Tabuteau Fletcher: Debate on Budget Policy StatementText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeTabuteau Fletcher: Debate on Budget Policy Statement[Sitting date: 09 March 2016. Volume:711;Page:9534. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]FLETCHER TABUTEAU (NZ First): I do have to admit that I was listening to David Bennett when he first got up to contribute to the debate this afternoon—and I regretted it as soon as I started doing it. I regretted it because once again the chairman of the Finance and Expenditure Committee had nothing to contribute to the debate. He simply added to the rhetoric and he added to the spin. He simply repeated what the rest of that party over there has been telling New Zealand for the last couple of years. I will give him the concession at least that he is in good company on that side of the House. So I stopped listening to Mr Bennett. I did stop listening.Not that far through the debate—Pita Paraone: Here was Mr Bishop.FLETCHER TABUTEAU: Yes that is exactly right. I thought: “Here’s Mr Bishop. This guy—he’s got some nous.” But let me qualify that as soon as I say that. All he did was attack the Labour Party. All he did was talk about policy that is over a decade old. He talked about what the Labour Party had done and he said nothing contributed nothing to what this Government has to contribute in terms of the Budget Policy Statement.He did allude to better trade; in fact it seems to be a common theme. Mr Bishop did talk about the fact that we need more trade and better trade. New Zealand First and the caucus with me here this afternoon could not agree more with that sentiment. This country needs trade. We need better trade. But the reality is—Ron Mark: Smart trade.FLETCHER TABUTEAU: Yes smart trade. The reality is that that is not what Mr Bishop was talking about when he rose for his contribution this afternoon.As rampant immigration grows it places—and it has placed—a temporary band-aid on the GDP figures of the New Zealand economy at the moment. What that rampant immigration—especially going into Auckland which clearly cannot cope with it—has done is increase the consumptive economy of New Zealand thereby kind of hiding the reality that this Government has contributed nothing of substance in terms of a Budget or in terms of policy statements; nothing substantive to grow this New Zealand economy.New Zealand First agrees that GDP has increased. But when I talk about a band-aid—if you break the numbers down what you see with the increase of new people in New Zealand is that actually when you look at it per person GDP either arguably remains the same or some of the numbers suggest it has actually gone backwards. GDP per capita is going in the wrong direction and that is an indictment on the very real reality that that Government has done nothing meaningful to grow this economy. The only meaningful thing that it has contributed is to the media in terms of spin and rhetoric—Tim Macindoe: “Rhet-oric”.FLETCHER TABUTEAU: Thank you for the qualification Mr Macindoe.This country is going backwards so although the members opposite speak publicly of prudent and sensible fiscal management the reality is that behind closed doors Ministers are panicking. They should not blame Labour any more but they did it this afternoon. They cannot blame the global financial crisis any more but they actually did that this afternoon as well. They cannot blame Christchurch any more but what do you know they did that this afternoon as well. But although they spin these numbers the country goes backwards. All the while as they talk about prudent financial and fiscal management this country’s debt has climbed from what some argue was zero but what I would suggest was $18 billion which is negligible in the scheme of things to—let us put this in perspective—$100 billion. There is $100 billion of debt under this Government’s so-called prudential management.The people on our farms and the people in our regions are looking on and they are looking at this Government confused and I daresay disappointed by the spin and rhetoric. Although Steven Joyce the “Minister for Everything” and the Minister who can fix everything—except a by-election—creates regional strategies which are dismissed by the very people who contributed to them and by the very people who wanted to contribute to them the Government has lost an opportunity to actually grow our regional economies. “Mr Fix-it” can say something is being done but the people of our regions can see through the veneer and all too soon the people at home will be able to see through it. They will be able to see through the spin themselves—but it will be all too late I suggest.Recently and perhaps not surprisingly the Prime Minister has gone on an attack campaign pre-empting any discussion on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). He has been saying to New Zealand that dairy farmers in particular—and his trade Minister has actually been including wood processing in this argument for some bizarre reason—will get better under the TPP. He keeps talking about those 800 million people that customer base. He says it as if we are not exporting to them already; as if somehow if we do not sign this agreement we are going to miss out.Let us put that into perspective and let us get some facts straight right at the moment. Prime Minister there are no tariff reductions for dairy in the TPP. Let us be very clear: the world price will continue to be the world price no matter whom you trade with—$3.90 will continue to be $3.90. Let us not ignore that reality. Further in terms of the TPP agreement itself let us not ignore some of the detail. Let us acknowledge the fact that the US for example has a side letter with Japan that enables them to have preferential treatment in terms of US dairy exports into Japan—it completely sidelines New Zealand. Where is the benefit in that for us? That is actually ignoring also the fact that Japan Canada and the US are the most heavily subsidised nations on earth when it comes to their farming and dairy industries. This is what John Key and Bill English say our farmers will be competing with? That is farcical. It will not happen and our farmers will be losing out.As for the 800 million people the Prime Minister implies that we will miss out if we do not sign the agreement. I quote his trade Minister who talks about wood processing: “Industry exports to TPP members already total a whopping $1.5 billion.” We are already there Prime Minister. We are not missing out. But then to be fair Mr McClay talks about those huge gigantic tariff savings—he is on record it is in the media. He is quoted as saying “these gigantic savings”. He keeps talking about them. To the Minister of Trade: let me put that into perspective for you. The tariff reductions total $11 million in an already $1.5 billion industry. That is less than a 1 percent gain on those tariff reductions and fluctuations in our currency will have an infinitely greater effect than this measly reduction could possibly hope to achieve.In fact the reality is—I have gone out to industries; I want to talk with them and engage. I have asked them: “What does the TPP mean to you?”. The wood processing industry in particular for example has said: “It means nothing to us. We haven’t even processed what the Government is talking about.” Do you know why? What they are worried about is the fact that all of our logs are being bought up by foreign companies and are being shipped directly offshore. Our local processors are finally in a position to make money out of logs in New Zealand; they have got the technology they have leveraged themselves they are there and they are ready. But the logs are being shipped overseas because clever foreign corporates have bought up our entire forestry. It does not make sense. Then you talk about “wood first” policies and the Government does not want to know about it. Encourage the development of wood industries in New Zealand and the Government does not want to know.This Budget Policy Statement needs to be talking about the future. Mr Bishop has a wonderful head for the history of this kind of thing but nowhere in his contribution did he talk about how we move forward and what needs to be done for the people of New Zealand. New Zealand First cannot support any of this Budget Policy Statement; it is a spin document that holds no meaning for the people of New Zealand in our regions in our farms and in our homes. Thank you.