Hayes John: Budget Debate 
Hayes John: Budget Debate 
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JOHN HAYES (National—Wairarapa) 
: 
 The previous speaker Phil Twyford is the member whose glass is 28 percent full because that is where he stands in the polls. That is where the community says to Mr Twyford that they are sorry but they are not listening to him. The community elected a Government on a platform of enterprise and growth and they wanted a Government that has ambition for their country. I have to say to Mr Twyford that it was not Rodney Hide who thought of the Auckland super-city idea; it was at a conference called the Catching the Knowledge Wave run by Mr Twyford’s previous leader Helen Clark. I happened to be at that conference when the idea of a super-city was advanced and I congratulate Rodney Hide not Helen Clark for picking up the idea and introducing it for the benefit of those in Auckland and all New Zealanders. 
I felt like I was listening to George Hawkins’ valedictory speech earlier this evening. I was particularly interested to see this piece of paper that I am holding the  
Hawkins Herald 
 which is 
published using taxpayers’ money. I have never seen such arrant nonsense put into the public domain by a member of Parliament. I think that the public are absolutely entitled to get their money back particularly because one of my colleagues says that this is not the autumn edition of 2010—he saw this edition in 2001. All that has happened is that it has been recycled. I say to Mr Hawkins that this is just not good enough. 
What is this paper harping on about? It is harping on about an increase in GST but it overlooks the increase in benefits that will be paid to people including our superannuitants. On an inside page is a completely fictitious photograph of two mining trucks with the headline: “Is this what you want to see on Great Barrier Island?”. I say to Mr Hawkins that this is an outrageous lie. 
Hon George Hawkins 
: I raise a point of order Mr Deputy Speaker. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: I know what the member is going to say. The member cannot use the word “lie”. I ask him to withdraw that comment. 
JOHN HAYES 
: I withdraw. But I say that this is an outrageous misrepresentation of facts because this photograph was not taken in New Zealand. Members will remember that Mr Brownlee the Minister of Energy and Resources presented a discussion paper and sought ideas. He did not say that this would happen on Great Barrier Island yet the taxpayer has paid for this arrant nonsense from Mr Hawkins. 
Then there is the article in the same paper from the member for Manukau East Ross Robertson which talks about ageism as being alive and well. Well he should look around him. 
Hon George Hawkins 
: It is in your case. 
JOHN HAYES 
: Yes he can look at my case. But he could look at Mr Hawkins too; in fact he could look at himself or he could look at our colleague Winnie Laban. Ageism is not alive and well as Mr Hawkins’ paper suggests. I see my good friend Mike Moore is to be ambassador to Washington and I am proud to be in a party that has the presence of mind to find the best people for a job. 
We want a free-trade agreement with America and I am delighted that the John Key - led Government has— 
Hon George Hawkins 
: Tell us about page 10. 
JOHN HAYES 
: No I will tell members about page 7 which has an article from Clayton Cosgrove the Labour spokesman on law and order: “Police denied resources needed to fight crime”. It overlooks the fact that 300 police officers have recently been appointed and put into south Manukau—300 new police officers yet Mr Hawkins’ newspaper says that police are denied resources to fight crime. This is what his newspaper is worth—nothing. I am really disappointed that taxpayers in this country have had to pay for it because it is rubbish. 
This Government has come through the recession in pretty good shape partly due to the measures the Government took in Budget 2009 and partly due to the resilience of many New Zealanders. If we look at the previous Labour Government’s track record going back 9 years which is well documented in this nonsense by Mr Hawkins we see that even before the global recession hit the economy showed sluggish and unbalanced growth driven by debt driven by consumption and driven by Government spending particularly on bureaucrats whom we have never seen so many of before. So this Government is particularly concerned to create an economy that produces new jobs. The burden of the recession fell most harshly on those who lost their jobs and on their communities. We owe them every effort possible to create new opportunities for new jobs. 
This Budget fulfils many of our pre-election commitments. These together with agreements made with support parties—and by that I mean ACT the Maori Party and Mr Dunne’s party—have given us the first priority on available resources. Protecting the vulnerable is the highest priority we have. During the economic downturn we maintained entitlements and we are still doing that. We made commitments to low-income earners and older New Zealanders who need security when times are uncertain. That is why I say to Mr Hawkins this Budget maintains New Zealand Superannuation and benefits it maintains student support and it maintains Working for Families. All of the misleading statements that I have heard in the House tonight are absolutely untrue and entirely wrong. This Government is standing by its beneficiaries. This Government is taking action. 
My colleagues across the Chamber cannot decide where they stand. In the 9 years of good economic conditions that those members enjoyed in Government social welfare spending almost doubled. That is Labour’s idea of helping families—giving them handouts. I have been told by doctors in Masterton that they were getting calls from Government officials telling them to get Joe Bloggs off the unemployment list and put him on the sickness beneficiary list because they wanted to pretend that the unemployment rate was dropping. 
The bottom line is that Labour wasted the good times that we left it with in 1999 and here we are back again sweeping up after Labour. We inherited a decade of deficits from poor spending choices and we are taking steps to control rising debt. We want to invest in real growth for all New Zealanders in infrastructure; in research science and technology; and in broadband for my electorate in the Wairarapa. Labour promised broadband for years but it never delivered. In this year’s Budget we have committed over $200 million to the rollout of our $1.5 billion flagship the ultra-fast broadband initiative. 
Working Kiwis will benefit from tax changes—we have talked about that in this House—and New Zealanders both rural and urban and young and old alike will gain from the Government’s investment in this economy. Our focus is on increasing the number of jobs and on boosting exports. The April export figures are up by $380 million over the last year. We are putting more money in New Zealanders’ pockets. 
We have set aside $1.45 billion this year for infrastructure including broadband for schools. I was looking at this matter yesterday out at Makuri to the east of Pahiatua where broadband is alive and well miles from anywhere. On top of that $1 billion is available for roads. We can go up the Rimutaka hill road and see that Muldoon’s Corner is disappearing. We cannot grow an economy without an effective infrastructure. We are directly supporting thousands of jobs contributing to a stronger economy through this infrastructure investment. 
This is astonishing. I recently spent a week with KiwiRail. Members will remember that Mr Cullen bought it for $600 million. This Budget has put another $750 million into KiwiRail which must mean that we paid $600 million for it at a time when the value of the company was negative $150 million.