Seymour DavidDAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT): Thank you Madam Speaker. Well that's a perfect example of what happens when a member stands up in this House and has no idea what to say. I want to inform the member that the cannabis referendum voted no because I fear she may have broken the law before she gave that speech. You see when a Minister of the Crown stands up and says that because of the Government's Budget she wakes up and sees tweeting little birdies outside her window you know the country's in trouble. But that is literally what has just happened here in this House. Well these are actually serious matters. We're debating here today the Imprest Supply (Second for 2022/23) Bill a bill that allows people to spend—and by people I mean the Government—Hon Kiritapu Allan: Point of order. Just referring to the contribution and the allegations just made in this House that I as a member of this Government had been consuming illicit drugs—illegal drugs—in this House. I take that—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): Order! Did the member take offence?Hon Kiritapu Allan: I did take offence to that comment.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): The member will stand withdraw and apologise.DAVID SEYMOUR: Ha ha! I withdraw and apologise. You know there's an old saying—Dr Deborah Russell: Point of Order. Madam Speaker I am offended that the member over there laughed through his apology. That undermined it. Thank you Madam Speaker.DAVID SEYMOUR: Thank you Madam Speaker. You know there's an old saying They don't like it up 'em" and the problem that this Government has is that they are finding New Zealanders are increasingly fed up with them. You look at the right direction - wrong direction—New Zealanders have never been more negative. Morale's never been lower. And it's partly because you've got a Government that can't take a joke as we've just seen but you've got a Government that increasingly is a joke. A Government that gets up in a serious Budget debate and talks about the fact that there are little birdies tweeting outside their window because of the Government's Budget. Well just for the record what we're debating is an imprest supply bill and an appropriation (estimates) bill. This imprest supply bill allows this Government to spend $16 billion of operational spending $11.5 billion of capital spending—and that is just for July August and the days in September until today. Just two and a half months and it's about $28 billion of hard-working taxpayers' money being spent and that builds up to an annual Budget where it's forecast that this Government is going to spend $128 billion. And what's that up from when this Government was first elected? It is $76 billion core Crown expenses. In just five years we've got a Government that has increased expenditure by $52 billion. What does that mean? Well that money either has to be borrowed and then paid off by your kids or paid for by taxes today. Perhaps that's why taxation under this Government has gone from $76 billion when Labour was elected to $103 billion forecast this year—$103 billion of tax. That means on income tax alone the average Kiwi worker will pay over $12000 of income tax—up from under $9000 when this Government was elected. That's a 30 percent increase in income tax under Labour—more than twice the rate of inflation. People complain about a cost-of-living crisis. This Government complains about the cost of fuel they complain about the war they complain about COVID they complain about every single thing that pushes up prices but they never start with the man in the mirror. Grant Robertson should be looking at himself because rampant expenditure and taxation under this Government are bleeding Kiwis dry. And are we getting results for it? No. Do we see shorter waiting lists in the hospitals or for social housing? Do we see more kids going to school and getting better results investing in the future of this country with smarter more educated citizens? No we do not. Every single measure that this Government "invests in"—well you see they seem to be going backwards and that's a real shame. This Government has strangled the supply of labour in this country to the point I spoke to a shopkeeper last week who's worked 156 days straight to keep his shop open and this economy going so these guys can try and take the credit while they tax and tax and tax and spend in this Budget. The ACT Party opposes this imprest supply bill; we oppose this Estimates bill that appropriates money off New Zealanders. Why? Because we have a better way. ACT is the only party in this Parliament that has put up an alternative Budget—an alternative Budget for real change and an alternative Budget for real change that is based on some real values and is based on the values that hard work should equal reward that people that wake up in the morning get their kids up make their lunches send them actually to go to school and then go in and put a solid day maybe with an extra shift because their workplace is missing workers because this Government shut the border and can't bring itself to let immigrants back in to work in the volumes they're needed. Those people deserve a better deal and ACT's alternative Budget for real change would first and foremost stop the run-away spending. We'd reduce spending by $6.8 billion per year. Some people say "Oh you can't do that." Well just remember from the start of this speech we've got a Government that in five years has increased expenditure by $50 billion. The reductions in expenditure—not having 14000 additional public servants with no better wellbeing results for New Zealanders; that makes a lot of sense. The idea that we should no longer be paying superannuation at 65 as people work and live longer than ever and rely on a dwindling number of students—this is the kind of real change and honest conversations about the future of our country that makes it a place that young people want to stay because the alternative is that people leave. People see that New Zealand's productivity is falling behind the rest of the world. They look at countries like Lithuania they look at the Czech Republic they look at Slovenia they look at countries like Estonia and Israel—all of which have just overtaken New Zealand or are about to overtake New Zealand in productivity. These countries we used to feel sorry for are now richer than us and don't even think about the gap with Australia—now almost $25000 at the median salary. Do you know what that means for New Zealanders that are actually in touch with the world not looking outside for the little birdies like the Minister the Hon Kiritapu Allan who spoke earlier? What it means is they see their kids saying "You know what? I love New Zealand but do I love it enough to earn $25000 less than I otherwise could?" Increasingly the answer is no. For the first time in decades New Zealand had a net loss of people in the year to July—11500 fewer people. It gives me enormous amusement—Deborah Russell she's making notes; she's saying "Oh I think he might have got that one wrong there; I'll really get him." Actually the fact is she's wrong; people are leaving the country under this Labour Government and it needs to change. And the change that is needed is real change the kind of change where we cut taxes where we cut wasteful spending where we allow foreigners to move to New Zealand and fill roles so that companies can grow and expand and compete internationally and provide exciting globally connected high-paying jobs for the next generation. We need a country that actually is not afraid of foreign investors and allows them to come in as Damien Smith of ACT's bill proposes—to be debated tomorrow night. We need a country that does not hold on to businesses that do not make sense for the Government to own when we know that a mixed-ownership model makes them more productive and pays down all that debt this Government has raised over the past two years of its COVID folly. That's the kind of real change we need and if we get this right then we might actually make this a country that people want to come and people want to stay because the alternative is that people will see a Government that has no way forward that has spent all of their money that has put them under enormous inflationary pressure and they'll decide actually they're going to vote with their feet. The alternative is ACT's alternative Budget for real change reconnecting effort and reward and rewarding people that work hard that save that invest and that want to make tomorrow better than yesterday because that's what this country is all about. What unites us all as New Zealanders—from so many corners of the globe and different walks of life—is that each of us or our ancestors made the longest journey of any humans in history to give their kids a better tomorrow. That is aspiration; that is opportunity; that is the kind of future that makes this project of having a First World country at the bottom of the world worthwhile. But if we don't get that change very soon then the future we face is very bleak and it's there to be seen in the right direction - wrong direction figures where by a margin of 20 points a majority of New Zealanders now say "We're in the wrong direction under Labour; the alternative is ACT." Thank you Madam Speaker."