McClay Todd: Budget Debate 
McClay Todd: Budget Debate 
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TODD McCLAY (National—Rotorua) 
: 
 It gives me pleasure to rise and speak this evening on the Budget debate towards the end of this session. If the country had not just moved out of recession the previous speaker Metiria Turei might have pushed it straight back where it came from. I would like to say that in listening to the content I thought that was nothing but a miserable speech. The previous speaker suggested to us that there was nothing good in the Budget. My advice to her is to pick up the newspapers and have a look on the Internet at what happened just after the Budget was announced. She should get back in touch with what New Zealanders said. 
Metiria Turei 
: You think child poverty is funny do you? 
TODD McCLAY 
: No I certainly do not think that it is funny but there was not a lot of humour in your speech which is why many people in New Zealand turned the TV off. I would have thought— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. You did not make a speech and this member has now been here for nearly a year I think and he should know better. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Eric Roy) 
: The member is not the only one who transgresses. Members from this side of the House do it as well. Members on both sides of the House need to tidy up a little bit in that regard. Let us have a general warning. 
TODD McCLAY 
: Thank you for the correction Mr Assistant Speaker and I apologise. I certainly do not think you are humorous either. I suggest that this Budget is a good Budget. It was warmly received— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: He just did it again. 
TODD McCLAY 
: I was speaking to the Assistant Speaker. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. He did not finish a sentence before he insulted you by saying he did not think you were serious. I just wonder whether an IQ test should be applied before the member enters the Chamber— 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Eric Roy) 
: No you must not attack members when you make a point of order or I will think that the purpose of the point of order is to attack the member and not to address a matter of the order of the House. So that is also misbehaviour. I ask the member Todd McClay to be careful. 
TODD McCLAY 
: Mr Assistant Speaker thank you very much. I think that it was a good Budget. It was warmly received by New Zealand. All you needed to do was turn on the TV the next night or look at the newspaper and up to 80 percent— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Ha ha! Did you turn it on Mr Speaker or not? “All you needed to do was turn on the TV …”—another sentence he could not do. 
TODD McCLAY 
: I was speaking to the Speaker. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: You’re not allowed to bring him in— 
TODD McCLAY 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I need a little clarification because the member opposite is right: I am a little newer in this House than he is. If I am addressing you I can talk to the Speaker as “you” can I not? 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Eric Roy) 
: If a member is speaking to the Speaker he or she should say “Mr Speaker”. The pronoun “you” gives us all sorts of problems and members will get on better by desisting from using the pronoun “you”. 
TODD McCLAY 
: Thank you—all we had to do was turn on the television and look at the newspapers the very next morning and we would have seen that 80 percent of New Zealanders thought that this was a good Budget. There were positive headlines throughout the country and people were saying that it was a responsible Budget. It has vision for the New Zealand economy and after many many years we can see where the country is going. It is moving in a positive direction. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: A royal variety—the royal “we”. 
TODD McCLAY 
: I understand that Opposition members need to oppose everything and they feel they should be negative about these things. Sadly I have come to the conclusion in following the debate in the last few weeks that few people if any in New Zealand are listening to the Opposition. In fact if we look at the media coverage in New Zealand about the Opposition in the days after the Budget one might assume there was much much more coverage in the last week than there was then. But I would agree with members opposite that this Budget was very important for New Zealand. 
As I said this Budget has vision. First and foremost the Budget is about getting fast and sustainable economic growth back in New Zealand. That is one of the most important things we campaigned on and one of the most important things we can deliver for New Zealanders. It is the only way we can get higher-paying jobs and opportunities in this country for hard-working Kiwis. It is the only way we will keep people in my electorate and in other people’s electorates. Indeed it is the only way we will get hard-working Kiwis who have gone overseas over the last 8 or 9 years because they felt there was not enough opportunity in New Zealand to return to our shores and work hard for our country. 
We have a poor track record in New Zealand. Even before the global recession hit New Zealand was already in a recession of its own and growth was very slow. That is because for far too many years this country relied upon borrowing consumption and unsustainable increases in Government spending. Well this Budget certainly addresses that and it delivers for New Zealanders. The Budget will help turn that round so that we have faster growth from savings exports and productive investment. We are focused on good fiscal management. Like everyone New Zealand cannot spend more than it earns. We have done that for far too many years already. We have moved with this Budget from what was to be a decade of deficits to a return to surpluses as forecast by Treasury by 2016. That is something that New Zealand businesses and New Zealand as a whole have welcomed. 
