Robertson Grant: Appropriation (2011/12 Estimates) Bill — Third Reading Imprest Supply Debate 
Robertson Grant: Appropriation (2011/12 Estimates) Bill — Third Reading Imprest Supply Debate 
[Volume:674;Page:20496] 
GRANT ROBERTSON (Labour—Wellington Central) 
: 
 The Appropriation (2011/12 Estimates) Bill could be read as an innocuous set of figures. That is essentially what we see here. It is the estimates. There are some big numbers sitting beside things and there are some smaller numbers sitting beside others. For instance we could look at the Department of Corrections budget. We would see that something over $800 million is being spent on prison custodial services and that a somewhat smaller amount of money—about $140 million—is being spent on reintegration and rehabilitation services and we could say that that might indicate some of the priorities of this Government. 
But this document is much more than just a set of figures. This document should represent the plan that the Government has for the country for the future of New Zealand. It is not just numbers but it should be the vision the bold outline of where a Government wants to take a country. When we look at this document we see that it is sadly lacking in any kind of vision or any kind of plan. It does not deliver hope to New Zealanders. Where is the sunny optimism of the Prime Minister from before the last election and in the first year of his term? He is the man who said that there would be this great wealth of opportunity for New Zealanders. 
Hon Member 
: Ambitious for New Zealand. 
GRANT ROBERTSON 
: “Ambitious for New Zealand” was the slogan. 
Hon Lianne Dalziel 
: Turbocharge the economy. 
GRANT ROBERTSON 
: We were going to turbocharge. The poor Governor-General had to say “turbocharged” in his first speech when this Government came into office. Where has that all gone? It has gone—it has completely gone. 
John Armstrong from the  
New Zealand Herald  
 who is someone whom I have the odd difference of opinion with— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: So do I. 
GRANT ROBERTSON 
: Mr Mallard does as well. 
Paul Quinn 
: I wouldn’t mention him. 
GRANT ROBERTSON 
: John Armstrong from the  
New Zealand Herald 
 —I say to Mr Quinn—described this Budget as a “fairy tale of high hopes”—a fairy tale of high hopes. Like most fairy tales this one begins with once upon a time. Once upon a time there was a politician called John Key who smiled and waved a lot. He was relaxed and he liked to kick the tyres with his friends but most of all he was ambitious for New Zealand. His friend Bill said it was great to work with him as he jumped from cloud to cloud. He liked to tell stories to his friends about catching up with Australia on wages and he was fond of making other promises to his friends as well like promising not to increase GST or promising not to sell assets. John was a happy camper but things have not turned out so well in this fairy tale. 
They certainly have not turned out well for the thousands of Kiwi families who now rely on food banks. In my own electorate a relatively wealthy electorate there has been a 30 percent increase in the use of food banks under this Government. Things have certainly not turned out well for those on the minimum wage and it is important to note that the minimum wage is now worth $16 a week less than it was a year ago—$16 a week less than it was a year ago. That is one reason why I am proud of the Labour Party’s promise to increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour—$15 per hour. I am proud of that because it will put money in the pockets of working families. It will put money in the pockets of working families. This Budget does not contain anything that resembles a plan for driving this economy forward. 
Amy Adams in her speech talked about the fears worries and concerns that New Zealanders have when they look at what is happening in economies around the world. Well what is this Government’s reaction to that? It is to stand on the sidelines with its hands in its pockets doing nothing. That is the reaction of this Government which is hoping really hard that the Budget will deliver 170000 new jobs. There is nothing in this appropriation document that tells me the Government has any kind of actual plan to deliver 170000 new jobs let alone 4 percent growth which is in here as well. The Government is hoping and it has no plan to get past that hope. 
The question we have to ask when we look at this is what the basis is for any kind of optimism from the Government speakers. New Zealand is on negative credit watch 155000 people are unemployed and we have record high inflation. There is nothing that this Government has done that it has brought to this House that should give New Zealanders any hope whatsoever that the Government can deliver on the hopes that are in this Budget. It is as John Armstrong says a fairy tale of high hopes. We have heard after every Budget from this Government that good times are ahead and we just have to wait. Each time Bill English has failed to live up to those expectations. Each time the high hopes—the fairy tale of high hopes—has carried on. It is not good enough to have a Government that promises in the never-never and never delivers. 
The tragedy is that all the policies from this Government are about the short term rather than the long term. As I said this document should be a plan; it should be some kind of road map for New Zealanders to follow. The question I am asking and being asked as I move around New Zealand is: how can we actually create a better New Zealand than this Government has? That is why the Labour Party does have a plan. We have been criticised and asked where our policy is. Our policy is out there now and it is a plan that is based on a fair tax policy and growing a sustainable economy. My question to the members on the other side of the House is: are they actually going to release a policy at this election or are they simply going to rely on what has failed for the last 3 years? Is there a policy? It is a genuine question. 
Carol Beaumont 
: There is no answer. 
GRANT ROBERTSON 
: There is no answer from the other side because there is no plan. 
What we have on this side of the House is a plan for a better New Zealand. I think New Zealand is a better place than one where money is taken out of early childhood education. I think New Zealand is a better place than that. New Zealanders are better than that. I think New Zealand is a better place than one where we sell off our assets to get some short-term money gain that means those assets are gone for ever. This is a Government that tells us that New Zealanders will be at the front of the queue for those assets. The reality is they have no way of knowing how that will happen. Time and again in this House Bill English has failed to answer the question of how New Zealanders will be at the front of the queue for assets that are going to be sold. Those assets should not be sold. They are assets built up by generations of New Zealanders they are part of our history and they should be part of our future. We must not let important assets like the electricity industry go offshore. We saw it with Contact Energy and under this Government they will disappear completely. 
We need a plan that is based on good monetary policy that supports our exporters overseas investment rules that actually ensure that Kiwi land stays in Kiwi hands a procurement policy that encourages Kiwi jobs a capital gains tax the first $5000 of income tax-free and GST off fresh fruit and vegetables. All of those things are important but in the end they are only one aspect of what a Government should be about. A Government should be about supporting New Zealanders investing in New Zealanders and making sure that New Zealanders have the skills and the knowledge to develop our economy. There is nothing in this document that speaks to supporting economic development. Where is the support for new technologies? Where is the support for clean technology? Where is the way of adding value to our primary industries? 
This Government is standing on the sidelines hands in pockets hoping the market will provide. Well the truth is that New Zealanders need more than that. We are a better country than that. We are a country where we do look after each other. We are not a country that stands by when $800000 is taken from Women’s Refuge and we are not a country that stands by when money is taken away from mental health providers in our community which are forced to close down like the one in Marlborough recently. These are things that New Zealanders do not like. New Zealanders are people who believe that we look after each other that we support each other and that we invest in our people. This appropriation bill has nothing of that in it. 
Labour is putting forward a coherent plan. It is a plan that is about a fair tax system investing in skills and training keeping our assets and not selling New Zealanders’ future down the river. We are concerned about our economy not somebody else’s economy. That should be the basis of this appropriation bill but it is not. This Budget is a moral failure a fiscal failure and it does not invest in New Zealanders. We need at this election to ensure that the Government that is elected is led by the Labour Party will invest in New Zealanders will have a fair tax system and will ensure that New Zealanders want to stay here and come back to New Zealand. We need an environment where we provide a fair basis for all New Zealanders to achieve their potential and where we protect our environment and support those around us. That is what this Budget should have done and it has failed to do that.