Muller Todd; Williams PotoTODD MULLER (National—Bay of Plenty): Thank you Madam Assistant Speaker. I just want to reflect in my comments this afternoon on some reflections that I had when I listened to the finance Minister give the speech that kicked this all off—and now of course I have to sit down and listen to him follow me—a few weeks ago. The thing that struck me when I listened to him is how much it was like we were still back in 1992. You see I met this man 25 years ago when he was a student politician. He was a student politician in Otago and I was in Waikato and he was as likeable then as he is now—I'll give him that credit—but back then the two of us used to hold the view that education above all else was a right and not a privilege. When we used to reflect on that as student presidents I would test him with: And so does this apply to the wider needs of society?" He'd say "Absolutely. I come from a philosophy that every single issue in society the Government can solve. I come from a philosophy that whenever there is a need in society Government will step up and provide the solution."Twenty-five years on I would like to think that over that period—perhaps through the experience of being out of Government being out of the bureaucracy—some of my perspectives in life have matured but I am sad to say listening to this Minister talk to this Government that they haven't in his case because when the Minister stood up and put this Budget on the ground for us to see you could see that there was a philosophy above all else that everything that they had talked to as a crisis in this country would be acknowledged with just a little bit of money. There was no plan no coherence whatsoever.And what was the very first thing that this former student president did when he had the opportunity to frame up a vision for this country? It was "You know what? I want to go back to the Grant Robertson that I still I am at heart the Grant Robertson of 1992 which is free education. Despite the official advice that it would not make a difference in terms of accessibility for New Zealanders I still want to do it."—$2.8 billion over four years and the advice is that actually there'll be less students enrolled this year than the last three.There is no coherence—there is no coherence. There is no plan. It is a little bit of cash for everybody to try and keep a sense of momentum. There is no expectation around the investment on behalf of taxpayers of New Zealand—$80 billion of expense. There is no expectation around delivery around outcome or around actually making a difference for the money that you spend because for the Labour Party success is how much you spend not the difference you make in people's lives.There are no Better Public Services targets. The previous Government was forensic on behalf of the taxpayer in saying "We will spend this money judiciously. You have earned it we have taxed it; we will spend it judiciously." We will stand and fall on the record of a Government that delivers for people. We will not stand up and say "Vote for us because we know how to spend." because the function of success in a modern economy is not how well you spend; it is the difference you make for people and that requires a coherent plan.There was no coherent plan in this Budget—none at all. It was tied together by a whole lot of spending initiatives; their only coherence was they were in the same document. There was absolutely no strategic thought into how to drive an economy to be more productive to deliver more for New Zealand and more importantly to stand behind the specifics of "We will spend this money and we will make a difference for you and you can hold us to account on how we have fundamentally changed your families' lives." I do not think that the test of this Budget around making a difference has been anywhere near passed. In fact it is a failure when you consider the legacy of economic performance that that Government that finance Minister inherited. In my opinion it's a disgrace it is a failure of leadership and of strategic coherence and it deserves the reaction that it is getting from New Zealand. Sir I don't know which community you're listening to when you're testing this Budget—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): Order! I apologise to the member; your time has expired."