Hutchison Paul: Budget Debate 
Hutchison Paul: Budget Debate 
[Volume:608;Page:5977] 
Dr PAUL HUTCHISON (NZ National—Port Waikato) 
: 
 This is a Budget of huge missed opportunities. This is a Budget that was given a D minus by a leading New Zealand economist Susan St John who one would think was a friend of the Clark-Cullen Government. 
Simon Power 
: No friends left. 
Dr PAUL HUTCHISON 
: That is right—no friends left. From almost every commentator in New Zealand from either side of the political spectrum from the banks from the farms from the business community and from the Child Poverty Action Group is the view that Dr Cullen’s Budget is a miserable failure. It is a failure because Dr Cullen had the opportunity with a paper budget surplus of $4 billion to put in serious policies that would promote and sustain economic growth but he failed. He absolutely failed. 
John Key 
: He doctored the Budget. 
Dr PAUL HUTCHISON 
: He absolutely did. Dr Cullen’s Budget is a failure because it has in the words of the Child Poverty Action Group done nothing for 300000 of New Zealand’s poorest children. It is a failure because it has fuelled one of the most unfair and inequitable primary health systems that I know of anywhere in the world and Helen Clark and Annette King should bow their heads in shame. I do accept however that the Hon Pete Hodgson made some effort by investing in more science research and attempting to expand New Zealand’s public and private research investment. I applaud that. But as Pete Hodgson himself said in this House there is a long long way to go. That improvement could be totally offset by this Government’s insistence on getting the fundamentals wrong. 
I would like to remind the House that in 1960 Australians were slightly worse off than New Zealanders in terms of per capita income. Today they are $200 per week better off than New Zealanders in per capita income for every man woman and child and that is because they have looked at the fundamentals which is something that Dr Cullen has failed to do. I would like to refer members to a little tome that came from Australia. It is that Government’s innovation report of 2002. It talks about the economic framework. It states: “In recent years Australia’s economic fundamentals have improved substantially—we continue to achieve strong economic growth in an environment of lower interest rates low inflation and a new tax system.” It is a tax system that is markedly different from New Zealand’s in that Australia has a company tax rate well below ours. The report goes on to state: “The Government continues to pursue reforms aimed at stimulating a positive environment for investment in new business development. A strong economy profitable businesses and a secure tax base provide the best opportunities for investment and innovation in R & D.” The Labour Government is not moving in this vital area of getting the fundamentals right and of lowering company tax and in 2 years’ time a National Government will put that right. Dr Cullen’s Budget added $1.5 billion more to social spending but as was pointed out by the Child Poverty Action Group much of the social spending was inequitable and in the case of health the principle that those most in need receive the scarce health dollar has been utterly abandoned. 
A key weakness of this Budget is that Dr Cullen has failed miserably to stimulate the engine of economic growth—the small medium and large businesses that make up the lifeblood of our economy. The Clark Labour Government seems to have a congenital reflex to bring in regulatory hurdles. The obvious example is of course the Resource Management Act but by chance there happens to be an excellent article in today’s  
Independent 
 by the National MP for Port Waikato. The article describes the Government’s Pavlovian-dog readiness to over-regulate the new organisms legislation putting it in danger of becoming the biotechnology equivalent of the Resource Management Act. That is a tragedy for New Zealand particularly when the Government’s growth and innovation strategy focuses on biotechnology as a major area to grow the New Zealand economy. It is a tragedy that the Government’s own biotechnology task force talks about the possibility of a $10 billion industry for New Zealand in the next 10 years but adds: “The biotechnology industry must have a regulatory environment that is transparent and predictable.” The facts under this Labour Government are the very opposite. This is what the chief executive officer of PPL Therapeutics had to say only 2 weeks ago at a symposium at the royal society: “While each and every ERMA application for transgenic herd production is subject to public debate investment by biotechnology companies will dry up and wither away.” 
The morning after the Budget I decided to go to a seminar at Auckland University to gain a perspective of how the Budget was viewed by a group other than the business community. I have often heard people say that a mark of a country’s humanity and civilisation is the way in which it treats the lowest common denominator. The view of the meeting at Auckland University the day after the Cullen Budget was that this Labour Government had basically ignored the concerns of the 300000 children who come from the poorest homes. That has to be an indictment on this Labour Government. It is hugely ironic that in a year with a record surplus the Helen Clark - led Government abandons children who are most in need. 
Simon Power 
: It’s appalling. 
Dr PAUL HUTCHISON 
: It is appalling. The member is absolutely right. As an obstetrician I am deeply aware of how absolutely vital the first 5 years of life are for a child’s development. In fact it is hugely important— 
John Key 
: The first 5 minutes. 
Dr PAUL HUTCHISON 
: The first 5 minutes—absolutely. It is hugely important for New Zealanders to realise that one of the greatest investments we can make as a nation is to ensure that all our children are given the opportunity to achieve their full potential by access to first-class education and health from preconception but that as adults they should exercise individual responsibility. What an irony it is for the Clark-Cullen Government that this is the second year that a huge amount of taxpayers’ money will be directed towards a superannuation fund—a fund that will be largely invested overseas and a fund that could have provided far greater quality of spending if it were being used to stimulate the New Zealand economy. As I noted at the beginning of this speech the Cullen Budget is marked as gaining a D minus grade. It is absolutely a opportunity missed and it is another of Labour’s abject failures.