English Bill: Budget Debate 
English Bill: Budget Debate 
[Volume:673;Page:19259] 
Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance) 
: 
 After almost 14 hours of debate what is striking is the enormous gap between the Opposition and the people of New Zealand in their understanding of the Budget—an enormous gap. The general public have at worst shrugged their shoulders and said that something had to happen. They are looking forward with some confidence not just to the Rugby World Cup but to the prospect that after a number of years where they have not had much in the way of wage increases and where at times they have been concerned about their job security we will have an economy that picks up speed moderately but definitely. It will demonstrate to them that they have weathered a New Zealand recession induced by the previous Labour Government and its bad policies followed by a global recession and come through the other side of it with sound and positive prospects. 
The debate I think has shown the depth of the disarray of the Labour Party. I do not think it has hit rock-bottom yet. I know it looks like rock-bottom. It looks like it could not get much worse but it will—it will. It will not turn round until Labour apologises to the New Zealand public. It will not turn round until those members roll out of bed one morning and say to themselves that the New Zealand voters were right to kick them out. How many Labour MPs do members think believe that the result of the 2008 election was the right result for New Zealand? Not one. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: Stuart Nash. 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: Has he apologised? 
Hon Tau Henare 
: He has apologised. 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: Well is that not good? What a smart young man. He is widely regarded as a smart young man around the building I understand—a bit of a mover. But until they apologise— 
Hon Paula Bennett 
: Chris Carter? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: No he will never apologise. He never will. At least he has realised that being in the Labour Party is bad even for his image—even for his image being in the Labour Party is a bad look. So he has got out. 
But no Labour members need to apologise first for the damage that they wreaked on the New Zealand economy. Thousands of people lost their jobs because of bad economic management. People’s incomes and well-being were reliant on a speculative economy driven by the fuel of borrowed money. That was actually Labour’s contribution to wealth in New Zealand. So those members have to apologise for that. Then they have to apologise for getting so out of touch with New Zealand voters that they forgot that the economy matters to voters. Labour was chucked out because its members thought that the things that mattered to Labour mattered to New Zealand. And they still do. They still think that the things that matter to the Labour Party in Parliament—which is dominated by student politicians and which is increasingly behaving like the executive of some worn-out student union—matter to New Zealand. The reason we know that is that those members keep wheeling out the same old stuff that they said when they were in Government. 
Chris Tremain 
: And filibustering on a bill for students. 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: Well that is what proves it actually. There is the one thing they have been really motivated about in this whole Parliament. I know that it matters to New Zealand because it fills the halls in Balclutha—I can tell the House that! If a speaker goes to west Auckland to campaign on voluntary student union membership even Tau Henare could get a crowd! The only thing that really matters to Labour members is to stop student union membership becoming voluntary. It is the only area where they have shown any focus any organisation any backbone or any leadership—from the real leader of the Labour caucus Trevor Mallard. And there is that rising star—what is his name—from Wellington Central; I cannot remember his name. All I know is that I used to think that Ruth Dyson was a hopeless health spokesperson but I have changed my mind because he has managed something that is almost impossible—that is to make Ruth Dyson look right on to it when it comes to health. He has succeeded. We will wait for “Stuart Little”—yes—“Andrew Nash” who plans to win the Napier seat does he? So the Labour Party has not hit rock-bottom yet. 
Hon Rick Barker 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I know these debates are to be free-ranging and that people like to have good humour and so on. But— 
Melissa Lee 
: I can’t hear. 
Hon Rick Barker 
: If the member has a problem she should take a point of order. 
Hon Members 
: We can’t hear. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: Just allow the member to speak. 
Hon Rick Barker 
: We are entitled to have a free-ranging debate but members are to be addressed respectfully and the way in which the member speaking addressed Stuart Nash was not in accordance with the Standing Orders. I ask him to withdraw and apologise. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: I just ask that there be some decorum and respect for the Standing Orders. This came up earlier in the debate. 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: The Budget debate demonstrates that until Labour members apologise no one will listen to them. 
Simon Bridges 
: So say sorry. 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: Until they say sorry to the country for all the trouble they have put us through— 
Carmel Sepuloni 
: Say sorry for what? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: That is it— “sorry for what?”. I rest my case. I could not have put it better myself. 
This Government has had three Budgets and one plan. That plan is to rebalance the economy: to move away from excessive consumption and borrowing and move towards exports investment and savings. There is a very simple reason for that; it is pragmatic as this Government is under the leadership of the Hon John Key. New Zealanders will not be able to grow their incomes in the next 10 years from increased house prices and bigger Government spending because the world will not lend us the money to do it—full stop. That is it. Just about everyone in New Zealand knows that except Labour members so it cannot happen. We cannot indulge in wishful thinking here. The world will not lend us that money because we are one of the most highly indebted countries in the developed world. We are up there with Spain and Portugal. So we will have to earn it. That is why this Government over the last three Budgets has put in place the building blocks of better economic performance for the future at the same time as it has supported this economy through the recession. 
I will remind the House of a few of those: in 2009 we locked in one of the largest infrastructure investment programmes the country has seen in generations. And we have stuck to it despite the recession. It is long-term beneficial to people and the economy and the next bit is broadband. In the last Budget we did a tax switch. We increased taxes on spending and property and cut taxes on earnings savings and investment—the only thing that Labour had to say was that it wanted to put income taxes back up—which has changed the incentives in the economy and pushed us in the direction that New Zealand is already going. Then in this Budget we got the Government’s books under control and set out to lift national savings. 
The reason why the Government has been able to retain the support of New Zealanders through this difficult time is that we are simply pushing in the direction they are already going. New Zealanders have been admirably resilient through this recession. We have not had a national whinge-fest. They have rolled up their sleeves and got on with the job and that is what the National Government is doing. We are doing what New Zealanders do. We are being careful with their spending; they did that 2 or 3 years ago. We want to pull our borrowing back because they know and we know that too much of it is a bad thing. That is why we have so much confidence in the future. It is partly because the trading nations of the Asia-Pacific region want to pay more for more of our goods—that is very promising for the next 5 to 10 years. But the deeper reason for our confidence is that resilience that New Zealand has shown. 
I am proud to be part of a party that over the last two decades has backed New Zealand’s transition into being a small open flexible globally focused economy and now New Zealand is getting good at it. That is why New Zealanders have not complained about this recession and that is why they have strongly— 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: I am sorry to interrupt the honourable member. His time has expired. Members this debate has concluded. The question is that the amendment in the name of the Hon Phil Goff be agreed to.