Williams Andrew: Taxation (Budget Measures) Bill Student Loan Scheme (Budget Measures) Amendment Bill — Third Readings 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Williams Andrew: Taxation (Budget Measures) Bill Student Loan Scheme (Budget Measures) Amendment Bill — Third Readings 
[Sitting date: 24 May 2012. Volume:680;Page:2490. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
ANDREW WILLIAMS (NZ First) 
: 
 I rise to take a call on behalf of New Zealand First in relation to the Fagin “pick a pocket or two Budget” of 2012. We only have to look at the headlines in our major dailies today to see what the response is from New Zealand from the media and from the general public as to this failed Budget from this failed National Government. One headline: “Bill English is looking down the back of the sofa for loose change—raiding the kids’ pocket money …”. Another quote: “[it] is not fair it is not sensible.” Another headline: “Kids: Meet the taxman.” And another one said that a “wafer-thin surplus” is tipped for 2014-15. And the worst of all from the  
New Zealand Herald 
: “Our big fat zero Budget”.  
This Government must be highly embarrassed that it is being absolutely flannelled by all quarters in relation to this Budget. This goes back to the Budget of 1991 which was very similar to this: the “mother of all Budgets” under Ruth Richardson who taught the current Minister of Finance Bill English his financial skills—or lack of financial skills. That Budget in 1991 failed. It had many of the same essences that this Budget has of selling off assets of hitting the weak and the defenceless and propping up the wealthy and their rich mates. This Budget does the same. It attacks the poor the people who can least afford it the young children of this country the students of this country the families of this country the working people of this country and it leaves those who can afford to do more totally exempt.  
This Budget also looks to having a surplus in 2014-15 of a miserable $197 million which is so close to the margin of error that basically it is another example of this Government’s use of a dartboard: throw a dart pick a figure let us go for $197 million it could be plus or minus $500 million on that—it would not know because it really does not know.  
Further today it is shown in the media that the current account deficit blows out to $15 billion and our net international investment position which is the debt that New Zealand owes the world goes to 80 percent of GDP. How can this country be proud of a record like that? How can this Government be proud of a record like that? When also the New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association comes out and says that this is a poor Budget that it is not providing step change to turn round the economy and that it is not supporting exports. We require exports if this country is going to lift its act and the fundamental problems such as a lack of export growth have once again gone ignored.  
This is a “nickel and dime Budget” this is attacking the children of this country and the families of this country but it is not giving vision as to how we are going to lift our exports. The trade stats for this latest month April show that we are 17 percent down on our exports compared with April last year. That is an appalling figure—17 percent down on 12 months ago. Therefore this Government is sitting on its hands it is playing around on the edges it is playing around on the fridges—fringes and probably in the fridges—and it is just basically navel-gazing. This Government is navel-gazing. It is playing with the pennies and as the  
Dominion Post 
 says today 
it is looking down the back of the sofa to try to find a few dollars here and a few dollars there. But it is not addressing the fundamentals of getting growth in this economy providing jobs providing employment helping our exports and getting incentives into our companies to grow the economy grow the pie and grow the taxation base that we have.  
This is an inward-looking reverse-moving Budget that basically is taking New Zealand back to the future back to the 1991 “mother of all Budgets” of Ruth Richardson and back to the days of the 1990s when National sold off its assets sold off the silverware of New Zealanders and sold off what we have built up as a nation. This is a very negative penny-pinching miserable Budget. The Minister of Finance should be ashamed of it. The Prime Minister John Key should be ashamed of it. The Ministers over there and the members of the National Government should be ashamed of it. I am sure they will be pleased to get away from the House this weekend and go back to their electorates to lick their wounds because they will have to go back to face the music in their electorates. I am sure people over this weekend will be telling them what a miserable miserable National Government this is.