Barry Maggie: Public Finance (Fiscal Responsibility) Amendment Bill — In Committee Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBarry Maggie: Public Finance (Fiscal Responsibility) Amendment Bill — In Committee Third Reading[Sitting date: 27 August 2013. Volume:693;Page:12912. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]MAGGIE BARRY (National—North Shore): I rise with pleasure to speak to the Public Finance (Fiscal Responsibility) Amendment Bill. As the Minister of Finance reminded us at the beginning of this reading the structure of the legislation that we are amending does need amendments. It is all about improving the Public Finance Act 1989 which is a piece of legislation that for many years has served us well as successive Governments and as New Zealand taxpayers. What this bill does is make the public reporting and transparency provisions of that Act stronger than they have been. We need to keep the focus on maintaining low Crown debt levels.These amendments as Minister English said at the outset will add a new tool to the tool box to help Governments manage finances more responsibly. What is the problem with that? The Greens say that they support it but they are doing a dollar each way because they are also criticising us unfairly on a number of other levels as is their wont—nothing new there. But the principles of this amendment are absolutely sound—the third principle in particular. We will have regular independent updates from Treasury; a pre-election update so that the public know what they are voting for and so they know where we are at; and a statement every 4 years because unlike the people on the opposing side we recognise that things change. We need to be up to date and we need to constantly reflect on our performance measure it and ensure for the sake of the taxpayers and the voters as well as ourselves that there is a clear pathway and that we understand what is going on despite the sorts of changes that might occur to derail the best intentions.We have heard a lot of stuff and nonsense and some thundering from the Labour Opposition benches about how this bill is absolutely not needed. To me that speaks volumes about where those members are coming from and their inclination to resist scrutiny. “Trust us.” they say. “It’s in our DNA.” they say—the former member for Waimakariri thundered that in his effortlessly unpleasant way. These are not things that we believe because we do not believe those members. We do not trust them and neither do the public of New Zealand which is why those members polled so badly inthe last election and continue to poll badly. No matter who leads them they still remain people who are deluded into thinking that people trust them.Phil Goff was the chief cheerleader back in the 1980s when they introduced GST. Let us look at the track record of these people because basically what they did was that they campaigned on one thing and they transformed all of that. They changed it. They flip-flopped. They told the people of New Zealand to vote in one way and then when they got into office they went from being a socialist party to somewhere further to the right of Genghis Khan.Hon Phil Goff: We did what Muldoon never had the guts to do and you know it.MAGGIE BARRY: Phil Goff who is piping up quietly says: “Yeah we learnt from our mistakes.” Well actually they never have.There is that delusion and I guess that culture and mind-set that they know best—nanny State. Remember the shower heads? Remember the lights that we were told we needed because that Government knew best? We were told to trust them because they knew what they were doing. Well actually the people of New Zealand are not fooled by that nonsense. A piece of legislation like this brings Governments into line and makes sure that they are held accountable and are transparent. That is why Labour members are not supporting it because something of that kind really is anathema to their culture.So from my point of view when I look at this legislation I see that it provides things that are absolutely necessary. The fiscal strategy report is basically a report card for taxpayers. It will include an assessment of the extent to which the fiscal performance of the Government is consistent with its own published fiscal strategy. What on earth is wrong with that? Taxpayers want to accurately measure what is going on with Government expenditure. They have the right to know and it is a mystery to me—although having said what I said about my knowledge of Labour going back to the mid-1980s I am not surprised at those members’ duplicity. They even manage to fool themselves that they think they know what they are doing and that they are able to be trusted when firmly they are not.The public want to know what is going on. They need that transparency and they deserve it and that is what this bill does. Fiscal responsibility means managing the Crown’s finances prudently and it also means making sure that New Zealand’s fiscal institutions and practices remain fit for purpose. That is what this bill is all about and that is why I support it unreservedly and commend it to the House.