mr Cunliffe’s career. Mr Little could not even get agreement on Labour’s response to National’s housing tax policy on Sunday with half its caucus saying it was a capital gains tax and the other half saying it was not. Tomorrow’s Budget will be about further delivering on our plan for New Zealand. It is a pity there was not a single idea or plan in Mr Little’s contribution.The backdrop for this Budget is the best set of economic fundamentals that this Parliament has seen in a generation. Economic growth at 3.5 percent is growing at a faster rate than in Australia the UK the US Japan or Europe. Employment is up by 74000 in the past year with the unemployment rate down to 5.8 percent—less than in Australia less than in most countries in the OECD. Inflation is 0.1 percent in the last year. That is the lowest rate in 17 years. Interest rates—I know they do not matter to the members opposite; they actually matter to housing—are 5.5 percent. That is the lowest in 40 years. When you look at education when you look at health numbers when you look at crime when you look at welfare every one of them is headed in the right direction. My challenge to members opposite is to tell me of a country in the world that is doing better. New Zealanders know we are doing well. That is why a record number of New Zealanders are not leaving; in fact a record number of New Zealanders are coming home.I want to focus on the mantra from the Leader of the Opposition that National’s programme is in tatters in respect of the economy because we did not quite make a surplus this year. In fact Mr Little said that this is the biggest political deception in a lifetime. Well Mr Little must be very young. If this is Labour and the Greens’ big attack on the Budget tomorrow it is going to go down like a damp squib. Let me give you the numbers.Hon Member: What the Budget?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: Treasury forecast—no your criticism. Last year we forecast a surplus of $0.4 billion. The latest numbers are that it is likely to be a deficit of about $0.6 billion. That is overspending of $70 billion. We will not know the final number until October but it is fair to say it will be about $1 billion or about a 1.5 percent difference from what was forecast. Well if that is the greatest political deception let me just remind members opposite of one thing. The last time you were on this side of the House you promised the House a $1.3 billion surplus. And what did we get? We actually got a $3.9 billion deficit out by $5 billion. So if a $1 billion mistake or variation is the biggest political deception ever what is $5 billion—what is $5 billion? In fact I asked the Parliamentary Library how Budgets and actuals compare over the last 20 years. Do you know what? Over the last 20 years the average variation has been $2 billion. In fact in the nine Budgets that Labour delivered they were on average out by $2.5 billion a record significantly worse than this Government’s. The truth is that the record is this: an $18 billion deficit for 2010 halved to $9 billion halved to $4 billion down to $3 billion and well and truly under $1 billion. I compare that with the Budget in Australia last week—a $40 billion deficit going further into the red for the next 4 years. I know what side of the Tasman I would like to be on in respect of good fiscal management.Let me give you another number. Are members opposite saying it was a broken promise when National promised 171000 jobs? We delivered 194000—194000. Forecasts are just that. This Government is well and truly if you look at those numbers in great shape. I am going—Mr SPEAKER: Order! The member’s time has expired. [Interruption] Order! If you are going to table a document just seek leave.Hon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for Building and Housing): I seek leave to table a document prepared by Grant Cleland from the Parliamentary Library for Budgets over the last 20 years comparing that—Mr SPEAKER: Order! That has been described enough. I will put the leave. Leave is sought to table that particular information. Is there any objection? There is.Hon ANNETTE KING (Deputy Leader—Labour): I think it is time to ask at this time of the electoral cycle what we look for in a Government. What do we look for in the leader of a Government? I think the answer to those two questions must be integrity ethics and morals trustworthiness truthfulness and sincerity. So the next question that I would then ask this Parliament—[Interruption] Oh! They are responding before I even get to it. That is kind of like they are admitting defeat before I even start. But I would say that the next question must be: does this current Government and its leader John Key have integrity? Do they have ethics and morals? Are they truthful? Are they trustworthy? And are they sincere? [Interruption] Thank you. Well I think that it is fair to say after almost 7 years that the National Government did start out with—those members were keen they were eager they were cooperative and they were very very excited after 9 years in Opposition. But 7 years later on almost all of those fundamental measures of good leadership and government that I have mentioned today this Government is a failure—it is a failure. John Key now acts on the understanding of what he can get away with what can never be found out and what he can cover up. There is a mounting number of examples of deception of trickery of evasion and duplicity and of downright Tory arrogance.If you wanted to see Tory arrogance you saw it today—you saw it in question time today. It started with the Prime Minister who did not answer a single question but attacked every other party in this House that is not in Government. It was then followed by Steven Joyce who is the most self-satisfied smug member of the Government and Anne Tolley who kept saying: “One more sleep one more sleep.” when she would not answer questions about the Budget that were not even about the Budget but about what she had done towards it. Then we had Simon Bridges the cabin boy who stood up and insulted New Zealand First. And then the doozy of them all—the doozy of them all—Tim Groser who has been going around the world grossing out all the people we would like to do trade with. He is the man headed for Washington. He is going to be our man over there in a diplomatic