Banks John: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Banks John: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Sitting date: 29 January 2013. Volume:687;Page:7525. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon JOHN BANKS (Leader—ACT) 
: 
 I rise on behalf of the ACT Party and the people of Epsom to support the statement of the Prime Minister. 
Over the summer break I have had the opportunity to get out and about to talk to New Zealanders—the sort of people you represent Mr Deputy Speaker—people from the South Island from Picton Westport Greymouth and Hokitika and of course the people of Remuera Parnell and Mount Eden. I have been out and about taking stock. New Zealanders are working harder and much longer for a lot less. What they want is freedom to achieve through their own efforts and enterprise. What they do not want is handouts and they almost all reject the entitlement society. They back the Prime Minister and they rate John Key. They do not see Labour the Greens and “Winston First”—the coalition of the dispirited the deluded and the bewildered—as an alternative Government. That is what they said to me in Picton in Westport in Greymouth and in Hokitika and of course in Remuera Parnell and Mount Eden over the summer. 
They do not see David Shearer as a Prime Minister; even less do they see Russel Norman as the Minister of Finance. To a man and to a woman up and down the country they say that Mr Shearer is a nice man and most members of this Parliament will attest that Mr Shearer is a nice man but “a nice man” is the kiss of death for a political leader. They do not see David Shearer as a future Prime Minister. They see him as an interim leader of a dysfunctional Labour Party Opposition. That is what they see David Shearer as. 
I remember “Winston First” when he was so good that he could comb his hair while approaching a speed camera when he was so good that he could have this House in fits of laughter and hysteria when he was so good that he made points that cut through everything. Today he is now part of the bewildered and the deluded—the coalition of losers that the people I mentioned do not want a bar of. 
I tell them that under MMP we could have these people on this side of the House. They say: “Hardly Banksie. It couldn’t be true that we could have David Shearer as Prime Minister.” I said: “The way MMP works losers with loser coalitions could easily become Prime Ministers of this country.” and what a catastrophic day it would be for investment growth and jobs in the South-west Pacific if those people ever got on this side of the House. 
 The ACT Party and the people of Epsom back John Key as Prime Minister. But we want the Government the National part of this coalition Government to do more to resist and roll back the entitlement society that has enveloped us. We want this Government to expand the freedom to achieve. What Labour promises in hands-on government is a Government of hands out and a sapping culture of entitlement. Never forget that political parties that in Opposition are big enough to promise you everything you want are in Government big enough to take from you everything you have. What Labour promises is more handouts more borrowing more taxes and no solution. 
We saw one single policy of the Labour Party part of the coalition of losers last year when it announced that it was going to build 10000 houses a year for $300000 each. Well it did not last very long because after a 6-week break on the beaches of Northland the parliamentary leader of the Labour Party came back and said: “I got it all wrong. It was probably a median figure.” I was in Westport. You cannot buy a home in Westport for $300000. You cannot buy a home in Picton and you cannot buy a home in Hokitika for $300000. You certainly cannot buy a home anywhere in Auckland for $300000. 
What we want to do is resist and roll back the entitlement society. We want this Government to expand the freedom to achieve. That is what the ACT Party believes in. In Labour’s world to get ahead is to put your hand in the pocket of the person beside you. That is the way you get ahead. It is not about the freedom to achieve through the enterprise of your own efforts; it is about taking from someone else’s hard work. Take housing. Young Aucklanders want to buy or build a home in their own backyard yet the median price in Auckland is now almost seven times the median household income. Auckland is almost as unaffordable as London. We know that housing unaffordability is complex. However the major culprit is central and local government—the Resource Management Act metropolitan urban limits and the building regulations. What is the Opposition’s response? Labour promises to build Government houses to fix a problem largely created by the Labour Party in its 9 years on this side of the House. There has been no word on where the money will come from to build 10000 houses a year and a promise of a cost of $300000 a home which will just give you chicken coops in Auckland if you are very very lucky. 
On Sunday Mr Shearer told the country that he is going to hold a conference this year to work out Labour Party policy. He is going to hold a conference to work out Labour Party policy but at Wainuiomata north of Wellington on Sunday afternoon he announced the Labour Party policy and the Labour Party policy for circa 2013 is “We cannot really build homes for $300000 even here in Wainuiomata.” It is not good enough. The Labour Party has shown it is not serious. The present leader proves that the Labour Party is not serious about moving across the aisle to this side of the House. 
Labour members have not uttered one word on Resource Management Act reform. That is the focus of this coalition Government—Resource Management Act reform. Here is my prediction: Labour members will vote against every major Resource Management Act reform this year that will help young New Zealanders get their first home without a Government handout. The single most helpful thing that we can do in this Parliament is Resource Management Act reform to make it easier for young people to get up the ladder of housing ownership. 
The Greens will not be outdone in the auction of make-believe money. For them the Government will not only build the house but loan you the money to build the house that the Opposition said it was going to build 10000 of each year. What they will not say is how many houses or how much it will cost because they are not very good on the numbers. I have not heard in 14 months in this Parliament anything that this Government does that is supported by the Green Party. What those members will not say is how many houses and how much it will cost. What we do know is that you cannot have backyards to play in and the Resource Management Act cannot be touched. After promising make-believe houses with make-believe money the next day the Greens attack the dairy industry which helps New Zealanders earn their way in the real world and pay taxes so that the Greens can keep on spending if they ever get on this side of the House—the real wealth earners out in the hinterland. For them the Greens wealth is created by the printing press not by working hard taking risks selling things other people want and saving. It is the party of old dudes and young fogies. 
I have told the Government we have a one-in-20-year chance to get it right and do it once. We need to be bold. ACT will be helping. In other areas the Government is moving towards giving New Zealanders the freedom to achieve and away from the policies of handouts and the politics of entitlement. ACT wants National to pick up the pace. Here are three examples. Partnership schools are about freedom to achieve for talented educators dedicated parents and kids who need a break. We will have a bill providing for regulatory standards around increasing disclosure for Government bills and increasing openness and transparency. ACT’s spending cap will help New Zealanders better understand how much politicians spend and what quality that spending is. ACT wants the Government to keep moving towards the freedom to achieve and away from the culture of entitlement that zaps initiative and confidence and independence. 
We reject Mr Shearer’s hands-on Government and nanny State handouts. We know that anything is possible however humble your origins if you simply give New Zealanders the freedom to achieve. New Zealanders want the freedom to achieve through their own effort and enterprise. They do not want handouts. They do not want the coalition of dispirited and deluded and bewildered in Government. They do not want a Government of handouts that takes from others who work hard. They do not want a coalition that is not serious about policies for the good of all New Zealanders. They do not want a coalition that will stop young New Zealanders from paying their own way into their first homes. Resource Management Act reform. ACT stands for freedom choice and responsibility. ACT stands against the culture of entitlement which zaps independence. That is what we stand against. ACT believes and stands for— 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: Order! The member’s time has expired.