Clark David: Estimates Debate — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeClark David: Estimates Debate — In Committee[Sitting date: 30 July 2013. Volume:692;Page:12066. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Dr DAVID CLARK (Labour—Dunedin North):That clearly was desperate stuff from a desperate man. The Minister for Economic Development is spinning so fast that I would not be surprised if there is a hole in the ground there next to the Chairman. This Minister is talking fast; there is no doubt about that. He is good at that—he is good at that. He has a reputation for putting the spin on thick and for selling the story but the facts get in the way and those are what we are here to debate today. We are here to debate a Government that has the worst economic record of any Government in the last 50 years.Grant Robertson: I’ve heard that before somewhere.Dr DAVID CLARK: We have heard that before and it is a fact. This Government has the worst economic record of any in the last 50 years. That is a terrible thing. It has had 5 years to address this problem. It has been in Government for 5 years but it would have you believe that every problem it is currently experiencing was something that came out of the 1980s or the 1970s or the 1960s. It is still trying to address it. It is not the Government’s problem. It has its hands off and it does not want to take control of the wheel because it believes it is someone else’s problem and as soon as that someone else puts their hands on the wheel they will become responsible for the mess we find ourselves in now.This is a Government that has no plan. That is the problem. It is one of the big problems. The Government has said that it wants to create 170000 new jobs. It has said it on several occasions now and it failed in 2010 by 113000 jobs. That is how much it fell short. That is not even an honest effort. That is a terrible terrible indictment on a Government that has no plan to generate economic growth other than to try to talk up the words of Mr Joyce to repeat the lines and to tell New Zealanders that all will get better one day if they just hang on long enough.Well New Zealanders are losing faith in this Government. New Zealanders are disappointed in John Key. He has not lived up to the promises that he made and in fact he has broken more and more promises. New Zealanders are seeing in the Government Communications Security Bureau situation in the Skycity situation in the inaction on housing prices and in the dropping of median wages a Government that is out of touch with New Zealanders and that is making no genuine attempt to rectify the situation. Let us talk a little bit about the casino deal because that is something that is dogging this Government. It is coming back to haunt them as we realise and New Zealand realises just how bad that deal was.Hon Maurice Williamson: Stop reading research notes and answer with some facts.Dr DAVID CLARK: Not only are 8000 more New Zealanders Mr Williamson affected by this deal in a negative way—8000 more New Zealanders affected by problem gambling—but all of that harm comes for very little gain. If a transparent process had been run for a convention centre I think fewer New Zealanders would be concerned. However this Government is determined to do deals with its mates. It seems to lack the ability to do anything transparently. Mr Key denies that he has had any influence but then we find out that he has had dinners with the Skycity executives. He has told people to explore the Skycity options cutting out of the loop those others who would have put in for a transparent process and he has done favours for his mates.New Zealanders see that cronyism. They are growing tired of it. They are growing tired of this Government which is failing to deliver on its promises of more jobs. They are growing tired of seeing their young ones disappear to Australia because the wages are better there. They are growing tired of a Government that fails to deliver on jobs and a Government that has no plan. Mr Key says that New Zealanders are paying a fairamount for their tax. Well very few people in my electorate agree with him. I have tested this with people in my electorate. I ask them: “Do you agree with John Key that you’re paying about the right amount for your electricity?”. And they say: “No we are not.” Well the news is that Labour has a plan to address that and that plan will see businesses pay 5 to 7 percent less per annum. It will give businesses a boost when their electricity bills go down. When average New Zealand families are paying $300 less per year for their power they will know they have a Government that cares. They will know that they have a Labour Government because Labour does care about these issues these issues that the Government is washing its hands of. This Government is interested only in deals for its mates. This Government made tax cuts for the rich and let the rest have a GST increase when it promised not to.This Government does not honour its promises. New Zealanders are growing sick of it. They do not like the casino deal. They do not like the 3 percent rise in Skycity shares that happened immediately—immediately—after the deal was signed when those who held Skycity shares knew who got the right side of that bargain. They agree with Treasury which says explicitly that private benefits are likely to exceed public benefits from this deal. New Zealanders know that this Government has done them a raw deal on this casino deal. They do not like the fact that it is paid for off the back of problem gambling. They do not like this casino deal one bit. They do not like this Government with its lack of transparency.