role—what an embarrassment.This Government made some pretty big solemn promises to New Zealand before the last election. Not just orally; it put them in pamphlets and stuffed them through just about everybody’s letterbox in New Zealand. Then it sent letters—personally addressed letters—paid for by the taxpayer and signed “Yours sincerely” by the Prime Minister and now we are told that those promises are just mere suggestions they are just aspirational goals and they are “nice-to-haves”. The latest one of all from the Prime Minister was when he said: “They were never promises in the first place.” So the promises that were solemn promises are not promises now according to the Prime Minister. Well there is a good word for that: it is chicanery. That is what it is—it is chicanery. And that now describes the modus operandi of this Government.Let us look at some of the trickery and duplicity of this Government that New Zealanders are experiencing. What did it promise around wages? It told us that they would be increased by $7000 per annum by 2017 and now the Prime Minister tells us that it will be only half that. It promised 150000 new jobs; now it can deliver only half of that promise according to the Prime Minister.Hon Dr Nick Smith: 194000.Hon ANNETTE KING: It promised balanced books Mr Smith. It promised balanced books and now we are going to have a $5 million to $6 million deficit. “Never really mattered—didn’t really care if we had a deficit or not.” That is not what was said last year—solemn promises to New Zealand. It promised that housing would be more affordable. Well what a big fat fabrication that was. We have seen house price inflation running at 14.6 percent per year and Auckland house prices rising by 63 percent under this Government. The Prime Minister said: “There’s no crisis.” but this week he finally said: “I think they are rising faster than is healthy.” He then said: “They have been going up a little more rapidly than we would like.” So finally the Government knows there is a problem and it is trying to put the cotton wool around it. This Government is not being honest with New Zealanders. It does not show the moral fibre that it ought to have as a Government. It has become tired it has become arrogant and it ought to leave this Parliament.Hon TODD McCLAY (Minister of Revenue): Listening to that last intervention from the Hon Annette King made me feel so very very sorry for poor old David Cunliffe. Did you see what happened at the last election? All the members of the Labour Party on that side of the House deserted him as fast as they could. But when one looks at the last poll published around the country poor old David Cunliffe was polling higher on that day as preferred Prime Minister—and the Labour Party was also polling higher then than it is currently after the last 6 months—and certainly polling higher than their new leader Andrew Little is. Here is a prediction for you: very soon there will be a poll around the preferred Prime Minister that will show that the true Leader of the Opposition is the Rt Hon Winston Peters not Andrew Little because Andrew Little is going down and Winston Peters on that side of the House is going up.Do you know what? The reason for that is that the Labour Party has the shortest memory of any political party in the history of this country. I want to read this out. It is a statement that was made in this House not so long ago: “Much concern has been expressed about overinvesting in housing and the impact of the tax system in encouraging this.” It then goes on to say: “… I am mindful of the fact that under the current law investing in housing for the purpose of making a capital gain that is trading in housing is taxable. In order to underline the significance of this fact and to send a clear signal to housing investors about the purport of the current law it has been agreed between myself and the Commissioner of Inland Revenue that an additional $14.6 million [will be put in over 3 years to focus on housing tax compliance].” That was in 2007 under a Labour Government and it was Michael Cullen who said that.Well in 2010 under exactly the same law this National Government gave the Inland Revenue Department $33 million to look at property tax compliance. Over the last 5 years that has returned $258 million in additional tax. In 2013 we gave the department another $33 million and in the Budget tomorrow we will give an extra $29 million. Over the next 5 years the Inland Revenue Department will have $62 million to go out and focus on the current law which has been in place since the 1970s and it says that it will return about $420 million on that.We do believe that good tax law needs certain rules and taxpayers as well as the Inland Revenue Department need certainty. That is the reason that the Prime Minister announced that under the Budget there will be a number of changes. The first is that anybody who is purchasing a house in New Zealand other than their own home their principal place of residence will need to provide an Inland Revenue Department number at the time of purchase. A foreigner a non-tax resident will have to give us their tax information number from their own country. Secondly the non-tax resident will need to open a bank account in New Zealand before they can get an Inland Revenue Department number which means the full range of New Zealand’s anti - money-laundering laws will apply to them.I think it is reasonable that we know that anybody who wants to be involved in New Zealand pays their fair share of tax and that they are coming here with good intent. We are going to look to investigate and implement a withholding tax system so that those non-tax residents when they sell a property and are captured by the existing rules will have to pay that tax on the spot. The Inland Revenue Department will have the money. Non-tax residents will need to apply to get it back in cases where they feel that the tax is not due.On top of this we want to provide greater certainty and clarity to the taxpayer. Within the first 2 years with the exception of your family home your principal place of residence a home that you may have inherited or because of a marriage settlement there will be a brightline test that says if you have made a profit from a house that you have purchased and have sold you must pay tax on any gain. There will be a number of rules that we will work out around that. Good tax law is consulted on so we will be consulting on that before it comes before the House.The challenge in many parts of New Zealand and in Auckland is one of supply. We need good tax rules so that those who should be paying tax are paying it but the challenge is one of supply. In the last year or so we have gone from 14000 houses a year being built to 25000 houses a year being built and there will be 43000 additional houses able to be built under the special housing areas that Nick Smith has negotiated with parts of the country.The Government is focusing on supply. We are making sure that those who should be paying tax are paying tax. We are making sure that the rules are clear and are giving the Inland Revenue Department $62 million over 5 years for property compliance to make sure that all those who should be paying tax are paying it. Thank you.