Parata Hekia: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Parata Hekia: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Volume:660;Page:8983] 
HEKIA PARATA (National) 
: 
 Tena koe e te Mana Whakawa huri noa i to tatou Whare tena tatou kia ora tatou katoa. “Whaia te iti kahurangi ki te tuohu koe me he maunga teitei”. When translated that whakatauki or proverb means “Strive for the ultimate and if you must bow your head let it be to a lofty mountain”. It basically means be aspirational be ambitious be positive be productive and be determined. These are all the hallmarks of our Prime Minister John Key of his leadership and of the work programme that was established in the Prime Minister’s statement early last week. That statement sets out a comprehensive work agenda for 2010 that is possible only because last year in 2009 this Government powered through a huge clean-up programme that was the legacy of the previous Labour administration. That work in 2009 has created enough space to allow us to now focus on the important structural and systemic issues that face this nation. 
What did we inherit from the previous Labour administration? We inherited both economic and social despoliation of New Zealand. It was a squandering of a decade of the best economic conditions. New Zealand was a country strangled by debt. But worse the previous administration had the belief that it was better to place the Government the State at the centre of New Zealanders’ lives rather than support them to build their own personal and professional capital their own whanau and their own communities. There was a belief that Government programmes should and could fix everything. It was a behaviour that squeezed people and communities out of their own lives. It was a mishmash of contracts and compliance regimes that mistook activity for achievement busyness for business and contracts for caring. Labour Opposition members now have the cheek to ask questions in this House about issues that are the consequence of Labour’s own inept administration. They ask questions about schools hospitals roads and other important infrastructure that was left to languish while Labour wallowed in the largesse of the best economic conditions of several lifetimes 
Chris Hipkins 
: Talk about wallowing in largesse! 
HEKIA PARATA 
: Well I cannot comment on the size of the Opposition’s wallowing in lard and I will leave that to Opposition members. We have been left to deal with the legacy of the Labour administration which seems to have contracted some sort of political amnesia. 
This National-led Government does not underestimate the capacity of New Zealanders or their aspirations for a brighter future nor their willingness to work creatively harder and smarter. This Government is committed to supporting that ambition. We have an absolute belief in the potential of the people of this nation and our role is to create an environment in which that potential can be realised. So what has to be done? The Prime Minister’s statement sets out a comprehensive and clear agenda of work with the economy as the No. 1 priority and reform in the social sector as our No. 2 priority. These are complementary and mutually reinforcing goals which together will provide the structural and systemic responses necessary to achieve the brighter future that New Zealanders voted us into Government to help build. 
We must rebalance the economy towards investment savings and exports and away from the unsustainable consumption borrowing and Government spending that were the hallmarks of the previous administration. We need to change the incentives so that resources flow where we want them to go. After hearing back from several panels and review teams over recent months we are considering a range of options to deliver a faster-growing economy that creates jobs and improves Kiwis’ living standards. 
There is as the member opposite said no one quick-fix solution. I think that the member opposite needs to be aware that we have been in Government for 14 months and have managed to clean up a great deal of the bad Government that members opposite had 9 years to offer this country. There is no one quick-fix solution. Instead we need to do several things. For example we can shape the tax system to deliver the incentives that the Government supports. For ordinary New Zealanders we want a tax system that rewards effort encourages savings and helps families to get ahead. For the economy we want a tax system that helps fix our structural imbalances which were built up under the previous Government. Shoring up the tax base and lowering personal taxes are important to this Government. We must also ensure that our company tax rate is competitive internationally. We need to do this at the same time as continuing to make progress with reducing deficits and controlling debt. 
The Prime Minister last week made it clear that the Government is considering across-the-board personal tax reductions as well as upfront increases in benefits New Zealand Superannuation and Working for Families payments. That will give people choices and help families to get ahead so it is incorrect to say that only the top personal tax cuts are being considered. In the previous Government’s last 3 years in office the economy grew at a meagre 0.9 percent a year on average. What an achievement for the previous Government! It was a growth rate of 0.9 percent a year on average. That was less than half the growth rate of major overseas economies and less than one-third of Australia’s growth rate. Shaking one’s head does not make it untrue regrettably; the facts speak for themselves. That is why we need to change the way that we do things. 
For hard-working Kiwi families lower personal taxes across the board are good because they give people incentives to work hard improve their skills and get ahead here in New Zealand but we have to pay for them. At an economic level we want to encourage more investment savings and exports and we want to have less borrowing and consumption because New Zealand spends a lot more as a country than it earns and that is unsustainable. 
Sue Moroney 
: That’s under National. 
HEKIA PARATA 
: That was the approach I say to the member opposite of the previous Government and not the approach of this Government. 
As part of a package of tax changes to help achieve these things the Government is carefully considering a modest increase in the rate of GST to no more than 15 percent. We are acutely aware that a rise in GST would have an impact on lower and middle income New Zealanders so we are not interested in a tax package that adversely affects those groups. No decision has yet been made about increasing GST. The Government has asked for more work to be done on this. But let me give members a quote from someone who texted me just today: “If tax increases I would prefer it to be GST offset by a reduction in PAYE because this means I have more choice”— 
Chris Hipkins 
: How much do they earn? 
HEKIA PARATA 
: Whakarongo whakarongo ko enei nga reo o nga tangata a-rohe e korero ana ki tenei Whare Paremata. This is the voice of an actual New Zealander saying what that person thinks. 
Hon Members 
: How much do they earn? 
HEKIA PARATA 
: I object to the idea that I have to pay people to speak to me. Perhaps that is those members’ experience but it is not mine. The text message continued: “That is if I can’t afford to buy something then I won’t buy it. I don’t have this option with PAYE.” This John Key - led Government believes in the potential of New Zealand and New Zealanders. That is why not only are we concerned to ensure that we have a better economy and a world-class tax system but also we are committed to ensure that any changes meet the tests of equity and fairness. They must deliver benefits to households and the economy that outweigh the costs and given that we face another 6 years of Budget deficits they must be fiscally neutral. 
But tax is just one policy lever that we can pull to help rebalance and grow the economy. We are equally concerned about our social sector. I will turn and speak for a minute about education an extremely important part of the work programme of this John Key - led Government. The quality of education as we are all aware expands and improves our life choices. Those life choices good and bad have an impact on the individual the family the community and ultimately our society. Ensuring an excellent education for all our school students is therefore a critical personal and public investment. National standards will allow us to have an early warning system that tells us whether our students are doing well and if they are not it will tell us what kind of support they need.