Bishop Chris: General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBishop Chris: General Debate[Sitting date: 26 November 2014. Volume:702;Page:857. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]CHRIS BISHOP (National):The confected outrage by the Labour Party in the debate this afternoon has been tragic and hilarious. You expect the confected outrage from the Green Party—barely a day goes by when Russel Norman is not in a state of high dudgeon down in this House accusing the Government of being the most corrupt in New Zealand history and everything like that—but we do expect a little bit better from the Labour Party.I have got to say the confected outrage is tragic and hilarious. To be lectured on this side of the House by a party that engaged in scurrilous actions when it was in Government is hilarious. This is the party that sent taxpayer-funded spin doctors to Melbourne in Australia to dig for dirt on John Key in 2007. Annette King spent 5 minutes of her speech talking about how taxpayer-funded spin doctors are terrible. That is exactly what Labour did. Annette King decried people in the Government talking to bloggers. This was the party that established The Standard blog—established the blog—out of the ninth floor of the Beehive in 2005. I suggest to members opposite that they go and visit The Standard because it is a cesspit of bile and hate—bile and hate. It was run by David Cunliffe’s campaign manager who set up the secret trust for him. It is an absolute cesspit and they over on that side of the House established it.We were lectured on leaks by a party that has Phil Goff in it who took a secret confidential Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade memo and leaked it in 2004 to try to embarrass Don Brash. Just 2 days ago Phil Goff leaked another secret document and secret report in an attempt to gain political advantage. So to be lectured by the guys on the other side about scurrilous behaviour ladies and gentlemen is just ridiculous. I predict the overblown hyperbole of the Opposition will be seen for what it is because it continues a trend of the last 6 years which is that the Labour Party and the Green Party opposite focus on what they think is important and what matters to them and not on what matters to New Zealand.So let us talk about what matters to New Zealand. There were two very significant events and pieces of data released in the last week that I think warrant some attention of the House. The first is the announcement that we have had a positive household savings rate for the last 5 years—this is the first time since 1989 to 1994—of 2.1 percent. Members opposite often talk about and decry our lack of a savings culture in New Zealand: “We don’t save enough. We borrow too much from offshore.” Well we have had a positive savings rate for the last 5 years. We are shifting this economy away from debt-fuelled consumption which is what we had under the last Labour Government towards an economy built on savings and investment. These are very important economic numbers and I think that the House should spend some time focusing on them.The second piece of important information was the migration numbers which were just highlighted by my colleague Alastair Scott. There has been the smallest net loss of people to Australia since October 1994. People are literally voting with their feet. Fewer people are leaving to go to Australia and more people are arriving.Tracey Martin: 47000 net gain—net gain.CHRIS BISHOP: Yes that is right Tracey—47000 people net gain to New Zealand. People are literally voting with their feet. They are coming from Asia they are coming from the UK they are coming from Australia and they are coming from all over the world because our economy is growing at one of the fastest rates in the Western World. I know you do not like people moving here and I know that the member opposite does not like people from other countries coming to New Zealand but people are literally voting with their feet.Over here in the National Party on this side of the House we welcome people moving to New Zealand. We welcome foreigners wanting to spend money and invest in New Zealand. We welcome people wanting to relocate here or relocate their businesses here because we are a confident multicultural nation that is outward facing not insular and closed to the rest of the world like the closed minds of members in New Zealand First. Those are the very important migration numbers released.In my area of Lower Hutt we are focused on improving the innovation in our economy. That is a key part of the Government’s economic plan to make sure that this country continues to drive our economy forward. We have got some fantastic businesses in Lower Hutt like Pertronic Industries like Tekron and like Label and Litho. This is a Government that is making a record investment in research and development so that we can get our economy going forward and continuing to grow at one of the fastest rates in the Western World. Thank you very much.The debate having concluded the motion lapsed.