Calder Cam: General Debate 
Calder Cam: General Debate 
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Dr CAM CALDER (National) 
: 
 I noticed the Hon Chris Carter was due to speak next but he does not appear to be in the House. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Eric Roy) 
: The member cannot refer to the absence of another member. That is a caution. 
Dr CAM CALDER 
: “A plan” was the braying chorus we heard from those on the benches opposite as the collective caucus uni-neurone briefly glowed from time to time. A question we may well ask is whether they would recognise one. Would they recognise a plan? Why do I suggest that? It is because for an interminable period in Government they appeared to operate without one. As a result year after year after year in times of unparalleled global prosperity the performance of our tradables sector dropped ever further behind. Slumped in their armchairs of apathy and indolence dressed in pyjamas in the daytime feet encased in the woolly slippers of indecision and hesitation a rug of torpor on their knees wearing nightcaps of incomprehension and bemused incompetence what plan did they espouse when they had their arthritic twisted talons on the levers of power? What plan was there? 
Long-suffering New Zealanders were taxed regulated and subsidised. Small-business men and women as well as exporters were effectively told to stand by to hurry up and to wait. Labour had no plan; its position instead appeared to be that if something moved tax it; if it continued moving regulate it; and if it stopped moving subsidise it. Innovation creativity and entrepreneurship were stifled; a fresh idea was as rare as a Bantu at a bar mitzvah and the tradables sector wilted. Its default position of supervised neglect meant that our economy underperformed despite the best economic conditions since Noah took a day off to go fishing. 
Most New Zealanders were blithely unaware of the previous administration’s mismanagement as the calamitous state of affairs was masked by ever more overseas borrowing and ill-directed spending. As the global recession approached little changed; no one in the home for the bewildered noticed. The background muffled whiffling and cackling continued unbroken save for the odd curse or oath as one resident tried to snatch another’s bauble of office. 
That continues to this day. Coups are plotted denied discovered and the rank and file of the Labour caucus look on bemused as senior members squabble in the sand pit. Instruction in party policy and doctrine are solicited and received from union leaders on the outside. Senior members are draped in sackcloth and ashes ritually humiliated and excommunicated from the party; they leave muttering dark threats and imprecations. 
We are told of a long list of Labour caucus members unhappy with their leader. Who could be on that list? Potentially almost every second member of the Labour caucus. New Zealanders are asking the question: “If this is Labour’s level of self-government how could it ever be fit to run the country?”. The economic mess the previous Labour Government left behind proved that it was not fit to run the country and Labour members’ current antics also show they are not fit. All that is missing is the death rattle. 
John Key’s principled pragmatic National-led Government has set out a plan to deal with the worst recession in seven decades and has reshaped the economic mesh in many areas and at different levels. We are focusing relentlessly on lifting New Zealand’s long-term economic growth to create jobs boost incomes and raise the living standards of the hard-working people of Manurewa where I am privileged to be based and indeed of all New Zealanders. 
Our society is judged by how we treat our most vulnerable. We need to grow the economic cake in order to provide the world-class public services that all New Zealanders deserve. To paraphrase Lao-tzu a bad Government is despised a good Government is revered a great Government the people say they did it themselves. This National-led Government is aspirational for our country. We are working hard to provide families in our communities with the financial security the opportunities and the higher incomes they need to help unlock the potential within each of them to pursue their individual dreams and aspirations and create a brighter future for themselves. Our 1 October tax package is rewarding effort. It will help attract and retain skilled people in New Zealand and help hard-working families to get ahead. Thank you.