McCully Murray: General Debate 
McCully Murray: General Debate 
[Volume:639;Page:9279] 
Hon MURRAY McCULLY (National—East Coast Bays) 
: 
 It says a very great deal about the state of the current Labour Government that the only excitement around this week’s Budget lies in the fact that it will be the first time a Budget has been passed by a minority of members in this House. There has normally been in all of the time I have watched New Zealand politics a sense of anticipation around Budget week. This is because there has normally come from the Budget a new sense of direction at least some sense of purpose some element of policy interest—something to reinvigorate the nation. 
Over the last 8 years what we have seen from this Government is that sense of anticipation turn into a sense of apprehension and dread. Tomorrow’s Budget will see an even greater sense of dread than has ever been the case in the past. The members of this House as they listen to the Budget tomorrow will know they are not listening to the real Budget. They will know that the real Budget is the deal that Michael Cullen will do between tomorrow’s reading of the Budget document and the time when there will be a vote on confidence and supply in this House. That is the time by which Michael Cullen will have to have done a deal with the Green Party—not to get the Greens to support the Government; just to get them not to vote. That is how far things have come in the fortunes of this Labour Government. The real Budget is the Budget that Michael Cullen starts to negotiate tomorrow and has to have concluded before there is a confidence vote in this House—just to get the Green Party not to vote. 
Well what a state of affairs we have arrived at. It is a state of affairs that gives none of us any great satisfaction. Although it is always nice to see another nail in the coffin of the current Labour administration members on this side are acutely conscious of the fact that none of this is good for our country. For the remainder of this term we will increasingly be looking at the reality of a Labour-Green Government. That is something New Zealanders need to get used to. A Labour-Green Government is becoming a fact of life before our very eyes. 
I say to the remaining members of the United Future party—and I am not quite sure how many of them there are—that they should note that. I say to New Zealand First members that that is the nature of the beast they will be propping up for the next 12 or 18 months: a Labour-Green Government which will do New Zealand’s interests no good. That is fine with us because it will be terminal for some of those parties that support the current Government. It will be bad for all of them and that is fine with everybody on this side of the House. 
In recent weeks we have seen released by the Government Statistician the migration figures for the year to March 2007 which tell us that over 36000 New Zealanders in the past year have voted with their feet by deciding to permanently move to live in Australia. Over 700 New Zealanders a week in the year to March according to the Government Statistician have decided to move to Australia. That is equivalent to a city the size of Gisborne and a little bit more being wiped off the map in the space of the past 12 months and the past fortnight has told us precisely why that is happening. We have seen on the other side of the Tasman the fifth Budget in a row to deliver tax cuts to Australians to share the gains that have been available during a period of growth in Australia and most important to leave cash in the pockets of those who can invest in Australia’s future. 
What have we seen on this side of the Tasman? We have seen 8 years where we have had none of those gains shared with ordinary New Zealanders no cash in the pockets of New Zealand businesses to invest in New Zealand’s future and no investment being made by the Government in New Zealand’s future. Dr Skilling from the New Zealand Institute presented some chilling figures recently to show the results of those policies.