Parker David: General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeParker David: General Debate[Sitting date: 04 September 2013. Volume:693;Page:13243. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon DAVID PARKER (Labour): I moveThat the House take note of miscellaneous business. It is increasingly clear that this Government is not governing in the interests of everyday New Zealanders and nowhere is that clearer than in respect of asset sales. It is always about ideology and always about growing the gap between the rich and the poor delivering to the sector that National so plainly governs for. Only 3 percent of New Zealanders have purchased shares in Mighty River Power. We knowthat it increases the Government deficit by $100 million a year. We know that there are hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders who have been willing to sign a petition that is now requiring the Government to hold a referendum as to whether asset sales proceed but still the Government proceeds remorselessly with its asset sales programme. It has been willing to run roughshod over the interests of New Zealanders.It has been willing to push up the price of power. It has done that just recently in order to get Meridian Energy off the block. It has given a $30 million subsidy to RioTinto the effect of which is to intervene in the pretend electricity market that we have in a way that is increasing electricity prices which is a double blow to New Zealanders at the very time when they are suffering the loss of these assets which they hold dear.Selling what already exists does nothing to increase New Zealand’s economic output and the Government knows it. It shows the paucity of its vision for New Zealand and it is one of the reasons why a third of all New Zealanders have not had a pay increase for 2 years. It is one of the reasons why the median wage has gone down in real terms since 2009.Then we have the excuses that are put out by the Government for the asset sales programme. It says that it had a Government debt problem. Well despite this Government’s unaffordable tax cuts because it inherited such low Government debt from the Labour Government—and despite the fact that this Government has run five deficits in a row—New Zealand’s Government debt remains low by international standards.The money that National members said they needed from the assets programme has been spent a hundred times. They said that they were going to use it for debt reduction. That was Tony Ryall. Then Mr English said that it was going to be used for Kiwibank recapitalisation. Then Nathan Guy said that it was going to be funding irrigation schemes. Then we had John Key come in and say that it was going to be funding schools and hospitals and Gerry Brownlee came in with something similar. He said that it was going to rebuild Christchurch. Then we had Minister Joyce. He thought: “Well look I’ve got to get in on this game.” He said that it was going to fund KiwiRail.Hon Members: Six.Hon DAVID PARKER: Six. Then we had Mr Key come along and he said that it was going to fund the City Rail Link.Then of course Mr Finlayson—you know a bit player in the Government—thought that he would have his little bit of it too. He said: “Oh the Future Investment Fund. This is fundamentally important because it is going to fund the National War Memorial.”—the National War Memorial. The Future Investment—Hon Trevor Mallard: The “Future Fraud Fund”.Hon DAVID PARKER: The “Future Fraud Fund”—well that might be right. It is a slush fund. It is a political slogan that they trot out to try to justify this unpopular policy which is so unpopular that more than 300000 New Zealanders have independently signed a form saying: “Please don’t do this. Hold a referendum.” and what is the Government doing? It is ignoring it. Having spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the asset sale process—hundreds of millions of dollars on the asset sale process—it says that it is irresponsible of the Opposition parties to cause a referendum where New Zealanders are exercising their constitutional right to try and tell the Government that they do not want it.This Government has tried to hide from the New Zealand public the true effects of this. At the time of the last election it denied that its Budget went backwards by $100 million per annum. It had booked the proceeds of sale. It did not take any account of the loss of revenue it suffers as a cost of a loss of profit shares.This Government’s economic programme is failing. We have got rampant house price inflation we have had more than 200000 people go to Australia and we have got decline in the provinces because the economic promises of this Government are not being made good.