Sio Su'a William: Budget Debate 
Sio Su'a William: Budget Debate 
[Volume:663;Page:11344] 
SU’A WILLIAM SIO (Labour—Mangere) 
: 
 After 18 months of being in Government I think that the tide is now turning for National as people see that this Budget was a defining one for this Government. Whether or not National members like it the true nature of the National Government has been revealed for all New Zealanders to see. It is about big business. Those members have no concern whatsoever about ordinary working New Zealanders. 
I rise to support the amendment moved by the Hon Phil Goff the leader of the Labour Opposition: “That all the words after the word ‘That’ be omitted and the following words substituted: ‘this House has no confidence in the National Government led by John Key which has blatantly broken its clear promise not to raise the Goods and Services Tax has pushed up prices when working people have had their lowest wage rises in more than a decade has failed to implement a plan for jobs lacks any vision for a smart high-skill high-tech and high-wage economy has cut services and assistance to the most needy in our community and has rewarded the most wealthy at the expense of middle and low income New Zealanders.’ ” That says it all for this particular Government and its second Budget. 
There is a well-known truism in the Pacific Island community that when people are given authority and use that authority to gratify their pride or vain ambition then exercise control dominion or compulsion upon the people to cover up their mistakes nothing good comes of it and the people end up suffering. 
Before the general election Mr John Key looked down the lens of a TV camera and when asked by a reporter promised that if he were in Government there would be no GST increase. He broke that promise when last Thursday his Government under his leadership announced that the GST rate would increase by 20 percent going from 12.5 percent to 15 percent effective from 1 October. This Prime Minister has broken his pre-election promise to all the ordinary families who voted for him who thought that as he had been raised in a State home he would somehow understand the struggles of ordinary Kiwis and empathise with them. Never did those middle New Zealanders imagine that the smile of the Prime Minister would somehow trap them into facing a GST increase which has effectively increased the cost of living for all struggling Kiwi families. The GST increase will mean price increases for food power petrol phones rates school uniforms early childhood education fees and much much more all because that man the Prime Minister and his Government broke their pre-election promise that they would not raise GST. 
His Government has since attempted to pacify the people who supported him—the same people who are now angry about the rising cost of living—by restructuring the tax system and producing tax cuts that will give more money to those who earn significantly higher incomes. These tax cuts come at a cost to the whole nation of about $17.8 billion which must be paid for in the years to come. The Prime Minister said that tax cuts and an increase to GST is called a tax switch and that it will be cost neutral. But for low and middle income earners it is a tax swindle. This Budget hurts the most vulnerable groups in our communities right across New Zealand. It hurts low-income groups especially people on fixed incomes. It hurts solo parents and their children it hurts workers on the minimum wage it hurts the disability community and it will hurt the elderly young people and those on invalids benefits. The 81 percent of people in Mangere earning $40000 or less a year have been swindled by the Government’s tax package because they will actually be worse off under this Budget. It is a tax swindle because someone in Mangere on the median wage of $20600 may on the one hand get a tax cut of about $9 a week but after the increases in the cost of living and accident compensation costs are factored in that person will be worse off by $11 a week. 
I blame the Prime Minister Mr Key for the suffering that many in my community will continue to feel under his Government. He is the leader and it is his Government that is responsible. He broke his promise on GST and attempted to hide his mistake by introducing a tax swindle by manipulating an appeal to the desperation that many families face with low incomes rising prices and the genuine desire of all families to get ahead and make ends meet. There is no future for ordinary working families under this Government. There is no future under this Prime Minister for the communities he once called the underclass. 
Where is the future for children in Manukau where since December 2008 nine early childhood centres have closed? Where is the future for the children in Mangere where there have been five early childhood centres closed since National came into power? Where is the future for the children of Mangere families when parents could face costs of up to $20 or $40 a week more per child for early childhood education? Some centres estimate that the real cost could be up to $60 per week per child. Last Friday the Kiwicare Preschool of Tennessee Avenue in Mangere which the Prime Minister opened last year sent a letter to its staff stating that it will have to review its staff numbers due to cuts from this Government. Where is the future for these workers who will possibly be laid off and their lives added to the pile of discarded unemployed workers who still number above the Australian unemployment figures? There is no future for the people of Mangere under this Government. 
I note that leading up to the Budget and even today the Minister of Customs has been crowing loudly about the wonderful work of customs officers at our borders. Labour supports the work and commitment of our customs and border officers and the significant number of narcotic interventions that we have heard so much about in recent days. We have not heard so much about how the Government rushed the SmartGate electronic passport control system into New Zealand’s airports against the advice of three Government departments. The House has not heard that despite warnings from the Department of Labour Treasury and the State Services Commission the Minister of Customs approved the purchase of SmartGate. The three departments had serious concerns about whether the SmartGate system offered value for money and was the best technology to meet the future challenges of border control. I suspect that the Minister of Customs may have wanted to do the right thing follow the official advice and put up SmartGate for a public tender process but it seems that that advice was ignored because Prime Minister John Key asked officers to give highest priority to advancing the integration of trans-Tasman border clearance. Official documents show that despite reservations about SmartGate its purchase and implementation were rushed so that John Key could announce its introduction at a meeting with the Australian Prime Minister last August. 
I have the same concerns about the way that this Government has approved $4.8 million to a little unknown private company called the Pacific Economic Development Agency Ltd. There is widespread concern about it from the Pacific Island community from Invercargill to Kaikohe and from Taranaki to Gisborne. Last week the company’s register showed that there were two original shareholders but as of this week there is only one shareholder and one director. Labour asked the Minister of Pacific Island Affairs whether the funds underwent a public tender process before being approved for a private company. Only yesterday we finally got an answer and we heard it on  
Morning Report 
. The answer she gave sparks more questions. Why did the Minister not undertake a rigorous tender process? Why was the money not given to the Pacific Business Trust which has a long and strong track record in the community? Where did this money come from? Who were the people who lobbied the Minister so that she would approve this money without it going through a public tender process? Was she bullied by the Minister of Finance or the Prime Minister into making this decision? Those questions need to be answered because that $4.8 million is public money. We of the Pacific community want to know what outcomes will be achieved from this $4.8 million. It is appalling that on  
Morning Report 
 yesterday after announcing that she was supporting this group with $4.8 million she revealed that she does not really know too much about what this company will provide. We demand those answers.