Wong Pansy: Budget Debate 
Wong Pansy: Budget Debate 
[Volume:626;Page:20867] 
PANSY WONG (National) 
: 
 I do not thank the Labour member for sending the public to sleep; I will try to remind them that we are speaking in the Budget debate. Hundreds of people packed out venues in Auckland Christchurch Hamilton and Napier to listen to National’s leader Dr Don Brash and the shadow finance Minister John Key in their post-Budget tour. It was obvious that the crowds were angry about the total loss of touch of the Labour Government with the public. The crumbs that were being thrown at them through the much-trumpeted tax cuts of 67c a week in 3 years’ time angered the public. Labour has forgotten that the largest slices of tax come from personal incomes and GST. Hard-working New Zealanders were told by the Labour Government that people were not to be trusted to know how to spend their own money wisely. 
It is not as though those taxes were put into good use. Let us look at education at health and at the police. We see they are in crisis because of the lack of political management and leadership. But where are the taxes going? As the shadow Minister of Revenue I will share with members a piece of information. I am amazed at the increased personnel expenses for the Inland Revenue Department. The sum is going up by $33 million—$33 million for tax collectors. But can members guess how much police personnel expenses are going up by? It is a mere $41 million in comparison with the tax collectors. Our nation is crying out for protection and safety and the Labour Government’s answer is to give us more tax collectors instead of a larger police force. The public will send this Labour Government packing because it is arrogant and incompetent. 
Another area of concern is border security. The New Zealand Immigration Service has lurched from crisis to crisis since 2002 under the previous Minister of Immigration Lianne Dalziel. The legislation she rushed into the House in 2002 to lapse 10000 immigration applications and her incompetent management of the skilled migrant category has seen New Zealand’s reputation of having a transparent and consistent immigration policy plummet. Lianne Dalziel apparently apologised in a Christchurch Chinese language media “messenger” for raising the English language requirement for business migrants in 2002. Then I asked the Hon Paul Swain whether he agreed with that apology. In his written answer he stated that he knew nothing of the apology. 
Hon Member 
: They lied! 
PANSY WONG 
: Oh it is more than that. It is typical of the Labour Government which tailors different messages for different communities. That tightly targeted and secretive apology was aimed only for the benefit of Chinese New Zealanders in an election year no doubt to seek their votes. The continuing incompetence of the Labour Government’s handling of the immigration portfolio has seen it allocate only an additional $12 million in total to the whole Immigration Service but it has increased the funding for tax collectors by $33 million. 
Let us put that in perspective. That lack of a sense of priority gives rise to Winston Peters’ race card immigration platform. It is said that there are only two things in life that one can count on: taxes and death. But to that we can add Mr Peters playing the race card in election years. To make statements such as: “We are being colonised without having any say in the numbers of people coming in and where they come from.” in conjunction with assertions that the size of the Asian population will overtake that of the Maori population is to incite racial disharmony. I have pointed out previously that Statistics New Zealand’s projections—[ 
Interruption 
] If the member listens he may learn something—are based on long-term arrivals which include people who come here on work permits or student visas for more than 12 months. But Mr Peters will never let the facts get in his way. 
The proposal of Mr Peters to set up patriotic squads routinely seeking out overstayers will see non-European and non-Maori residents and citizens being put under surveillance and their loyalty to New Zealand being questioned. People from the ethnic communities have to defend their right to be here and account for their contributions constantly. One can imagine they would be well advised to carry their passports—like the one in my hand—in future when facing those patriotic squads. 
Lianne Dalziel 
: Is the member starting a coalition? 
PANSY WONG 
: The previous Minister of Immigration who lied to the media and was sacked from her portfolio and who put up English language requirements to shut out Chinese migrants has no room to speak. She should take the call and apologise to the Chinese community. I challenge Lianne Dalziel to apologise to the Chinese in Parliament not in a Chinese language paper. [ 
Interruption 
] I invite the honourable ex-Minister Lianne Dalziel to take a call to apologise properly in Parliament to the Chinese community rather than through a Chinese language newspaper. 
How much longer will it be before the time comes when people from the ethnic communities and others may be required to wear a yellow band—like the one on my arm—with their passport numbers on it? Some may think that that is being too dramatic. But let us remember after all that it was only in 1927 that the Wellington Indian Association had to fight against the Wellington City Council’s ludicrous insistence that Indian bottle collectors were to wear straps on their sleeves. And in 1937 Asian New Zealanders had to protest against a recommendation of the fruit and vegetable committee for the compulsory registration of Asian fruiterers’ thumb prints under the then Labour Acting Prime Minister Peter Fraser. 
The ethnic communities are either angry or resigned. But many have chosen to speak out. I am confident that the majority of New Zealanders are fair-minded and will speak up at the ballot box. The debate on immigration policy should happen but it should not be used as a disguise to raise fear and contempt against any particular community. The incompetent handling of the immigration portfolio has left the ethnic community vulnerable to exploitation yet Labour sees fit to increase the immigration vote in total by only $12 million when the tax collectors’ personnel expenses alone will be increased by $33 million. It is time for Labour to go. 
I would like to reply to the statement made by my parliamentary colleague Dr Ashraf Choudhary who seemed to be concerned about my list ranking. I can assure that member that no matter where I rank I will be highly visible in the Indian community compared with him. There have been cries in every edition of the  
Indian Newslink 
 asking where Dr Choudhary is. When will Dr Choudhary speak up when the Indian and Asian communities are under attack by the so-called immigration policies? Where was Dr Choudhary when the Indian information technology workers were not recognised by the Labour Government’s immigration policy?