Bennett David: Address in Reply 
Bennett David: Address in Reply 
[Volume:652;Page:1242] 
DAVID BENNETT (National—Hamilton East) 
: 
 Mr Deputy Speaker I congratulate you on being a person from the Waikato who now holds the position of Deputy Speaker. We look forward to that continuing in the future. 
When we look at what is happening around the world we see that it is pretty obvious that all of the major economies are developing a plan based on three key factors. Those key factors are to reduce interest rates to have stimulus packages based around infrastructure development and to support those who will be in need of help during this crisis. The reason why all those countries are basically engaging in the same plan is that they want to kick-start the economic system of the world. They want a situation where people can go out there and invest in businesses and have confidence that the economic environment will provide a future. That stimulus will lead to economic growth around the world. 
People need low interest rates because they are an incentive for businesses to take the risk of borrowing money to try to make a go of it. They need stimulus packages so countries invest in infrastructure. Major infrastructure programmes are the norm for most countries around the world. The question then becomes: which infrastructure projects are ready? That was one of the failings of the previous Labour Government—it did not have the programmes ready. The National Government has to bridge that gap by getting programmes through that we can actually deliver this year when unemployment is due to rise. It is not good enough to wait 2 or 3 years for the design and implementation that are required for the work. The Labour Party did not do those things while it was in Government. The previous Government did not set the New Zealand economy up for this situation; it left us in a situation where we did not have those infrastructure projects ready to go. The National Government in the last week has tried to push through some infrastructure projects that are ready to go; it has more to do in this area. As a political party we have led the charge in providing support for those in need. We have the ReStart package for people who will be in difficulty over this time. 
Those three key factors are universal around the world: to reduce interest rates to have a stimulus package and to have a support package for those who will be in need. That is the base of most economic planning at this stage. When Labour members talk of Obama and Brown and use the terminology of grand plans they forget the reality and the fundamentals of what those political parties are pushing for. They are pushing for these three key things which the National Government has done in New Zealand. They are pushing to get that economic base so that we can grow this economy. 
When we look at what the National Government has done we see that it has delivered on its 100-day plan it has given some direction to the New Zealand public it has given direction to the economy and it has indicated to the world that National is leading this country in a way that is possible in these tough economic times. I ask members to compare that with the 90-day plan of Phil Goff which is coming to an end very soon. He may not be there in the long term of the Labour Party. 
The jobs and growth plan of this Government is about keeping this economy running so that it can deliver as strong a solution as possible to the recession the country will face. The infrastructure programme that was released gives a $500 million boost to this economy. The infrastructure is based around areas of education transport and housing and is spread geographically through New Zealand. It is also spread through different industries and amongst different groups of the community that will be struggling. For those on low incomes a housing programme will provide some comfort coming into those cold winter months. For the economic growth that we need we have a transport programme which will advance some of the larger State highway projects in some of our regions. And in education we are building the blocks that will deliver a stronger New Zealand giving the strong base that the young people of New Zealand need to tackle the future economies of the world. 
Those are the things the National Government has done that are practical and realistic and that deliver. Let us compare that with what Labour would have done. Its infrastructure programme would have been to build embassies around the world. That would not have helped New Zealand workers would it? No way. Labour was not delivering for New Zealanders; it was delivering an empire of embassies around the world. That would have been Labour’s plan if it had returned to Government. Labour does not understand what it means to invest in the New Zealand economy. It set up programme after programme investing in US stocks—stocks that have lost billions and billions of dollars. The heart of the New Zealand economy which did so well in those good years has been transferred to the US stock exchange and that money has been lost to the public of New Zealand. 
What else did Labour do? It felt it was better to put money into the hands of Australians—through Toll—by paying for a rail network rather than delivering the roading infrastructure that New Zealand needs. It was prepared to send billions of dollars overseas rather than keep it here. Well National believes in New Zealand. We have a vision and a direction for New Zealand and we will invest in this country. We believe that New Zealanders can make the best of their money. We will not do what Labour was going to do: spend it on building embassies and send it to overseas companies. New Zealanders can build a stronger country—we will and we have. 
What will the Labour Government’s economic legacy be? Labour members always talk about what they have done for this country. Well let us look at it. Labour put New Zealand into recession before the rest of the world. It destroyed the economy before the rest of the world hit the tidal wave. We are in a situation of recession before the rest of the world is. If we look at the TV channels we see that countries such as America and Australia are fearful of a recession. What about New Zealand? New Zealand has been in a recession for month after month because of the antics of the Labour members their inability to determine how an economy should grow and their spending priorities which were not in the best interests of this country. That is the difference between the National Party and the Labour Party. The National Party has a plan that will deliver unlike the Labour Party. 
If we look at some of those plans we see that National has a business package for small and medium businesses. The package takes away some of the tax and regulatory impacts that have been stifling businesses for a number of years. They are simple measures but measures that are very important and very well accepted by the business community. The tax cut package will come. New Zealanders will get a tax cut under a National-led Government. Let us compare that with the Labour Government. It took Labour 9 years to deliver a tax cut and it had no intention of delivering the rest of the tax cuts. In December it was going to stop the next tranche of tax cuts. That was Labour’s grand plan of economic development. Its grand plan to deal with the recession was to stop the tax cuts that most economies are taking on board—about 40 percent of the US package is made up of tax cuts and that country is led by the Democratic Party! Labour would have stopped the tax cut package. It only put it up for the election—that was it. It had no intention of carrying it through because it does not understand the fundamentals of business. It does not understand that if businesses are given money they can use that money to build a stronger economy. 
Labour would have taken money off New Zealanders because it thinks it knows best how to spend that money in these difficult times. On the other hand National understands that New Zealanders need that money in their hands. We understand that New Zealanders can make the right choices. We will back them in these times so that they can deliver the kind of future that we need. Under a National Government we will have a growing economy. We will not leave this place in a recession as the Labour Government did. We will not squander on political things the best economic conditions that this country has had—through international trade—for many years. We will look for a direction that will build a stronger New Zealand and a way forward. Thank you.