Peachey Allan: Budget Debate 
Peachey Allan: Budget Debate 
[Volume:647;Page:16419] 
ALLAN PEACHEY (National—Tamaki) 
: 
 Ah there is a little man with the little man’s disease! Tonight over New Zealand this fine country there hangs the pallor of economic gloom and uncertainty and the best that that Government can put up tonight is that fool Shane Jones. That foolish man is the best that that Government could put up. This Budget delivered with no vision and no confidence by a Minister of Finance who knows that he is presenting his last Budget—and the people of New Zealand say “Hurrah!” to that—has no direction. The little tax cuts are given grudgingly. They are not part of a long-term plan to put more money into the hands of good hard-working New Zealanders. This is Michael Cullen being dragged reluctantly by the Prime Minister into giving New Zealand people a little bit of their money back in Labour’s last vain hope—and it is a last vain hope—of winning an election. We just have to look at how low Labour members’ heads are and at their dropped shoulders to see that they know it is too late. 
New Zealanders have figured it out; this Budget’s tax revenue is $22 billion more than the tax take when Labour came to office. That is money taken from ordinary hard-working New Zealanders. If this House wants a point of difference between the National side of the House and the miserable socialists over there it is this: no one is better qualified to spend his or her income better than the man or woman who earns it. That is what those members do not understand. They think that they know better than New Zealanders. They think that their mission in life is to take as much money as they can from New Zealanders and spend it as they want. As the clouds of economic doom assemble over this country they have no answers. They have no answers; all they know is that they take more money. They pour it down a dirty great big hole of bureaucracy and they think everything will be all right. 
Tonight I have a message for those socialists over there and it is this: where in this Budget is any action at all that will save an 80-plus-year-old woman from the experience I am about to describe well understanding emergencies and priorities. A woman was rushed to a hospital seriously ill and in great pain left in a corridor for a couple of hours and then—under this Labour Government which boasts about how much it spends without telling the people where the money is going and without having any quality control over it—this lady who is over 80 years old seriously ill and the widow of a World War II veteran is told to get out of her bed and it is given to a much younger person. I defy any member over there to get up on his or her feet to say that that is acceptable under any conditions. Then this fine lady who never caused anybody any difficulty in her life and who would never complain is put in a wheelchair. After probably a couple of hours in the wheelchair in a crowded corridor she can take it no longer—and nor should she. So she wheels herself away finds a couple of those white plastic chairs somewhere pulls them together pulls herself out of the wheelchair and is found several hours later lying between those two chairs. She was found lying between those two chairs. That is where the socialists get it wrong. They are so busy spending money on bureaucracy that the ordinary people sometimes get let down. 
Those members make another mistake too. They think that if we can praise something like the health system or the schooling system we can ignore its failures. Let me tell those members that we cannot. It does not matter how good the health system works for New Zealanders. If just one 80-year-old lady is forced to lie for hours on two plastic chairs it is not good enough. Would one not think that a few— 
Hon Shane Jones 
: Stop making this up! 
ALLAN PEACHEY 
: How dare Mr Jones say that! He is a disgrace to this Parliament. Would members not think that a few bureaucrats could maybe go without sea views from their offices so that the hospital system could give that fine gentle lady a bed? That is all she wanted: a bed to rest on until she could get treatment. This Budget has no vision at all for dealing with that sort of problem. Mr Jones may sit over there and laugh and sneer; the man is a fool. 
Let us talk about education for a moment. 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I let it go three times; you may have been distracted by noise in the Chamber. I know the member is relatively new although he has been around a few years now but there is a point of etiquette in this House about hurling abuse. Terms like that which he used three times are personally offensive. He should be called to account and it should be demanded that he withdraw and apologise. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: I just say that the member who takes offence has to be the member to which the offence or the concerns are expressed and that was not done. This is a robust debate. 
Hon Shane Jones 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I want the former headmaster to know that he must stop looking in the mirror and that I have taken no great offence. 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: No—that is not a point of order and the Minister knows that. 
Lindsay Tisch 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: I have dealt with the issue Mr Tisch. 
Lindsay Tisch 
: It is a new point of order. My colleague has responded to a comment made by the member who said he was making it up. My colleague is a very sincere gentleman. He is speaking with experience he is speaking about a specific case and he was reacting to a comment made by the member who said: “Stop making it up.” My colleague here is genuine in his attempts to bring to this House issues that this Government and its members are not prepared to accept— 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: That is not a point of order; it’s a speech! 
Lindsay Tisch 
: I am on my feet. This is a point of order and the member is interrupting. My colleague is right in what he has done and that is where the matter should rest. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Thank you. I just say to members that this—[ 
Interruption 
] I am on my feet. I advise members that this is a place for robust debate. This is a democracy and we have to expect some of those comments. But I would urge all honourable members to play the ball and not the member. Remember that and we will preserve an excellent field for the full play of ideas in this place. 
ALLAN PEACHEY 
: When I look at this Budget and think of the least advantaged of our children I find nothing. I wonder what the socialist members opposite who are very very good at shooting their mouths off at a distance have to say to those parents of children with special needs who cannot get access to a special school and who are on waiting lists waiting for another parent’s child to die. That is what it has come to under this Government. Government members would rather debate how much it spends rather than the quality of that expenditure or how it can get the best for our people. 
I was very interested to hear Mr Goff’s address before the dinner break. One would expect Mr Goff to be a thoughtful reflective experienced Minister. All he could do was throw abuse at this side of the House. I sat there wondering what that was all about. Then I realised that Mr Goff has realised that his chances of being Minister of Finance are gone. Helen Clark put paid to that last week so it is going to be Trevor Mallard. What also surprised me was that Mr Goff was not looking at the figures in the Budget. He is counting different numbers. He is going around the Labour caucus talking to the guys who backed Mike Moore in 1993 and asking: “Are you still with me?”. He has probably been to Mr Jones and said: “I’d rather not have your vote frankly because you will not be part of a future party that I lead.” Instead of addressing the issues in this Budget because the pall of economic uncertainty hangs over this country he is asking those members whether they are with him. [ 
Interruption 
] All that those two Cabinet Ministers can do rather than address those issues is throw abuse across the floor. Look at them they are masters at it. When somebody comes along who is a bit bigger and a bit smarter they whinge complain get on their feet and raise points of order and seek the protection of the Speaker. Well let me tell those members that in this election campaign the debate will be robust. They will be held to account by the National Party for this Budget pathetic as it is. They will be held to account for this Budget and the New Zealand electorate cannot wait for that.