Auchinvole Chris: Budget Debate 
Auchinvole Chris: Budget Debate 
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CHRIS AUCHINVOLE (National—West Coast - Tasman) 
: 
 After listening to the wonderful speech introducing Budget 2010 made by Mr English followed by the supporting speech made by Mr Key which explained the many exciting changes outlined in Budget 2010 I find myself posing the following question: how good is it for New Zealand to have a National-led Government? The answer is that it is fantastic. How good is it for us to have such a superb Prime Minister as Mr Key and such an intelligent far-sighted Minister of Finance as Mr English? The answer is that this country of ours has been crying out for their leadership for 9 long years. 
I am so pleased to be standing before the House today and speaking about the Budget because I believe this Budget is key—and I mean “Key”—to improving the lives of all New Zealanders. Let us consider in plain English what the changes will deliver to those who are working hard in this country. First and foremost the Budget tax package helps tilt the economy in favour of productive investment savings and exports and away from consumption borrowing and unsustainable Government spending—and we all know what that is about. That is essential to create jobs. The forecast is that 170000 new jobs will be created over 4 years. [ 
Interruption 
] I will say it again I say to Mr Bennett: 170000 new jobs over 4 years. 
Hone Harawira 
: One more time please? 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: I will say it one more time: 170000 new jobs over 4 years. That means higher incomes and opportunities for Kiwi families to get ahead in New Zealand. 
The tax changes are sweeping. Seventy-three percent of income earners will now pay a top tax rate of 17.5 percent. Let me repeat that: 73 percent of income earners will now pay a top tax rate of 17.5 percent. That statistic makes a mockery of the outlandish and unreasonable statements of the Opposition that this Budget is designed to help the rich. It clearly is not. In fact we can say that this Budget was done for the majority of people in the country. 
Who will pay the cost of Budget 2010? Who will pay for these changes? Most of the extra cost will be borne by property owners large foreign companies with interests in New Zealand and people who previously used trusts to reduce their taxable income and gain access to Working for Families. Indeed we have aligned the top tax rate with the trust tax rate to ensure that the highest-paid New Zealanders cannot structure their affairs to avoid paying the higher rates. This Budget is about helping hard-working New Zealanders and their families to get ahead. It is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to set the economy on the right track to reward hard-working New Zealanders to lift economic growth and to aid us in getting back into surpluses earlier than was expected. 
Is it not great for New Zealanders that Labour is not in charge? I do not say that nastily towards the individual members of the Opposition but if they were in charge we would be languishing in deficits for decades as they embarked on their fundamentally flawed philosophies of borrow and hope. It would have been a tragedy if they had continued in Government during the period of recession. 
Chester Borrows 
: We’d pay and our children would pay. 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: Well there we are; quite right. 
We want New Zealanders to stay in New Zealand. We want New Zealanders to get ahead through living here working hard and getting the rewards they deserve. We want Kiwi families to have financial security and higher take-home incomes. This Budget provides that opportunity. The tax changes will improve the lot of every single person. Coupled with a GST increase we are encouraging savings and investment over consumption. For those New Zealanders who would be most affected by the GST changes we are offering generous compensation by way of increased superannuation for a start— 
David Bennett 
: And tax cuts. 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
:—increased Working for Families payments increased student allowances increased benefits and of course as my colleague Mr Bennett says most of all increased tax cuts. The National-led Government is about improving the lot of everyone and in particular that of the average worker. After Budget 2010 the average worker will be $15 a week better off and the average household will be $25 a week better off. That is significant. 
However Budget 2010 is about much more than tax. It is about investing in the future. We are investing $321 million over 4 years into new science research and technology initiatives. We are investing an extra $2.1 billion in health priorities including an extra $1.4 billion going to district health boards. Did we hear today from the Minister of Health? What did he say? Did he tell us that now a greater level of GDP is being spent in the country on health than ever before? I think that Minister deserves some applause because goodness me if any portfolio has really been dynamically seized and dealt to it is certainly health. 
I was privileged to travel with the Minister of Health down the West Coast 2 weeks ago. We visited health facilities in Westport and Greymouth and met the primary health organisation and other organisations. It was great to be with such a stimulating Minister who takes his responsibilities so seriously. 
Dr Jackie Blue 
: And he wears wonderful ties and shirts. 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: Well yes he does wear wonderful ties and shirts. Yes he really does. 
We are investing an extra $1.4 billion into district health boards. An extra $1.4 billion will be injected into better schooling and early childhood education. Savings across the tertiary sector will allow for the purchase of 1735 additional full-time places at universities and 3173 extra full-time places at polytechs and institutes of technology in response to demand. The Government is pouring money into expanding the Job Ops scheme and the Housing Innovation Fund and into prisons State highways and more. 
This Government is a caring responsible sensible visionary Government. New Zealanders voted at the last election because they believed we had ideas that would advance the nation. Budget 2010 was produced on one of those days that the public will remember because they could see many of our ideas and values coming together. We can see that what we are delivering is a better New Zealand for everyone. 
I must say that one of the most heartening aspects of the Budget is that it goes a long way towards reasserting the opportunity for New Zealanders to make their own way and determine their own futures independent of where they might have been born what their training might have been earlier in life and what their life experience might have been. The Budget gives opportunities. It is an egalitarian Budget and we are an egalitarian country. We lost that for 9 long years but now with National we are getting it back. That means a better New Zealand for the wonderful people of the West Coast - Tasman electorate—a resilient group of people who will seize those opportunities with two hands. I am very very proud to be serving them as their MP. That is why I am also proud to be a member of Parliament in the National-led Government. Thank you.