Foss Craig: Address in Reply 
Foss Craig: Address in Reply 
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CRAIG FOSS (National—Tukituki) 
: 
 I think that the member who has just resumed his seat is one of Labour’s associate spokespeople on finance. He may not be so for very much longer after that little speech. I have to pick up on a couple of the points he made. 
I think he said something about the previous Government having left the accounts in pretty good shape. If he was referring to the May 2008 Budget yes the numbers did look pretty good. But were they showing the full picture? We have talked about the pre-election fiscal update where the numbers deteriorated somewhat. Is that what he was talking about when he talked about the accounts being in good shape? Or perhaps he was talking about the financial statements from towards the end of last year in which the figures deteriorated even further. At that time the new Government had been in place for about a month and a half I think. Yes global conditions had deteriorated and impacted on New Zealand but New Zealand had been in a recession for about a year prior to the rest of the world’s coming into recession. So most recent revelations about the Government accounts show that they are most certainly not in as good shape as the previous speaker tried to make us believe was the case. 
In fact New Zealand agrees with the National Party and this Government that the ownership of the current set of accounts in terms of where they are and the decade of deficits inherent in them actually fully and totally belongs with the previous administration. I am not referring to the May 2008 Budget but to the most recent set of accounts which are actually a result of the policy that the previous administration followed for the previous 9 years. So the accounts that the National Government inherited were not in any way in good shape at all. I will come back to that later in my speech because the member did not talk about the Accident Compensation Corporation the treatment of Housing New Zealand Corporation depreciation or the nature fund being gouged from in order to buy a station in the South Island. That was about getting great public relations but the full story was obviously not told nor revealed to the public.  
The incoming Government peeled away at the accounts looked at them line by line put the borax on them and tried desperately to find some of the lines to fund some of the announcements that the previous administration had made. Sadly in many of the accounts we could not find one line one budget one department one ministry or one account for many of the previous Government’s announcements. The borax has gone on the accounts; it is still going on. In the next few months this Government will take full ownership of and inherit the accounts at that time. They have not been left by the previous administration in a very good state at all.  
Prior to the election the now Prime Minister John Key launched National’s 100-day plan. That plan covered a few facets—and I will come back to them. One was particularly around the economy and the tax cuts which the previous speaker alluded to. Interestingly many Labour members who spoke prior to me actually showed their true colours. Yes we know that tax cuts were legislated for by the previous administration because it was about 15 points behind National in the polls but in every single speech one could tell that the member was still speaking through gritted teeth about personal income tax rates. The Labour members were basically saying what a mistake it is for this Government to build upon what the Labour Government announced in the May 2008 Budget and continue to have an ongoing programme of personal tax cuts. So their true colours are showing because the tax cuts that the Labour Government announced were actually built upon by this National Government. Either the Labour members are criticising themselves or I really do not know what they are saying.  
I do now think Mr Cunliffe the new finance spokesperson for the Opposition over there truly understands the poisoned chalice he has been given by the previous Minister of Finance Dr Cullen as he now has to try to explain his way through what was obviously a very dubious and somewhat adventurous explanation of the accounts towards the end of the last year. Perhaps what was said was according to the letter of law. But one might suggest that perhaps the spirit of the law and of the Public Finance Act etc. was not followed. I am open to that but we will watch with interest over the next few weeks to see what might be revealed. It will be quite disgraceful in New Zealand’s history if in fact it is shown that very solid platforms and foundations of our system such as the Public Finance Act have been breached. That would be very very serious.  
National’s 100-day action plan is well on the way towards being implemented now. I think 27 February is the end of those 100 days. Incidentally I believe that 26 February may be the previous Prime Minister’s birthday. I am not sure about that; I think it is the case. If it is then I say in advance happy birthday to Helen Clark on 26 February at the end of our 100 days. A key plank of the Prime Minister’s speech and of the 100-day plan was of course law and order. Law and order is a very very serious issue. It seems to be a perennial issue yes but things seem to have got markedly worse and to have deteriorated over recent weeks months and years. Much of that perhaps is due to the leadership of—or a lack of leadership from—the previous administration. The bottom line is that law and order is a major issue and one of the biggest threats that face New Zealand.  
One of the planks that National and our Prime Minister Mr Key announced is that we would be introducing legislation to clamp down on criminal gangs and their drug trade. I am very very pleased that our Minister of Justice Mr Simon Power introduced the Gangs and Organised Crime Bill the other night to follow through on that plan. That was also in the Prime Minister’s speech. Gangs are a major threat to 99.9 percent of us and to our society families structure and communities. They are an abhorrent threat. I will give members an example of that. Today in the  
Dominion Post  
and on the Stuff website was the headline “Gang raids in Lower Hutt” then “Police have raided seven Lower Hutt properties today after reports of gang intimidation against a woman and her pre-school children.” What a disgrace that is! 
Hon Judith Collins 
: Yes and well done the police. 
CRAIG FOSS 
: Yes I say “Good on the police.” I thank the member. It was well done by the police. The point is that this behaviour is going on and sadly now it is not a unique event; it is happening all the time too often and for too long. Too many people are being hurt and intimidated. It is now time to fight back. The legislation that the Minister of Justice introduced the other night is but one step in the direction of that fight back. 
I will make a point of another reason why it is so urgent that the 100-day plan is followed through on. Recently a good and decent Hawke’s Bay man Mark Allan McCutcheon—also known as “Nippy”—was killed as he tried to intervene to stop a woman from being beaten. People would have recognised Mark anywhere in this country as a Hawke’s Bay man of the land. He could have been me or anyone’s husband dad or friend. His hair seemed permanently ruffled and his shirt was never quite tucked in. He played hard and he worked hard. He was a true character who volunteered and helped others. He loved his family. He had special cuddles for his girls and laughed as they ran along the beach. He went to the Magpies’ games and to his children’s school and sports events. Mark worked in the family business and paid taxes. He was 34 years old a good husband a good daddy to three lovely girls a good son a good brother a good friend and a good community man. He was killed allegedly by a person who was none of that. In fact the person was probably quite the total opposite of good and decent. 
I attended Mark McCutcheon’s funeral recently in Waipawa where about— 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Rick Barker) 
: Excuse me! Would the member just pause for a moment. This matter is currently before the court. The member should be very cautious about what he says so that he does not appear to be interfering at all with the judicial process. I urge the member to be very cautious and circumspect. 
CRAIG FOSS 
: Thank you for that guidance Mr Assistant Speaker. I attended that funeral and about 1000 other good and decent Hawke’s Bay people were there to show their love and respect for Mark McCutcheon and his amazing family. I will do whatever I can to push back against those who laugh at our police and our society’s rules. I have had enough of the excuses; there should be no more of them. 
Our Minister of Justice Mr Power has introduced legislation in Parliament that is a step in the direction of reclaiming our decent society. The time is long overdue for good and decent people—good and decent members of our community as we all are here in the House—to say that enough is enough and to begin to push back and reclaim our communities.