Key John: Budget Statement — Budget DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeKey John: Budget Statement — Budget Debate[Sitting date: 15 May 2014. Volume:698;Page:17910. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister): That was a bit of a woeful speech from David Cunliffe was it not? The only half-decent line was one written by John Armstrong—it is a shame he did not write the rest of the speech because it might have been vaguely interesting. As for the label that David Cunliffe put on the Budget I hate to tell him the bad news but that was actually the label that Rodney Hide put on the 2002 Budget so if he had stolen a few of the decent ideas from the ACT Party he might have been able to give a half-decent speech but he could not. But let us be honest—it is David Cunliffe. He is doing about as well for the Labour Party as Benji Marshall did for the Blues.David Cunliffe is the man who has about as many supporters in his caucus as Brendan Horan has in his—one. That is it. And here is the winner—he is shaking his head over there—Grant Robertson. Good news Grant good news son. You are 127 days 3 hours and 55 minutes away from being the leader of the Labour Party. Fantastic—fantastic! There is no doubt that Grant assisted David in the writing of thatspeech. You see this is what is vaguely interesting at the moment. The Labour Party—and I kid you not; this is an absolutely true story—is out there polling. It is not polling on its policies; it does not have any and you could see that from the speech. It is—truthfully—out there asking this question: is Shane Jones going to be missed from the Labour Party? Well here is a tip: yes actually! He is the only guy who believes in economic development and to quote Shane why would he want to hang around and be economic development Minister in a Government that does not believe in economic development?This was a very very good Budget by Bill English—a very good Budget. It reflects 6 years of hard work by not only the Government but by businesses and New Zealanders from one end of the country to the other. It is a confident Budget for a confident nation. Overwhelmingly across the nation the majority of New Zealanders believe that this country is heading in the right direction. It is a Budget that sees the books back in surplus growth at 4 percent wages rising faster than inflation and there is more money in this Budget for families for businesses and for the most vulnerable. This is a Budget that is focused on growth jobs and prosperity. It is a Budget that looks to restore the core finances of New Zealand. It is a Budget that like this Government is focused on the issues that matter. It is a Budget that means New Zealanders will recognise that this is a great country a great place to raise a family and with a Government that is committed to doing everything it can to make that situation even better.This was Bill English’s sixth Budget. As he pointed out yesterday he has had as many Budgets as he has had children which is living proof I think—and I am sure you will agree with me Mr Speaker—of why you should have a Catholic Minister of Finance. What should we contrast this Budget with? I know: let us contrast it with Labour’s alternative because David Cunliffe read out Labour’s alternative on Monday. In fairness it was not really a Budget; it was a wish list. It was mercifully brief but it went a little bit like this—Hon Annette King: Cameron Slater’s line eh?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: Nope. “Dear Santa please please Santa could you bring me 4 percent unemployment and whopping big future surpluses. I have been a good boy Santa even if I won’t tell Mummy and Daddy who the two secret donors to my trust were. Santa I’ve tried really hard. Even if I did muck up the baby bonus and Shane Jones’ departure and a few other things I’ve been a really really good boy. Love David. P.S. Don’t worry I will let the reindeer sleighs go in the fast lane even though I’ve banned the trucks.” That was a summary of Labour’s alternative Budget. Actually—let us be honest—that was actually slightly longer than Labour’s alternative Budget.Hon Member: And more thoughtful.Rt Hon JOHN KEY: And more thoughtful. And I wrote it myself unlike the Leader of the Opposition—always a positive.You see the difference between a wish list and a Budget is here in some interesting questions we might all like to answer. Did Labour support any of the savings that this Government has made to ensure that this country came back to surplus in any of the previous five Budgets? The answer to that is no it did not. Did Labour support welfare reform that will see and has seen so many New Zealanders get back to work? No it did not. Did Labour support tax changes to reduce tax rates paid by every single New Zealander across the country? No it did not. Did Labour support a 90-day probationary period so that small businesses could have the confidence to take on a worker? No it did not. Did Labour support Resource Management Act reform so that people can build houses faster and support the growth of businesses? No it did not. Did Labour support housing accords so that we could have special housing areas? No it did not.And of course and my favourite: did Labour support the making ofTheHobbit movies in New Zealand so that 5000 jobs could be created here? No it did not. Did Labour support saving 3000 jobs in Southland when it came to Tīwai Point? No it did not. Did Labour support and does it support irrigation for our farms so that we can see a significant increase in GDP? Does it support oil and gas exploration? Does it support foreign investment or skilled migrants? Will it even support a free-trade agreement with the largest economy in the world the United States? No it will not.Just before Labour members get a bit starry-eyed about how it all was under Labour let us just run through a bit of a checklist—here are the facts about the situation when Labour left office and what we inherited. In 2008 this country was in recession; this year it is going to grow at 4 percent. In the last 5 years of the Labour Government there was a 50 percent increase in Government expenditure; we have got it under control. Mortgage rates for those homeowners whom David Cunliffe was talking about were 10.9 percent under Labour; under National about 6 percent. Food prices—the thing that New Zealanders worry about—were up 10.9 percent in the last year under Labour; 1.5 percent under this Government. House prices went up 96 percent over the 9 years of Labour; 28 percent under this Government. Electricity prices went up 72 percent under Labour; 20 percent under this Government. The current account deficit was 7.9 percent; it is 3.4 percent under this Government. And maybe—maybe—the most telling sign of all is that under the Labour Government 3000 New Zealanders a month got up and packed their bags for Australia. Under this Government that figure is 350—the lowest since records began in 1986.On Tuesday Australia delivered a Budget. If you ever want to see what an experiment of a Labour-Greens Government looks like it is called Australia. It is called Australia