Mapp Wayne: Supplementary Estimates — Imprest Supply Debate 
Mapp Wayne: Supplementary Estimates — Imprest Supply Debate 
[Volume:640;Page:10180] 
Dr WAYNE MAPP (National—North Shore) 
: 
 I have news for the Minister of Health. Yesterday I was speaking to a young person in the North Shore. She said she is going to Sydney. Why is she going to Sydney? She is going because she can get $20000 extra. She said she really wanted to stay in New Zealand but how could she look past $20000 extra and more opportunity? She has made a decision against this Government which is to say that it has not delivered. Each and every week 750 people are making exactly that same decision. 
The Government has made a great deal of KiwiSaver. I ask the Government this question: “Is that all there is?” because the Budget was all about KiwiSaver and on that basis the Government expects to be re-elected. 
Darren Hughes 
: That is right. 
Dr WAYNE MAPP 
: We have heard it. On the basis of KiwiSaver the junior whip says the Government expects to get re-elected. That is its platform. 
Darren Hughes 
: And business tax cuts. 
Dr WAYNE MAPP 
: I want to say to that member—who will actually lose his seat in 18 months’ time—that the public gave a clear verdict on the Budget and they did not like it. The public said that if it is only KiwiSaver that is not enough for a Budget. This Government and indeed previous Governments have had 13 years of continuous surpluses and the public is saying that it is their turn now that it is about time they had a share of those surpluses and it is simply not good enough for this Government to come along each and every year and say: “Oh no you cannot get a reduction in your taxes.”; even though the surplus might now be $6 billion it is still not enough for a tax cut for hard-working New Zealanders. The consequence is that that young lady has made a decision to go to Australia for more opportunities. A tax cut might be just the sort of thing that she needed to give her an incentive to stay here. 
That is the difference between this Government and the Australian Government. In Australia each and every year there is a reduction in taxes. It is not huge every year but cumulatively it adds up and therefore people get a sense of hope and optimism. In this country this Government crushes aspiration hope and initiative. 
In just over 3 months New Zealanders will be voting in the local authority elections. Earlier this year the Prime Minister said she was going to reform Auckland local government. The Minister of Finance said in the Budget that the electrification of Auckland rail is a priority and the Government announced that it would be paid for by a 10c regional petrol tax. Is that not symbolic of this Government—a $6 billion surplus and what is its answer? A new tax! One would have to ask the parties sitting at the back of the House why they would support an additional tax on hard-working New Zealanders. I have to ask members of New Zealand First why they are even contemplating voting for a tax increase on hard-working New Zealanders. I have to ask members of the United Future party why they are voting for a tax increase on hard-working New Zealanders. 
Everyone admits that the electrification of rail is a desirable project. There is no dispute about that whatsoever but one has to ask why it cannot be paid out of that $6 billion surplus—just the most recent of 13 continuous years of surpluses. The feature of the Labour Government in relation to surpluses and taxes is that it has only one answer when it comes to taxes and that is to increase them. When Labour got elected in 1999 its first gesture was to increase personal income tax from 33 percent to 39 percent. Since then we have had two petrol tax increases and a sherry tax increase—talk about grinding the face of the poor there—but we have not had a single adjustment to thresholds. During that period of time inflation has gone up around 18 percent but there has not been a single adjustment for thresholds. That is the difference from the Australian approach which at the very minimum lifts the thresholds by the rate of inflation—usually it is a bit better than that in fact. But there is not one thing from this Government. 
Last week we heard Trevor Mallard the new Minister of Finance for the 2008 Budget say in Australia that there would be a tax-cut Budget in 2008. I have to say that I actually trust New Zealanders to see through the cynicism of such a move. I believe that New Zealanders will ask whether they are expected to be fooled and bribed so cheaply by a Government that waits until the desperate nether ends of its term to give us a pathetic sort of tax cut the sort of thing that Mallard would deliver. I think New Zealanders will see through the cynicism of that and they will deal to the Government. 
This Budget was a turning-point for this country because it meant a catastrophic loss of faith by the public of New Zealand in the Government. We saw a dramatic turn-round in the polls at that point. We saw a fundamental change on the question of whether the country is going in the right or the wrong direction. It is not just about individual policies; it is about the public’s attitude to the Government. They are sick of being taken for suckers. Because of that they are saying to this Government that it is time it got on its bike and was gone. 
I turn directly to Auckland regional governance. This is yet another symbol of failure. I note that the Minister with responsibility for Auckland Issues the Hon Judith Tizard is sitting in the back of the House at the moment. One has to ask oneself what she has actually done for this country. What has she actually done for Auckland? I know for an absolute fact that her major problem with Auckland is that she simply complains that Aucklanders do not recognise her in the way she thinks appropriate. Well I guess the public are making their judgment. So when the local body leaders in Auckland and the four mayors in particular came up with a plan which actually the Prime Minister said was pretty good—and one might have expected a visionary Government to have a legislative process that should dramatically improve local governance in New Zealand—what happened? 
Hon Georgina te Heuheu 
: Nothing. 
Dr WAYNE MAPP 
: That is absolutely right. As my colleague Georgina te Heuheu said it did nothing. During question time in the House in questions to the Minister of Local Government in fact and in two questions to the Deputy Prime Minister they said there would be no legislation on regional local government. Well I see that only as a testament to failure. 
The point of all of this is that this Government has simply run out of steam. It treats the voters with contempt and voters are saying they cannot wait until the next election because they want to get rid of this Government and they want this country to be a country of aspiration progress and drive. That can be done only with a John Key - led Government.