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First): Tomorrow on Budget day New Zealand is going to witness yet again a further fanfare of fiction fantasy and fatalism seasoned by arrogance and smugness. The fiction again will be the surplus the fantasy again will be the rock star economy and the fatalism again will be the inevitable decline of our provinces under a Government obsessed with Auckland and massive immigration.Back in 2008 this bright young thing Mr Key said that the next 10 years to 2018 must be—let me rephrase the words he said—“a decade of maximised opportunities”. We were going to be aspirational because we were being led by somebody who was the product of an American company called Merrill Lynch. You do not hear much about Merrill Lynch these days do you? It was the fifth company to go belly up in the Wall Street - generated financial crisis of greed and fraud and then it was bailed out by the American taxpayers. That is his background. There is not one fundamental political principle—just do a deal and move on. Or like that famous ad just “spray and walk away”. I tell you what it is running thin. The man has lost his mojo.In fact he turned up up north and he was on 500 hoardings—500 hoardings—with the slogan of all slogans: “Working for Northland”. Up there the people took one good hard look—the farmers all the old supporters of National—and they said like the Tui ad: “Yeah right! Where?”. There were the 72000 jobs from the organiser of the campaign Steven Joyce the “Mr Fix-it”. They said: “So there’s 72000 up here in the north and you have created 172000 in the country. That is a lot for Northland is it not when all the other electorates share all the rest?”. Then they kind of talk to people like Mr Bishop who was up there and my friend Alfred Ngaro and Mark Mitchell. What a sad case it was. It was so sad that I began feeling sorry for them; I really did. We knew and we said it 3 weeks out from the election that they were going to see a seismic shift. People in the provinces are not going to take that bulldust any more. They want some action. They want to see things happening.You know here we have got a two-tiered economy: Auckland versus provincial neglect. As for the member for Christchurch Central the only reason why her province is surviving is because of an accident or disaster. If it was not for that Christchurch would be screaming at the bottom like the rest of New Zealand. Manufacturing is declining against GDP. Exporting is declining against GDP. The Government debt is up to nearly $70 billion over seven times the Government debt of 2008. That which should be up in New Zealand is down—manufacturing exporting. That which is down—that means productive exporting the productive part of the economy and debt—is up. In fact it is upside down with the National Party. The people up north got the message.Around the country from Invercargill to Ōāmaru Timaru the Hawke’s Bay Gisborne and Wanganui we are going to take our message. There is one party that understands the provinces and their economic background. What we understand more than anybody else is this: it is you in the provinces who create this country’s real wealth. So why are you down at the bottom of the income stream? We are going to set things right. We are going to go and tell them that they will not get a change in the economic settings until they change their priority when voting and go out and vote for a party that knows where all the hard work and manual work is. Half of the National Party—you can tell by the look of them this new breed that came in—thinks that manual labour is the Prime Minister of Mexico. They have never done any physical work and it shows in their attitude.Mr Bishop has never done any physical work in his life; we know it. He gets up there to Ruawai or up there to Dargaville and the people there do not know what they are talking to. They say that this man cannot be from the party of Holyoake. He cannot be from the party of Marshall and McKay and all those famous National Party guys and women who did understand the nation and the condition of the provinces. Back then people rightly voted for National but not anymore. Up north they got the message. They are getting it in Whangarei right now. When the head of the ANZ bank turned up and said: “This is zombie town.” what did Mr Reti say? Did he say it was an outrage? No he agreed. They have got a zombie member. But no longer.Thank you Mr Speaker. I would like to go on. Can I move a motion that I speak for a bit longer? This is a very important speech.Mr SPEAKER: The member’s time has expired.Hon NICKY WAGNER (Associate Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery): First I would like to say how disappointed I am in the member Mr Peters and his attitude to the people of Christchurch. Yes the people of Christchurch have been hit by a disaster but we have picked ourselves up and got on our feet. Our province is flourishing and it will continue to flourish.As the Minister for Disability Issues firstly I would like to start by thanking the New Zealand Sign Language interpreters who are working here this week. They have done a great job. Thank you very much.Secondly I would like to start to talk about the focus of Christchurch and Canterbury on housing because absolutely Christchurch has been hit by a terrible disaster: 170000 houses were damaged or destroyed and 170000 families have had to manage