Collins Judith: Appropriation (2015/16 Estimates) Bill — Third Reading Imprest Supply DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeCollins Judith: Appropriation (2015/16 Estimates) Bill — Third Reading Imprest Supply Debate[Sitting date: 18 August 2015. Volume:707;Page:5881. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon JUDITH COLLINS (National—Papakura): I would like to thank the member who has resumed his seat Phil Twyford for reminding me of why the last time I voted Labour was 1984. He has reminded me of 1984 when Labour was in Government and what happened when there was the last housing crisis in Auckland. That is when the house prices plummeted people ended up with negative equity and interest rates were at 28 percent. That is in fact exactly what would happen if a Labour Government gets to the Treasury benches again. You need to be sensible about this issue and the issue is the matter of supply and demand.The fact is that in 1984 people left this country in droves to get away from a Labour Government—and a very sensible move it was for them too. Some of us who stuck it out were grateful for a National Government coming in in 1990. But what has happened is that the metropolitan urban limit in Auckland under a Labour-led Auckland Regional Council headed by Mike Lee put in place an artificial limit on the growth of Auckland and that was in the late 1990s. That has been the major issue around what has happened in Auckland—that and the fact that Aucklanders are no longer leaving Auckland. They are staying put and people are coming to Auckland because Auckland is a great place to live if you can get around the transport issues which I hope will start to be alleviated once the expansion of the southern motorway starts in October this year—right through my electorate.I have to say that in speaking about this particular issue and the measures in the Budget—as I think the Budget is a very measured response—the last thing we want to do is to actually end up with a situation where Aucklanders cannot afford their homes any more and their interest rates go up which is what happened under a Labour Government. It is really important to think about a balanced Budget. It is a bit like balancing the budget of a household actually. Most of us know we can spend only what we have. We cannot go off spending money we do not have and if we continue to do that we are going to end up in a very difficult position.In this particular case one of the things that having a balanced Budget does for the economy is that it actually keeps interest rates low. The Government is not competing so much with private enterprise or business to actually take money to get money to spend on schemes. The Government is actually not playing a part in putting up interest rates. Interest rates are now the lowest that they have been in 60 years. So what that actually means is that despite the doom and gloom from those who want to talk down our economy—despite that—we have actually seen households in New Zealand Kiwi households saving every single year in the last 5 years. The last time that happened was in 1995—it was before the Labour Government—and that actually tells me that this Government is balancing its Budget not overspending and leaving more money with people which means that people can actually afford to keep paying their bills and we are not getting into debt like we used to.When I look at some of the very smart things in this Budget one of the smartest things I think was actually giving a $25-a-week increase in benefit rates for families with children realising that people on benefits with children are the most vulnerable people we have in this country. It is not the children’s fault that their parents are on benefits and what that measure is doing is giving people just a little bit more help at the same time putting huge measures and effort and funding into helping parents get to work and getting off benefits because work as we know is actually the secret to getting ahead in life.I listened to some of the discussions this afternoon and particularly one from Mrs Eugenie Sage. She says she wants more exports. Well unfortunately she does not believe in free trade so unfortunately that is not going to work. She also said that prices will never get better in dairying. Well I beg to differ. I look at the world’s population. Is it getting smaller? No it is getting bigger. Guess what? People like protein and the richer that countries get and the richer that people get the more protein they want. Yes dairying is going through a difficult time at the moment but actually those of us who come from the dairying industry know that that happens in the dairying industry every 10 years or so anyway.Farmers are incredibly resilient. They are however not supermen or women. We have to give as much help as we can and one of the best things we can do for these farmers is to keep interest rates low. That is the biggest thing we can do because many of them will have expanded bought the neighbour’s property and they will have been thinking about the prices that they were then at that stage getting for their product.I listened to all the rhetoric around trade and exports and I have heard the New Zealand First people talk about exports. Apparently they like exports. I just do not know who they want to export to because they are certainly against the Trans-Pacific Trade agreement. So let us have a look at that as a free-trade agreement just on the basis of the Budget and why it is important for this Budget and for those coming forward.This is a free-trade agreement with the No. 1 economy in the world: the United States. That is actually the reason why a lot of the people are against the Trans-Pacific Trade agreement—the people like dear Professor Jane Kelsey whom I know from my university days. We get on very well personally but are on completely opposite sides of this. I do not hate the United States; I am really grateful for the United States in this world. As I said there is the United States and New Zealand—obviously. There is Australia—oh well Australia—Brunei Chile Malaysia Peru Singapore Viet Nam Japan Canada and Mexico.Really would we seriously contemplate not being part of that sort of agreement with the biggest economy in the world and with Japan the fourth-largest economy in the world? Would we really not be part of that? Would we in fact be like those people in the UK who suddenly think that they do not want to be in the European Union now? I mean really? Do we really want to be there? Do we really want to be selling all these products to ourselves? Would we get rid of the free-trade agreement we currently have—CER—with Australia? Would we get rid of the one with China? What about the one with Korea? If we are going to be principled about it would we not get rid of them all? The fact is that none of those members would really want to do that. They say: “Oh well we don’t know what’s in it”. Well actually we did not know what was in those other agreements either until they were signed because that strangely enough is how negotiations are undertaken.It is so good to be able to speak about some of the positive things in this Budget because when I listen to the Opposition members—and I have been listening very carefully—it has been very disappointing except as I say to remind me about why I should never vote for that lot. I have been thinking about things that we have been able to deliver—$1.5 billion in ACC cuts in levies for businesses and for individuals. So everybody who is working for a living gets a cut in their ACC levy. I am really pleased to see that that work is continuing. We fought very hard to make that happen.But when you are looking at things like for instance how we can make business cheaper better and more efficient with more jobs and better use of money let us have a look at the Resource Management Act. The National Party went into the last election on a platform of reforming the Resource Management Act and we would as a party like to see that happen. Unfortunately the balance of power on the Resource Management Act these days is held by a party run by Mr Winston Peters. The members of that party travelled all around Northland saying what they would do for farmers but not once did they tell them they would never do a thing would not lift a finger and would never once give us one vote to help bring about reform in the Resource Management Act—not once.Nobody expects the Labour Party to because after all the Resource Management Act was its stupid baby. No one expects the Greens to because we all know where they are. But not once will a party that makes out that it likes small business—well it does really does it not? It wants them to get smaller. Not once would that party help out this party to bring through Resource Management Act reform which is something that would help Northland and the very people whom those members supposedly represent. Not once would they go off to Tauranga not once would they go to Napier and not once would they go to Palmerston North and to all these provincial areas and tell people about their laziness and their absolute lack of fortitude in getting up and supporting Resource Management Act reform.So if you want to see change in this country if you want a Budget that is even better than the fabulous Budget we have got then bring about reform in the Resource Management Act. Bring about hope for farmers bring about hope for businesses and stop being against everything.