Clark David: Imprest Supply DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeClark David: Imprest Supply Debate[Sitting date: 06 August 2013. Volume:692;Page:12379. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Third ReadingDr DAVID CLARK (Labour—Dunedin North):We are in the estimates debate and we have been for those people who are watching at home and following this debate decrying the record of this Government and its failure to address the really big issues that are confronting New Zealand society. We have a Government here that is distracted by scandals that is focused on cronyism and that seems to be about employing its own folks those with National Party connections to many of the top jobs.The Skycity deal that has been struck is one that is recent in our minds and we can see there the way that that deal has been skewed—skewed—towards Skycity which knew that it had the Government over a barrel. It knew it did. Skycity knew that the Government had politically committed to doing the deal with it. The Government stepped outside the normal transparent process for tendering and said to Skycity: “It’s you or nobody.” effectively. And Skycity—well it is a business operator; of course it maximised the deal.But we see now that in Australia where similar deals are done there is a price to pay for extending the gambling rights for as long as Skycity has extended them on top of the additional gaming machines and tables. Skycity has got a steal. It has got an absolute steal out of this Government because the Government has backed itself into a corner it has done a shady deal and the taxpayers of New Zealand are left picking up the bill.That is just one example. There are so many more. The Government Communications Security Bureau scandal which is dogging the Government right now has the Government wondering where it is going to go next because one minute John Key does not seem to know what is going on then it turns out that he has had a conversation with his staff member but it is not officially a report or a meeting and so the story goes on. John Key here is donkey deep—he is donkey deep. Ordinary New Zealanders do not know whether they can trust him any more and they certainly do not want to be spied on in their own homes by an agency that is supposed to be protecting New Zealand’s interests.Labour on the other hand has a plan. It will adopt a more hands-on strategy to make sure that ordinary people are put first. It will create hope and opportunities for New Zealanders. We will create more jobs and better wages unlike this Government here which is still sitting on higher unemployment than when it took office despite all of the attempts to fudge the figures. Median wages are dropping. Inequality is higher than it has been at any time in recorded New Zealand history. This is not a just society this is not a fair society and this is not a society that reflects New Zealanders’ concern for social justice. National has let New Zealanders down. It has lost touch with the people who are struggling to meet the needs of their family or even to get a job.I know that from my home town as Dunedin gets more bad news today with another rail contract going overseas. As if the Hillside gutting was not enough we now have Invermay in the past week losing 85 highly skilled jobs out of Dunedin. That is on the back of Steven Joyce saying that local institutions are imperative to support the development of a high-value regional economy. Well that rings very hollow in Dunedin right now—that rings very very hollow. And theOtago Daily Times —congratulationsgo to theOtago Daily Times  the local newspaper New Zealand’s largest independent newspaper—is standing up. It is saying that enough is enough. It is time for central government to deliver on the empty promises it has been making. Regional New Zealand is hurting right now and it is begging for a Government that has an economic development strategy unlike this Government which seems to have precisely none. It is not so long ago just a matter of weeks that New Zealand Post closures were also announced in Dunedin and the shifting of the postal centre away from the regions from the small towns to be concentrated in Christchurch where of course there is a housing issue.This Government while it is distracted by cronyism while it is seeing median wages drop while unemployment remains high is not looking after the interests of ordinary New Zealanders. In the meantime a David Shearer - led Labour Party is putting plans out there. It is saying that every child should be able to have a world-class education at their local school—every child should have a world-class education at their local school. Then we are saying that we will build affordable housing. We will tackle the housing issue. We will build 10000 quality houses that are affordable every year for the next 10 years. We will also make sure that there are warm dry rentals for those people who are living currently in cold damp homes. Well I can tell you that that also will make a big difference in my home town of Dunedin. We are sick of the speculators. We are sick of the offshore speculators. We are also going to close down those loopholes and adopt policies like they have in the Pacific Islands and in Singapore similar ideas to what are adopted in many countries close by. But this Government will not. It says: “Hands off! Hands off!”