Bennett Paula: General Debate 
Bennett Paula: General Debate 
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PAULA BENNETT (National) 
: 
 Well we have finally had it; we have been building up to it for the last couple of weeks. We were told when we came back from the adjournment that there would be big hits—that attacks from the left would be hitting the right. And we were told to brace ourselves for the moment when Labour members would come at us at National and that we should be prepared for that. So we fronted up on the first day after the adjournment. We came in and sat here and we wondered where they were. The Labour members were not to be heard; they could barely be seen. In fact they sat there grey dishevelled and not quite sure what to do with themselves. So we have got through the situation. We have held them to account for yet another few days and today I think we had the attack. I think today I tell my colleagues we saw the attack and was it not like being hit with a wet bus ticket? Was it not actually just a little sad? The Labour members ran out a few lines—the lines had obviously been passed around them from the research people and they had been told to mention the cap on the costs of general practitioner visits. We have just heard some good lines from the member who spoke before me who said “Labour one; National tired” or something a bit like that. 
But the fact that we all have to accept is that the Labour members over there are nervous. They have a Cabinet reshuffle coming up they are not sure about their jobs and no one knows who is standing. We have members of Parliament who ran for councils with some getting in and some not getting in. We can ask who will be standing as Labour candidates next time and the announcement of that has been bumped backwards. Then we have a Cabinet reshuffle to be announced as well as that. There is too much on the minds of Labour members for them to be worried about what is actually going on over on this side of the House. So the attack has been all on. We have had “Angry Ruth Dyson” and Ruth Dyson does “angry” pretty well we have to say. Well I think it was the best we could see. 
But I am going to enter into this debate by saying I make absolutely no apology for demanding on behalf of New Zealanders that they get some of their own money back. And I will stand up here—and I stand here proudly on behalf of the National Party—and say I make no apology for asking for some of New Zealanders’ money to be put back in their own pockets. Quite frankly they deserve it. Australian workers have received their share of the Australian Government’s Budget surpluses and back-to-back tax cuts and now it is New Zealanders’ turn. There should be no more “chewing gum tax cuts”: no more taking tax cuts away from people when they wanted them and no more thinking that something can be dangled before people in an election year and made to count. 
The arrogance of the Labour Party is starting to trickle through. So we hear some Australians will be receiving only 20 bucks a week. Let us talk about what average New Zealanders—perhaps parents with a family of two—could do with $20 a week. The reality is that with that sort of money they could buy three loaves of bread—which would equal $5.49—500g of butter a bag of apples and some peanut butter and they could feed their family lunch for a week. A couple could feed their family their school lunches for a week. That is what some of those families might choose to do; those families might choose to do that for themselves. But at no point does this Labour Government think that it can have a sense of trust in people—that people could spend that 20 bucks for the benefit of themselves and their own families. At no point is there a level of respect for the fact that New Zealanders might actually do what is best for themselves and their own families. 
We stand in front of New Zealanders today and say to them that welfare dependency is not fair on them. We stand in front of New Zealanders today and say to them that they know what is best for themselves and their families. Even some of those who are currently welfare dependent and even some of those who are struggling from week to week will look us in the eye and nod in agreement with that. They know that they can do better for themselves if given the chance and if given a little bit of respect. So I say: “Give the money back!”. It is not rocket science; it is not very hard to do although one would think it was. One would think Dr Cullen had to reach into his own pocket and hand out his own money. It is time that a timely reminder was put to the Labour Government that the money is New Zealand taxpayers’ money and that the Government should take only what is needed in order for it to get by. The issue is as simple as that.