Smith Nick: General Debate 
Smith Nick: General Debate 
[Volume:674;Page:20042] 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for ACC) 
: 
 Hearing a lecture on asset sales from Annette King is like taking tips from Jack the Ripper on home safety. That member while in a Labour Government in the 1980s went through the Ayes door to sell assets more times than I have had birthdays. The big difference is that John Key has been up front with New Zealanders. Labour promised not to sell a single asset yet sold over 20. 
I want to talk about the good news for Kiwi families and businesses from the big drop in accident compensation levies announced this week. Families will be better off by $250 a year or five bucks a week. Business levies will be reduced by 22 percent—a saving for the average Kiwi small business of $1100 a year. These changes will put $587 million a year back into the New Zealand economy and help the recovery. 
This is the dividend for competent financial management. It is part of this Government’s plan for growth which is about reducing business costs improving living standards and giving exporters in New Zealand the competitive advantage to be able to grow markets internationally. These accident compensation changes will help on every front. 
In contrast Labour members are still in denial over their reckless spending and financial mismanagement while in Government. Labour has claimed that we have manufactured the large accident compensation scheme deficits we inherited from the previous Government. They have become so desperate to hide their incompetent management that they have resorted to conspiracy theories. The audited accounts of the Accident Compensation Corporation show that the scheme lost $2.4 billion in 2007-08 and $4.8 billion in 2008-09. That amounts to $4000 for every New Zealand household. 
The most remarkable claim by the Labour spokesperson on accident compensation—that that loss was manufactured—overlooks the fact that the annual report showing that loss has the signature of Maryan Street Labour’s Minister for ACC on it. The 2008-09 report was prepared by exactly the same officials under exactly the same methodology and audited by both Ernst and Young and the Auditor-General. Nor can Labour members deny the official inquiry that concluded that they breached the Public Finance Act when they did not disclose those massive accident compensation losses in the pre-election fiscal update. 
The truth is that in so many areas of Government Labour let costs get completely out of control. I am still looking forward to a Labour member explaining how claims costs in the accident compensation scheme grew by 50 percent—or $1 billion—in the last year of their Government. The truth is that foolish policies like free physiotherapy saw it grow out of control—a lack of focus on rehabilitation saw numbers grow by more than 20 percent. 
In order to be credible Labour members need to come clean. They need to admit that the reckless spending they indulged in not just in accident compensation but over all the areas did so much damage to the New Zealand economy. Instead what is Labour’s answer? It is more spending and more tax. Those members have learnt nothing. Spokespeople on education health welfare arts aid—every area—are promising more and more spending and to fund it they are going to hammer our most important industries and our economy with more costs and more taxes. They want to bring forward the date when the emissions trading scheme will apply to the agricultural sector socking our most productive industry. They want to whack extra taxes on businesses and extra taxes on households. The irony is that the origin of every one of those policies is the Green Party. Labour is so bereft of ideas. The choice for New Zealanders at year’s end will be a vote for growth or a vote for more tax.