their way through that. If you say it quickly 170000 does not sound that much but that is the equivalent of nearly six Palmerston Norths. Of those 170000 homes 10500 were destroyed and had to be demolished and rebuilt.I am going to skip quickly through the resilience of the Christchurch people the emergency housing the emergency repairs the Canterbury Earthquake Temporary Accommodation Service the accommodation subsidies the accommodation villages the Earthquake Commission insurance repairs and the consenting issues with the city council until we get to now—4 years later. We believe we are pretty close to being back to the same number of houses that there were in Christchurch and Canterbury pre the earthquakes. In 2014 alone 4400 houses were built. But there are still pressures.The first problem is that people are coming to Christchurch. People want to be a part of our rebuild. We are a magnet for talent to Christchurch and of course that means that those people have to find housing so there has been increased pressure for housing for workers.Secondly there is a problem with quality homes. We have got better-quality homes in Christchurch. You might say that that is not a problem. It is absolutely not a problem for the people who are living in them but the rents and the costs of those houses have gone up. It means there is less choice for people who have a lower income and that is a real problem. So to overcome that problem Housing New Zealand the city council and housing organisations have created new temporary housing options for the vulnerable. We are working really hard to make sure that that all works. Housing New Zealand is spending $1 billion. It has done 5000 repairs and it is building a new home every day. These are fabulous new homes that are double-glazed and totally insulated. There is no downside to that quality because people are still getting income-related rents.One of the best initiatives in terms of repairing houses has been the initiative we have with Christchurch Prison where prisoners are out there giving houses a new lease of life and at the same time learning skills they can use when they come out of prison into the construction industry in Christchurch giving a new lease of life to them as well.Christchurch City Council is working well. Every week we are seeing new houses opening and all its houses are accessible. I visited a block last week and any one of us would be really happy to live there.The best difference in terms of supply is the housing accords. The Government is working with the city council on four major sites. There will be over 1000 new houses—1000 new houses—and 20 to 30 percent of those houses will be affordable houses. They have already started on the Awatea site over in Hornby the contract has been let for Welles Street and Colombo Street in the centre city—and as a centre city resident I am looking forward to those people moving in to our areas—and the Riccarton racecourse site is under way. That 20 to 30 percent of affordable housing will be available through the KiwiSaver HomeStart package and that is a real opportunity for people who want to get into their own houses particularly young New Zealanders. The policy has been particularly tailored for Christchurch so we can allow second-chance buyers to get that KiwiSaver HomeStart package because of the earthquakes.It is absolutely true that housing the people of Christchurch and Canterbury has been—Mr SPEAKER: The member’s time has expired.CHRIS BISHOP (National): What an embarrassing last 90 minutes it has been for the New Zealand Labour Party the Opposition—the obstreperous Opposition: angry Andy and angry Annette. It was an embarrassing last 90 minutes. They fell apart completely during question time. We had Grant Robertson there who threw his toys out of the cot and was ejected from the Chamber. Mr Peters on sort of road to Kawakawa experience suddenly was a new convert to bringing refugees into New Zealand. Well he was back to his usual tricks in the general debate and in question time on a long-winded rant about international students flooding New Zealand and bringing their skills and expertise and bringing their income and their wealth to our country. He was straight back into it in the general debate recycling jokes from the 1970s. That joke about manual labour has been around since the 1970s and that is the best that he can do in 2015. It is embarrassing—absolutely embarrassing. It is no surprise his jokes come from the 1970s because that is exactly where his economic policies come from. Then after Grant got thrown out David Cunliffe got up to save the day. The new chief whip of the Labour Party David Cunliffe got up with long tendentious points of order. He is back. He is back and we know he is back because the Leader of the Opposition—the current Leader of the Opposition the temporary Leader of the Opposition—Tim Macindoe: Who is it today?CHRIS BISHOP: It is Andrew Little Mr Macindoe. Andrew Little decided to take a leaf out of David Cunliffe’s book and repeat a poem during his general debate speech. It was not a patch on “I am Harvard”. It was not a patch on David Cunliffe’s magnum opus from his time as a scholar at Harvard in the 1990s but it was a pretty good effort. It was reasonably amusing but I have got to say it was embarrassing that that is the best that the Opposition can do 1 day out from the Budget. We are 1 day out from Bill English’s seventh Budget and all that Andrew Little can come up with is some half-rhyming poem. So it was a very embarrassing time.Then we had old Ron Mark who was almost thrown out of the House for a sweary mouth. The obstreperous Opposition has had a very bad afternoon indeed. Clare Curran was tweeting away about how we on this side of the House were glum. On the “Planet Labour” the parallel universe that Clare Curran seems to spend most of her life in we on the Government backbenches were glum. Nothing could be further from the truth.This is a Government and this is a party that is in good heart. The reason for that and the reason why the obstreperous Opposition members over there are so frustrated and the reason why Grant was thrown out and the reason why they are so angry over on that side of the House is that they know that tomorrow Bill English is going to deliver a Budget that will show that New Zealand is heading in the