We are also moving in the right direction as we are seeing confidence in business return and certainly a reduction in unemployment although I would suggest that we still have some way still to go on that. All members of the House would have been happy when we saw only a month ago reductions in unemployment throughout New Zealand from 7 percent to 6 percent at the end of the first quarter. Certainly in my electorate of Rotorua there were significant reductions of unemployment and particularly pleasing was a reduction in unemployment amongst young people who were finding jobs and moving away from benefits. We are also looking to help New Zealand families through the Budget. During the economic downturn we maintained entitlements and the Budget states that we will continue to do that. We are compensating Kiwis for the small increase in GST and that includes beneficiaries low-income families and people on superannuation. We are making changes to how we help those people and the Budget is very much about helping them to help themselves. 
There are a number of changes in the Budget particularly towards a fairer tax system to help the economy grow. There is a great feeling for that in the community. Indeed the Minister of Finance Bill English came to my electorate and held a lunch in Rotorua days after the Budget. The Rotorua Chamber of Commerce hosted the lunch and more than 150 people came along to hear about the Budget and to hear the Minister of Finance speak. For comparison we only need to cast our minds back to last year when the Leader of the Opposition came to hold a similar lunch with the Chamber of Commerce. I think six people registered and very sadly for the people of Rotorua that lunch had to be cancelled. The business people of Rotorua were not able to hear the wisdom of the Leader of the Opposition but at least 150 of them came to see Mr English and listen to him. 
The feedback was very positive. The  
Daily Post 
 wrote a very good article. It talked to those who had been in the room some of whom were employers and had their own businesses and some of whom were employees. The feedback was very positive. Those hard-working people of Rotorua realise that the country has to move in a direction where people have greater opportunity and where there is greater support for jobs and businesses. Well the Budget does that. High-quality front-line public services are to be delivered along with strong sustainable economic growth and value for the taxpayer dollar. Value for the taxpayer dollar will be a good thing after 9 years. We are also creating opportunities for families as I mentioned earlier with across-the-board personal tax cuts a fairer tax system and encouragement of investment and production in New Zealand and productive businesses. 
What will the tax cuts mean to people? This is the biggest reform of the New Zealand tax system for nearly 25 years. In fact it is near on 9 years since New Zealanders last received a tax cut—at least before the last election. Many New Zealanders who are out there working now probably do not remember what a tax cut is. We have provided incentives for New Zealanders to get ahead. We are cutting their personal taxes something that was not done during Labour’s 9 years in office when it is fair to say that the country was going through a time of economic boom. There is also compensation for the small increase in GST and we are making it easier for companies to do business in New Zealand which encourages them to stay here and create jobs for New Zealanders. 
We are also making the tax system fairer by closing the loopholes that have allowed many high-income earners to dodge their responsibilities or legally move their funds aside so that those who are able to pay tax are paying more. I will give examples of what this will mean for people out in the country. A young person in Rotorua who works in a supermarket and earns just over $26000 a year and who flats and spends $100 each week on rent will be nearly $350 a year better off because of the tax cuts—and that is after taking into account the increase in GST. A family that earns $50000 a year or less and has two children now effectively pays no tax when we factor in Working for Families and in-work tax credits. In both of those examples those hard-working Kiwis will be paying a top tax rate of 17.5 percent which is down from 33 percent just 2 years ago. I am yet to meet anybody who says they are hard-working and want to pay more tax. There are a lot of people out there who will be grateful for the tax cuts when they are delivered in just a couple of months’ time. 
I will give a little bit of feedback with some of the comments that people have been saying about this Budget and the very good things it has done. Here are some interesting messages that members have received. We go to the Prime Minister’s Facebook page. Boy does he get a lot of feedback: “This Budget is a good move. It will help undo some of the damage that Helen Clark did to our economy while she was in charge.” Someone else wrote: “I like the shift away from income taxes towards flat consumption taxes.” 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Yeah but he’s got four people paid by the taxpayer to write the comments. They’re not very productive at all. 
TODD McCLAY 
: I think the member opposite might have said that a few years ago when he was in Government and there was talk about a similar sort of tax. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: No I never wrote anything on Facebook. 
TODD McCLAY 
: I think he might have but certainly not on Facebook. The member is right; he would have defriended the Prime Minister as he has others in this House. 
Another person wrote: “A good Budget is my thinking. Get the country earning more than it spends as individuals and as an economy. Shift to productive investment.” Another states: “Pleasantly surprised is an understatement Prime Minister. I am a very happy camper for the first time in 10 years.” I do not think that man was a camper but certainly he was pleased. It is a good Budget. I am happy to stand up and support it as New Zealanders have. Thank you very much.