Bennett David: Debate on Budget Policy Statement 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Bennett David: Debate on Budget Policy Statement 
[Sitting date: 02 May 2012. Volume:679;Page:1883. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
DAVID BENNETT (National—Hamilton East) 
: 
 That was the probably the best speech we have heard from that member David Cunliffe; it is a shame no one was listening to it. He has had his time and the Labour Party has moved on. But when he talks about a zero Budget I think that gives you a pretty good indication of Labour economic policy. It does not want to balance the New Zealand Government’s Budget; it wants to borrow more. If you borrow more you have to pay it back— 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Order! 
DAVID BENNETT 
: —and if the country has to pay that money back how are we going to do it? The Labour Party will not give its plan for repayment apart from taxation increases. If you increase taxes that hurts the economy more. So you are going to borrow more then you are going to hurt economic growth by increasing taxes. That will put this economy into a free fall. It will fall down and spiral out of control and that great economic plan that the Labour Party is now talking about will not work. It has not worked in other countries and it will not work here. You cannot go out there and just borrow for the sake of it any more. As a country we need to be responsible and we need to look forward and promote a growing economy. 
One of the other things Mr Cunliffe talked about is having a prosperous economy. We hear this rhetoric from the Labour Party all the time. Labour members talk about growing an economy and having a more productive sector. When Labour was in power it did the opposite. Labour members say the right things in this House now but when they had the chance they killed the productive economy of New Zealand. The productive economy of New Zealand knows that if it ever gave that party a chance again it would get killed again because the Labour Party does not even understand what a productive economy is it does not understand how to promote a productive economy and its rhetoric its vision actually hurts a productive economy. If you do not have a country that produces then there is not that growth and there is not that Government revenue that you need. 
 This is a very difficult time for New Zealand and the rest of the world. We have been through a major recession. It is a very fragile economic environment out there in the modern world. On top of that New Zealand has had to deal with an earthquake in Christchurch of a magnitude that is beyond anyone’s comprehension. Those two factors have meant that you need disciplined expenditure from the Government you need a Government with a firm hand— 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Order! I have been very tolerant of the member’s use of the word “you” and I would suggest that the member look at Speaker’s ruling 27/5(1) and (2). When the member uses the word “you” he brings the Speaker into the debate. 
DAVID BENNETT 
: We have had a firm hand with economic management but in a fair way. The horses have not been scared in New Zealand. People have known that there is strong Government backup in our community and through our social spending but at the same time the Government has invested in the infrastructure of this country going forward. It has been a balanced approach that looks forward to economic growth in the future delivers that certainty for people in New Zealand currently and provides the basis for a strong economy going forward. That is real economic leadership. It is not talking about things that may happen or could happen or saying—through some crystal ball—it will all work out fine. It is about providing real and substantial leadership now and that is what this Budget and this Budget Policy Statement is about. It is providing that real leadership. 
The real leadership requires us to get back into surplus. The days of borrowing and hoping are gone. No modern economy around the world can continue down that path. If anything we need to be making money not borrowing money. And to get into the situation of making money you have first to get into a situation of breaking even—that is where you are not spending more than you are earning. That is the challenge for New Zealand: to make sure that this Government and this country does not spend more than it earns. It is a challenge that is lost on our Opposition. Our Opposition wants to go out there and say that you can borrow for that extra expenditure and you don’t have to worry about it. Well we do have to worry about it because that money has to be repaid at some point in time. 
So what is this Government doing to try to balance the books to make sure that New Zealand has a pathway going forward? First we are responsibly managing the Government’s finances. We are building a more productive and competitive economy we are delivering better public services within the constraints that we now face and we are rebuilding Christchurch. Those are the key elements of Budget 2012. They are the key elements that New Zealanders are looking for in their Government. New Zealanders know the pain that Governments and countries around the world are going through because they have experienced that themselves in their own personal circumstances over the last few years. Job security their willingness to pay down the mortgage on their property investments and the need to have some money put aside for a rainy day are the things that New Zealanders are looking for. The modern economic reality is not one based on consumption but rather on saving and investment and you are seeing that through New Zealanders’ choices in how they use their money. New Zealanders expect that from their Government as well. They do not expect to see a Government that borrows and spends. They want to see— 
Grant Robertson 
: That’s what this Government does. 
DAVID BENNETT 
: —a Government that takes account of its money. The Labour Party is saying that that is what this Government is doing. That is not the case. We are getting to the stage of a zero Budget—something that the Labour Party’s past speakers said they do not want to see achieved. The Labour Party does not want that zero Budget; it is keen to just carry on borrowing to get through. There will be some borrowing this year and there will be some borrowing next year because we have got a major deficit because there are policies that have been set up by previous Governments that are not economic-friendly but we have to carry on. There is also the rebuild of Christchurch and the slowing of the economy through a recession that the world has faced. But at this time New Zealand is in one of the most favoured positions for a Western country. Compare our economy with that of many of the European countries and the real world will hit home. We do not live in an economic academic bubble which the Labour Party would want us to be in. We have a real world out there where there is a world recession and where there was an earthquake in Christchurch and it needs a constructive and well-managed Government to get through.  
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Next page. 
DAVID BENNETT 
: Well it is the next page because we have got a plan unlike the Labour Party. When you look at the economic outlook for New Zealand going forward the last speaker David Cunliffe talked about growth rates in New Zealand and said that they were small. Well they are small but they are better than what we inherited. When the National Party came into Government this country was in recession—a recession before the rest of the world led by poor economic management from the previous administration. That state of recession in the New Zealand economy has been turned round. We have low growth rates but we have growth rates. If you took on the Labour Party policy of borrowing more then the growth rates would be even lower and we would be back in recession like that previous Government made this country go into recession. 
At the same time we have managed to deliver the social spending that New Zealanders expect from their Government and the New Zealand economy has been able to rebuild in a way in which it can take on the rest of the world. The world has changed. It is no longer an economic bubble where you can just go out there borrow money and think that things will be fine. There needs to be a constructive and well-managed plan—a plan that this Government is delivering—and we look forward to seeing more in the Budget coming ahead. Thank you.