right direction. He will deliver a Budget that shows we are growing at one of the fastest rates in the developed world. He is going to deliver a Budget that shows that inflation is low wages are rising faster than inflation and unemployment is down and not only that—and this is very important—he is going to deliver a Budget that shows New Zealand that this Government is tackling some of the intractable social problems that have bedevilled us for far too long.This Government is tackling things like material deprivation. It is tackling the housing affordability problem that we have in this country. It is tackling entrenched welfare dependency. It is tackling the educational disparities that exist between Māori and Pākehā and Pasifika and Māori in this country and it is implementing and embedding in the Government books the social investment approach that my colleague Anne Tolley my colleague Paula Bennett and Bill English have been working on for the last 5 years.Actually you will not see much media commentary about that approach tomorrow and you definitely will not see Jacinda Ardern or Carmel Sepuloni talk about it. You will not see them talk about that social investment approach. For starters the Labour Party members do not understand it and to the extent that they do understand it they fundamentally disagree with the idea that will be at the heart of the Budget tomorrow.This side of the House the Government is in good heart. The Opposition members are frustrated and angry and they are frustrated and angry for a good reason—because this Budget is going to be an important marking point in New Zealand’s future and our history. All they have are rants and anger over on that side of the House. What we have is a Budget that will continue to deliver for New Zealanders.JAN LOGIE (Green): I apologise in advance for my seriousness and lack of personal abuse in this speech—it seems to be counter to others. If an economy is not working for everyone it is not working and this economy is not working. We have about a quarter of a million of our children living in poverty. We have between 60000 and 100000 children consistently going without nutritious meals their own beds waterproof or warm clothing shoes access to transport or the ability to go on school trips or to get birthday and Christmas presents. We have more than one child a week dying of preventable poverty-related diseases.We have more beggars on the streets than I can remember in my lifetime. We have community workers having to access food banks at the places they work because they believe in the importance of caring for others even when this Government cuts the funding for their services. We are hearing about people sleeping in their cars or on the streets in Ashburton in Hastings in Auckland in Invercargill in Tauranga in Kaitāia and in Wellington.From one end of our abundant country to the other people are on our streets struggling. We have a capital city with the highest rates of depression in the country due to the constant restructuring of our public services. We have distressed farmers worried that they might lose their farms as they have been encouraged into untenable levels of debt. We have wages for half of this country stagnating even while ours as MPs increase.We have an entire generation abandoned. Those under 40 are burdened now with massive student debts. They are increasingly having to face up to the fact that they may never own a house or may have to wait until their parents die in order to have a house and far too many are struggling to even find a warm stable affordable place to live. We are seeing more people now with Bachelor’s degrees in the lowest income bracket—more than we have ever seen before—and we have a generation facing or trying to ignore the looming emotional and financial burden of climate change due to a failure of successive Governments to act.National tells us that it is working for New Zealand. National has lost touch with everyday New Zealanders. It has chosen to build an economy that works only for New Zealanders who already have a lot. The Budget is an expression of our collective priorities as a country or it should be. But it seems that we are going to be getting another Budget that is ignoring the reality of all too many of us and this makes me worried for all of us because it costs to look the other way when someone else is suffering.I am sure everyone in this House knows that sick feeling you get when you have hurt someone. But rather than fronting up to them and dealing with it you ignore it and of course your relationship with that person suffers. We all know that; we have all done that. If we do not feel a little bit sick when we are staring into the faces of those children going without their own beds and going without a decent meal then this is a disturbing reality of ideology and the impact of it on us.The Green Party is prepared to stand up for younger New Zealanders and all those who do not have enough to get by who are being let down by this National Government. There is an alternative—in fact there are many—and the Green Party has real solutions to ensure our economy would work for all of us. For us it is sensible economics for a small country but much more than that it is what we know is right. An economy that is working for only a few is not an economy that is working.ALFRED NGARO (National): It is an honour to take a call in this general debate. First of all it is my first time to speak since the passing away of our rangatira ĒrimaHēnare.He maumaharatanga ki te tino rangatira a Ērima Hēnare [a recollection to the great leader Ērima Hēnare]. Can I just acknowledge my respect for him. He was a great leader. He was on a number of boards. One in particular that I know that Pita Paraone will know is the Waitangi National Trust Board. He will be greatly missed because of his leadership up in the far north.I make mention of that leadership because leadership becomes critically important to this country and it is what our communities look for. I know that the Rt Hon Winston Peters talked about the far north and about a community looking for something different something new. Can I say that absolutely there was a sense of looking for more opportunities up there whether they be in employment whether they be in forestry whether they be in roading. So they were looking for