Ryall Tony: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Ryall Tony: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
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Hon TONY RYALL (NZ National—Bay of Plenty) 
: 
 The call went out to Labour Party back-benchers to spend their 10 minutes expounding on the virtues of this Government and talking about the plan for growth. It is little wonder that the MP for Mana finished so early in her 10-minute speech. The far-reaching reforms this country saw in the 15 years prior to this Government taking office put New Zealand’s economy into a greatly improved position. We are now seeing the wide range of benefits that come from that platform for prosperity produced by the previous Government. This Government has a goal of economic growth. Furthermore it wants to get New Zealand into the top half of the OECD which we know means growth of at least 4 percent a year. We have heard Government members say very proudly today that we do have growth of 4 percent but when one takes away the 1.5 percent population growth the real growth is only about 2.5 percent. That is why National’s spokesperson on finance Dr Don Brash made the point in his speech at Orewa that the average New Zealander is $200 a week worse off than his or her compatriot in Australia.  
What is the answer to that? The answer is improved productivity here in this nation. New Zealand’s productivity is stagnant at its current levels. 
Hon John Tamihere 
: The answer is that Gerry is safe. 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: I always enjoy Government members’ interjections because they show that things are starting to hurt and they do not like being reminded of that. The only sad thing about this speech is that I am giving it to Labour’s C team. It is not the B team but the C team. It is sad that this speech should be wasted on anonymous members of the Labour Party—people whom no one in New Zealand can actually name. I was in Hamilton the other week and found that people there still think Bob Simcock is the MP for Hamilton West because he is the only person who does anything. We have ended up with a guy called Martin Gallagher in that electorate and he is the second-worst select committee chairman I have experienced working with in my time in Parliament. 
Hon David Carter 
: Who is the worst? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: David Cunliffe is the worst but Martin Gallagher comes a very close second to him.  
The point I make is that this is a do-nothing Government with no vision for New Zealand. It is not just the National Party that is saying that. The  
New Zealand Herald 
 ran a survey in which it went out to the 120 top corporate executives and company chairpeople in New Zealand with this simple question: does New Zealand have a growth strategy to sustain business success? Only three of them said yes. Only three conceded that there was a strategy or the beginning of one. One respondent even pointed to the 1990s economic reforms and called them a growth strategy. So the answer to that question from New Zealand business leaders was no. Mr Geoff Hunt the chief executive of Alstom said: “No one is clearly describing what sort of country New Zealand will be in 10-20 years’ time.” I am sure he was referring to the Government when he said: “If no one is painting the future then it is unlikely that all the necessary steps will be taken to get us there. Even worse without a clear view of the longer-term future it is probable that short-term decision-making will remain.” Moreover Mr Matthew Cockram from Bell Gully said: “There is a lack of coordination and vision at a national level”—and that is national with a little “n” in reference to Labour—“about what we stand for as a country”. That is just an indictment from New Zealand’s business leaders.  
There is an even stronger fear expressed in that survey that New Zealand is fast losing its competitiveness against Australia. Mr Clark Perkins from JBWere—who is the brother of a member of one of the groups that the Prime Minister consults closely—wrote of “an urgent requirement to understand a strategy must be compelling when compared to Australia.” That is the point Dr Brash made. When compared with Australians the average New Zealander is worse off by $200 a week. The criticism from business leaders is relentless. Geoff Vasey from the Ports of Auckland said: “You can’t have a knowledge economy and innovative businesses and ‘no risk’ labour regulation.” The  
New Zealand Herald  
reports that it is the Government’s failure to listen and act on businesses’ real concerns that chief executives find frustrating. Let us go back to Mr Cockram. He said: “The trend towards greater regulation and Government participation (e.g. the Local Government Act and ACC) emphasises a distrust of the private sector that is unhealthy. It reinforces a culture of dependence.”  
Because this Government vilifies those who criticise it many people spoke to the  
New Zealand Herald 
 on a not-for-attribution basis. I have picked out three examples of what those people said. One said: “A growth strategy does not exist. It is politically driven and influenced also mixed up and muddled over the Maori situation.” Another said: “The Clark Government is all window dressing and no substance. So far they have been incredibly lucky with the New Zealand economy they inherited. They are not to be trusted as essentially they are anti / do not understand business.” Here is another comment: “It is very easy to criticise but there are no easy answers. The Government has sought answers by addressing demand in skill shortages. If only they would fix the Resource Management Act and the resulting delays/greenmail.”  
The survey also went on to give a rating of the Clark Government’s impact on business in New Zealand. [ 
Interruption 
] The new Government members can scoff at what business leaders say but the reason I am raising business concerns in the Parliament today is that those members need to know that the people who are responsible for wealth creation in the New Zealand economy have very real concerns about the policies the Government is forcing on the nation. 
 In fact in that  
New Zealand Herald  
survey those 120 chief executive officers and chairpersons were asked to rate the Clark Government’s impact on business to date on a scale of 1 to 10—1 being hopeless and 10 being positive. It was rated at minus 3. Business leaders have identified a number of areas including the level of tax that make it difficult to compete overseas: restrictive employment rules that make engaging staff a big contingent liability; a lack of skilled labour; the education system; and excessive Government regulation. So time and time again we are hearing from the business leaders of New Zealand that this Government lacks the vision and the plan to take the New Zealand economy forward.  
I say to the House that there is one party in the Opposition called National that has the ideas the talent and the skill to provide that vision for the people of New Zealand. The next Prime Minister of New Zealand Bill English and the next Minister of Finance Don Brash have more idea about what is required for the future of this country than any member on the Government benches. It is clear that New Zealand needs new leadership and a new focus. More important we need to address a much stronger economy in New Zealand. This afternoon I looked at the new New Zealand Stock Exchange’s NZSE50. I tell the House that 36 percent of the businesses listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange used to be Government businesses. They have been floated and put into direct public ownership. If one adds the ports into that figure 40 percent of New Zealand’s sharemarket is made up of formerly State and council-owned businesses.  
If New Zealanders are to have the opportunity to invest in successful growing businesses then they must have the opportunity to invest in many of the businesses owned by the Government that serve no social purpose whatsoever. It would be much better for us to say that the investment we as taxpayers have in those businesses should be released so that the businesses can go into the parts of the economy where it matters. We must back business through a greater growth and innovation strategy than this Government can offer; releasing those enterprises so that more private capital can go into them and that can strengthen New Zealand’s capital markets. Forty percent of New Zealand’s capital markets used to be Government businesses and they are many of the businesses than underpin the New Zealand sharemarket today. We need to grow the New Zealand sharemarket by providing more opportunities for New Zealanders to invest in businesses that there is no purpose in the Government continuing to hold. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Before I call the next member I indicate to the House that the New Zealand First members have decided to split their time so that they have a 5-minute call each.