Bennett David: General Debate 
Bennett David: General Debate 
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DAVID BENNETT (National—Hamilton East) 
: 
 If that was the bold new direction of Labour Party policy then we will be the Government for a very long time to come. The previous speaker David Cunliffe thinks he will be the leader of that party but he was the fourth speaker from Labour. He was the fourth cab off the rank today. He talked about median incomes. Labour has gone around and tried to find a statistic that suited it but that member does not even know what the median is. It is not the middle. The middle is not the median; the average is the middle. I tell that member to get his facts right. 
We need to look at this in a constructive way. This country is going forward by setting a positive direction. We can sit out there and try to tell New Zealanders what to do as the Labour Party does by saying that fruit and vegetables should be at certain prices or that we cannot sell any land to overseas buyers. However Labour sold land historically at such huge rates that no other country would even contemplate. New Zealand has a choice. It can either be dictated to by some people sitting on that side of the House or it can give the people of New Zealand the tools to make their own future. That is what we are doing. We trust our people and we believe in them. By giving them a taxation system that will encourage them to take risks to work hard and to be successful they will in turn grow themselves and grow the country. 
That is the political dimension that this House represents. On one side it is telling the people what to do making decisions for them and saying that we know what is best. On the other side it is empowering people to give them the ability to make the best of their opportunities and giving them the skills strength and opportunity to do so. That is what we have done with the tax changes. Those changes are about empowering New Zealanders. They show New Zealanders that if they get an education get a good job stay in this country and make it work they will get the rewards. That is the whole point. On the other side of the equation those members want to tell us what we can do. They try to keep everybody equal and not give us that ability to actually succeed. 
We have no problem sending out the right incentives and signals. We do not need an economy based on consumption and on trying to get by year by year or election to election as Labour did when it was in Government. We want an economy that is long term that grows that is successful— 
Dr Cam Calder 
: Healthy. 
DAVID BENNETT 
: —and that is healthy and strong. That is what we will deliver through these tax changes. 
When we look at the situation Labour left this country in we see it left us in recession before the rest of the world. It left us with huge inflation rates. It left us with a situation where the Government was going into debt before the recession hit around the world. It did not leave this country strong. It did not leave this country viable to go through what happened. Imagine what would have happened if Labour had been in power in the last 2 years and had had to make decisions in some tough times. It would have been an absolute disaster for this country. 
We have been fortunate that we have made the right calls we have listened to what the right things are for our people and we have made the right decisions for this country. When we look at those tax changes we see that they will make New Zealanders better off. They are about the long-term gain and they are about providing those signals and incentives. 
I ask members to look at some of the expenses and price changes on comparable goods over the time that Labour was in Government compared with prices under National. Overall the inflation rate for the 2 years from 2006 to 2008 was 7 percent. 
Dr Cam Calder 
: How much? 
DAVID BENNETT 
: Seven percent. National’s average inflation rate is 3 percent in tougher tougher times. We have kept inflation down and we have kept interest rates down so that New Zealanders can progress and go ahead. 
But what is this? Labour members always talk about how vulnerable people are at risk because the big bad Tories are increasing the prices of food; that is what they always say. Well food prices under Labour increased by 15 percent in those 2 years—15 percent. Under National prices have increased by only 5 percent. National has delivered one-third of the increase that Labour did. We have looked after the vulnerable people. We have looked after those who do not have the income levels that one would expect or want in this country and we have given those people the chance to survive in these very difficult times.