Dyson Ruth: Spending Cap (People’s Veto) Bill — First Reading 
Dyson Ruth: Spending Cap (People’s Veto) Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:675;Page:21311] 
Hon RUTH DYSON (Labour—Port Hills) 
: 
 The member who has just resumed her seat Amy Adams is generally not a member whom we would accuse of letting us die wondering what her opinion was on an issue. She is a woman who has different politics than me but who has very strongly held principles and beliefs. I have never in the past heard her so reluctant to share them. I have never heard a speech by that member that totally ignored the topic of the debate which is the bill from Rodney Hide the Spending Cap (People’s Veto) Bill. The member barely gave it a passing glance throughout her entire speech and certainly she did not give any impression—certainly not on the public record—that would leave us in any doubt that she supported it. She was not prepared to commit those words to this bill. 
If I was Rodney Hide I would be spitting tacks at the way he has been treated by this Government. What a humiliation to have the confidence and supply agreement that Rodney Hide signed with John Key ignored. Rodney Hide signed with John Key that they would have this agreement and that Rodney Hide would vote for John Key’s legislation. That is what Rodney Hide said he would do all the way this term if National agreed to the conditions of the confidence and supply agreement. What did John Key do with the part of the confidence and supply agreement that said that the Spending Cap (People’s Veto) Bill would be introduced—when did it say it would be introduced in the confidence and supply agreement I say to Mr Hide—within the first 6 months of forming the National-led Government? When was the election? It was on 8 November 2008. 
Grant Robertson 
: Seared in my memory. 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: It was 8 November 2008. Grant Robertson was elected as the member of Parliament for Wellington Central that day. That was excellent. That was an excellent move by the fine people of Wellington Central. That member might help me calculate the 6-month period from that day when he was elected. Iain Lees-Galloway was also elected as the member of Parliament for Palmerston North on that day. So 6 months from 8 November 2008 is May 2009. Let us give National a bit of leeway. It did not form the Government on the day of the election so let us give say 3 months leeway. Let us be really generous. That would take us to— 
Grant Robertson 
: May to June June to July July to August. 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: That is right—August 2009 is when John Key pledged to introduce the Spending Cap (People’s Veto) Bill into this House. That is the outside limit being very generous. What did he do with that confidence and supply agreement with Mr Hide? This is what he did with it—worth nothing. Who cares? 
So with only 8 sitting days of this Parliament left the bill is introduced. No wonder Amy Adams gave such a careful speech. How many times did she say in that very short but careful speech that this is an interesting proposal to deal with an interesting issue? That means: “This is completely out of the ballpark for anything we would do and we have delayed introducing it for as long as possible. We don’t care how embarrassed we have made Rodney Hide.” That is not nearly as embarrassed as his own party made him frankly by having a successful coup for the leadership led by a man who was not even a member of the party. It is extraordinary. So this bill is being introduced and referred to the select committee only in the dying days of this Government rather than in the 6 months of the forming of the Government which is what was promised in the confidence and supply agreement. 
As my colleague Phil Twyford said there are spending caps on Government spending in other countries. We should look to for example Japan. Japan has had a spending cap on Government expenditure since the end of World War II. It has not stopped Japan amassing debt equal to 200 percent of GDP. That is what the level of debt is in Japan—200 percent of GDP. What the Japanese Government does every year is just ask for an exemption from Parliament. I do not propose that as a good idea either. What I suggest is that our democracy and our Parliament should be robust enough to have those debates for ourselves not to be restricted by some mandatory dream of Rodney Hide that we would have a spending cap imposed on us let alone a spending cap when we could just ask ourselves for an exemption which obviously would be granted given that the largest party would be leading the Government and would have that exemption to the spending cap as part of its confidence and supply agreement. Let us hope that future confidence and supply agreements have more integrity than the one that National signed with ACT. 
The member of Parliament for Selwyn Amy Adams also spoke about the crippling debt and actually implied that it was left by the last Labour-led Government. Well she should be very careful about what rubbish she puts on the public record because those facts are available to every single member of the country. When we were elected in 1999 Government spending was 30.9 percent of GDP—30.9 percent of GDP. When we left office at the end of 2008 it was 31.1 percent. What is the difference between 30.9 percent of GDP and 31.1 percent of GDP? Not a lot. 
Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga 
: Tell us. Add it up. 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: I think even that member would be able to add it up. Even that member would be able to add up the difference between 30.9 percent of GDP and 31.1 percent of GDP. And 2¾ years on under National what is the percentage now? It is 36.4 percent of GDP. So who are the reckless spenders? 
Grant Robertson 
: Borrow and spend. 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: The Government borrows money spends up large and cuts tax rates for the highest income earners. At the same time it is slashing front-line services for New Zealanders from Government departments and agencies particularly in the provincial areas. So this bill is not what is needed; what is needed is a responsible attitude for Government and an ability to tell the truth. The truth about the level of debt is that it has blown out of control since National was elected. I will just repeat those figures for the member who still does not understand them. When Labour was elected at the end of 1999 Government spending was 30.9 percent of GDP. When we left office it was 31.1 percent of GDP. Now after 2¾ years of the National Government it is 36.4 percent of GDP. It might be hard for those members to get their heads around those figures but that is a factual presentation based on information that is available to the public and on the public record. 
It is hard to understand when we see so many people losing their jobs around the country and so many people like those for example in the provincial offices of the Department of Conservation and the Inland Revenue Department. They are people who have been available in their local communities to help people with particularly important issues—whether they are enhancing our local community and environment through the Department of Conservation they are scientists who have been charged with protecting our endangered species or they are workers in the local Inland Revenue Department office whom one can approach face to face to receive help to deal with difficult tax issues. Those are the people who are losing their jobs despite Government spending blowing out of control. This is a borrow-and-spend Government. The Spending Cap (People’s Veto) Bill is a nonsense bill and it deserves to be thrown out.