Lotu-Iiga Peseta Sam: Appropriation (2009/10 Supplementary Estimates) Bill Imprest Supply (First for 2010/11) Bill — Second Readings 
Lotu-Iiga Peseta Sam: Appropriation (2009/10 Supplementary Estimates) Bill Imprest Supply (First for 2010/11) Bill — Second Readings 
[Volume:664;Page:11905] 
PESETA SAM LOTU-IIGA (National—Maungakiekie) 
: 
 It is my privilege to stand to speak on the Appropriation (2009/10 Supplementary Estimates) Bill and the Imprest Supply (First for 2010/11) Bill. Many people have spoken already about what this Budget provides. It provides opportunity. It provides jobs—170000 over the next few years. But the context in which this Budget was produced was an economy that under the previous Labour Government was in a state of disrepair. It was an economy that was contracting in November 2008 that had had 4 consecutive years of export decline and where the biggest show in town was Government departments. It was an economy that was overtaxed and that crowded out investment in productive resources. So the economy that we inherited as a Government was in a state of disrepair. 
Budget 2009 took some steps to address the problems of that economy to move it along the road to recovery and to rebalance it to improve economic growth and to move our focus towards exports and savings. The current forecast for New Zealand’s net external debt and liabilities is about $250 billion by 2014. Yes it is $250 billion or quarter of a trillion dollars and that is astonishing. The Government finances face similar challenges and we are spending more than we earn. Any householder knows that when we spend more than we earn we must necessarily borrow and some like those across the Chamber steal. The National Government will not steal. We are reducing our borrowing. We have produced a Budget in 2010 that will progress us towards surpluses sooner. The bottom line as I have already stated is to rebalance this lopsided economy towards productive business productive investment and exports. 
So what does Budget 2010 do? First it puts economic growth at the front of our agenda. Its overriding aim is to tilt the economy towards savings investments and exports. Secondly it puts together the most comprehensive tax reform that this country has seen for 25 years and that reform is about making the tax system fairer and promoting faster economic growth. Thirdly it is about the fiscal outlook. Both our Crown debt and Budget deficits now are looking better than they did 12 months ago and certainly better than they did 12 months prior to Budget 2009. Why is that important? I put it to members that if debt spirals out of control as it has done in other countries particularly European countries and the United States it crowds out investment in jobs and investment in opportunities. It also could lead to a downgrade in our credit rating and increased borrowing saddles future generations with the spending of today. Finally debt impacts businesses; it impacts businesses to the extent that the cost of borrowing increases debt repayments increase and as a Government we are not able to spend on areas where it is required like health education and infrastructure. 
Finally this Budget is about reprioritising our spending and allocating new spending of $1.1 billion. We have moved that new spending to front-line public services. We have more police nurses doctors and services that actually serve our communities rather than more bureaucrats in Wellington. The number of them expanded under the last Labour Government. It is about quality spending on infrastructure and we have put money into ultra-fast broadband and roads. I am pleased to see that State Highway 20 which goes through my electorate of Maungakiekie is 6 months ahead of schedule to budget and to specification. Yes we are building the roads of tomorrow. The spending on infrastructure also includes spending on rail. We all know that this Government inherited a trainset from the last Government. It was a bad investment. That Government overspent on the purchase price for KiwiRail. But the Budget is about delivering a network and I am pleased that the Onehunga rail station in my electorate is about to be opened later this year. That is about investment that is about decision making and that is about making the right investments at the right time. 
The Budget is about economic growth and our programme now is forecast to deliver real GDP growth of 3.2 percent in the year ending March 2011. That 3.2 percent growth compares favourably with the last Government’s record. In Labour’s 9 years there was less than 1 percent year-on-year growth. In the most favourable economic conditions it achieved less than 1 percent year-on-year growth. That is appalling. As I travel through my electorate of Maungakiekie from the factories in Penrose to Mount Wellington and right through to Onehunga the word out there is that confidence is up; confidence in this Government is up. Out in the factories of Onehunga and Penrose people are glad that we are addressing some of the harsh policies of the last Labour Government. They are pretty happy about the 90-day probation legislation in that they are able to hire people on probation. They are happy about the tax cuts. There are not just personal tax cuts but business tax cuts. That matter has not been mentioned in this House with any degree of frequency. We can be proud of the 28c company tax rate. Our tax rates are comparable with those of other countries. We now have one of the lowest tax regimes in the world. 
The Budget is about preparing for future growth. We have invested in infrastructure but as well as that one of the key investments is in education. We are prioritising early childhood education. We are prioritising it especially in those communities that do not access early childhood education. I refer to the Pacific communities where 85 percent of children are currently accessing early childhood education and we would like to see that number rise to the mainstream percentages of mid-to-high 90s. It is a Budget that I support and it is a Budget that has been well received by New Zealanders.