Calder Cam: General Debate 
Calder Cam: General Debate 
[Volume:662;Page:10551] 
Dr CAM CALDER (National) 
: 
 John Key’s National-led Government is principled pragmatic and keeping its promises. What were those promises? They were promises that we would implement policies that offer a brighter and more prosperous future for all New Zealanders. That is in stark contradistinction of course to the late unlamented lacklustre and lackadaisical Labour administration which was an administration that recoiled from making decisions. It shrank away from the hard calls; to resile from meaningful action became its default position. It was the new black among the old reds so often was it overcome with torpor languor and lassitude when hard decisions needed to be made. Somnolence and solipsism characterised its caucus. A hard decision or new idea was as rare as a spit roast at a vegetarian feast. They were as rare as a spit roast at a vegetarian feast. 
It is a very similar situation today in fact. That was then and this is now and nothing has changed. As the French would say: “Plus ça change plus c’est la même chose.” There is a long legacy of 9 years of supervised neglect of New Zealand’s well-being and of our nation’s prosperity and future. In a statement seemingly made from a parallel universe or alternatively from the vantage point of a separate reality—possibly from alongside Animal Miss Piggy or Kermit—just today on breakfast television the Hon Phil Goff reiterated that Labour would reverse any tax cut made by this Government in the forthcoming Budget. I say again that Labour would reverse any tax cut made by this Government in the forthcoming Budget. So if perchance we should reduce the tax rate from 38c in the dollar to 33c in the dollar Labour would raise taxes and take more money from hard-working New Zealanders. Labour’s mantra has never changed; Labour will raise taxes. As Churchill observed: “for a nation to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.” If the previous Labour Government had any economic policy at all it could be summarised as: “If it moves tax it; if it continues to move regulate it; and if it stops moving subsidise it.” 
John Key leads a Government that is as I said principled pragmatic and focused on finding solutions. What are some of these solutions? Some of them include a stocktake of New Zealand’s mineral resources. We have had hysterical grandstanding on this issue from members on the other side of the House but let me say that a good housekeeper knows what is in the kitchen cupboard. As a boy from the Naki and a proud New Zealander concerned for the future of my children and the children of all New Zealanders I offer my thanks to the perceptiveness and farsightedness of those people in the 1950s and 1960s who did a stocktake of the North and South Taranaki Bights which enabled $2.8 billion from oil to come into our economy last year. It is the third leg in New Zealand’s major exports. 
This Government is reshaping the mesh in many areas and at different levels. What are some of the other things we are doing but which were ignored by the lacklustre previous administration? Of course we are looking at benefit reform. National believes that a fundamental dignity and right of being is the ability to work. Our future-focused package aims to reform our welfare system by unashamedly putting the focus on work. How will we do that? We will bring in some part-time work-testing and shift the focus on to what people can do rather than what they cannot do.