and Tony Abbott is having to pick up the pieces. Here is what the pieces look like. It means less support for families. It means billions and billions less for education and health. It means a pension age of 70. It means higher tuition fees higher fuel costs increased doctors’ charges and thousands fewer employed in the State sector. Despite all of that Australia over the next forecast period will rack up $100 billion of debt at the same time that this National Government will bank for New Zealanders $7.5 billion of surpluses.If members want to talk about the facts I look forward to the debate about the facts because this is a very very good Budget. Its first focus is families. There is $500 million for families with free doctors visits for under-13s and free prescriptions for under-13s. We are talking about 400000 New Zealand families having complete confidence to take their young ones to the doctor any time for free. National delivered that for New Zealand families.There is $171 million dollars for paid parental leave—an affordable scheme extended from 14 weeks to 18 weeks and far more flexible than the stuff Sue Moroney was talking about. For the many—and there are many—who miss out there is an extension of the parental tax credit from $150 a week to $220 a week lasting 10 weeks not 8 weeks. It is an affordable package recognising that mothers want to stay home in those formative times with their youngsters and they will be supported by this Government. There is $155 million extra for early childhood education $33 million for vulnerable children and eight new children’s teams around the country.The No. 1 issue that New Zealanders worry about is health. Well in this Budget on the back of the very fine work that Tony Ryall has done as Minister of Health—and will he not be missed as one of the great Ministers of Health of this country—there is $15.6 billion. There is $112 million for disability support services and $110 million for elective surgery. The difference between National and Labour—and we heard it from David Cunliffe—is that Labour knows how to borrow and it knows how to spend but itdoes not know how to run things very well. Under this Government there will be 40000 extra elective surgical operations $20 million for rheumatic fever and $6.3 million for cochlear implants. Twenty thousand New Zealanders a year are diagnosed with cancer. Under Labour they go to Australia—where the other 3000 a month are leaving from. Under National they get the gold standard of 4 weeks or less. There is more money in this Budget for cancer care.What is more important than education? There is $10 billion in this Budget and $359 million to improve the professional standards of our principals and teachers. This is a Government that is not afraid to measure monitor and report on the progress of a child. This is a Government that is not afraid to put $359 million into making sure that every teacher that stands in front of every student in a class is of excellence. That is something to be celebrated and proud of.In welfare reform what a tremendous job Paula Bennett has done. What a tremendous job she has done. There were 1500 people a week leaving welfare and going into work in the last 12 months. There are 30000 fewer children living in benefit-dependent homes. It was pretty predictable that David Cunliffe would get up and talk about income inequality. It suits his argument but unlike the truth it is not real. You see—Hon David Parker: It is—it is.Rt Hon JOHN KEY: Well you do not like it. When you were in Government you liked Bryan Perry from the Ministry of Social Development who runs the most comprehensive study but when you are in Opposition you do not like it. What Bryan Perry’s study shows is that income has not become more unequal in the last decade. In fact what it also shows is that when we compare ourselves to our peers—Australia the United Kingdom Canada the United Sates—all of those countries are more unequal.Let us also have a look at this situation. This Budget also continues to support the most vulnerable in New Zealand with Working for Families accommodation supplements and income-related rents. But this is also what it shows—and this is an interesting point for New Zealanders. It shows that the top 2 percent of taxpayers in New Zealand pay 22 percent of all personal tax in this country. The top 12 percent of households in this country pay 76 percent of all net income tax before you even account for New Zealand superannuation. Well here is a question for Labour: if 12 percent of households paying 76 percent of tax is not enough how much is enough? How much is enough?The Budget does more for Christchurch more for science and innovation more for apprenticeships more for transport and more for housing. It does a lot more in those very important areas. Let me make this final point. This is a Government—Hon Trevor Mallard: Tell us about Judith Collins. Tell us about Judith.Rt Hon JOHN KEY: That is right—that is exactly what you would say. You are an Opposition that is worried about muckraking and trivia and you have not got a decent thing to say about the economy. Well guess what? I am proud to lead a Government that is focused on the issues that matter to New Zealanders—the economy law and order health and education. That is what we do on this side of the House. We get the job done.On that side of the House they are worried about all sorts of things but they are not the things that New Zealanders at home are worried about. How do we know that? Because the poll that was taken over the last 10 weeks saw Labour fall under 30 percent. Why? Because people are sick of hearing about trivia and muckraking and you know what? David Cunliffe might have promoted Trevor Mallard back in the shop and that will lead them all the way to where it took Phil Goff—to 27 percent or less and he knows it. David Shearer knows it too. He knows that it is the wrong way to go.This Government is going to keep talking about the issues that matter. This Government is going to say to New Zealanders that there is a way forward that is progressive and positive. It is about a future where we back New Zealanders to succeed. We back this country to go well. We back this country to be able to sell more to the world than we buy from the world. We are not threatened by being a multicultural society. We welcome foreign investment. There was a time when Labour members used to welcome migrants. Now they stand on a farm with a New Zealand flag.This is a Government that is focused on a New Zealand that is winning on the world stage. That is why we are becoming wealthier. That is why so many people want to come and live here. If David Cunliffe wants to keep talking as the Opposition does about trivia and muckraking we will keep talking about the economy law and order health and education. We are a very lucky Government to have Bill English delivering six magnificent Budgets. And does it not say it all today—we are in surplus; Australia is $50 billion in debt. More people want to live here than ever want to go and live in Australia. This is a Government that is getting it right on behalf of New Zealanders.