Carter David: Budget Debate 
Carter David: Budget Debate 
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Hon DAVID CARTER (Minister of Agriculture) 
: 
 It is a pleasure to take part in the Budget debate and a particular pleasure to follow the Labour member Stuart Nash because he is the man who ran the despicable story about dairy farmers not paying enough tax. He is the man who has singlehandedly made sure that every farmer in New Zealand votes National on 26 November. That man went out there and said that dairy farmers do not pay tax. He picked 2009 the year of the drought the year of Fonterra’s lowest payout in recent years—in fact many of the farmers he talked about had actually been entitled to a tax refund in that year—and he compared their gross income and stupidly foolishly suggested that dairy farmers should pay tax on their gross income not their profit. Well that shows how out of touch that Labour member is. It shows how out of touch Labour is with the farmers of New Zealand. 
Then Mr Goff did better than that. He had a big conference here in Wellington. Mr Nash might have gone to it although I understand that as soon as he could he flew to Argentina to get away because he was not prepared to show his face in New Zealand. Ronnie Biggs did that. Ronnie Biggs went and lived in Buenos Aires; at least Mr Nash came back to face the music. Mr Goff then announced Labour would bring agriculture into the emissions trading scheme in 2013. Why? Because it is having trouble with its budget and it needs $800 million. That is $23000 per farmer—and it is no problem when one has annoyed every farmer in New Zealand by telling them they do not pay tax to then tell them they will be expected to front up and pay $23000 per sheep beef farm and dairy farm so that Labour can fund some other research and development tax credits. That was the policy of Mr Goff. I have no doubt Mr Nash helped to put it together because he is the spokesman on revenue. 
I say to the farmers who are listening tonight because  
Coronation Street 
 is boring that they should mark my words. Labour is talking about having a capital gains tax Labour is talking about bringing agriculture into the emissions trading scheme in 2013 at a cost of $800 million to that industry and Labour will restore the envy tax. That is the tax where according to Mr Nash and Phil Goff anybody earning over $60000 is rich and should pay a higher rate of tax. Well I am proud of what this Government has done with tax. We now have two-thirds of taxpayers in New Zealand paying a top tax rate of 17.5 percent. 
I acknowledge the valedictory speech made by John Carter before the dinner break. He has been a tremendous parliamentarian. He was the person who supported me through my by-election in 1994 and he made sure he gave me every support to get in here. We will miss John Carter for his humour for his hard work and for his absolute dedication to this House. 
I acknowledge that Budget 2011 was a tough Budget but it was a Budget for the time. It was a not a typical election year Budget. We did not hand out lollies like that Government did in 2005 that this country is still paying for. [ 
Interruption 
] We were fiscally responsible something that Mr Nash and Moana Mackey would not even understand. This was a Budget for the times. 
I still remember and I will never forget for as long as I am on this earth Michael Cullen crowing when he opened the books before the last election saying: “It doesn’t matter who wins; 10 years of Budget deficits.” That is the mess the legacy that that Labour Government left to this country. Full marks to Bill English full marks to John Key and full marks to this National caucus because we have got that deficit back and we are predicting Budget surpluses in 2014. That is a lot better than what the Labour Government left and those members should be silent and ashamed of themselves. 
This Budget also made a tremendous contribution to Christchurch. We are still struggling particularly after Monday at about 10 a.m. when we got another 5.8 aftershock. This Government has made a commitment of a total $8.8 billion booked in this Budget with $5.5 billion associated with the rebuild of Christchurch. The Labour members of Christchurch continue to go around looking for hard luck stories and trying to criticise this Government but I can tell Mr Nash they are on a loser. The people I am talking to respect the commitment of John Key and the National Government to Christchurch. The Budget of 2011 was about economic growth. History will show if Labour ever wants to look at history— 
Hon Shane Jones 
: One example of economic growth. 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: Shane Jones should look at history before he is history. The tradable sector of the economy went into recession in 2004. That was long before the world had heard of the global financial crisis. 
Stuart Nash 
: Rubbish! 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: Mr Nash denies it. Still today he denies that the tradable sector was in recession in late 2004. Mr Nash hangs his head in shame and I do not blame him because he should be ashamed of that performance. What we now have is an economy coming out of recession led by the agricultural sector which Mr Nash hates. He hates the farmers he is full of jealousy and he is not the only one on that side of the House. Those members all hate the farmers. It is the politics of envy as displayed by Mr Nash recently. 
What we now see is this year’s GDP growth at 2 percent—not good enough—next year’s at 4 percent and building from there on. This Budget builds on the productive base of this country which is the agricultural sector. 
Hon Steve Chadwick 
: That’s fairy dust. 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: It was Labour I say to Steve Chadwick that termed agriculture a sunset industry. I ask whether Steve Chadwick remembers that. She would have finished school by then. In 1988 David Lange called agriculture a sunset industry. Well the farmers of New Zealand have not forgotten and I will make sure that they never forget Labour’s commitment to agriculture. 
I will talk now about one specific announcement about water that was in the Budget. It was announced a week before the Budget itself. It is this Government’s commitment to the sustainable use of water. Water is New Zealand’s greatest primary sector competitive advantage and as a nation we have made a mess of utilising that resource for a long time. In the Budget we have tagged $35 million to encourage the development of agricultural schemes. We signalled that we will put $400 million into future investment in irrigation schemes. 
Hon Member 
: How much? 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: Four hundred million dollars. But it will not be irrigation at all costs. We announced a national policy statement on water quality and quantity—something that was not done by the previous Government despite 9 long years of promises to do so. Finally we announced an enhancement scheme. This Government with the enhancement scheme announced in the Budget will now commit a total of $268 million to tidying up some of the degradation of our water. 
This was a Budget for the times. I am proud that we are fiscally responsible. We made changes to KiwiSaver. Mr Nash talked about us cutting KiwiSaver. Well we have made a change to the tax credit. 
Hon Steve Chadwick 
: You’ve decimated the scheme. 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: The member’s tax credit has been cut by half—from June next year I say to Steve Chadwick. We are telling the people of New Zealand to go and vote with that information and if they support the National Government and its progress on a growth agenda rather than the politics of envy from the other side to vote accordingly. 
At this stage the polls suggest to me that most New Zealanders are being very fiscally responsible. They know this country has overextended. They know this country went into recession in the tradable sector in 2004 under the mismanagement of Helen Clark. They know that Helen Clark still texts members of the Labour caucus on a regular basis to give them instructions. It is no wonder that Labour is still polling at about 20 percent. 
Until Labour members detach themselves from the failed policies of the past decade they have no show of delivering to this economy the economic growth that will give New Zealanders the standard of living they deserve. I am making sure as a member of the National caucus and the National Cabinet that this Government continues to focus on economic growth and on the standard of living of all New Zealanders.