Bennett David: Debate on Budget Policy StatementText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBennett David: Debate on Budget Policy Statement[Sitting date: 11 March 2015. Volume:703;Page:2130. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]DAVID BENNETT (Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee):I move That the House take note of the report of the Finance and Expenditure Committeeon the Budget Policy Statement 2015. New Zealand lives in very exciting times. We have a Government that has delivered the best economic results that are possible in this time. We have a Government that has delivered economic growth at a very very difficult point in our country’s history and it has delivered the ability for this country to grow even stronger in the future. This is a country that now experiences some of the best economic growth in the Western World.When we look at actual economic growth of 3.2 percent and forecast growth of 3.5 percent in the Budget Policy Statement we see an economy that is delivering for all New Zealanders. We see an economy that has got the fundamentals there for all New Zealanders to prosper and grow—for example the Consumers Price Index was at 1.5 percent in 2014 and is forecast for 1.3 percent this year. Unemployment is now at 5.7 percent and that is forecast to go down to 4.5 percent in 2018. The current account deficit as a percentage of GDP is now at only 2.7 percent and is expected to go to minus 5.3 percent in 2015. Compare that with what we encountered when we came into office. Compare that with a country that was in recession before the rest of the Western World. Compare that with a country that had interest rates of around 11 percent for our homeowners and our business owners. Compare that with a country that had a current account deficit at around 7.9 percent.This Government has delivered the economic results New Zealanders have been looking for. It has delivered the economic results that have set us up for the future going forward. Some of those results—the growth rate of over 3 percent—are better than the European area the US the UK Japan and Canada. Interest rates are staying lower for longer with mortgage interest rates at 50-year lows. Household disposable income is increasing faster than inflation rising 9 percent in real terms over the last 4 years. Recent job growth is expected to continue. There are 80000 more people employed now than there were 1 year ago and 217000 more than 5 years ago. Those unemployment rates are staggeringly low at 4.5 percent for New Zealand going forward and a lot of that is driven out of the growth in Christchurch.Those economic results are not an accident; they represent prudent economic management and the Budget Policy Statement is part of that prudent economic management. They show a country that has strong economic management that has an economic plan that is following it and that is delivering in that economic area. If we go and have a look at my local city of Hamilton we can see that economic growth and we can see the economic change that is happening. Just this week there has been a huge announcement in our city in regard to roading infrastructure which has been important—Tim Macindoe: An excellent announcement.DAVID BENNETT: An excellent announcement which is important for the growth of that city going forward. There has been $972 million committed to the Hamilton bypass of the Waikato Expressway. That is part of a $1.08 billion project that has just been announced and supported this week in the funding.Grant Robertson: Must be a by-election coming up.DAVID BENNETT: No there is no by-election there. But I would remind members on the other side of the House that some of the other parties that may be contesting a by-election do not believe in the roads of national significance. I would like to see the members of the Northland community hear what the New Zealand First Party actually said during the election campaign. During the election campaign New Zealand First campaigned against the roads of national significance.Tracey Martin: That’s a lie. That’s a lie.DAVID BENNETT: OK. “That’s a lie.” This is what Tracey Martin says: “That’s a lie.” Those are her words. Well I am going to read out the New Zealand First transport policy that came from Winston Peters on Sunday 13 July at 2 p.m. in Gisborne. It says: “We are calling for a thorough review of National’s bloated and hugely expensive “RONS” programme which is massively extravagant given all the other areas of necessary spending that are being cut to fund it.” Did you say that was a lie Tracey? I do not believe so.It is amazing that Winston Peters can now support roads of national significance in Auckland but he could not do that during an election campaign. It gets better when you look at the transport policy of New Zealand First because it had a plan: it was going to take away the roads of national significance and the Pūhoi to Wellsford road was one it was taking away. I was in election meeting after election meeting with the New Zealand First candidate. He stood up and he said: “We are taking away that road.” New Zealand First was going to replace it. It had something to replace the road with: “… New Zealand First will develop a programme of Railways of National Importance (RONI).” OK they brought Ron back but they did not get the RONI and Winston is against the road from Wellsford to Pūhoi. I have it in writing here and I will table it for this country so that people can see. That is what the voters of Wellsford and Northland need to remember when they come to the by-election because New Zealand First did not support that infrastructure which Northland needs.And when we come to the Budget Policy Statement we are looking at the growth of the New Zealand economy. We are looking at those fundamental economic bases that are there. And if you do not invest in that infrastructure then there is not the ability to deliver that economic growth. And to all those voters in Northland remember that we need that economic growth to happen and that that will come through investment in infrastructure. I can tell you from a voter in Hamilton that the Hamiltonians realise the importance of the roads of national significance because the Waikato Expressway is the defining difference between National and Labour. It is the defining difference between Hamilton growing and not growing and the same applies in Northland. Remember the words of Tracey Martin: “That was a lie.” Then you look at the reality of what New Zealand First members actually said during the campaign and I would like to see them revert on that.Tracey Martin: No no no—it’s a lie.DAVID BENNETT: You cannot do that line Tracey. You have tried it OK? It did not work. Try another one next time OK?Today Treasury released the Crown accounts for the 7 months to January which show a part-year surplus of $77 million. That is the first time since 2009 that New Zealand has been in surplus. This is in the most difficult of economic conditions. We have a situation where there have been decreasing commodity prices in the last year where we have a very tenuous and delicate world economic situation where we have a Government that has maintained social spending and has increased spending in health and education and the areas of priority where New Zealanders want to see an increase in expenditure—all the while being able to deliver a small economic surplus for the first part of this year. That may be difficult to translate into a full economic surplus over the full year but those are the economic conditions that we have to deal with. That prudent economic management has been led by the Minister of Finance the Hon Bill English and I would like to pay credit to him and his leadership for making that happen because this is an important part of the economic management of New Zealand.In the Budget Policy Statement we set out four priorities that this Government has followed. Responsibly managing the Government’s finances which I have talked about and how that will lead to surplus in times to come—and we are already at a current surplus now. Building a more competitive and productive economy to create jobs raise incomes and provide more opportunities and we see that in the infrastructure investments for things like the Waikato Expressway and the Wellsford and Pūhoi roads. Delivering Better Public Services so that people can get better and more convenient health care so that beneficiaries are supported into work and so that the streets of New Zealand are safer. And rebuilding Christchurch which has been a crucial part of the New Zealand Government’s agenda for the last few years and will continue to be so because it is our second-biggest city and we need to rebuild it.New Zealanders have much to risk from a change in economic policy and that would be the last thing we need in this country. The economic policy that we have has worked and is working and is delivering the opportunities for all New Zealanders going forward. We do not need a country that has higher taxes spends more on social welfare just for the sake of it limits immigration stops infrastructure growth and does not provide the economic base for New Zealanders to go forward. National has delivered and this Budget Policy Statement is an example of that delivery. Thank you.