Robertson Grant: Budget Debate 
Robertson Grant: Budget Debate 
[Volume:664;Page:11688] 
GRANT ROBERTSON (Labour—Wellington Central) 
: 
 Well it is no wonder that Mauri Pacific died a death. That speech was from the former leader of that great esteemed vehicle Mauri Pacific. I think that Mr Henare might have been getting confused in terms of New Zealand ambition when he talked about Spain Greece and Portugal. He was getting confused between the economy and the FIFA World Cup. We are ambitious to meet Spain Greece and Portugal in the FIFA World Cup but we want to do a whole lot better than that when it comes to the economy. Mr Henare needs to accept that if Labour had followed the advice of the National Party when we were in Government and had indulged in a frenzy of tax cuts we would have been in the position of Greece. Year after year John Key Don Brash and Bill English stood up and asked why Labour was not cutting taxes. Instead we were paying down debt and investing in the economy and that is why we are not in the position of Greece. That is why New Zealand is able to come out of this recession OK. We did not take the advice of the National Party to cut taxes. 
This was a Budget where there were choices to be made. This was not a recession year Budget. Bill English has told us the recession is largely over for New Zealand. This was a Budget where there were choices available to the Government and the wrong choices were made. This Budget could have been about increasing the skills of New Zealanders. This Budget could have promoted an economy that is based on sustainable jobs. I have just come back from China. Even in China the message is getting through. The economy and the environment need to be seen together. We need to invest in high-tech greentech new technologies that will grow sustainable jobs for the future. This Budget could have made that choice but it did not. This Budget could have invested in our future and said that skills and training were important. 
The Government talks about Australia a lot. It could look at the last two Budgets to come out of Australia and see an extra billion dollars going into tertiary education to lift caps on enrolments that they have had in place. The Australian Government knew that this was the time to invest in people. This was the time to say that skills matter. As we emerge from the recession we need an economy where people can pick up those new technologies take on new skills take on new jobs and become more productive. This Budget could have made choices to invest in people but it did not. It made the wrong choices. 
The Government said to young people that it was not very concerned about giving them a good start because it wants to give tax cuts to the few. That is the choice that has been made. Any member opposite can go to an early childhood centre in his or her area and then answer this question: do tax cuts for us in this House matter or does quality teaching and affordable childcare and affordable early childhood education matter? That is the choice and the choice has been made by National to give tax cuts to the few and take money away from early childhood education and away from parents. 
I visited several early childhood centres in my electorate after the Budget was delivered. They are deeply concerned on a number of levels. They are concerned because a number of parents will not be able to afford the increased fees that they are being forced to charge. One early childhood centre that I visited with my colleague Sue Moroney was talking about an additional $50 per week being charged. That early childhood centre estimated that at least eight families out of the 30 families attending the centre would not be able to afford that increase. Is that the choice that the National Government wanted? Does the National Government want to put that choice on parents? Does it want to say that quality early childhood education is not its priority? That is the message that parents and families are getting in New Zealand today. This Government had a choice and it chose tax cuts for the few above quality early childhood education for the many. That is an unacceptable choice in my view. 
An investment in skills could have addressed the fact that 60000 young people are now out of work. Where was the investment in New Zealand’s future? This was not a time to give tax cuts to the few; this was a time to invest and to say that we want people in good quality jobs and we want sustainable development. We want research and development supported by our private companies and in the public sphere. Those choices were not made because “short-term-ism” ruled. National has given a quick tax cut designed to come in so it benefits National going into the next election at the expense of the future of New Zealand and I think that is shameful. 
I think this Budget failed two key tests: it failed the aspiration test and it failed the moral test. We need to aspire to be far more than what Mr Henare said about the basics—it is just about the basics; all we can aim for is to have people leave school with the basics. This Budget comes from a Government that told us it was going to be ambitious for New Zealand. That is not being ambitious for New Zealand. We should be investing in quality teachers and quality education and not worrying about national standards and slogans. We need to make sure that people have a future in this country and that they know they can stay here and work in good quality sustainable jobs. 
The real difference between Australia and New Zealand is not about tax. We can play around with all the numbers about taxes—State taxes payroll taxes and income taxes. But in the end the difference is actually wages. That is why people go to Australia. It is about wages. It is about having good quality jobs with good quality high wages. Where is the plan in this Budget for wages? Where is the plan in this Budget to increase wages and increase quality jobs? There is no aspiration in this Budget to invest in the future of New Zealand. We have seen a tax swindle a tax shuffle that has increased prices for ordinary New Zealanders. 
In my electorate even in a relatively affluent electorate like Wellington Central I see people who are struggling with their cost of living. The No. 1 issue I get coming through the door from people is the cost of living. What did this Budget do about power prices food prices and petrol? 
Hon Member 
: Nothing. 
GRANT ROBERTSON 
: It is worse than nothing. This Budget has increased costs in electricity. It has increased the cost of food through the increase in GST. It has made the cost of living far far worse for ordinary New Zealand families. The Budget fails the test to give them inspiration and aspiration. If the Government cuts education and cuts into health then that cuts into the social fabric of New Zealand. We have seen accident compensation charges go up. We have seen early childhood costs go up. Any benefits derived from the tax cuts are wiped out. We have had examples in this House of families who are $55 a week worse off once we factor in early childhood costs and accident compensation costs. 
So what is the Government’s reaction to all of this? What can it do? Well straight after the Budget speech Bill English started talking about asset sales because quite clearly that is the agenda he wants to get to. John Key is not so sure. But the shine of the Budget wore off very quickly in my electorate and I am sure it has in a lot of other electorates. This Budget has failed the aspiration test. It has failed the test of inspiring New Zealanders to get out there and be proud of their country to work hard and to be in a sustainable economy. But far worse than that in my opinion it fails the moral test that says that a society should be judged on how it treats the young the old and the vulnerable. If we look at how this Budget treats the young we see cuts to early childhood education and to childcare support. Is that really the message we want to send? Is that really the moral message we want to send about the importance of young people? This Budget fails that test. 
Let us look at how this Budget treats the old. The health budget does not even meet inflation and the increased costs of an ageing population. It goes backwards. There are home-care cuts. In my own electorate I have had people in tears in my office about cuts to the care of their elderly parents. We have seen the rates rebate cut back. That fails the moral test in terms of supporting the elderly. It also fails the moral test in terms of supporting the vulnerable. There are mental health funding cuts. There are no new State houses. Pathways to Partnership and the refugee study grant have been cut back. How mean can the Government get in this country? Refugees whom we have traditionally supported into study have had their tertiary education funding cut by this Budget. This Budget fails the clear moral test of supporting the young the old and the vulnerable. It fails the test of aspiration. It is a very poor Budget made up of very poor choices broken promises and a failure to support New Zealanders into the future.