Hereora Dave: General Debate 
Hereora Dave: General Debate 
[Volume:626;Page:21157] 
DAVE HEREORA (Labour) 
: 
 That speech had no vision and no nothing and that simply tells us where the National Party is at the moment—nowhere absolutely nowhere. 
I want to talk about Dr Brash and how hopeless that crowd on the other side of the House is. Once again the members opposite have turned their back on Maori. They have done it before and they will do it again but they are quite happy to use Maori as a political doormat. We estimate that the huge cost to achieve Dr Brash’s call for tax cuts will be about $1.9 billion. So where will those members get that money from? How will they fund that revenue? Do National Party members know? Do they know what the policy is? I ask the back-benchers who are here at the moment whether they know what the policy is. No they do not. I have it on good advice from a National Party back-bencher that they learn about the policy in the paper the next day. What does that tell us? It tells us that there is no unity in the National Party caucus. National members do not know the policy and they cannot respond to the issues that we raise so they are just a hopeless crowd. 
Anyway I want to say that the National Party will raise the revenue for tax cuts by cutting services. It will do that through cutting social security including New Zealand superannuation health education defence and law and order which absorb 77 percent of Government spending. There is no room in the Government’s core spending for major tax cuts—no room whatsoever. 
So where will National members get it from? Where will they get the revenue to pay the tax cuts from? Will there be a tax cut in Maori health in Maori education or in Maori television? Dr Brash is already on record stating that there are plenty of ways to achieve television broadcasting without having a Maori channel—so we know where that will go. Tax cuts would scrap not only Maori television but also the Ministry of Maori Development and Maori programmes or does Dr Brash just strip away the number of workers that we have brought in? Will National members take it out of the numbers of nurses that we have put in? Will they take it away from the numbers of teachers? Will they take it by reducing police numbers? Tax cuts are too expensive and are designed to widen the gap between the rich and the poor. 
But what gets me is this: why did Tariana Turia vote against the Budget and therefore vote with the National Party? Is she also turning her back on Maori? I am quite sure that Maori listening to this debate will want to know why because a vote against the Budget is a vote to support the National Party’s tax cut at the expense of services. If that is the case that is indeed significant. The sheer impact of cutting services would harm the very essence of supporting mechanisms within the Maori community. The Maori Party vote against the Budget is a clear signal that it is voting against the Working for Families package—all targeted at those in need and at working families who earn between $25000 and $55000 a year. 
Those families will be better off by nearly $100 a week. We are talking about an extra $100 a week that could go on extra food or for the whanau and their school education. We are talking about extra money for whanau independence. The Maori Party vote against the Budget is also voting no to the $3.4 million funding to assist with programmes in Maori broadcasting. So I am in a quandary. I want to know and I am sure that Maori members listening also want to know why the Maori Party voted against the Budget because we feel that a vote against the Budget is a vote against Maori and the services that Labour is providing—particularly the extra 7500 cataract operations targeted at our kaumatua and kuia. 
At the end of the day under Labour New Zealand is moving ahead. It is maintaining a strong and credible fiscal stance it is being fair and inclusive it is helping Kiwis build a stake in their country and building the conditions for growth. How are we doing that? We are investing in health and education. Obviously the Budget has committed over $1.9 billion in health over the 2008-09 years.