Bennett David: Appropriation (2012/13 Estimates) Bill — Third Reading Imprest Supply Debate 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Bennett David: Appropriation (2012/13 Estimates) Bill — Third Reading Imprest Supply Debate 
[Sitting date: 21 August 2012. Volume:683;Page:4575. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
DAVID BENNETT (National—Hamilton East) 
: 
 Following on from that rubbish really from the Green Party I think we need to look at the practicalities of the real world we live in. Often we hear about reports of what the world will look like in 2050 and often you see some of those reports. I was just reading one from PricewaterhouseCoopers about the shift of global economic power in 2050. It makes for very interesting reading. Basically when you look at those reports they have one common feature and that is that the world is a numbers game. It is a numbers game in the sense of number of people. World economic power—the ability for countries therefore to deliver to their people the services and the rights that people expect—will be determined by the size of the population. It will be determined not by its geographical footprint nor by its resource footprint but by its human footprint. That is a completely different approach from what we have had in the history of the world for the last couple of hundred years where it has been about the space that someone conquered or the area that was under control. Now it is about the number of people who work in your economy. 
What we have seen in the last few years with the world economic recession is part of that. It shows that there were some dynamics in the world economies that were not structured the right way and that there was an emphasis on borrowing at the wrong time for the wrong things. Essentially it was a wake-up call for the West that the Western economies were not performing any more. Those economies had got out of sync with what it actually takes to make money and to deliver for your people going forward. The Eastern economies have delivered over that period of time and continue to deliver now because their economic fundamentals are much closer to what is required to deliver for an economy. That is the big wake-up call that is happening to the world at the moment. New Zealand is in a bit of a precarious position in that situation because we are not in the heart of that wake-up call in Europe so we are not feeling the pain that many European countries are feeling. We live in an environment that is distinctly Asian. We trade with Asian countries and so we have been insulated a little bit from what is going on. Australia is in the same position. It has been insulated. We live in a Western economy but we have been insulated from the effects of what is happening to those economies because of our position in the world. 
And that positioning means we have to be very careful in the decisions we make in the next few years because it would be very easy for New Zealanders and Australians together to think that they are comfortable and successful and can carry on the mantras and policies of the past. Those Western policies will not serve those countries that well going forward. Those countries New Zealand and Australia need to go back to the economic basics and make sure we pay our way in the world. That is what the New Zealand National Government with our coalition partners has been doing for the last 3 or 4 years and will continue to do because the people of New Zealand understand that need. They understand that the world has changed. The ordinary New Zealander out there has probably lost money on their biggest investment their house and they realise that they could lose their job in the business they work in if that company is not competitive in the world market. They know that economic reality. They do not have the luxury to sit in places like this and spout off some great ideas about some green economy that does not actually exist or spout off some Labour mantra about trying to make everybody equal when that does not exist either. They live in the real world and in the real world you have to compete you have to get training you have to get education and you have to work hard. These are fundamental things that the Labour and Green parties would never accept but they are core National Party beliefs and they are represented in this Budget and continuing Budgets because the public understands what they need and what needs to happen. 
Just going back to that report—if you go back to those 2050 reports look at some of these dates. In 2013 Brazil is to overtake the UK—the UK the great empire. In 2016 India a former colony takes over the UK in size. In 2021 Indonesia beats Spain. In 2025 Brazil beats Germany. In 2031 Mexico beats the UK. And in 2045 India beats the USA. That is the real world and those countries are big populations and they are young populations. 
Dr David Clark 
: In 2012 New Zealand moves to Australia. 
DAVID BENNETT 
: Our friend over there says what happens to Australia? Australia is a very interesting point. Australia moves out of the top 20. Australia loses its position in the top 20 because it has not got population. We have a distinct relationship with Australia and that is an important part of what we have to do to be competitive. When you look at the facts about Australia there are New Zealanders going to Australia at the moment because of the mining boom and the job opportunities there through the mining boom. But that is not sustainable for the long term compared with our agricultural and primary-based industries that rely on water which is a much more renewable resource going forward than the mining boom that Australia now faces. I think and this Government thinks that we are in a better position. 
So when we look at those statistics and when we look at the need for New Zealand to develop its economy we have to look at what we have to do to make that happen. New Zealand will never compete with Indonesia or China on a population basis; we just have not got 200 million people. But we can and we need to trade with those countries. That is our success. We are building the tradable sector of the New Zealand economy so that we can trade. On the other side of this House we hear rhetoric of things like capital gains taxes and increased income taxes trying to do all those things that will hurt the tradable sector of New Zealand. What has the Government delivered? It has delivered low interest rates. It has delivered the right economic infrastructure for New Zealanders to grow their businesses. That is how we will grow and trade with those other countries. 
We also need to make our economy competitive in the way we deal with some big issues. That is around things like education to make sure that all our young people have a start in the modern world and we do not accept the failures of the past and say that a group of people cannot succeed. The world order will mean that you will not have that privilege. The privilege of feeling that we can say no to a group of our people and that they are not able to play the game is not going to be enough going forward. That is an old Western ideology that is not going to last in the modern way. We need to encourage education and the delivery of education and the Government has made big strides in that area. Some of those things are not popular but they are important in achieving our end goal. 
So in essence the world has changed. It has changed very quickly in the last few years and it will change immensely in the next decade or so going out to 2050 as those reports indicated. But what is essential in that change is that the Government delivers the right infrastructure for New Zealanders to take advantage of that world order. That is what this Budget does. It focuses on what is required and needed for New Zealand going forward. The rhetoric on the other side of the House is dreamland rhetoric. It is not practical and it is not endorsed by the New Zealand people because the New Zealand people see through it. They know that the plan on this side is the practical plan that will work. The plan on the other side—if they have a plan—is something that is completely impractical has no chance of working and that is why the New Zealand public supports this Government in this very good Budget. Thank you.