.Let us look at the power market. Well Mr Bridges over there is very quiet. He says nothing. I look across and I see Mr Bridges saying precisely nothing. He is very quiet on this now but previously he has said that the New Zealand power market will work. He says that rising costs which go up and up and up are a result of a power market that is just not mature yet and the Bradford reforms which happened 15 years ago just have not bedded in. Well ordinary New Zealanders do not agree with that Mr Bridges. What do you say now from across there? Silence from Mr Bridges again. He is stunned into silence because he knows he is on the wrong side of this argument.Mr Key says that the prices New Zealanders are paying are fair. That is what Mr Key says. He says that the prices that ordinary New Zealanders are paying are fair. Ordinary New Zealanders do not agree with him and I think Mr Key knows that he is wrong. If we listen what does Mr Key have to say about that now? Mr Key? Precisely nothing. Mr Key is also stunned into silence because he knows that he is on the wrong side of this argument about power prices.Well Labour will take a hands-on approach to power prices. We will make sure that ordinary New Zealanders are paying a fair amount. We in this country used to have one of the cheapest power prices in the OECD—one of the cheapest. Now we are paying right up there and that is because since the Bradford reforms power prices have gone up at twice the rate of inflation. They have gone up five times the rate of inflation in the last year and that is in a time of dropping demand. It is unbelievable but it is happening and Mr Bridges and Mr Key think that it is all fair. They take their hands off and just watch those power prices skyrocket out of control and that is as the assets are sold. As the assets—those precious energy generating assets that used to pay for our schools and hospitals—are sold offshore the revenues dry up. Treasury says that it will send us backwards by $100 million a year—$100 million a year—and this Government is happy to let it happen. It is happy to let New Zealand taxpayer - owned companies be sold for the assets to drift offshore for the profits to drift offshore and for the current account deficit to rise inexorably. This Government has lost touch with ordinary NewZealanders. It is selling off our best assets. It does not have a plan to address power prices. Mr Bridges is still silent. I can say “power prices” as many times as I like and Mr Bridges says nothing. Mr Key says nothing but previously he said that he thinks that it is fair that New Zealanders are paying what they are paying for power right now while people who cannot afford to turn on their heaters in their homes—and I talk to these people in my electorate—are saying that it is not fair.We should be paying only what it costs to generate that power plus a fair return on assets. That is a fair model. That is what NZ Power proposes. That is the Labour model. I think that after two more winters the New Zealand public will realise the benefits of this policy. They already do. They know that the average family will be $300 a week better off as a result of Labour’s NZ Power policy. They know that those affordable homes will matter for the struggling young Kiwis trying to get into houses. They know that the kinds of policies Labour wants to adopt like pro-growth tax reform will make a difference. They will make a difference as will research and development tax credits and a capital gains tax that takes away speculation signals that are in the market and makes sure that productive business is supported. They know that universal KiwiSaver will help with New Zealand’s capital debt problem. They know that exchange rate issues need to be addressed.Let us face it—this Government is not across all the portfolios. Mr Joyce came before the Finance and Expenditure Committee and did not have the answers prepared on the supplementary estimates. He asked for an extension. He was the only Minister to do that. He is stretched because he is fronting so much for a Government that is struggling. I moved a resolution which is on the record of that select committee that we postpone the meeting until such time as the Minister is across his portfolios.Hon Tau Henare: Oh you’re so clever.Dr DAVID CLARK: And what did the Government members do Mr Henare? What did they do? They voted it down. They said that they could not wait for Mr Joyce to get across his portfolios. They did not have that much time. Nobody has that much time. Mr Joyce is struggling and the Government members know that. They knew that so they would not wait. They voted it down. They said: “We can’t postpone this meeting until such time as Mr Joyce is across his portfolios. We simply can’t do it.”This Government is struggling. It is dogged by cronyism and dogged by dodgy deals. A Labour Government would take a hands-on approach and make sure—