that. Can I also add to the part of the picture that is not often talked about which the Rt Hon Winston Peters has not described and that is the handshake the deal that was done behind closed doors with the Labour Party. Andrew Little was up there and what happened actually was the fact that both the Greens and Labour conceded. They conceded and so that was the difference: a majority of 4000 which made New Zealand First win in the end. It did win. I will not take that away; it was a win.But can I also say that when you do those deals—and Labour members are used to that even though they talked about the deals that have been done on the National side. Yet they know that Jeanette Fitzsimons in Coromandel—the deal was done there with Labour voters. The gain was that Labour was able to stay in Government. Or whether it was with Jim Anderton and the Alliance—the deal was it was able to stay in Government. However in this case Labour has been the greatest loser because out of this what has happened? Absolutely nothing. In fact on day one after the election when asked about whether there would be some deals of working together this is what the Rt Hon Winston Peters said. He said there is no debt to be owed—there is no debt to be owed. That was classic of Winston. That is actually what was said.But what the country is looking for what the regions are looking for is leadership. When we look at this National Government tomorrow will be an important day because of the leadership of this Government and what it has been able to do. When we have the polls that go out what is the No. 1 issue that comes up? Constantly it is around the economy. It is around the economy it is around other issues—around housing education and health—but people ask whether we can fiscally manage ourselves in our economy. We have shown with the leadership of the Rt Hon John Key and also the Deputy Prime Minister Bill English that we have had steady sensible finances that are in order. In fact do not take our word for it. Let us talk about what has come out of the Dominion Post. This hurts the Opposition because now we have people like Shamubeel Eaqub for instance who has turned round and said that people have talked about the economy as a rock star economy but instead on this side we have talked about a rock solid economy. Here is what he says: “Before the recession”—prior to that time obviously when Labour was in Government—“we were … willing to borrow and spend.” Is that not a classic example of the Labour Government: “borrow and spend.”? “In comparison we’re being very careful now.” In fact he said that we are managing our economy and that in the long term it is an economy that is working ahead of other economies in the world for instance other traditional powerhouses like Japan like United States and even like Britain.Again we are seeing that confidence in the leadership financially pays a difference. How does that make a difference to our communities at large? It makes a difference because when we manage that economy well fiscally we can do the things that are important to our communities in regard to health housing and education. In fact we know that the total annual cost of new initiatives in the Government’s last six Budgets is less than $2.9 billion. By comparison the extra costs in the last six Budgets of the previous Government totalled $20 billion. That is the difference that we are making—$2.9 billion versus $20 billion—we are managing successfully. However despite the fact that we are managing we are reducing our costs we are also not renegeing on the things that are absolutely important to us.Quickly I want to talk about the KiwiSaver HomeStart package which is making a difference. That was launched on 15 April out of west Auckland—home of the west—out at Henderson Baptist Church. Over there over 150 people came because they wanted to hear about housing affordability. Here are the three things the three changes that are important: replacing the KiwiSaver FirstHome deposit subsidy with a grant doubling the support for buying a new home and increasing the housing pricing limits. So for instance for those who have been on the scheme for 3 years it will be $3000; for 4 years $6000; and $8000 if you have been on for 5 years. We will double that out from $5000 to $10000 for a new home. We believe that is making a difference. The second thing is that we are now able to enlarge the KiwiSaver FirstHome withdrawals and almost 95 percent of that can be used for your KiwiSaver HomeStart loans. I think—and I know—that we are doing a great thing to lead the country. We look forward to the Budget tomorrow.Dr DAVID CLARK (Labour—Dunedin North): What a difference 1 year makes—what a difference. Public-private partnerships or“PPP” used to mean something different to the National Party. It was the holy grail of Government intervention. Think Skycity gambling deals. Think Novopay streamlining. But they were just a glimpse of a promised future holy land. When Government partners with the private sector anything is possible—just ask the Inland Revenue Department. But do not get me wrong. Labour is not averse to partnering with the private sector. We have done it before and we will do it again. You just will not see the same kind of excited dribbling every time the term is raised. But what a difference a year makes. In the National Party “PPP” has taken on quite a different meaning. Members around the House have probably heard National Party backbenchers breathlessly whispering about “PPPs” in the corridors and in the select committees. The National Party’s “PPPs” are on every backbencher’s list right now. Because of the National Party’s usual excitement about privatising gains and socialising losses I gave these hushed “PPP” whispers little breach at first but they persisted—they have persisted.What is this new “PPP” the National backbenchers are so obsessed with? What is this buzz around the beehive? I consider it must be some scandal so I gave it some thought. Could it be a new scandal around Pansy Wong about which we do not yet know after she used her parliamentary funding for her husband’s private business trips—“TPPP” or travelling with partner for private profit perhaps? It seemed unlikely. Could it be a new scandal around Richard Worth—something about text messaging? Rumours about piquant private pictures