Goff Phil: Adjournment — Sittings of the House 
Goff Phil: Adjournment — Sittings of the House 
[Volume:669;Page:16476] 
Hon PHIL GOFF (Leader of the Opposition) 
: 
 The Leader of the House made an effort to be statesman-like—it lasted 1.5 minutes. Then he got into a range of descriptions of film shows and who should be starring in them. Of course the member is the self-proclaimed star of  
Free Willy 
. There is a sequel to that about  
Whale Rider 
 that I will not go into in this House. 
We are now 2 years into the term of this Parliament 2 years into the term of this National Government and it is time that the National Government took responsibility for what is happening in this country. We had a tax switch this year; this is the year of the tax switch. Bill English stood up and said the Government would turbocharge the New Zealand economy—turbocharge the New Zealand economy. Well Fran O’Sullivan writes for the  
New Zealand Herald  
and she is known to be a supporter of the Government. She reflected on that. The turbocharge she said would actually be more of a fizzer. This is a tax switch that did not work. This was a tax swindle because we were told that it would compensate New Zealanders for increased costs and they would be better off. Of course one could not believe that because this was from the same Government that said very sincerely in a Bill Clinton - type way “National will not be increasing GST.”—and National did not have relationships with anyone on that. 
The truth of the matter is that this Government has governed for the privileged. It has governed for the privileged. That is why 42 percent of the tax cuts went to the top 10 percent of income earners. What about the people whom I will acknowledge soon like the cleaners in this building? What did they get? The bottom 20 percent got just 2 percent of the tax cuts. Do members know the real disgrace about the tax switch which came out in the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update? The tax rewards for the wealthy were paid for by borrowing—paid for by borrowing. You know this Government will borrow according to Treasury figures $3 billion to reward the people who receive the highest incomes. You know there are 650 millionaires in this country. What did they get? They received over $1000 a week extra in the hand. But if we ask constituents in Wainuiomata in Miramar or in Mt Roskill the people on the median wage what they got they say they received $5 a week. It is $5 a week as against $1000 a week. It is a disgrace. 
This Government must bear responsibility for the figures released by Treasury this week. There is a blowout in the deficit of $2.5 billion. At the start of this year—not even at the start; it was in May 6 months ago—John Key said the deficit was at the maximum level that the Government could take it to. Six months later it is $2.5 billion more than it was then and who is responsible for that? The National Government. John Key got up in the House today and said it was because of the global economic crisis. You know Mr Speaker—you have been a trade Minister and I have been a trade Minister—this country is earning more than it has ever earned before because it has the highest terms of trade ever. Money is flooding into this country but it is not going into the pockets of average New Zealanders—the people now paying $2 a litre for petrol the people paying $22 a week more to rent a house in Auckland than they were last year the people whose rates are going up the people paying 12 percent more for their fresh fruit and vegetables than they were this time last year. 
This Government says it is against taking GST off fruit and vegetables. Gerry Brownlee should know more than most people do that in this country one child in four is already obese by the time they enter school. This country has the third-highest obesity rate in the world and the least we could do is to give families the chance to afford decent food for their kids. 
I want to talk about employment too because this year ends on a sad note for a lot of New Zealanders: 150000 New Zealanders are out of work. I ask the members across the other side of the House which ones of them feel proud of the fact that nearly 50 percent of our Pacific and Maori teenage girls are out of work and not in education and training. Who feels proud about that? More than one-third of our teenage Maori and Pacific boys are out of work. I say to this Government that after 2 years in office the unemployment rate is three times the rate that it inherited from the previous Labour Government and that is a disgrace. Members on that side of the House are not doing their job. 
The financial management of this country has been a disaster. I ask Gerry Brownlee why the Australians have created 350000 new jobs this year—54000 in November alone—and all that his Government has come up with is some gimmicks. There was the cycleway. How many jobs were there from the cycleway? Was it 200? Did it get as high as that? 
Hon Member 
: 200. 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: It was 200. When we talk about unemployment figures we are not talking about statistics. In the supermarket in my electorate that opened this year there were 150 new jobs—and I welcomed that—but 2700 people in my area lined up to apply for them. They were not highly paid jobs but 2700 people applied for them. Those people asked me why Paula Bennett blamed them for being unemployed when there are not enough jobs to go around. 
This Government has failed. It has failed on its own measures. It said it would close the income gap with Australia. Do members remember that? That was the promise before the election. What has happened since the election? That gap has grown by 37 percent. That is a mark of the failure of this Government. The wage gap between New Zealand and Australia has grown by 37 percent. Which members of the National Government and their coalition partners are proud of that achievement? That is absolutely appalling. 
There is no plan to build our economy into a stronger economy. There is a plan however to make cuts. Why is it that the  
New Zealand Herald  
day after day runs cases of people who have suffered accidents and are now told that under Nick Smith ACC regards the outcome of an accident as something that results from a degenerative disease—a degenerative disease? Why is it that the number of people who challenge ACC decisions has trebled and many of them are winning? Also this Government is surreptitiously—and not so surreptitiously—cutting money for our kids. In early childhood education $400 million was cut. Fewer kids will progress and fewer kids will be successful in their education and be able to make the most of their lives. That is something else for National to be proud of! 
I want to acknowledge the two tragedies that have affected New Zealand. First of all there was the Christchurch earthquake. I have spent many days in Christchurch and I acknowledge the work that Gerry Brownlee has done as I acknowledge the work that all of my colleagues and Jim Anderton have done in helping people whose lives have been disrupted and who have suffered through that earthquake. I just hope I say to Mr Brownlee that now that the television cameras have gone the promises made apparently so sincerely will be upheld in the years to come. I hope that that is the case. 
The miracle of the Christchurch earthquake was that no one was killed but tragically across the alps 29 miners lost their lives at Pike River. I think that everyone was sincere when they offered their support and their sympathy to the bereaved family members who had lost their husbands their sons and their brothers. And I say absolutely sincerely that if there is any way in which we can recover the remains of those whose lives have been lost then we have an obligation as a country as a community and as a Parliament to actually retrieve those remains. Cost should not be a problem. The promise was made that their sons their brothers and their husbands would be brought out if that was humanly possible and I hope that the Government will honour that commitment. If it does it will have the support of this side of the House and the support of all New Zealanders. 
It remains for me today to acknowledge those whose work has contributed to the functioning of this House: your office Mr Speaker the Clerk’s Office Bellamy’s the cleaners the library the messengers the security staff our electorate office staff our executive assistants and our media and research people. I acknowledge the families of parliamentarians. They have to put up with a lot because of the jobs that we do. I offer members of the House and all New Zealanders a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year.