King Annette: General Debate 
King Annette: General Debate 
[Volume:664;Page:12316] 
Hon ANNETTE KING (Deputy Leader—Labour) 
: 
 Simon Power’s speech today focused on leadership but there is irony in that because not so long ago Mr Power was one of those National members who had his leadership strategy drawn up for him. I tell members opposite that I happen to have a copy of that and I would be happy to share it with anybody who wants to read it. Mr Power has been preparing himself for that moment and perhaps members opposite would like to see how he will go about it. It was funny that Mr Power talked about changes in Labour Party leadership; most of us recall that there have been five leaders of the National Party in fewer than 10 years. National changed them about every 2 years until it finally found the smiling Mr Key. 
But I do not want to talk about leadership. I want to talk about the real issues that face New Zealanders. I want to talk about the family who were sitting around the kitchen table last night looking at their weekly budget. They know that tomorrow on 1 July a large chunk of their income will be stripped from them by a raft of National Government - imposed cost increases and policy changes. I call them “Instalment No. 1 of Dr Key’s medicine for New Zealand”. That medicine is about to be administered with a very large spoon and it will have a very very nasty taste for most New Zealanders. Of course people are being softened up for that medicine. They are being told repeatedly not to worry because it is going to be good for them. They are being told that no one will be worse off that it will not hurt and that they will be better off after they take their medicine. But Kiwis are not silly and the soft words of reassurance from the Prime Minister who constantly refers to his State house beginnings but lives a life far beyond the dreams of most New Zealanders will be exposed for what they are over the next few months. His words will be exposed as puffery and blatherskite. 
Nothing shows that more than the letter Mr Key sent to senior citizens last week. Thousands of letters were sent to superannuitants and veterans around New Zealand costing tens of thousands of dollars. I do not see anything wrong in informing people about policy—there is nothing wrong with it; Governments do that. But I object to the use of taxpayers’ money and not telling taxpayers the whole story. On the one hand Mr Key’s letter tells them that policy changes are going to give them more money but on the other hand it fails to tell them about the costs that will be imposed on them. There is something wrong in telling older New Zealanders that there will be an increase in superannuation and the veterans pension on 1 October and that they will be fairly compensated for the GST rise. That is a clear and blatant fabrication because the letter does not tell older New Zealanders about instalment No. 1 on 1 July and instalment No. 2 on 1 October. Older New Zealanders and low and middle income New Zealanders are facing a raft of increases. 
The family sitting at their kitchen table know that after tomorrow power prices will go up by as much as 12 percent. If we ever want to see a Prime Minister who is out of touch with his people we only need to hear John Key tell people to shop around if they do not like the power company that provides them power. I asked Mr Key from across the House today: “Have you ever tried to shop around for a better deal from a power company?” and he kept his head down and did not reply. He does not know what is involved in trying to find a better deal from a power company. He is out of touch with what is happening to real New Zealanders. Families know that their rent will go up. Property investors have said that someone has to pay for the changes in the Budget and they predict rent increases of up to $30 a week. Those are the real issues we should be hearing about from the Government.