Joyce Steven: Taxation (Urgent Measures and Annual Rates) Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
Joyce Steven: Taxation (Urgent Measures and Annual Rates) Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:651;Page:244] 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Associate Minister of Finance) 
: 
 It was strange coming into the Chamber tonight and hearing Michael Cullen look for Roger Douglas’ endorsement of what he was saying. I do not think I have seen that in 20 years. I thought that I must have walked into some sort of time warp because Michael Cullen was citing the approval of Roger Douglas for what he was saying. 
The other thing I was concerned about was that I wondered whether Labour members actually realise why they lost the election. It was because they stopped listening to New Zealanders. One of the things they stopped listening to New Zealanders about was KiwiSaver. On the subject of KiwiSaver up and down this country stacks and stacks of hard-working New Zealanders were saying to politicians who would listen that they could not afford and did not want to put 4 percent of their income into the scheme. Up and down the country people were saying that to all the politicians who would listen. Unfortunately for the country the only ones who were not listening are the ones who are not listening now and that is the Labour members. The reality is that a lot of people are saying: “Give us a 2 percent scheme. We will participate and join in a 2 percent scheme.” 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: Who is saying that? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: The people who were talking to the politicians who were listening before the election were saying that. Labour members were not listening and that is why they lost. There is still an excellent chance for people to contribute to their superannuation. The $1000 has improved the whole scheme. As Mary Holm said today it is a very good scheme now for both employers and employees. 
The more important thing which the Labour Party does not want to think about is the long-term economic growth in this country. That is the bit it does not want to think about. It successfully drove long-run productivity growth in this country right down over the 9 years it was in Government. Labour successfully drove down our economic growth projections over the time it was in Government and it does not know why. It simply does not know why. The reason it happened was that fundamentally Labour tried to control too much of people’s incomes. Whatever way Labour did it it put taxes up it spent people’s money and it refused to give back to people more of their own money so that people had their own incentives to control their own lives to work hard and to get ahead under their own steam. That was the problem and that is ultimately why the people of Auckland in particular voted the Labour Party out. Labour was imposing high tax rates on ordinary Aucklanders and people up and down the country and 82000 people voted with their feet and left this country because Labour would not listen and realise that people wanted the right to spend more of their own money to make their own decisions on whether they would save or consume. “Nanny Labour” was not the deal for controlling their income and the way that they spent it. 
There is only one solution to the economic challenges that we face in this country and that is to grow a whole lot faster. The only way we will grow a whole lot faster is not by sitting here in Wellington and arguing over which percentage of people’s incomes we will control; it is by reducing the amount we control and giving people the opportunity to work and get ahead under their own steam. That is the only way we will do it and that is why we have made the choices that we have made about KiwiSaver and the research and development tax credit—to give New Zealanders a chance to have more of their own money. 
They are not the easy calls. They are the calls that were never made by the New Zealand Labour Party while it was in Government and that is why the growth rate was so low when it left and that is why the long-run productivity growth was so low. Frankly we could not afford to have those members any longer. The people of New Zealand knew that. They voted for change because they wanted a crowd that would listen to them and understand.