Cunliffe David: Budget Debate 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Cunliffe David: Budget Debate 
[Sitting date: 29 May 2012. Volume:680;Page:2630. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE (Labour—New Lynn) 
: 
 Talofa lava Mr Speaker. I also would like to recognise Samoan Language Week and to acknowledge the 50-year anniversary of Samoa’s independence from New Zealand administration the record of which was not proud.  
The member who has just resumed his seat Alfred Ngaro opened his speech by saying that some people say National members are Tories who do not care. I would never say that about that member. I would say that his record of service before he entered this House proves that he does care. In fact I nearly appointed him to the Auckland District Health Board because of that service. Perhaps given where he sits now I should have. But I would not say he does not care. What I would say is that the policies his party is advancing are not going to achieve the hopes and dreams that he says he stands for. 
He said that he wants all our kids to leave school able to reach their potential. Then do not increase their class sizes! Do not turn intermediate school class sizes from 30 to 40 children. And do not continue to spend $35 million a year subsidising private schools which do not need it while cutting funding to low-decile public schools. While you are at it do not waste millions on league tables which all the evidence shows are a complete waste of money and achieve nothing for our students. Or on the wider agenda do not cut taxes for the wealthy—for the very wealthy—by putting up GST on every loaf of bread that is bought by needy families in his own South Auckland. That is what we do not do if we hope our people will be better off.  
I have a little pointer for the member the Rev. Ngaro who has just resumed his seat—a little humility lesson. In the 9 years of the last Labour Government life expectancy itself increased by 3 years—1 year longer for every 3 years we were in office. Debt was cut to zero we ran surpluses every year and every region of New Zealand grew. So a little humility around the historical record would be in order. [ 
Interruption 
] I see the members opposite have had an emotional dinner break and they are back in fine form. Liquidity was flowing tonight quite obviously.  
In this Budget debate it is rather easy for us to talk in big numbers or big words. We talk about billions of dollars of trade deficit or hundreds of thousands of people unemployed and it is easy to forget that every one of those people is a New Zealander a hard-working Kiwi who wants to do the right thing for themselves and their family who wants a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay—remember that—and to get ahead. Now the reality for too many is no work at all or if they can get work they are working two or three jobs to pay the rent and make ends meet all the time worried to death that their children are not seeing enough of their parents. That is the reality for so many in our society. There also are the thousand a week who are making their way to the departure gates as they move permanently to Australia. That is twice roughly the number of members of this whole House. Every working day two Houses of Parliament leave for Australia permanently. We can see the hope dying in their eyes. They have lasted for 4 years under this Government being promised that growth and more jobs were just round the corner but it is a corner that never comes.  
There also are the small-business people or the medium-business people who are working every hour that God sends to make a success. They have put their homes on the line. They want their businesses to succeed. They are not lazy. They are trying their hardest. But there just are not enough customers or they have not got enough money to spend. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: If he’s Sonny Crockett who’s Tubbs? 
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE 
: It is called in the jargon of economics which that member does not know an output gap and Treasury says we have got one still. There is not enough demand in the economy. That is why this zero Budget makes zero difference. 
These real people are the real casualties of this Budget: our friends our neighbours our constituents and our family members. They have been told to expect the best and what they got was a zero Budget. And it is not enough—it is not enough. Tinkering is not enough. A zero Budget is not enough. Balancing the books is not enough. It is not enough to get people back to work. It is not enough to get businesses back afloat. It is not enough to stem the tide of people going to Australia. We want a future we can believe in. We want an economy that can sustainably grow and provide for our beautiful children. That is what we want not a zero Budget not a zero vision and not zero hope. That is what we want.  
So how should a Budget deliver on those things? Before I turn to that I just need to say that the press has cottoned on to what is going on here. Here are some quotes on this issue of economic development and sustainable growth. Fran O’Sullivan—no lefty—says “the major problem is that there is no clear economic growth agenda.” The  
Press 
 editorial—again no left-wing rag—says “The Budget delivered yesterday by the Minister of Finance Bill English had a distinctly underwhelming feel.” Fairfax says “It was billed as a Zero Budget and that’s what we got.” Or there is Brian Fallow who says the Budget is definitely “contractionary. Fiscal policy will subtract from demand and from growth not just next year but for the next four years.” Or John Armstrong in the  
New Zealand Herald 
 says “a fiscal surplus is not a growth strategy.” And so it goes on. 
But of course it is easy to criticise; it is hard to build. And what the public wants is hope for a better future. Here is what Labour would do. Labour is going to provide leadership that is willing to take the tough decisions and try new ideas to grow jobs and incomes. As my colleague David Parker has rightly said if you change nothing nothing changes. Over there is the party of conservatism the party of steady as she goes the party of Keith Jacka Holyoake. That may have been appropriate when we were all collectively on the sheep’s back but we are not on the cow’s back now. We have got all our cows in one basket and the basket is leaking. Change nothing nothing changes. Change nothing Rev. Ngaro and your people will not find change. 
There are some things we can do individually and we should. We do not abdicate individual responsibility but we believe in co-responsibility: the responsibility of the individual to society and society to the individual. We cannot all individually solve the problems of this economy; we must do it collectively. That is why our constitution vests in the Treasury benches the responsibility to guide our country through—not to balance their own books at the expense of the people’s books not to pull a zero Budget at the cost of zero hope. The mandate is deeper broader richer and more sacred than that.  
Labour will create jobs by supporting our exporters to expand and earn more. We will help Kiwis get the education and skills they need. We will grow incomes by investing in science and innovation. And we will make it easier for New Zealanders to save for their first home and for their retirement. We will do it with the following. I am going to mention just six tools: firstly pro-growth tax reform like a capital gains tax that gets money flowing where it can do more good and research and development tax incentives that get our innovators going; increasing savings through universal KiwiSaver; the research and development tax credits; monetary policy; fiscal policy that seeks to balance demand and supply across the cycle and across the economy; and an economic development policy that works with every sector and every region in the country so that every New Zealander can be the best that they can be. 
What has this Government done to the Budget for economic development? Well it has cut it. It has cut by two-thirds the Seed Co-investment Fund which helps struggling businesses get up to the next level. It has cut would you believe the in-market assistance to help people export to China and India. It has cut regional development by 90 percent around the country—and it says it wants growth. It has cut industry assistance. It has cut development in our regions. It has cut assistance for exporters. It is cutting our future. 
Big words big numbers big problems but at the end of the day real people who deserve real hope and real policy. Thank you.