Tremain Chris: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
Tremain Chris: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
[Volume:662;Page:10605] 
2. 
CHRIS TREMAIN (National—Napier) 
 to the  
Minister of Finance 
: What will be the main focus of the Budget next month and how will this build on Budget 2009? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance) 
: 
 The fact is that Budget 2009 was a success [ 
Interruption 
] It successfully steered New Zealand through the worst effects of the global financial crisis and the worst effects of the recession and it started to get on top of the legacy of 9 years of mismanagement by the previous Government which was setting this country on a track to ever-rising public debt. 
Chris Tremain 
: How will Budget 2010 help hard-working New Zealand families to get ahead and to build on the success of Budget 2009? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: Hard-working New Zealand families will be waiting until the Budget to see how the tax package works out for them in the short term. But in the long term we need to tilt this economy in favour of investment work and exporting and away from consuming too much and borrowing too much. We certainly need to put the country on a track that is different from the track promoted by Labour which has indicated that it is not concerned about debt levels any more and wishes to borrow as much as it thinks it can get away with. That would of course leave a large legacy of debt for New Zealand families to pay off. 
Hon David Cunliffe 
: Does the Minister believe that a Budget that does nothing achieves nothing and helps no one can be a success; if so can he explain how increasing GST will create jobs and help reduce the pressure on ordinary Kiwis’ family budgets? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: The Budget will certainly get control of debt. In a country that owes $170 billion to foreign lenders it is reckless on the part of Labour to say that debt is not an issue. As we speak Greece is in the process— 
Hon David Cunliffe 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. There are two parts to the point of order: first the Minister has responded to a question about his Budget and his view on the Budget; second by talking about Labour Party policy in the second part of the question he misrepresents it. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The problem is—[ 
Interruption 
] I am dealing with this point of order. The problem is that the question asked for an opinion: “Does the Minister believe …” something I reflect. The Minister was explaining why he believed that and I think we have to allow the Minister to do that. 
Hon David Cunliffe 
: Why is the Minister making the main focus of his Budget a tax package that will increase GST to redistribute to those people on the highest incomes when surely his first goal should be creating jobs and taking pressure off Kiwis to make ends meet? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: The Government is focusing on a tax package because tax is one of the strongest levers to pull to influence the shape of the economy. Over the last 10 years too much of the growth in this economy came from property speculation Government spending and unsustainable jobs and we will change that because Kiwis deserve sustainable jobs and more investment in exporting as this country earns more than it spends. That is a concept foreign to the Labour Party. 
Chris Tremain 
: What were the most significant economic problems inherited by the Government which are still hampering the economy? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: We inherited a legacy of an economy with anaemic growth but fast-rising debt. In the 3 years to 2008 the economy grew by less than 1 percent per year and the export sector had been in recession for almost 5 years. The Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update showed a sharp rise in deficits and rising debt which turned into soaring debt and were all the results of Labour policy before National took office. 
Chris Tremain 
: What alternative approaches has the Minister seen for dealing with New Zealand’s economic challenges? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: New Zealand is going down a similar path that other countries are beginning to follow some with bigger challenges than us. Having borne the brunt of the recession we need to get our public finances in order. Our policy in that sense is consistent with the best economic advice from around the world. However the Labour Party seems to be heading in a different direction with its policy which is to put taxes up spend more and borrow a whole lot of money. 
Stuart Nash 
: Will his Budget be judged a success if it focuses on a GST increase that will erode the value of the life-savings of thousands of mainly retired New Zealanders who rely on savings for their livelihood and at the same time makes all of the basics more expensive? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: Yes it will be judged a success particularly because it will flush out the Labour Party’s position on GST. It says it is against the tax if it is put up but if it is put up Labour says it will not roll it back.