Ryall Tony: General Debate 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Ryall Tony: General Debate 
[Sitting date: 05 December 2012. Volume:686;Page:7150. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon TONY RYALL (Minister of Health) 
: 
 What New Zealanders are seeing today is a Government that is determined with its plan of action to improve the New Zealand economy and provide the better future that New Zealanders are looking for. In these uncertain times around the world New Zealanders can look to the National Party to provide the security and opportunities that they deserve. 
This is a Government that is focusing on the things that matter. You will not hear from Government members in the general debate who said what to whom who did this who did not do that and all this sort of business. You will not hear from us about all the little gotcha stories that you just heard in the last 2 minutes or 3 minutes. What you will hear from this Government in this debate is its determination to stick to its plan and the improvements that it can make for New Zealanders up and down this country because this Government is responsibly managing the finances of this nation. 
We are on our plan to balance the books around 2014-15 which will allow us to strengthen the economy and pay down debt. The average wage is up 20 percent since 2008. There is low inflation. Interest rates are the lowest in 45 years. Who does that matter to? 
Hon Kate Wilkinson 
: Everyone. 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: That matters to everyone because it means people pay less on their mortgages they have got more to spend in the shops and it costs them less to set up their businesses. It really matters. Superannuation is up since 2008. It is up 22 percent higher than in April 2008. There have been 65000 jobs created in the economy. Peak debt will be about 30 percent of GDP. This is all good news for New Zealand in difficult times. But it is all at risk when you look at the parties opposite that oppose everything that this Government does to get the economy moving. 
 We have lower business tax than Australia does. Does Greens-Labour support that? What about the 90-day trial period that has enabled 60 percent of businesses to take on new staff they would not have otherwise? Was Greens-Labour in favour of that? What about the starting out wage that would remove the barriers for our youngest workers and potentially create 2000 extra jobs? Is Greens-Labour in favour of that? No. 
What about the changes to the Resource Management Act so projects of national significance—and soon regional significance—can be moved more swiftly through the process so that we can get investments and jobs started? Was Greens-Labour in favour of that? No. Those changes were another thing that creates jobs. We have $1.5 billion committed to the Ultra-fast Broadband Initiative and the Rural Broadband Initiative which are about preparing the economy for the future. Well was Greens-Labour in favour of that? No. 
What about the billion-dollar-a-year investment in the motorway networks in order to allow producers to get their products to port and to customers faster? This is fundamental for a strong growing economy and infrastructure. Was Greens-Labour in favour of that? No. What about all the lower ACC levies for businesses which means they have more money in the bank to invest in businesses and create jobs? Was it in favour of lower ACC levies for business? No. There was not a word from Greens-Labour. We have removed 170 unnecessary and excessive regulations from the rule books and the law books to save an estimated $200 million in costs. Was Greens-Labour in favour of that? No. 
So my point here is that this Government has had a plan of action that it has progressively stepped through that has delivered real benefits to the New Zealand economy and more important has invested in the future of our economy through strong infrastructure good regulation and lower taxes and compliance for New Zealand individuals and business. These are the things that matter and time and time again Greens-Labour has opposed this. 
The Greens-Labour platform for New Zealand is “Print the money.”—print the money. We heard about that from its finance Minister “Xerox” Norman—“Print the money.” It is spending money that we do not have and it adds to the debt beyond what we can afford. Those borrow-and-spend policies will threaten the low inflation that has made things more affordable for families the low interest rates that have made it easier for people to borrow and maintain their mortgages and the steady recovery that National’s policies are delivering for New Zealanders. These are difficult times around the world but New Zealanders know they have a Government that is focused on what matters.