Robertson Grant: General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeRobertson Grant: General Debate[Sitting date: 15 May 2013. Volume:690;Page:9943. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]GRANT ROBERTSON (Deputy Leader—Labour): I would like to thank the National Party’s visiting international guest speaker whom we have just heard from. Mike Moore once said about Tim Groser that the problem with Tim Groser is he did not get enough credit for splitting the atom. There is one thing we know for sure about tomorrow’s Budget: whatever crumbs National might decide to throw out to New Zealanders whatever tinkering around and robbing Peter to pay Paul that National will do this will be a Budget for National’s mates not for the people of New Zealand because that is the record of this Government. While our economy drifts along—the Government promised 175000 more jobs; that is about as likely as a Christmas card from Steven Joyce to Judith Collins—it is focused on a narrow set of vested interests.This is never more obvious than the shameful and shabby deal done by this Government with Skycity. It is casino politics from the gambler-in-chief John Key. This deal has stunk from day one. The Auditor-General said it was flawed it was not transparent it was not even-handed. The moment that John Key wrote “close off the SkyCity angle” on those papers that is what those officials did—that is what they did. They went into a deal that was not transparent and even-handed. Let us remember that there were options for this. The Government did not have to go down this path to build this convention centre but it chose to. It chose to do a dirty shabby deal off the back of problem gamblers.When we look at that deal there are 230 extra pokie machines 40 extra gaming tables cashless gaming machines more high-denomination notes and the kicker—a 35-year deal a 35-year extension. If this side of the House chooses to pass laws that change something about gambling that is included in this deal we will have to pay for that on behalf of taxpayers. That will be John Key’s legacy to New Zealand. If we want to change our own laws we have to pay for it. That is the legacy of this Government. We have to pay an Aussie-owned corporate if we want to change our own gambling law. That is a shameful shameful thing.As theDominion Postsaid John Key’s legacy is a shrine of misery. It also said in the same editorial: “Every pharaoh deserves a pyramid.” and John Key will get one. That is what theDominion Post said. Well if I can mix up my metaphors this pharaoh has got no clothes. He has got not only naked self-interest but empty promises that were not kept about jobs and wages and the cost of living.John Key is right: there is something dying in Wellington—it is his Government. It is his decaying Government because there is no brighter future for New Zealanders as wealth concentrates in the hands of the 2.5 percent who could afford shares in our energy company. There is no brighter future for the 146000 New Zealanders out of work and out of hope. There is no future for the 270000 kids in poverty. The only people who have got a brighter future under this Government are the mates and cronies of this Government—the vested interests who have made super-profits off power consumers and the corporates who get laws written for them all at the expense of problem gamblers.If the Budget tomorrow were a Labour Budget from David Parker it would be one that changes the settings of our economy to build and create jobs and prosperity for all New Zealand. It would build a fairer tax system. It would give hard-working people a break with cheaper power. It would invest in regional development that protects and supports our environment. It would be a Budget for the people from a Government that is proud of and has faith in our people. That would be a Labour Budget. But instead what we will get is a Budget from a Government mired in its own scandal and focused on deals selling off our laws jobs for its mates and governing in vested interests running a casino economy where the house wins and the ordinary people suffer. New Zealanders know this and the demise of this tawdry Government has begun.