Foss Craig: Appropriation (2010/11 Estimates) Bill — Third Reading Imprest Supply Debate 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Foss Craig: Appropriation (2010/11 Estimates) Bill — Third Reading Imprest Supply Debate 
[Sitting date: 03 August 2010. Volume:665;Page:12926. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
CRAIG FOSS (National—Tukituki) 
: 
 Mr Goff is a nice man but he just cannot win at the next election—so said the Hon Chris Carter just last week and once or twice over the weekend. I think the Hon David Cunliffe thinks that Mr Goff is a nice man but he just cannot win at the next election. I tell members who missed it that Mr Cunliffe gave a speech on the letter “T” earlier on. He is the last person who should give a speech on the letter “T” and he is on very very slippery ground if he tries it. I will not go any further. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: Interjections are OK but I ask members to lower the tone. I am having difficulty hearing the member who is on his feet. 
CRAIG FOSS 
: I think Mr Parker thinks that Mr Goff is a very nice man but he just cannot win at the next election. It is very interesting to watch the arm wrestle between the Hon David Parker and Mr Cunliffe for the finance portfolio. Did members note that the finance question today was in the name of Mr Parker? Did members note that on  
Q+A 
 a while ago Mr Goff did not endorse Mr Cunliffe? He endorsed Mr Parker Mr Mallard and Maryan Street as finance people but he conveniently forgot Mr Cunliffe. 
The factions are obvious to us now. The Hon Bill English talked about it earlier. The copybook has been followed to the letter by members on the other side of the Chamber; we have been there and done that and they are starting to follow it through. But I wonder who the various factions are supporting. What about the feminist faction? I think that it thinks that Mr Goff is a nice man but he just cannot win at the next election. I reckon it will be backing Maryan Street. I do not know what member the rainbow faction is backing. Will it be backing its own member? I think the rainbow faction thinks that Mr Goff is a nice man but he will not win at the next election. It is pretty obvious that the lefty faction over there the union side thinks that Mr Little is the man. He is not even in caucus or Parliament yet. It is pretty obvious that he thinks that Mr Goff is a nice man but he cannot win at the next election. 
What about the righty faction? I think this is where Mr Goff’s support comes from although there are not too many sensible people over there. But truth be told I think that the righty faction—and even the Hon Phil Goff himself when looks in the mirror—thinks that he is a nice man but he probably cannot win at the next election. What about the Maori faction? I am sure that the Hon Parekura Horomia would back the Hon Shane Jones. That faction also thinks that Mr Goff is a nice man but he probably cannot win at the next election. I understand that Mr Jones has joined the blue team so he should be sitting over here anyway. 
Many Labour candidates out there have been selected and will work hard at the next election but I want to tell them something. In 2001 when I was selected National was polling at around 33 percent. Some issues spilled out into the public arena then it all broke loose. There was infighting there were speeches at conferences and there were leaks from caucus. It all turned to custard. As the record shows National did not perform very well at all at the election; we ended up with something like 22 percent on the party vote. The copybook is being followed to the letter by the other side so far. So far we are seeing it and I am interested to hear other speakers talk about the factions and whom they are supporting. As we all know—and it is repeated time and time again by the Hon Chris Carter—Mr Goff is a nice man but he cannot win at the next election. 
This is a celebration. The third reading of the Appropriation (2010/11 Estimates) Bill is an absolute celebration. This is the third reading of the Budget the estimates and the reports back. This is the most fundamental tax reform we have seen in 25 years. It took 25 years to get this kind of tax reform through this House and into this country. We have been waiting 25 years; the hardest were the last 9 years of the previous Government. We have made a $4 billion investment in New Zealand families. It is a $4 billion investment in freedom of choice about how families spend their own money whether they pay off their mortgage which does not attract GST save those funds at a 28c tax rate or choose to spend it. 
Hon Steve Chadwick 
: And GST wipes it out. 
CRAIG FOSS 
: That is part of the tax switch; the member opposite is quite right. Balance and fairness are back. By the way members on that side have forgotten to talk about the compensation part of GST. If we recall Labour increased GST from 10 percent to 12.5 percent without any compensation whatsoever and now it is crying poor. Well it is a funny old game. 
For 9 long years the tax take increased. Fiscal drag pumped up by profligate and relentless spending by the previous Government pulled 20 percent of the New Zealand population’s PAYE payers into the top marginal tax rate. Labour promised 5 percent in 1999; it got it to 20. Funnily enough Labour members are talking that 5 percent again. Members should keep an eye on them. We know from previous speeches that they want to bring in a capital gains tax and they want to do something about loss attributing qualifying companies but they did not do anything about them for 9 long years as the property boom absolutely took those things up. Members should watch them. 
They talk about plans. Let us talk about plans of the recent past. Let us talk about plans versus action. What happened to the knowledge wave? Do members remember the knowledge wave? We were to be in the top half of the OECD. What happened? We slipped down under the Labour Government. We slipped down under its so-called plan. Do members remember closing the gaps? There were more poor and more reports from the UN and now we are dealing with that legacy. Do members remember carbon neutral? There were 50000 hectares of deforestation as a result of that plan. What happened to economic transformation? We went from a robust economy to a total disaster. To be fair Labour transformed the economy—to a pile of custard. An example is the KiwiRail purchase which we had to take on and write off. There are plenty of examples. Do members remember the classic example of Sovereign Yachts? It was part of the Labour Government’s economic development. When speakers over there start going on about plans versus action I am more than happy to line up what we have achieved in 20 months from this particular Budget with what the crowd over there achieved in 9 years. 
They get up and talk about monetary policy solutions. The Hon Damien O’Connor is going where other economists fear to tread I believe. Many many experts have studied this issue and have not come up with anything different but Mr Cunliffe Mr Parker Ms Street and Mr O’Connor are apparently going to do something that central bankers around the world have failed to do even after years and years of examining and studying monetary policy. It will be interesting. I always note that Labour did in fact sign off and agree to no changes to monetary policy in the inquiry that Dr Cullen under its watch put in place at the Finance and Expenditure Committee in 2008. They all agreed. I cannot work it out. I am also surprised once again and saddened that the Labour Party if it was ever to reclaim the Treasury benches is going to rip up the cycleway. It is so disappointing. I challenge members to get up and say that they support the cycleway and that they will not rip it up. That is the rhetoric that is coming from the other side. 
The Government’s economic agenda is rolling out and it is rolling out fast. We have the most fundamental personal tax reform in 25 years. We have new highways such as the Hawke’s Bay Expressway southern extension. We have resource management reforms—supermarkets are getting approvals in 4 months; under the previous Government it took 12 years. In ultra-fast broadband we are investing $1.5 billion over 10 years. We have national standards in literacy and numeracy—to be fair to the Hon Chris Carter his printing was very legible so he probably did pretty well in those. National has been sorting out Canterbury irrigation whereas after 9 years Labour had no plans whatsoever. But we got in did the job and started the charge towards a more productive New Zealand. In trade negotiations Mr Groser is working very very hard around the world and so is Mr McCully. We have a welfare focus that works. 
On employment law reform we still do not know where the other side stands particularly on the issue of buying back the fourth week. Andrew Little who wants to be in Parliament is pulling all the strings. He has said that he does not want that; the Hon Phil Goff has said that he does want it. Please could we have some clarity from the other side? This legislation is a celebration. It is an absolute pleasure to be speaking to this legislation about a Budget and estimates that bring in some discipline some transparency and the most fundamental tax reform New Zealand has seen in over 25 years.