Woolerton R Doug: Appropriation (2007/08 Estimates) Bill — Third Reading Imprest Supply Debate 
Woolerton R Doug: Appropriation (2007/08 Estimates) Bill — Third Reading Imprest Supply Debate 
[Volume:641;Page:11056] 
R DOUG WOOLERTON (NZ First) 
:  
I understand how those members have to keep up the morale. We used to have to do that sort of thing when Tuku Morgan was with us. 
Today I want to talk about the good things that are going through the Parliament at the present time the things that New Zealand First would like to see going through the Parliament and the things that are not going through as quickly as we think they should. 
 I would just like to say so that nobody is under any illusions that the National Party has spent a lot of time—in fact all during the last election period and since then—talking about tax cuts and what they would do for the country. But people in New Zealand should know that the last tax cut the National Party gave the people of New Zealand was back in 1960. 
Jill Pettis 
: When? 
R DOUG WOOLERTON 
: Back in 1960 if the member would believe it. Yet it has based its whole campaign on tax cuts and it continues to talk about them to this day. Just recently New Zealand First was proud to vote for a tax cut which the National Party voted against. We proudly voted for a reduction in tax on some financial institutions many of which are involved in the KiwiSaver scheme and National was not too happy about that either. 
A few weeks ago I stood five times in this House to introduce a bill—the Reserve Bank (Amending Primary Function of Bank) Amendment Bill—to ensure that the targets for the Reserve Bank are wider than we have in New Zealand at the present time so that instead of just concentrating on the inflation target we concentrate on exporting and so that the Reserve Bank can ensure that it looks at employment at the same time. This happens in other countries and we do not think it is revolutionary. We think it is plain good common sense. Those are the things that we as politicians are required to look at and those are the things that the Minister of Finance is required to look at. We think it makes senses that those are the things that the Reserve Bank governor and his team are required to look at as well. 
It is amazing that just recently we had an extremely high dollar that was hurting our exporters. New Zealand First wanted to do something about that. I was the person who was delegated to do that but interestingly the National Party was not interested. Bill English made a lot of comments in the select committee that there was nothing wrong with the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act that it should be left exactly as it is and that there should be a completely hands-off situation regarding money. Out in the public arena of course they were crying crocodile tears for farmers and exporters they were saying that something should be done and they were saying that the Government should stop spending—that is mainly on roads schools and hospitals. That is completely at odds with what the National Party was saying at the last election when it made a big play on the need to put more money into infrastructure. 
So what I am really saying is that while New Zealand First is doing its best to propose solutions the National Party is proposing none. In fact it wants to go back on the work that the Labour Party is involved in regarding our infrastructure. We know that at the present time we are looking at record low unemployment. We in New Zealand First applaud that and again sadly I might add I have to draw the comparison with the time the National Party was in power and we had record unemployment. So something must be going right. Also we would not like to see the return of the days when assets were sold by both the big old parties in this House. They sold Air New Zealand the railways the tracks and that sort of thing. 
We still look forward to the day when our colleague Peter Brown’s suggestion comes into play. We look forward to a time when we not only have the railway tracks back but have gone one step further and treat the railway tracks as we treat roads in this country. Every tonne that goes across those tracks should be charged to the operator who owns the trains and there should not be just one operator. One would hope I suggest to Mr Brown that we will see the National Party and the Labour Party if they believe in free enterprise look to the day when Mainfreight operates on the roads and the railways and the Owens Group operates not only on the roads but on the railways and pays a levy per tonne as we do on our national roads. When we see that day we will believe the rhetoric that the parties engage in across this House. 
It saddens us—and I am not into giving lectures or anything like that—that when crises befall our people we just point the finger back and forth. The truth is that in the recent situation of the high dollar we saw both political parties reluctant to do anything while at the same time they paid lip-service to being concerned for our exporters. 
I hope that we are not on the cusp of some sort of recession. One cannot pick up a newspaper these days without seeing the pros and cons of that happening; some people say it will and many people say it will not. But we in New Zealand First do not think that those things should be absolutely inevitable. We have seen far too many reports recently that New Zealand is but a bit player that we are not in control of our own destiny and that if America catches a cold we get the flu—in fact we just about die—and we do not believe that we should put up with situations like that in New Zealand. 
Quite obviously there will be hardships if the major economies catch a cold. But we should not have this air of inevitability that we seem to be seeing from the two major parties at this point. We believe that it would be heartening and good for morale if nothing else if we could see some constructive action around the possibilities that might befall this beautiful little country of ours. I for one have never subscribed to a completely hands-off attitude to our economy. I have never subscribed to the situation that our exporters should just take whatever comes their way. 
I believe that it behoves us in this Parliament to take an active role and ensure that those who export and provide our standard of living are treated in a way that enhances their work and thus makes life better for all the citizens in this country. I look forward to that day. I think New Zealand First will have to be a major party in this Parliament before that happens but until it does we will work towards it.