Little Andrew: General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeLittle Andrew: General Debate[Sitting date: 16 March 2016. Volume:712;Page:9801. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]ANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition): That was the speech from the ostrich pit. This is a Minister of Finance who has wilfully and obediently turned his eye away from what is happening in New Zealand. He is an appalling Minister of Finance who has no answer to the reality of what is happening in New Zealand today. National members have hyped up the bubble. They have blown up the bubble as big as it can go. They have given all the signals to the farmers and the banks to throw money at the dairy sector. They give concessions on water they give subsidies for water and there is no involvement in managing the environment. They take credit for the low interest rate in spite of the fact that apparently the orthodoxy is that the Government has nothing to do with it. They have blown this bubble. This Government is responsible for more bubbles than the clown troupe of the Ringling Brothers Circus. If it is not the Auckland property bubble it is the dairy farm price bubble. That is how this Government manages.OK so Audrey Young says we are the enemy of orthodoxy. Let me tell you about orthodoxy. Let me tell the Minister of Finance about orthodoxy. Here is the way it is meant to work. The reason we have a central bank called the Reserve Bank the reason we have a thing called the official cash rate is that when economic conditions demand it the bank tweaks interest rates. It puts them up if it wants to dampen the economy; it puts them down if it wants a bit of stimulus.Right now the Reserve Bank is telling the world and us that our economy is faltering and needs a bit of stimulus. It sent that signal last week way ahead of expectations. It took it down a little bit because the economy needs a bit of help the farmers are in trouble working New Zealanders are in trouble and the small business sector is in trouble.But of course the Reserve Bank is not the one making the loans. It is the trading banks. It so happens that the overseas trading banks are the ones who get to make the decisions. So then what do you expect? The Reserve Bank puts the official cash rate down. The trading banks are expected to do their bit to help the economy. They have not done it. So the question then is: who runs the joint? Who runs the joint? Is it the overseas corporates that this Government has now surrendered us to or it is this Government?Here is the next question. When the trading banks do not do as the Reserve Bank has asked to help stimulate the economy and help those in trouble then the question goes on the Government: what are you going to do about it and most important whose side are you on? Whose side are you on? Are you on the side of the overseas-owned corporates who are here to milk the New Zealand economy and get the maximum number of profits out of it or are you on the side of the hard-working New Zealanders—those working in the factories who cannot get a decent pay rise those working on the land the farm owners the sharemilkers and the farm labourers who are the first to lose their jobs when the dairy sector goes down.What about the contractors who ran out of work last season and now are desperate to find work this season? What about all those who are put out of work and whose livelihoods are under threat because of what is happening in the dairy sector? What about the hundred thousand small businesses that as Mind Your Own Business has found lose out as a consequence? What does the Government do? It stands on the sidelines. That is not orthodoxy. [Bell rung]Mr SPEAKER: I am sorry. I pushed the button by mistake. The member has another—Hon Members: More! More!ANDREW LITTLE: And there is more. But wait there is more. National stands on the sidelines. Well not a Labour Government. We stand on the side of those who are doing the work—those who are out there each day on the front line; the people at work. We stand on the side of the people doing the work on the land in the factories and in the shops; the people who deserve a better chance; the people who are getting nothing from this Government—not a single ounce of leadership when it is needed most.Why do you not call together the banks Fonterra and the farmers and broker a deal and give people certainty confidence and a future? You cannot do it. You will not do it. You are too scared to do it because you are not on the side of New Zealanders.