Tamihere John: Budget Debate 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Tamihere John: Budget Debate 
[Sitting date: 16 June 2004. Volume:618;Page:13665. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon JOHN TAMIHERE (Minister of Youth Affairs) 
: 
 Before I begin my speech I want to acknowledge one thing to you Mr Assitant Speaker Robertson. I understand that your daughter Lisa Marie rode in her first race at Cambridge today and came in a very creditable third on Jack Frost. I offer my congratulations. Not only is it a great day for Mr Speaker in regard to his daughter’s contribution to the family’s mana but it is a great day for the Government. It is a great day for New Zealand and it is a great day to celebrate a great Budget. 
Obviously Budgets are not just about budgeting—Budgets are about ideas. Budgets are about bringing ideas to fruition and setting out a vision and a platform for the benefit of all Kiwis up and down this great country. Not only must we have ideas but also the capability capacity acumen and ability to make those ideas happen. I acknowledge the prowess of the members on the front bench of this Government—they are formidable. When they stride into this House they dominate the Opposition. Not only does the Budget set a platform heading into 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 and 2010 but this Labour-led Government sets out a vision for a decade—a whole vision of going forward. We do not know what the Opposition stands for—we do not know who will champion the issues that will take New Zealand forward and we do not know what the capacity is on the Opposition benches—but we do know how dominant credible and significant this Government’s front bench is. I acknowledge those members because they have done a marvellous job. 
Let us look at the front bench of this Government. Leading off is Dr Michael Cullen—versus “Don Key” on the Opposition side of the House of course. Dr Cullen is probably the finest Minister of Finance this country has ever seen. Why do I say that? What evidence is there for that? We rate our great All Blacks on the points they score and we rate our great bowlers on the wickets they have taken. When we look at the numbers presented by this Minister of Finance in his fifth Budget we see we have to be gobsmacked. The Government has been prudent but more particularly Dr Cullen’s fiscal management has presented one of the most prudent Budgets yet again. Gross debt is forecast to drop to 21.8 percent of gross domestic product by 2007-08. When we came into Government it stood at 33 percentage points. That reduction is a huge boon to Kiwis out there. There is huge headspace and room to move in terms of the ability to take on debt in the event of any unforeseen circumstances—a wonderful result. 
This Minister of Finance has produced surpluses of above $5 billion in terms of the forecasts. Under his stewardship on behalf of this Government we have seen the New Zealand economy grow by over 15 percentage points in the last 4½ years. What more evidence do Kiwis need that this Labour-led Government is not just great for the country and for business but that Labour is actually the only party in this House with the capability capacity integrity and credibility to keep New Zealand on line? This is a Government for all Kiwis not just for the few elite rich people whom Dr Brash and John Key represent in this House. 
Moving on to Mr Anderton he is ably responded to from the Opposition by one Phil Heatley. Phil Heatley will have to excuse us because even the security guards around here do not know him. I do not know whether any constituents in Whangarei have heard of him either but rumour has it that he comes from up that way somewhere. The reality is that Mr Anderton came into this Government with a commitment to identifying and acknowledging the regional economies. They are the powerhouses of our economy and he has brought them together. When that member walks into this House no one can dominate him on economic development at a regional level. 
Let us turn to Mr Maharey versus Ms Rich. As Minister for Social Development and Employment Steve Maharey has overseen the creation of 193000 new jobs in the 4 years since the Labour-led Government was elected. In that time as Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education) he has recalibrated the whole tertiary sector by ensuring that now we look for quality—world-class quality not just national quality—and by linking that quality with relevance to our industry and commerce. What do members on the Opposition side of the House have? We must ask that question of the Opposition. Those members have no policy no vision and no alternative Budget—and no capability even if they had any of those things. Those are the questions the constituency will have to ask itself. 
I wanted to move on to acknowledge further members on our front bench. I could go right through to the back-benchers who are wonderful to a person. I will turn to Mr Phil Goff. Who is versus Mr Phil Goff on the Opposition benches? Dr Wayne Mapp. The beautiful thing about Dr Wayne Mapp and the great thing about this Parliament is that it has taken him away from Auckland University and the infliction of some of the worst lectures I have ever been a party to at the school of business at that university. Rather than harping on about getting tough on crime Phil Goff as Minister of Justice has toughened up the criminal justice system in a manner that Tony Ryall could only dream of in terms of the types of searches he enjoys when he goes to visit our corrections facilities. As Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Phil Goff has also been a significant performer on the world stage and has placed us there accordingly. 
And let us look at the Minister of Health. Annette King has been simply superb in the health portfolio; everyone knows that. She strides into this House and absolutely dominates the Opposition—so much so that those members will not even ask the Minister of Health a question. Under Jenny Shipley’s watch the health portfolio was a death wish in terms of a politician’s career. This Minister Annette King has made it one of the safest and most secure portfolios in any Government in the English-speaking world and she has to be acknowledged accordingly. 
Let us look at the redoubtable member who looks after the agricultural sector in this country Mr Jim Sutton. As Minister for Trade Negotiations he has progressed free-trade agreements with China and Thailand and put us well ahead of the queue in the world’s rankings. Just entertaining free-trade agreements with China has stimulated huge interest externally in what is going on in New Zealand and he has been great for our exporters. When Jim Sutton walks into this House the Opposition will not even ask him a question on agricultural issues such is his prowess in the agricultural sector. But it is not only that. The agricultural sector used to be the homeland and heartland of the Tory party—but no longer. Under this Government we have delivered more per capita into that particular sector than any other Government has in the last 20 years and Jim Sutton must take a significant commendation for that. 
In taking a look at what we are doing in education I could say a lot about Mr Mallard’s capacity and capability but the members on the Opposition side of the House are quaking in their boots just at the mention of Mr Mallard. There is also Mr Hodgson and so on and so forth. 
It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the rise and rise but very quick fall of Rodney Philip Hide. I want to congratulate him on—off his own vote—winning the leadership of ACT. I just want to say thank God someone trusted him and voted for him—and it was Rodney Hide so that is how he got there. He got up there as Rodney Philip Hide. Anyway the beauty of the ACT party is that half its members want to be the leader. Looking at the picture of them in the  
Dominion Post 
 we saw it was like the  
Village of the Damned 
. Those members were there dumbstruck. They were asking themselves what the hell had happened because they had got Rodney Hide. Rodney Hide has obviously been a wonderful inspiration to the creative directors of  
Shrek 
. He is ably supported by Muriel Newman so we have there Rodney Hide and Muriel Newman—we call them “Bubble’’ and “Squeak” around the House kindly and fondly. 
Kiwis’ worst nightmare would have to be a Government led by Don Brash with a finance Minister called Mr “20 Percent” Rodney Hide. Now if that is not scary and frightening I do not know what is and if being associated with a party like ACT does not lead the National Party down the gurgler I do not know what would. So I say to Kiwis out there that they should listen hard as they have their future in their hands. They have just heard all the great things that have been delivered and will continue to have delivered by this Government so I hope they do not put that in jeopardy by thinking they can trust the likes of the Opposition.