abound. Or was it a new revelation about Phil Heatley and the publicly funded pinot payout? Still more rumours were doing the rounds. “PPPs” were everywhere I looked—the National Party is full of gossip and backstabbing these days; I can hear it coming from opposite now—but I easily dismissed the next two rumours. That Aaron Gilmore was a pathetic piss-prick was hardly news. Private purchases using public funds seemed to fit the National Party mantra but Claudette “Credit Card” Hauiti did not seem to have the head to be at the centre of so much recklessness so I dismissed that straight away.Then it dawned on me: maybe it was a reference to the Statler and Waldorf of the National Party backbenchers. There they are over there. Perhaps their coup planning was about to have its pay day. Maurice Williamson the police-phoning politician might be involved. Maybe the “PPP” whispers related instead to the ascension of his bench mate the original “PPP”—the private business Poo-Bah of Peking—but still I was not sure. What I found out though after extensive research is this. Not everyone at home will know it yet but I can disclose to the public watching this debate today that when the National Party members talk about “PPPs” they are in fact talking about post-ponytail polling. In the National caucus they have seen the “PPPs”—the post-ponytail polls—and I can see it by looking across the House. They are lining up across the House to replace John Key. His credibility has been dented once too often. The teflon is gone.I hear them crying out that Judith would be better. It is coming from across the House. Around the House they know that the internal squabbles eloquently captured in every movement of Judith Collins’ nubile eyebrows is costing them. They know that the public of New Zealand is losing trust in the empty promises of the Government and they recognise a Government that has lost touch that looks tired and that looks arrogant. This is a Government riven by internal divisions—a Government that has broken its economic promise of a surplus. It is a Government that is now hosing down its promise to deliver wage rises to workers. It is a Government that is failing.Now its focus has fallen on the internal “PPP”. What a difference 1 year makes. Running into the last election we saw a Government wading through a quagmire of scandals. The dirty politics revelations showed that John Key’s office was intimately involved in smear campaigns and treachery. But John Key stood to one side and said: “It has nothing to do with me. I couldn’t possibly know what was happening in my office. I have no responsibility for it.” That is what he said then. He said that there is nothing to see here. But all of this has changed. Since the election the dirty politics revelations have proved themselves correct. The tactics—The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch): Order! I have rung the bell so the member sits. I am calling Sarah Dowie.SARAH DOWIE (National—Invercargill): It is an absolute pleasure to enter into this debate and frankly it is quite joyous because I am so positive about what this Government has achieved. I will pick up on Mr Chris Bishop’s point about Clare Curran calling us glum. I am a very happy person because I am so positive about this Government and the initiatives that we have put in place the work that we are doing. We are growing New Zealand’s economy we are creating more jobs we are supporting our families—Sue Moroney: Come on paint that smile on Sarah!SARAH DOWIE: —it is beautiful is it not? Wailing and gnashing of teeth because you love it. You love me speaking to you especially about Invercargill. Brace yourself—I am going to talk about Invercargill soon.But first of all I am going to talk more generally about what this wonderful Government is doing for our society. We are supporting our families and our children and of course with our housing policy we are supporting the most vulnerable in our society. If you look back to 2008 what did we have? A bleak future. It was so bleak; it was almost like Mordor looking into some dark bleak clouds. The Labourites had mismanaged the country’s finances the economy was fragile—never mind going into a global financial crisis. Saving for a rainy day I know is a foreign concept to that side of the House. The economy was in a desperate state crime was at an all-time high schoolchildren were coming out of school with no qualifications ill-equipped to enter into life and to get a job and unemployment was spiralling.But now look at us. We are the envy of the OECD the absolute envy. In fact Australians our big brothers—our fiercest rivals—are putting their arms around us now and saying “Hey you’re kind of OK.” They want the Hon Bill English and the Rt Hon John Key to stay. They say: “Help us out please.” We are doing so well. Through financial prudence what have we done? We have grown this economy. We have created 194000 jobs since 2011. And what is that doing? It is getting people into work it is creating wealth for our families and they are doing well.I want to talk especially about putting more money into our health budget—our free doctors visits for children under 13 years of age. What a difference that makes. I am a mother; I have got two. I have been a first-time mother. I know what it is like taking a child to the doctor and having to pay full fees. It is amazing that we can now take our children to the doctor and get them seen to making sure that they have a better quality of life and taking the burden off the parents to take them to the doctor to get them seen to.But there is still work to be done. I mean you hear from the Opposition benches that we are out of ideas and that we are lazy. No we are not. We are not resting on our laurels—not at all. We are dynamic but we also turn to pragmatic solutions. We are not afraid to look at our policies and tune them up and make changes for the betterment of all New Zealanders.One of those policies of course is our social housing policy. As the member for Invercargill I was thrilled when it was selected as one of the first regions for the proposed transfer of Housing New Zealand houses to community providers. It is a sensible move. This is local issues being dealt with by local specialist knowledge providing local solutions for local people in need and that is better for the