SpeechFLETCHER TABUTEAU (NZ First): Thank you for the opportunity to speak in this Budget Policy Statement debate. I could literally give the same speech as I did this time last year and in fact— Chris Bishop: Oh please don't.FLETCHER TABUTEAU: —I note that Mr Bishop actually did. It was like listening to a broken record from Mr Bishop over there. The reason why I cannot give quite literally the same speech is that things have got so much worse—so much worse. It has got to that critical point that any action now from this Government is too late. Any action that it takes now will be too late and Government members have just spent the last hour telling us how good they are at not doing anything at all.I want to just start my contribution by addressing some of the points made by Mr Bishop. I did want to add to the chorus of calls of Bring back Mr Bennett" but that would be far too painful so instead I will wish the new chair good luck in his role. But I note—oh no I do not think I am allowed to say that. Mr Bishop spoke about—and these were his words—"extremely good GDP". It was an eloquent contribution and when you look at that nominal value that face value of that number 3.2 percent it looks good. There is absolutely no doubt about it. But the reality is that GDP per capita paints a completely different picture of the economy as we move forward and I will go into that in far more detail.He spoke about how well things were going for New Zealand families but we have literally 140000 unemployed people in New Zealand as of today. We have 90000 young people between the ages of 19 and 24 not engaged in employment or training or education. That is the reality of the figures that Mr Bishop gave us. He spoke also about average wage growth but whose growth is increasing by that average figure? It is not the low-income earner. It is those already making so much money that the increase in their wages and salaries has skewed the average figure. We are being sold a set of numbers that on the surface do look good but any kind of superficial digging shows them up for the ridiculous sales pitch that they are and which they are being used for by the members opposite.Mr Bishop spoke about contributions to the Superannuation Fund and he spoke about—I think Mr Joyce earlier today also spoke about the surpluses that would be used. But let us get something straight in everybody's mind right now. The Budget surpluses that this Government is claiming we will obtain in the near future will not be enough to pay off the interest on the Government's debt that this country owes as a total. It is just absolutely—well I cannot say what I want to say. What I will say though is that he did go off message. He did go off the script because he actually spoke about how the National Government could not actually achieve surpluses for the last 7 years. He actually admitted it in the House. It was rather refreshing to see. Year after year the Government has not and was not able—Chris Bishop: It's a fact!FLETCHER TABUTEAU: Yes I know it is a fact but you guys seem to struggle to tell the people in the House what the real numbers are and what the real situation is. So it was really refreshing Mr Bishop when you used facts to tell the truth of the situation. Brilliant! I really respect you for that.All I can say to the new chair actually is that he spoke about the—what was it—prudent and wonderful ideas around superannuation and contributions to superannuation. No it was changing the superannuation age—that is right—about how sensible it was and fiscally prudent going forward. Leave it alone Mr Bishop. Leave it alone National Party. You came in and campaigned on not touching New Zealand superannuation. You told New Zealand that it would not be changed. So Mr Bishop leave it alone.In the past year I touched on earlier in reply to Mr Bishop the fact that GDP per capita has—well some pundits say about half a percent growth and others say it is literally flat at zero that the economy is truly stagnant if you measure it with just a little bit more accuracy rather than talk about GDP in and of itself. Just dig a little deeper and the economy is standing still.How about debt? I think the sales pitch from that side of the House was to talk about prudent management and safe hands moving forward. Well what have those safe hands achieved for New Zealand? They have achieved one of the greatest debts in this country's history—the greatest debt in this country's history. That is what those prudent experienced hands have achieved for the people of New Zealand and that is the Government's sales pitch to New Zealanders. It has gone over $100 million. Minister Joyce talks about the ability to pay down debt but as I said earlier those numbers just do not add up. The interest on the debt alone is billions and billions of dollars and our surpluses are not there yet.I think what we are really missing from the Budget Policy Statement in this half-year period is a vision or a direction. We are like a country that is kind of broken up in parts—David Seymour: It's a chain of islands—so yes.FLETCHER TABUTEAU: —and the first and foremost example that comes to mind—apart from being broken and in parts in the ACT Party—is the Electricity Authority which has skewed its thinking and reinforces the Government's attitude to a broken plan going forward; region fighting region cities fighting against other cities and not working together and the Government does nothing about it. What will happen probably if the National Government remains in power—and I dare not think about it—is we will move forward as regions fight against one another and the Government will argue it is economic efficiency as industries die in towns and cities potentially fade from view. That is National's economic plan.What this Budget Policy Statement is really about is a Government that is stuck that does not have any new ideas and cannot even seem to manage what it has got already. Government members talk about diversifying and growing a new economy. They cannot even get it right for the industries our primary industries that are here now. Our manufacturing statistics and our export numbers are going backwards as of today. In the most recent report out this morning the numbers are going backwards.Minister Joyce came into the Finance and Expenditure Committee to give us his vision of the future and all he could talk about was how he was going to manage the housing crisis but he dare not describe it as a housing crisis. It was just unbelievable. I have got so much more to say. I am frustrated at the moment with the amount of things to talk about—Chris Bishop: Away you go.FLETCHER TABUTEAU: —and yet well is Mr Bishop going to offer me more time from his party? Is anyone over there offering another 10-minute slot? I am happy to take it. Come on Mr Macindoe.Tim Macindoe: So much time to say so little.FLETCHER TABUTEAU: Ha ha! So I had better get to the conclusion and make the final point because Mr Macindoe is chaffing in his seat. I have not spoken about the depth of the very real housing crisis that New Zealand is experiencing right now. People in New Zealand know the truth; they know about it. They know what the situation is and they know that the Government is not prepared to act and will not act. Those members over there must first acknowledge that they have a problem. They must face their reality but they refuse to do so.Auckland is clogged. The rest of the country is struggling as people on low wages are trying to find real hours of work not the employed statistics we get where it is 1 hour a week—that is how they spin the data. Household debt grows as people borrow from week to week just to get through the day. These people now know that the Government making its rich mates richer is not helping anyone."