Carter David: General Debate 
Carter David: General Debate 
[Volume:674;Page:20045] 
Hon DAVID CARTER (Minister of Agriculture) 
: 
 We do have a problem in this country and the problem is that we have not focused the economy on real growth. I hope that when Phil Goff returned from his lengthy Greek holiday he had taken some time while lying on the beach in the Greek Isles to think about the economy of the country he was visiting. The Greek economy is in desperate trouble and it is threatening to send the rest of Europe into continuing recession. The reason it has got into trouble is that it forgot about the importance of a growth economy. 
As National came into Government at the end of 2008 the New Zealand economy was out of balance. What is not well recognised is that the tradable sector of the New Zealand economy had gone into recession in late 2004. It was masked completely because the then Labour Government concentrated on growth in one area and one area only and that was in Government spending which went up a massive 50 percent in 5 years. 
That was a totally unsustainable situation and there was no way we could to hope to continue to deliver the standard of living that New Zealanders expect unless the economy was reversed. This Government has a very simple growth plan. It has six simple steps and if we devote time to all of those six steps we can turn this economy round. We already have the tradable sector performing substantially more strongly. 
Let me go through those steps. We need a tax system that enhances growth and rewards enterprise. We certainly do not need a new tax which is what the Labour Party is about to deliver in its manifesto tomorrow—a tax on capital gains. We need a better education system that will deliver people the skills they require so that they can be part of our economy. We need substantial expenditure on infrastructure and this Government has so far committed $7.5 billion for roading broadband and issues like water storage which are so critical to New Zealand’s primary sector. 
The fourth point is that we are rationalising the Public Service which grew so massively during Labour’s period in Government. We are about less regulation. A lot of the regulation that is in place does not give the economy the ability to grow and it needs to be changed. 
The final point relates to science innovation and trade. Under the guidance of the Hon Tim Groser we have made huge progress. China has signed its first free-trade agreement. I acknowledge that it was signed in 2005 but China is now New Zealand’s second-largest trading partner. Since 2008 we have completed free-trade agreements with Malaysia and Hong Kong and talks are under way with India our Trans-Pacific Partnership Korea and Russia. 
We have a very good story to tell in the science and innovation area: the Primary Growth Partnership. We now have $477 million worth of research specifically devoted to our primary sector under way. That is the largest spend of its type ever in the history of New Zealand and it has been criticised by only one faction in New Zealand— 
Dr Cam Calder 
: Who would that be? 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: The New Zealand Labour Party. One of the reasons the economy is going well is that farming is performing well. I note what the Labour Party proposes to do if it gets a chance to attack the farming sector. We know that Labour members are  
Hobbit 
 haters but many New Zealanders did not realise how much they hate the farming sector. 
Stuart Nash was quoted in a story on the front page of the  
Dominion Post  
in which he said that farmers did not pay enough tax. The man who is meant to be Labour’s revenue spokesperson did not know the difference between profit and turnover. He argued that farmers should pay income tax on turnover not on profit. It was absolutely dopey. Then Mr Goff came out and said: “Let’s slug the emissions trading scheme into farmers in 2013.” 
Labour desperately needs $800 million. It sees a target so it says it will gouge it from farmers which would cost every genuine sheep beef and dairy farmer in this country $33000. That is why there will not be a farmer in New Zealand who will back the Labour Party at the next election.