Power Simon: Taxation (Budget Tax Measures) Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee 
Power Simon: Taxation (Budget Tax Measures) Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee 
[Volume:654;Page:3984] 
Hon SIMON POWER (Minister of Justice) 
: 
 That was David Cunliffe the man who cannot decide whether he is an attack dog a statesman a policy wonk a poet an orator or a leader-in-waiting. You see the strange thing about his contribution is that while sitting through the Budget and watching closely the reactions of members on the front bench of Labour I picked up three interesting facts: the majority of those members had their heads down and did not look up during the entire speech given by the Hon Phil Goff; Trevor Mallard at the conclusion of the speech clapped between six and nine times and sat down before anybody else—a long period before anybody else—and the only other person who strayed from either of those models was the Hon David Cunliffe. There was a grin on his face as broad as a picket fence. He was pleased with how badly the Hon Phil Goff did because his numbers person Moana Mackey was back there with the clipboard doing the numbers working out that she alone had the key to his popularity and tipping him on the numbers required to shift him across one seat. 
We could see in David Cunliffe’s contribution to this second reading debate how he was edging towards Phil Goff’s seat as he was speaking. He was positioning himself just at the point where he could comfortably drop into the seat knowing that Ms Mackey was quietly ticking away there in the background. She has been beavering away with Ruth Dyson and Darren Hughes to get the numbers together for David Cunliffe in order to make sure he has sufficient numbers to get him over the line. 
I came down to the Chamber for the end of the first reading thinking to myself that this second reading debate could be interesting. I came down to listen carefully to some of the contributions being made and my colleague from the Manawatu Iain Lees-Galloway gave a spirited contribution. I sat and waited the vote was taken but the only sound I heard was that of a tumbleweed. There was no vote. After all the protestations from the other side and all the clicking of pens from Moana Mackey as she did the numbers for the Hon David Cunliffe what did we get? There was not one vote opposed. 
The interesting thing about all of this is that when I came to Parliament in 1999—and this is my tenth Budget—I learnt that— 
Hon David Cunliffe 
: What is the point of this? 
Hon SIMON POWER 
: This is the point: the first lesson of Opposition is to oppose. We have come down to the Chamber for the new Government’s first Budget and for the first bill under urgency after the first Budget to find that Opposition members are for it. 
What an unusual arrangement we have here. I would not have picked Moana Mackey as David Cunliffe’s numbers person and I would not have picked that for the first bill under urgency after the Budget when we are down here ready for a spirited fight we would have a big pause the sound of tumbleweed and a vote that Labour members are for the bill. That is unbelievable. 
We heard today that fiscal conditions have changed dramatically in recent months. The Hon Bill English gave a speech this country can be proud of. He delivered a Budget this country can be proud of. What is more the first bill to come to this House after the Budget has the unanimous support of every party here. That has not happened before in my 10 years here. 
I also say that we learnt very soon after the delivery of the Budget that Standard and Poor’s has removed the negative outlook from New Zealand’s AA+ foreign currency rating. Moody’s Investors Service says that New Zealand’s triple A rating which is on a stable outlook is not immediately affected. Not only did we maintain entitlements and not only have we set the course for a difficult but achievable task ahead but the ratings agencies have backed the Budget today. For the first bill in urgency after the Budget has been delivered they are not the only ones backing this Budget; that party across the Chamber is voting for the first bill following the Budget. 
Let us just cut to the chase here: nobody in this House believes that this bill is anything but sensible necessary legislation to keep this country on course on what we know is a crucial path to ensuring productivity and improvement to this economy and our way of life. That member opposite David Cunliffe talked about the children of future generations. If it were not for this legislation and this Budget their plight would be far more difficult. 
Today we are seeing a Government prepared to make the hard decisions. They are not easy decisions to make but they have to be made to ensure that this economy has the capacity to drive growth in the way that is necessary—that is a credible and balanced approach to dealing with a major recession. Those Labour members opposite left few choices—aside from those that were unfunded—for the new Government to come in and deal with. So I say to Labour members that if they are serious about contributing to this debate on this bill and on this Budget then they should come up with some alternatives and get on with it.