Roche Denise: Debate on Prime Minister’s StatementText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeRoche Denise: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement[Sitting date: 10 February 2015. Volume:703;Page:1395. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]DENISE ROCHE (Green): I want to join with previous speakers in the House to send my condolences to the people of Ngati Porou for the sad passing of Dr Apirana Mahuika. A great leader has fallen and we acknowledge that.I have been perusing the statement that the Prime Minister tabled this afternoon in the House which outlines the programme of work that National is looking at introducing this year. I note that in his opening statement the Prime Minister outlines the four priorities of the Government. One of them is to responsibly manage the Government’s finances. This comes hot on the heels of the Prime Minister’s comments today that he has not ruled out putting more taxpayers’ funds into the supposedly free convention centre that Skycity is building in Auckland. That does not strike me as responsible fiscal management. For a Government of so-called business people this Government has got appalling negotiating skills. It cannot even negotiate a cost-neutral deal. New Zealanders were supposed to be getting a free convention centre. The Government’s own papers show that the original deal negotiated goes $67 million in favour of Skycity for that deal. Right from the start this Government has bent over itself to give Skycity every opportunity to squeeze more profits out of New Zealand taxpayers and to pass those profits on to its shareholders. Skycity posted a profit of $69 million this year and it is coming back and asking the taxpayer for a bailout so that it can increase those profits.The deal that this Government originally negotiated with Skycity is set to deliver it $35 million a year so that the $402 million convention centre will be paid off within 10 years. These earnings result from the concessions that this Government gave to Skycity including the changes that this Government brought through legislation through the House the year before last and that legislation was passed by only two votes. This Government is saying that it wants to govern for all New Zealanders. That is a woeful track record so far.Skycity is obviously the better negotiator. The concessions it got for the convention centre deal include an extension of its casino licence for another 25 years effectively ensuring that Skycity has the monopoly on gambling at casinos in Auckland and that concession alone is worth millions of dollars. The free convention centre is also paid for with the addition of 230 pokie machines 12 automated gaming tables which will accommodate up to 240 gamblers and 40 additional card tables. All these gambling concessions add up essentially to a whole new casino added on to the one that Skycity has already got. The Minister for Economic Development Steven Joyce said in 2013 that for little if any investment by taxpayers the convention centre would be built. But even before this latest approach by Skycity for more money the taxpayer would still be paying for this deal. The Government’s own papers show that there will be 6500 children impacted by problem gambling as a result of that deal and the misery that we will make these children suffer is the price that we will pay.We have a Prime Minister who is not ruling out bailing out the cost overruns that Skycity says is the result of its latest design for its hotel its casino and the convention centre. That overrun is about $140 million—a 25 percent increase—and you cannot blame Skycity for coming back to the Government to do this because a snake is a snake after all. But it is time that we cashed in our chips and walked away from this deal. As Kenny Rogers says: “You’ve got to know when to fold them.” It is time to walk away. Thank you.