Foss Craig: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Foss Craig: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Volume:670;Page:16535] 
CRAIG FOSS (National—Tukituki) 
: 
 It is an absolute pleasure to follow the Hon Parekura Horomia because no matter what I say it will make more sense than what we have heard over the last 10 minutes. I suppose there was some kind of revelation there that Labour is looking at privatising the frigates or skyrockets or something or that it is trying to Mondayise Guy Fawkes Night or something. What is it up to? Members over there are focusing on the issues that matter! 
I say happy New Year to you Mr Assistant Speaker and to colleagues in the House. It is 2011 and I am sure members opposite will join me in backing the ABs this year. I am sure they will. Like them I am backing the “All Blues”. I am backing National and I am backing the other ABs the All Blacks for Rugby World Cup 2011. 
Hon Parekura Horomia 
: Oh cut it out! 
CRAIG FOSS 
: The Hon Parekura Horomia has joined me in backing the other ABs the “All Blues” this year for election year 2011. 
I must put some things straight. I have heard screeching from members on the other side about borrowing for tax cuts or something ridiculous. There was a tax switch which kicked in last 1 October with some balance on 1 April this year. Yes revenue was lost from making the PAYE rates more fair and equitable. The losses of revenue there were picked up by increasing GST by changes to loss attributing qualifying companies which the members opposite suddenly seem to have discovered and by various other changes to depreciation etc. The fiscal cost—both sides of the balance sheet—of the tax changes introduced by this Government and implemented last 1 October and this coming 1 April are actually fiscally neutral. So to hear screeching from various members on the other side that there is borrowing for tax cuts or something somewhat absurd is exactly that: just absurd. 
I have heard some other points from members opposite that I need to correct for the benefit of listeners out there. The early childhood education spend by this Government is the highest on record. It is $1.4 billion—the highest on record—and the Minister announced another $100 million just the other day. But members opposite somehow construe that increasing spending from $400 million to $1.4 billion over about the last 7 to 10 years is a “cut” in early childhood education. To be fair the previous Government put a lot of that spending in place. I do not know how members opposite get there with that claim. It shows that further work on numeracy and literacy standards is demanded if they cannot even work that out. 
I want to correct another point made by the Hon Phil Goff in his speech. He talked about early childhood education and I think he said there had been a 10 percent increase in participation by Pacific Island children in the last few years of the previous Labour Government. He is totally wrong. There was a 10 percent increase in the number of enrolment forms filled out for various institutions. In fact the parents of a child could have filled out many many forms. The actual participation rate by children in the Pacific Island sector in particular because the member brought this up in his speech was basically stagnant. That is appalling given the increase in fiscal spend on early childhood education. I note for the record how quiet members opposite became once the brutal hard facts hit the floor. 
In 2011 National will continue to focus on the issues that matter. Members on the other side will continue to disguise themselves with their tinkering and reshuffling of the fresh new faces of Labour. But even Mr Goff is somewhat of a slow learner. I understand that in his speech he did not move an amendment to the motion to show a lack of confidence which is traditional for the Leader of the Opposition to do. So after 26 long years in Parliament he did not even get that bit right. He is still learning and maybe after another 26 years he will get going. 
In 2011 this Government will continue to rebuild the New Zealand economy after the demolition job by the previous administration in its 9 long wasted fiscally rampant years. However much members opposite try to reinvent history the numbers speak for themselves. It was a decade of deficits when thousands upon thousands of New Zealanders abandoned this country and moved offshore. The previous speaker mentioned migration numbers but he was absolutely wrong. 
We will continue to reallocate resources from head offices headquarters and bureaucrats and move them to the front line. We have found $4 billion of savings so far. That is $4 billion that does not have to be borrowed or raised by taxes. That is $4 billion of better allocation of taxpayers’ hard-earned money exactly as householders have to do every single day. We will continue to keep interest rates lower. Members will recall mortgage rates at 10 percent under the previous administration. They are nowhere near that under this current administration because of our prudent fiscal management. 
The “borrow and spend” and “borrow and consume” game is over. It is no more. It does not happen. We will continue to constrain the growth of the Government sector which constantly crowds out the real sector that creates real jobs and real income for real families. We will keep an eye on new spending. Members will recall that the Hon Michael Cullen had about $2.8 billion of extra spending each and every single year under that administration. We have brought that $2.8 billion down to $1.1 billion and now we are targeting $800 million to $900 million. That is still huge money but it is on top of us discovering and reallocating $4 billion within the economy. We will continue to get more value from each and every single tax dollar and we will treat it as preciously as every single household has to. We are transparent about this. 
I congratulate the Hon Bill English on the investment statement on the accounts of the Government of New Zealand. For the first time we have some hard numbers where we can make some hard or difficult choices on the allocation of scarce capital which is basically borrowed money. I agree with the quote made by Hon David Cunliffe just before this House rose at Christmas. He said that New Zealand needs “to unleash State-owned enterprises to create and grow new subsidiaries with private partners and shareholders”. That was said some 50-odd days ago. What has changed? I agree; we should unleash the awesome potential that is in our balance sheet. When we allocate capital in the wrong place that means the non-development of a hospital or less for our health sector. I do not know whether Mr Goff agrees with this and it appears he does not although maybe that is part of the leadership stuff going on over there but I cannot believe that Labour members oppose such things. Why do they oppose the ability of New Zealanders to invest in their own future—in their own assets? Why do they oppose the ability of New Zealanders to have a model to invest in for 20 30 or 40 years for their own future? Why do they oppose the changes proposed to allow KiwiSaver accounts to allocate investments within these borders? 
The previous Government set up KiwiSaver and I say: “Good on them.”. Members opposite should claim that but they will not allow KiwiSaver to be all that it could be. Why would they do that? I do not understand. They introduced it to be fair. They should watch this space because we will be concentrating on savings investment and better management of every single taxpayer dollar this year. But I guess it is part of the confusion about why they are opposing it. Mr Goff now says that the asset sales of the 1980s and 1990s by a former Labour Government were all a mistake. Yet the previous Labour administration had 9 years to buy those assets back. It did not although it had 9 years to buy back those assets that it says now should not have been sold. Their past 9 years in Government were the best economic times and they blew it. I will not go into too much detail about the facetiousness of and lack of integrity in Mr Goff’s observation. 
The world has changed over recent years. It is no longer an option to spend borrow and consume. The global financial crisis or recession has put a brutal focus on countries’ balance sheets both private and public in terms of their total debt. Whether or not they like it the creditors are watching very very carefully. If this Government is able to do what the Prime Minister outlined in his speech—to start to bring the spend down to bring back more efficiency to the taxpayers’ balance sheet—then we will be in a much much better place and we will begin to build a much better and stronger economy. Thank you.