Ryall Tony: Debate on Prime Minister’s StatementText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeRyall Tony: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement[Sitting date: 29 January 2014. Volume:696;Page:15636. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon TONY RYALL (Minister of Health): I am very proud to be part of a Government that focuses on the things that matter to New Zealanders and I think it is somewhat ironic to have Mrs Moroney claim that she is when she is in the party that wants to ban Facebook. I do not know whether anyone saw the train wreck of an interview on television last night with the once up-and-coming member for Dunedin North Dave Clark where he was just wound in and ended up committing Labour—and actually it was Labour’s policy. He said he had been talking about it for some months—allowing Labour to ban Facebook. Honestly is that what Labour is about? It is on every media site every TV channel banning Facebook. That is not concentrating on the things that matter—that is not concentrating on the things that matter. It is actually just being stark bonkers to make those sorts of things.So anyway what we are doing on this side of the House is really focusing on the issues that matter for growing a fast-growing economy for the betterment of New Zealand families. That stands in really stark contrast to what we have seen from the party opposite which is really just back to where it always used to be which is tax and spend wasteful spending bureaucracy and spending money that it does not have. That is what it has always done and it is what it is always going to do. But on this side of the House because of our very prudent and careful financial management of the New Zealand economy we are on track to get the country back into the black. We are on track to be able to keep New Zealand moving forward. Although countries all around the world are struggling with debt and deficit—the United Kingdom France Italy Spain Greece and even Germany; public debt is at levels like 100 percent of GDP in some of these countries—we are peaking at around 27 percent. So we have got this plan. We have been sticking to it. It is about controlling spending and it is about taking the sharp edges off the recession to benefit the most vulnerable families in New Zealand and protect our social services and that is what we have done. It is a programme that really works for New Zealand.We are focused on our key priorities. I think that the Prime Minister’s statement which we are debating this afternoon continued to build the country’s prosperity on those four platforms. The first is about managing New Zealand’s finances responsibly just like people would expect us to do. Secondly we are building a more competitive and productive economy because in the end creating jobs incentives and reward for effort is what makes a strong growing economy. Thirdly we have been delivering better social services Better Public Services for New Zealanders within very tight budgets because that is what the public expects of a National Government—careful spending and a focus on results and services for New Zealanders. And fourthly surely one of the greatest responsibilities of our Government is leading the rebuild of one ofour great cities Christchurch. On the very first day of the earthquakes that is the commitment that our Prime Minister gave—that we would stand with that city. And we are and we are investing strongly in the support that we are offering and working with them on.So look our economy is growing. More jobs are being created. Family incomes are rising. Crime is down. We know that more elective surgery is being provided for New Zealanders and more preventive health care is out there. Long-term welfare dependency is falling and we are continuing to help New Zealand families with a very generous income support system. So our Government is focused on the business that New Zealanders have sent us here to do and that is to get New Zealand through the recession get our country going forward get our country in the black and make sure that we have a strong growing economy for New Zealanders. But month after month we see the Opposition parties attacking what our Government is doing and policies that Labour and the Greens in Opposition continue to push on New Zealanders—stuff that will not make jobs and stuff that will not benefit families in getting ahead like a capital gains tax which will punish people who work hard to grow their businesses. You are out there and you have got a small takeaway you have got a small bookshop you have got a small dairy or you have got a small kiwifruit orchard. You work hard you increase its value and you grow the wealth—bang! They will take a big dollop of that when you come to sell your business.Opposition members want a big gap between the company tax rate and the personal tax rate. They want a more punitive emissions trading scheme. So they stand up every day and worry the country about electricity price rises which are half what they were under Labour but they will not say what they will do and what impact their punitive emissions trading scheme will have on prices. It will push up their power prices way beyond what they ever saw before. They want to nationalise the power industry. Look no country in the world that has moved to anything that Labour and the Greens are proposing has reduced power prices. So they say: “Oh this is the sort of system that they run in Ontario.” If only they knew the power price rises that the people of Ontario are facing. They are significant.They have got this half-baked plan to become the country’s biggest property developer. They are against the International Convention Centre and all of the jobs that they are going to have there. And now they are going to become the insurer of choice for New Zealanders—the 97th insurer in New Zealand. So really Labour and the Greens are not focused on what really matters. Their record is rejecting everything that this Government has done to speed up and support the economy. They are against every Resource Management Act change that makes it easier for jobs to be created. They are against everything that means that more houses will be built. They are against everything that means more jobs—unless of course they are Government jobs. They are all in favour of Government jobs but not private sector jobs. They are against the International Convention Centre. Theyhate the investment inThe Hobbit and they hate what we have done withAvataras well. So they are against all of that.They are against other international investment from overseas. They are against what we are trying to do with aquaculture in the Marlborough Sounds. They are against what Bathurst Resources is trying to do to create jobs on the West Coast. They are against the increase in jobs wealth and opportunities that irrigation and smart water use can provide for New Zealand. So time and time again we see that when push comes to shove the Opposition parties cannot support anything that will actually create jobs and opportunities for New Zealanders. But we see it as the major job of our Government to continue supporting the wealth creators the families the small businesses and the individuals who are trying to keep New Zealand moving ahead. That is the reason whyfor example we continue the reduction in ACC levies. Hundreds of millions of dollars are being returned to New Zealand businesses.We continue with the Business Growth Agenda and all of the initiatives there research and development and the ultra-fast broadband investment. These are all of the things that build the nation and build an economy and that is what we are doing because that is how we pay for important health education and social services in New Zealand. It is not by doing some tricky things like saying: “Ah in the last election we were promising $1.5 billion worth of stuff that we could not afford but now we are pulling back on that and we are just going to spend another $500 million.” That is not actually responsible finances. We need to have a strong growing economy. That is what creates jobs but it is also what funds the better public services that New Zealanders want. It is what is going to fund what is already budgeted like these excellent education announcements that have been made by John Key and Hekia Parata—excellent. For years we talked about incentivising and rewarding the best teachers and the best principals but the people who have opposed it the most are the teacher unions and their handmaidens in the Opposition. They have always opposed anything that would reward and incentivise the best teachers in New Zealand. And it is coming as Simon Bridges says because this Government is delivering it.This Government is also delivering better health services for New Zealand. There are 1300 extra doctors in our public hospitals 3000 extra nurses and 1000 fewer managers and administrators. We have put the resources on the front line and by golly they are delivering. There were 40000 extra elective surgeries this last 12 months compared with when we came to office. It is a really significant investment in elective surgery. More of our kids are being immunised than ever before. More of our New Zealanders are being discouraged from smoking. That is a fantastic investment and a huge turning point that our Government has created in the fight against tobacco. This is a Government that is focused on what matters which is a strong growing economy and we are making a difference to New Zealand families.