Lotu-Iiga Peseta Sam: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
Lotu-Iiga Peseta Sam: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:656;Page:5507] 
PESETA SAM LOTU-IIGA (National—Maungakiekie) 
: 
 I rise to take a call on Vote Finance. I am calm; I am not going to get angry like the previous speaker Clayton Cosgrove. I am not going to comb my hair during my speech but I am going to talk about the legacy that that mob over there left this country. The previous Labour Government left behind falling economic growth. We are in a recession but that gentleman over there did not hear that we are in a recession and that we have to be prudent in our finances not tax and spend. We are not going to borrow extravagant amounts of money in order to fund a superannuation fund or social programmes that do not work. 
From that party over there we were left with rising unemployment some of the highest inflation rates in the world and a promise to take us to the top 10 of the OECD countries. After 9 years where did we languish? Clayton Cosgrove is silent now. We are 22nd on the list of OECD countries. The legacy that that mob left us was 5 consecutive years of tradable sector contraction. That is right. The Labour Party does not realise that it is about both the public and private sectors leading us out of the recession. 
I am not here to talk about Labour and its $1.5 billion hole in the Accident Compensation Corporation but I will talk about the programme that this National Government—this Government of action—is proposing and putting in place. After 9 months we are quite proud of the fact that we can boost health spending by $3 billion over the next 4 years. We are focusing on education which is the critical plank to productivity in the future and on upskilling people. 
Paul Quinn 
: They can’t take it. 
PESETA SAM LOTU-IIGA 
: No they cannot; that is right. What makes me sad is that that lot who profess to speak for working people have totally neglected working people. They have turned their backs on them as Mr Cosgrove has turned his back on me. That shows what little respect he has for other members of the House. 
What is National focusing on? We are focusing on infrastructure spending that will increase the likelihood of productivity in this country. We have transport programmes and roading programmes that will enable our businesses to operate in more effective ways. We also released over the weekend a package aimed at reducing youth unemployment because we care about those youths who are underprivileged and underskilled and we want to fund them to get into jobs. It is about jobs. 
I am proud of the fact that this Government has put an investment into the Tamaki Transformation Programme. We did not talk about it for 6 years writing business cases and holding false consultations with the community. The community just said: “Give us some action!”. So what did we do? Three weeks ago the Prime Minister the Minister of Housing the Minister of Maori Affairs and myself were at Ruapotaka Marae saying to the people of Tamaki: “We support you. We believe in you. We will give you jobs we will give you opportunities and we will give you the standard of housing you deserve as New Zealanders.” 
It is not about hot air and promising things that Labour did not deliver on over its 9 years. It is about the fact that we made promises and undertakings around entitlements. We made promises and undertakings around benefits. And we have kept our promises. We are happy to keep our promises because we are a Government of integrity and honesty. We will not set up false inquiries bringing in QCs in order to give bogus decisions. We will not do that. We are a Government that keeps its integrity and its honesty in what we do every day. 
It is about demanding much from our public services. It is about saying that we cannot increase prices and decrease return on investment and expect to get away with it. We will hold the Public Service to account. We will demand of the Public Service the same rigours as would be demanded in the private sector. We are a Government that cares. We are a Government that listens. We are a Government that is out in the community hearing what the people of New Zealand have to say. We are not about bagging other people. We are not about accusing other parties of making false promises. We are about keeping our own promises. Thank you Mr Chairperson.