Parata Hekia: General Debate 
Parata Hekia: General Debate 
[Volume:662;Page:10765] 
HEKIA PARATA (National) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Assistant Speaker. I will start my contribution this afternoon by inviting the Opposition members to join us on this planet. So far this afternoon we have heard a reinvention of the his-and-her-story of the time when members on that side of the House were in Government. The previous Labour Government left a legacy of red ink to us—red ink. We had falling economic growth with a 0.2 percent increase in annual GDP in the 2008-09 December year which was down from 3.2 percent. We found that members opposite specialised in plummeting figures rather than in rising ones. The exception to that was the unemployment rate which was 4.6 percent in the 2008-09 December quarter. It had gone up from 3.4 percent. Under Labour we had high inflation a 3.4 percent annual consumer price index— 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: What is it now? 
HEKIA PARATA 
: I will get to that. If that member would just still his impatient heart I will get to where we are on that. We had a rising current account deficit under Labour. It was around 9 percent of GDP or $16.1 billion for the year ended December 2008 having gone up from $14.4 billion. Annual productivity growth was only 1.1 percent. What a significant achievement that was by the previous Labour Government between 2000 and 2008! 
But members can rest assured that this Government has a plan. The National members have a plan. This plan brought us into Government in 2008 and saw us delivering a Budget in 2009 that redirected $2 billion worth of low-value expenditure all of which had been brought in by Labour. Now we have a plan for 2010. New Zealanders are asking whether they should have Labour which is a spend spend spend type of administration— 
Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga 
: Borrow borrow. 
HEKIA PARATA 
: —I have not even got to the borrowing and taxing side of it yet—or whether they should have the preparation for future growth that this Government is interested in where numbers in the core bureaucracy are capped $2 billion is to be moved to front-line public services over the next 4 years and another $1.8 billion will be found in Budget 2010. 
New Zealanders can ask whether they should have the Labour approach to life which is to borrow borrow borrow when on the other hand they could have the National approach to life where billions of extra dollars are invested in critical infrastructure— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: This is a disgrace. This member shouldn’t talk on that topic. 
HEKIA PARATA 
: —that member might care to listen instead of shouting his frenetic statements which nobody is interested in—including the national grid and broadband. That infrastructure investment directly supports thousands of jobs in our communities and contributes to a stronger economy. They might ask whether they want the Labour approach which is to tax tax tax or on the other hand whether they prefer the National approach which is to invest in a $500 million relief package to help simplify things for small businesses which members on this side of the House understand are what will help to grow the economy in order for us to have a sustainable tax base. 
Do we want the Labour approach to life which is to spend borrow spend tax spend and borrow—and so the refrain goes on—or do we want an approach that sees the Resource Management Act simplified so that more people can get into business more development can occur and more jobs can be made available? Do we want an approach where we undertake major reviews and action follows them unlike the approach of the Labour members which was to have reviews and consult people to death when they were in Government so that people suffered from consultation fatigue? That is the opposite of what members of the National Government do because we take action on the things that we undertake to do. That is the kind of plan that members on this side of the House have. 
Budget 2010 will see us lift New Zealand’s long-term economic performance because we are interested not in the short-term frippery that characterised members opposite when they were previously in Government but in long-term sustainable economic performance. Budget 2010 will outline broad-based reform of the taxation system so that it becomes fairer leaves the vast majority of households better off and supports faster growth. Budget 2010 will move taxpayers’ money to high-priority public services spending significantly more on health and education. As we speak the Minister of Health has just announced a new bowel cancer-screening test. That is yet another contribution to sustainable long-term health in our community. 
We have a plan. We have a Budget that is good for the economy and for New Zealand families. We invite members on that side of the House to join us on this planet where we are ambitious for New Zealand and have a plan to support those ambitions. Kia ora. 
The debate having concluded the motion lapsed.