Nash Stuart: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Nash Stuart: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Volume:670;Page:16689] 
STUART NASH (Labour) 
: 
 The Minister for State Owned Enterprises the chap in charge of selling our State assets had 10 minutes to stand up and tell this House to justify to New Zealand the rationale for why he is going to sell our power companies. Do members know what that Minister did? He spent 5 minutes talking about the Labour reshuffle. Not once did the Minister for State Owned Enterprises justify to New Zealand the rationale behind why he will sell our power companies. That just about says it all does it not? There is no plan there is no rationale and there is no justification. 
There are only three points I would like to speak about today. The first point is inequality—the growing gap in our communities between the few who have an awful lot and the many who have very little. The second point is the reality gap. By that I mean the gap between the words the Prime Minister uses and the policies his Government puts in place. The third point is a very simple question: where is the plan? It is a very simple question that is very difficult to answer but I think it is about time after 2 years that the people of New Zealand had an answer to the question of where the plan is. 
Let us start with inequality. In this House yesterday I asked a question that went something like this: “Is it fair when someone on a million dollars a year receives a tax cut of a thousand dollars a week when someone on the median wage gets a tax cut of around $15 a week?”. Mr English had the nerve to stand up in this House and say that there was no inequality in that tax policy at all because the economic models told him so. So let me get this right: there is no inequality so it is perfectly fair that someone earning a million dollars gets a thousand dollars a week and someone on the median wage gets $15. Really? If that is not inequality then I do not know what is. I suspect that Mr English’s definition of inequality differs significantly from mine because for me a thousand dollars a week versus $15 a week sure sounds unequal and unfair. 
The drive to implement the philosophy behind equality of opportunity drives me; it is why I am here. I believe that every New Zealander should have the opportunity to be as good as he or she can be. As members of Parliament it is our responsibility to ensure that all New Zealanders get this opportunity. But the Government is failing in that role. Education is one example. In Napier the high schools used to be hives of activity after dark. People came from all over the city to interact to learn and to better themselves. When I drive after dark now past my old school Napier Boys’ High School the lights are out and there is no one home. Why? Because $13 million was cut from the adult and community education budget. That pretty much killed night classes in Napier. There is no equality in it. 
Ten thousand people in Hawke’s Bay used to take night classes; now none do. Before these classes closed I met a young woman who had just left school. She was learning to sew so she could make her own clothes. Gone! I met a retired woman who was learning to quilt in order to make presents for her family. Gone! I also met a woman who was learning Italian. She was told by National’s member for Napier that if she could afford to go to Italy then she could afford to pay for night classes. Wrong! The reason this woman was learning Italian was that her grandkids live in Italy and she wanted to able to talk to them. She cannot afford to go to night classes—they are gone. Napier’s people are poorer for it. New Zealanders are poorer for it and the gap between the very wealthy and those who are struggling continues to grow. Where is the fairness and the equality there? There is none. 
I will talk about the reality gap. We all know that in November 2008 Mr Key looked into the camera and said to every New Zealander that National would not increase GST. 
Hon Member 
: You know you’re misrepresenting it. 
STUART NASH 
: He said that—National would not increase GST. But do members know what? He did. 
Phil Goff will never break his promise and perhaps that is the difference between the two men. Mr Key broke a fundamental election promise. Mr Goff will not. How can the people of New Zealand now trust Mr Key when he says that National will sell only 49 percent of State assets? He said he would not but that simply does not cut it anymore. People cannot believe his words anymore. They are hollow. 
There are some other things Mr Key said in last year’s speech on his statement to Parliament. Twelve months ago Mr Key said: “The good news is that New Zealand has weathered the worst of the global crisis and New Zealanders can be pleased at how well this country has come through it.” If Mr Key believes that over 150000 unemployed and a Government borrowing $300 million a week are indicators that we have come through this recession then someone organise that man another focus group. His Minister of Finance now believes we are in a double-dip recession. But the sad thing is that we could have avoided that with a good plan for economic development and growth. Mr Key believed that he could muddle on through and it would all be OK. Well I say to Mr Key that he is not at Merrill Lynch now. 
Another quote from the Prime Minister 12 months ago was this: “2009 was not an easy year for many people. Some lost their jobs some their savings and others their confidence. Yet things are undoubtedly looking up.” Mr Key said that 12 months ago. He told us last year that things were looking up. Wrong! Why is that? Because he had no plan except to mine national parks. He had no plan and the country is spiralling towards a double-dip recession. Mr Key is very definitely not at Merrill Lynch now. 
He also said in last year’s statement to Parliament: “The policies we intend to introduce this year will be a big part of the country’s improvement this year next year and into the future.” That is what Mr Key said a year ago. Let me repeat that: “The policies we intend to introduce this year will be a big part of the country’s improvement …”. The major policy of last year was to increase GST to pay for tax cuts for the very wealthy—that is cruel. We are now going backwards and that is a fact the Government cannot argue against. There were no policies introduced last year that improved the economy or the country. This Government simply has no plan. 
I have spoken about inequality and how the policies of this Government have introduced the gap between the very wealthy and the rest. I have shown that the rhetoric from Mr Key simply does not match the policies of his Government. I have reiterated time and time again the request for National to please show us the plan. The Government is playing with the lives of 4.5 million New Zealanders and it has no plan for how to cope with a double-dip recession. That is simply not good enough. Thank you very much.