Lee Melissa: General Debate 
Lee Melissa: General Debate 
[Volume:669;Page:15935] 
MELISSA LEE (National) 
: 
 Sitting here and listening to some of the members of the Opposition talking about higher moral grounds reminds me of a time when the previous Labour Government was in power and David Parker was quoted as saying something about the higher standards of the Prime Minister’s predecessor. I just mention Taito Phillip Field and “paintergate”. I also say that at least our Prime Minister John Key paints his own pictures. Mr Parker—or is he Mr Caygill or Mr Cunliffe as I cannot remember—must have polled his own lounge room because that is the only way he would get that kind of a result. Money does not grow on trees and cannot be found at the bottom of the garden where pixies live but that is exactly what Labour members seem to believe. Or maybe they believe that the fairy godmother will return to give them some ideas on how they will finance their policies as they certainly do not seem to have any answers. 
Their leader Mr Goff talked about lowering GST at the cost of $3 billion—not $3 million; $3 billion. The finance spokesperson Mr Cunliffe—or shall I call him Mr Caygill—promised that Labour will not go on a spending binge. It would be good to know how Labour would conjure up the extra money—and that is exactly what it will be doing: conjuring. Labour’s financial management or rather mismanagement has left us facing a decade of deficits. It was hoping for some magic to get us through these difficult times but the New Zealand public saw through the magic tricks and wanted the safe and sound economic management of a National Government to get us out of the rut and to move this country forward. 
I ask about Labour’s promise to use KiwiSaver to help Kiwis save more without increasing the squeeze on their income today. Who will pay for that? It is probably the same story from that side of the House: “Just slap it on the bill Mr Phil Goff.” Maybe Mr Goff mistaking Mr Cunliffe for Mr Caygill speaks louder about the inner workings of Mr Goff’s mind. Perhaps he is yearning for the old days when Labour privatised everything or perhaps it is a reaction to the undermining nature of the factional currents which are apparently strong currents. Did we not hear about the 17 friends of the Te Atatu member Chris Carter who were working against— 
Tim Macindoe 
: I think there are more now. 
MELISSA LEE 
: Are there more now? Maybe that is the problem—strong currents for a leadership coup but maybe the prince is not quite ready to rock the boat just yet. 
Another magic show that Labour is relying on is that the New Zealand public will forget that savings fell under the long 9 years of the Labour Government. Inflation soared spending increased and many Kiwis left New Zealand. It is not a good sign when Kiwis leave our country when they do not want to be Kiwis and they want to live elsewhere. We are trying to attract them back to this country so that we can grow the country as a nation. Labour members say that they want to reduce our debt faster but at the same time they promise to take GST off fruit and vegetables to immediately resume contributions to the New Zealand Superannuation Fund to increase the number of Wellington-based bureaucrats—my goodness they will be hated—to require smaller dividends from State-owned enterprises to establish a raft of new grants for handpicked businesses and to extend the paid parental leave scheme. New Zealanders should watch out. The only way in which Labour can do that is to raise taxes and spend less as a Government. Labour members are delusional if they think they can achieve that without raising taxes and that is surely the way they are headed. 
The National Government has built its economic plan around six policy drivers including strengthening our tax system. National has delivered— 
Brendon Burns 
: Tax cuts tax cuts tax cuts tax cuts. 
MELISSA LEE 
: I say to Mr Burns that yes we have delivered on the tax cuts that we promised. For 9 long years while Labour was in power when did New Zealanders get a tax cut? Oh that is right! It was just before the election. My goodness!