Calder Cam: General Debate 
Calder Cam: General Debate 
[Volume:665;Page:12762] 
Dr CAM CALDER (National) 
: 
 Tena koe e te Mana Whakawa. The Opposition members talked about a plan. That is rich coming from that side of the House. In the ebbing years of the late unlamented Labour administration the rudderless ship of State crewed by a coalition of the unclean and the unwilling was wallowing becalmed in the doldrums of doubt duplicity and despair its sails in tatters hanging listlessly. Its bottom was befouled with the barnacles of indecision and the weeds of indolence and its hull was riddled with the teredo worms of mischief misdeeds and malfeasance. 
As the tide of public disenchantment grew and grew and the spectre of imminent electoral defeat loomed on the horizon confusion and hesitancy reigned. On the chart table no course was outlined for innovation economic prosperity or growth. There was only a well-thumbed rutter of more and more ill-directed Government spending that saw the performance of our tradable sector—the sector that underpins New Zealand’s jobs and living standards—decline year after year despite the best economic conditions in decades. 
John Key’s National-led Government has careened the hull replaced the rotting timbers renewed the sails and set a course towards a brighter future for all New Zealand. This is a principled pragmatic Government that listens to New Zealanders and consistently delivers on our promises. We are committed to making New Zealand a better place and we are relentlessly focused on what matters to all New Zealanders. Our policies are designed to better educate our young people and to make all New Zealanders safer healthier and wealthier. We will help New Zealanders become wealthier by removing the cloying embrace of the widespread red tape and regulation that burgeoned under the previous Government like mushrooms on a cowpat. We are encouraging better smarter public services; lifting education and skills; boosting infrastructure; facilitating innovation in business; and pursuing an ambitious trade agenda led by our globally respected Minister of Trade Tim Groser. We are tilting our tax system to reward personal effort and encourage savings and productive investment. 
We understand that a prime duty of a Government is to protect the most vulnerable. To do this and to deliver the world-class education hospitals and other public services that New Zealanders merit we have maintained an unrelenting focus on growing our economy and jobs. The previous Government’s efforts to grow the economy were notable by their scarcity and about as useful as a glockenspiel in a pipe band or two left boots for Dan Carter—that is not very useful. 
Growing our economy and jobs whilst cushioning New Zealand from the harsh effects of the worst global economic crisis in decades has required discipline and fiscal probity. This Government has resisted calls to spend billions more in extra stimulus that would have left us with a hangover of higher debt and would have led to a credit rating downgrade that would have hurt all New Zealanders through their home mortgage interest rates or business loans. This Government has the balance right and New Zealand is better for it. 
Economic growth is not just a theoretical construct; it impacts directly on people’s lives and means an increase in people’s income which in turn gives them better choices more security and a higher standard of living. We have reshaped the mesh at multiple levels in many different areas to achieve a growing economy safeguard existing jobs and provide opportunities for new jobs. 
Following our tax reforms from 1 October almost three-quarters of taxpaying New Zealanders will pay only 17.5c for each dollar they earn. This lower tax rate rewards effort and gives New Zealanders an increased incentive to upskill and develop new products and services along the way often creating new jobs for others to get ahead under their own steam. Lower personal taxes will provide an added reason for skilled people to remain in or move to New Zealand. Lower personal taxes will encourage savings as people have higher after-tax incomes and pay less tax on their investment income.