Collins Judith: General Debate 
Collins Judith: General Debate 
[Volume:662;Page:10754] 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS (Minister of Police) 
: 
 Phil Goff says that Kiwis do not ask for a lot or expect a lot. He would know that because under 9 years of Labour Government they did not get a lot. 
That is one of the things that have been turned around by this Government. In a couple of weeks’ time we will see Budget 2010 which will build on the marvellous results from 2009. When we came into Government we inherited an economy that was on the skids and a country that was already in recession. We took over from a Government that had been in office for 9 years had built up debt had built up expectations but had left the kitty absolutely empty. That is what it did and it did that at a time when it should have known that the country would be going through tough times because of a world recession. But instead of doom and gloom in the country what actually happened last year was that a very straight course was run—something that Labour could never do. We went on a very straight course to make sure that as many Kiwis as possible stayed in jobs and that as many people as possible stayed in work so that they could in fact contribute to the economy and look after themselves. But what we had had under Labour was more borrowing— 
Hon David Cunliffe 
: Tell us about Savoy? She doesn’t like that. She doesn’t want to talk about Savoy. 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS 
: Mr Cunliffe who is very noisy today has an answer for everything. His answer is to borrow borrow and borrow and when that is finished to borrow a bit more. It used to be “tax and spend” under Labour; now it would be “borrow and spend”. That is what Mr Cunliffe says. He says that New Zealand does not have a debt problem. Unfortunately we have a debt problem caused by Labour when it was in Government because it never saved so that it could spend wisely and invest to help people get into their own businesses and keep their heads above water. Instead all that the previous Labour Government ever did was spend spend and spend then borrow— 
Hon David Cunliffe 
: It’s unravelling. 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS 
: —I say to Mr Cunliffe—and borrow some more. Mr Cunliffe would like to see us like Japan. He would like to see us far into debt; that is what he wants. He is telling Bill English to borrow more and just put it on the card. Well we all know about that and we are looking forward to the payments on Mr Cunliffe’s cards becoming public in another month’s time. I say to Mr Cunliffe that I am really looking forward to that. I am looking forward to seeing what he was spending taxpayer dollars on; I have a lot to say about that. Mr Cunliffe does not like it when we talk about borrowing does he? Not a lot! No he does not like it. 
Why is that? Mr Cunliffe is Phil Goff’s biggest enemy and that is not just because he wants to be the leader of the party. It is because any thought of Mr Cunliffe being anywhere near Treasury would be enough to send Labour down to 18 percent in the polls which is where it should be. Unfortunately Mr Cunliffe is the Labour finance spokesperson so about now Mr Goff must be wondering what he is doing. 
In contrast to that in Budget 2010 we will see some policies to lift New Zealand’s long-term economic performance—a performance that will continue to get better time and time again. But it will not be an easy job. One of the things we are doing is bringing in more money from the back office into the front line and we will see a readjustment in spending to make sure that that happens. That is something the Labour Government could never do. Labour’s idea of helping people was to build up the bureaucracy in Wellington and to forget about the people who paid the bills but under National we will not see that. 
Hon David Cunliffe 
: But what are you doing? 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS 
: Mr Cunliffe asks what we are doing. Well in the corrections area which was left in the most appalling mess by Phil Goff we are doing a public-private partnership. We are leading the way and doing something that Labour never had the backbone to do which was to invest in our own people to help them get ahead and bring the economy forward. Labour could not do that because its whole answer was “borrow and spend”. All Mr Cunliffe has to say is “borrow and spend”. We will be undertaking that partnership while maintaining firm control over the Government’s finances and it is extremely important that we do so. It would be very very difficult just to continue on as we are. We will make sure that we get better productivity. Under 9 years of Labour during the best economic times the world has seen we had 1.1 percent growth in productivity. That is what the Labour Government had but unfortunately the legacy it left us was debt.