O'Connor Damien: Future Directions (Working for Families) Bill — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee Procedure 
O'Connor Damien: Future Directions (Working for Families) Bill — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee Procedure 
[Volume:617;Page:13492] 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR (Minister for Racing) 
: 
 If there were ever a debate in this Parliament that defined what Tories stood for and meant and what the Labour Party stood for then this is it. What drives me more than anything in Parliament to be in the Labour Party is the difference in approach to what we call hard-working New Zealanders and the difference in the way that a Government appreciates and deals with them; because a bunch of Tories a bunch of mean-spirited over-privileged Tories think that the only way to get people producing and working harder—if they are rich—is to provide them with tax incentives; if people are poor or struggling it is to drive them with a stick—to threaten them with unemployment and to tell them they have to accept $8 or $10 an hour otherwise they will lose their jobs. Tories think that the only way to get more productivity from the top—to get people who own businesses to do more or people who get big salaries to do more—is to give tax breaks and offer people more money and more security. 
Well this Budget is about giving hard-working Kiwis who struggle on $10 an hour and who are trying to bring up families on $40000 or $50000 a year some extra assistance. The Tories in the National Party will give to their privileged mates time and time again while they will ignore others. And they will not just ignore them. It is important this country knows that if that bunch of Tories ever gets back into Government they like their mate Jenny Shipley and like their mate Ruth Richardson who is now running the ACT party will drive down and cut benefits for good hard-working New Zealanders. 
I tell Mr Tisch Mr Lockwood Smith and Mr Mapp that people work hard at every tier of income in this country. In fact I put to Mr Mapp although he would not know it that the less people’s income the harder they have to work to stay alive the harder they have to work to bring up their kids in the way they want to and the harder they have to work to keep their families together and build a future in this country. So the good hard-working Kiwis he tries to bribe with tax cuts will not be looked after by the Tories. They will not look after people on low incomes or people who need the support of the State. We are looking after them through this Budget and there are so many ways we are doing it acknowledged by the  
New Zealand Herald  
this morning—thankfully. Finally that paper has seen that we are looking after kids and hard-working New Zealanders. While we may not have provided the incentives National would have— 
Dr Wayne Mapp 
: You could have done both. 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR 
: We have not done that. If Mr Mapp understood economics he would know that the money we give to good hard-working low and middle income New Zealanders will go back into the economy so that people in business will have an opportunity if they are providing a good fair service and a good product to get access to that money. That will drive growth; that will drive opportunity; that will drive regional development. 
Dr Wayne Mapp 
: You could have done better. 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR 
: Oh “Could have done better.” he says! We do not claim to be a perfect Government but we know where we have to start to provide the benefits. We know who we have to support in this country and it is not the privileged few that the ACT party as a bunch of Tories will support now and into the future. Anyone listening to this debate knows where that party stands and what it stands for. They know where ACT stands and what it stands for and that is not looking after considering and caring for those hard-working families who deserve a break. We are giving them a break.