Auchinvole Chris: General Debate 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Auchinvole Chris: General Debate 
[Sitting date: 17 June 2009. Volume:655;Page:4376. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE (National—West Coast - Tasman) 
: 
 I would like to change the subject. I would like to talk about what the Government is doing while Labour is languishing in lassitude and collapse. The economy is the important aspect and with National the economy is in a very safe pair of hands. I will go further: it is more than safe. As is demonstrated daily during question time the economy is in the hands of a set of splendid superb excellent and exceptional minds. This Government is made up of magnificent men and wonderful women whose collective business experience is substantial. 
Years at the coalface of industry enable National’s political team the Government’s team to be well-equipped to manage the economy and navigate the turbulent waters in order to survive these difficult times. They have the kind of skill and acumen that Captain James Cook exhibited during his first two voyages to New Zealand when he not only had to stay afloat but also had to unflinchingly ride the waves into new and uncharted territories. He had to provide new and original solutions to difficult problems. That is what we have to do now and that is what the Government’s leaders are doing during the difficult weeks and months we are living through. The economy is the  
Endeavour 
 and after the previous Government ran it aground we are in the process of repairing the ship and setting it on course for bigger and better things. 
If Labour had won the last election the economy would be more like the  
Titanic 
. The economy would sink under Labour. The Labour Government’s last quarter had New Zealand in a technical recession. We heard about that. They ask the questions— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Who wrote this rubbish? 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: I wrote this rubbish—and it is not rubbish. Well it is because at the moment I am talking about what the Labour Government did and that was a load of rubbish. We will soon get out of the rubbish and on to the good stuff. 
The previous Government squandered the golden years and failed to put in place measures that would set up our economy to weather the bad times and to take advantage of the good times. In the Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update we were looking at a deficit of a billion dollars. By December it had deteriorated into a debilitating and dreadful $4 billion dangling the putrid prospect of a decade of deficits. That is the rubbish that we inherited from the previous Labour Government. Labour left a legacy of a languishing and lamentable economy and now instead of facing up to the fact that this country has some difficult policy decisions to make Labour continues to think that lavish spending on excessive extravagances is the answer. Those members’ attitudes are of continuing and increasing concern to commercial interests. How do we describe the Labour Party’s approach to the economy? 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: Tell us! 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: Would members like me to tell them? We say that Labour’s approach is a “Whack-it-on-the-bill-Phil-osophy” which has permeated past protective practices. Labour’s answer is to spend more and the “Whack-it-on-the-bill-Phil-osophy” would massively increase debt and impose an irresponsible irredeemable and irreversible burden and those members know it. The next two generations of New Zealanders— 
Hon Pete Hodgson 
: Who are you? 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: If the member asking that question listens carefully all his questions will be answered. 
Under Labour each household would be beholden to somehow return to the Government thousands of dollars just to take the country out of the red. The other side of the House would like to spend billions of dollars on maintaining the superannuation fund contributions—borrowing to invest it at a loss—and billions of taxpayers’ dollars on the Waterview Connection. In fact it would spend billions of taxpayers’ dollars on just about anything at the economic cost of future generations. Quite frankly it is a fundamentally flawed philosophy. We had 9 years of plenty but nothing was done to protect promote or preserve productivity. 
This Government on the other hand has taken the necessary steps to help get the books in order but at the same time we still have announced initiatives that will benefit the economy and the public. We are sensibly investing in front-line emergency services maternity services roads home insulation and the police. We are improving the Resource Management Act in order to reduce compliance costs and encourage growth. Ultimately we are doing everything we can to set New Zealand on a path of prosperity and productivity. 
While we specialise in the economy all the other side of the House specialises in is an unhealthy discredit by innuendo. The road to recovery is through trimming bureaucracy and expenditure and promoting positive new policies.