Brownlee Gerry: KiwiSaver Budget Measures Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBrownlee Gerry: KiwiSaver Budget Measures Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee Third Reading[Sitting date: 21 May 2015. Volume:705;Page:3794. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon GERRY BROWNLEE (Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery):That is the sort of speech you give when you come to the party 43 years late. That is the sort of speech you give when you have got no ideas to offer the country at all. What we heard from Mr Little was that apparently there is no plan. Well I tell you what there are a lot of people in this country who think that the Government of the day is doing an extremely good job and they are very very happy about the Budget that has been brought down in the last few days.What we heard from Mr Little in a policy sense in that short speech was his reconfirmation that under Labour the retirement age will go up not to 67 not to 68 not to 69 but most likely to 70. That at least is something that Labour is standing for. Secondly we have heard that when people do get to what is a nominal retirement age if they are still working then there will be a means test applied to them. When you look at the Labour record for spending in Government everyone knows that it will not stop at just the earnings over and above wages; it will be everything for anyone over the age of 65 under a Labour Government.I find it really staggering too that Mr Little expects to be taken seriously when he talks about fiscal matters by offering the really insightful piece of information that if a Government makes a grant to someone so that that person might start some savings it is somehow the basis for having an expanding fiscal foundation for the nation. Well I do not mind saying that I have never really understood how someone can say that they are wealthier by virtue of their borrowing. That is fundamentally wrong and that is the sort of rubbish that Mr Little is going around saying on the stump at the moment trying to convince New Zealanders of the insightful idea that the Labour Party can somehow conjure up out of nowhere the money to make life better for everyone.The other point that was really interesting was the attack that Mr Little managed in this KiwiSaver bill to mount on this Government’s record when it comes to New Zealand superannuation. This Government has raised the superannuation income for superannuitants repeatedly over the last 7 years—repeatedly—and not just in the context of the Consumers Price Index but in other things as well. Although the numbers are not in front of me I can tell you that those increases are well in excess of $100 a fortnight in the last 3 years. That is real work by a Government. That is not some sort of penny-pinching.It is also extraordinary that in a Budget where there has been a big move to raise the benefit incomes for those New Zealanders who require that assistance that Labour members of all people—Hon Ruth Dyson: You’ve just cut 40 weeks of it in this.Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: —Ruth Dyson and the exiting crew from the back row—are all out there waving a bit of paper and asking: “Where’s the surplus? Where’s the surplus?”. So what we know is that a Labour Government will always put a surplus ahead of the needs of New Zealanders—it will always do that. That is its record. That is its record. That is why for so many of those 43 years since 1972—The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard): Order! I know that this bill has not been to a select committee and therefore the debate can be broader than normal but I am just going to ask the Minister to—Hon Annette King: Mention it.The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard): —well that is what I was going to say—try mentioning it rather than having the entire speech as a prelude to his contribution to the Budget debate.Phil Twyford: He’s a senior member. He should know better.Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: That is right I should know better but I will also resist any temptation to note that at a very very salient point in my contribution to this debate there could well have been a partisan intervention but I am not going to say that.Just think carefully about what KiwiSaver does. KiwiSaver says to anyone coming into the workforce: “Sign up to this particular proposal put a sum of your money into the scheme and there will be an employer contribution plus a $521-a-year contribution from the Government as well.” None of that changes. That all remains in place. The really interesting thing is that young people going into the workforce and signing up to save in this way will now have access to those KiwiSaver funds for the purchase of a first home. These are not small grants—$5000 per individual if it is a second-hand home $10000 if it is a brand-new home or $20000 for a couple who have saved through this system—so it is utterly ridiculous for anyone to suggest that the incentives for young people to sign up to KiwiSaver are in any way at all damaged by this particular prospect.I heard the most interesting thing on TV the other night. It was a vox pop in the street where clearly someone from the Labour Party had managed to get themselves in front of a camera—[Interruption]—yes true; well it is a rare thing for someone from the Labour Party to get in front of a camera—and they were saying: “This is a terrible thing. I had hoped that I would be able to use my KiwiSaver and that $1000 to go towards my first home.” Well get real—get real. Saving over a 5-year period is going to see more than $2500 of Government grant going into that account plus up to $10000 at the time that the house is bought. People understand that. People understand that well.I can tell our opponents on the other side that there is a whole industry of people out there encouraging young people to join KiwiSaver under those conditions. That is why the number is at 2.5 million and why it will not fall is that young people actually do have aspiration. Young people do want to make the most of their lives. Young people will see that their getting up to $15000 worth of Government grant when they come to buy their home makes it well worth their while being in KiwiSaver regardless of this $1000.