people in need on the ground in Southland. We have about 360 tenants with medium to long term support needs in Invercargill and about 380 houses. This policy is about delivering services that are key to the tenant—ensuring that social housing is fit for purpose and the right design size and in the right place for those people in need. It is helping tenants to independence and encouraging and developing a more diverse range of social housing providers which will breed innovation and responsiveness to those local tenant needs. It does work.All we need to do is look at the UK model. For example the Shepherds Bush Housing Group in west London began with four flats in 1968 and now has over 5000 properties under management. They offer a wide range of services covering everything from dealing with domestic violence something that is really important—Chris Hipkins: Has the member read this before?SARAH DOWIE: —absolutely I have—employment assistance budgeting advice health services and more. Again those are community focused community solutions to community issues. So I am thrilled as the member for Invercargill to endorse this policy. I am thrilled with the way this Government is managing this economy and helping our people—all New Zealanders; families and children—to success.CHRIS HIPKINS (Labour—Rimutaka): The truth is starting to catch up with National Party members. It is starting to dawn on them that making outlandish claims about good economic management means that the public actually expects good economic management. As it all starts to come unravelled and it starts to become abundantly clear that that is not what they have been delivering it is all catching up with them. When Alfred Ngaro speaks about borrow-and-spend Governments he does not accept the irony that this Government has actually had the largest borrowing record of any Government in New Zealand’s history.Hon Member: More than Muldoon’s?CHRIS HIPKINS: Even more than Rob Muldoon’s. This Government has borrowed more money than any other New Zealand Government.He talked about borrow and spend in the context of a Labour Government. Well let us bring some facts into that as well. The Labour Government ran surpluses for 9 years—every year that it was in Government. In fact not only did it not borrow but it also paid back the debt it inherited from the previous National Government and it did that whilst saving for the future through the New Zealand Superannuation Fund. Thank you Michael Cullen. As Bill English said when he first became the finance Minister Michael Cullen and the last Labour Government saved for the rainy day that was the global financial crisis. This National Government squandered the whole lot. It squandered it all. It has left the New Zealand economy completely in a basket case because the Government has wasted every opportunity that it has been given and it is all catching up with it.The promises that John Key and the National Party made have not been kept and it is all catching up with them. What did John Key say? He said that it would be a fundamental purpose of his Government to narrow the wage gap between us and Australia and to grow local wages in New Zealand. How has it done on that? The wage gap with Australia is now bigger. It is bigger than it was when the National Party became the Government. The wage gap has got bigger. That is a broken promise. He said: “I am not interested in selling assets; I’m all about building assets.” That is what John Key said. Has the Government kept its promise? No it has not. Assets have been sold off right left and centre.This is a direct quote from John Key: “We would prefer that we were a more equal society with less inequality.” And yet the inequality gap in New Zealand has continued to get bigger and bigger under this National Government. That is broken promise No.—I am up to about 4 now I think but we will keep going because there are plenty more. “I expect high standards from my Ministers.”—that accounts for broken promises Nos. 5 to 87. “I expect high standards from my Ministers.” Broken promises Nos. 5 to 87 are accounted for in that. But of course John Key cannot keep that promise when he will not lead by example. He also said: “My style is to be open and transparent.” Well that is broken promises Nos. 87 to 163 from John Key because he certainly has not been open and transparent. We have had plenty of leaks from the National Government—the things that it did not want us to know about—and it has been abundantly clear that open and transparent he has not been.Let us talk about some of the other promises: “National is not going to be raising GST.” One of the first things it did was put GST up—another broken promise from the National Government. Some of its more recent promises: free doctors’ visits for the under-13s and free prescriptions for the under-13s—except not all of them; only about 90 percent of them. It did not tell the public about that. So there are still 10 percent of kids who do not qualify for that.Hon Annette King: More than that.CHRIS HIPKINS: And probably more than that—another broken promise by the National Government.Then of course it promised to lift wages. It said that average wages will move from $55000 to $62000 under the National Government. Bill English is already saying that that is not going to happen. He is already admitting that that is yet another broken promise by the National Party. I have lost count already. We are up to 200 and something I think broken promises by the National Party. “Over the next 2 years we expect to see about 150000 jobs created.” the National Party promised. Not one single forecast from any economist or from Treasury has indicated that that is going to be delivered.And of course then we have got the big promise. It promised New Zealanders not that it was going to deliver a surplus but that it had already done so. It told New Zealanders that it had already done so and now not only is it not going to deliver a surplus this year but there is also real doubt about whether it will deliver one next year. Bill English was very cagey when asked about Treasury’s telling him that it would have to rely on a recovery in milk prices to deliver the surplus next year. He would not answer questions because he knows that it cannot deliver—another broken promise.The debate having concluded the motion lapsed.