Lotu-Iiga Peseta Sam: Debate on Budget Policy Statement 
Lotu-Iiga Peseta Sam: Debate on Budget Policy Statement 
[Volume:661;Page:9562] 
PESETA SAM LOTU-IIGA (National—Maungakiekie) 
: 
 I rise to talk on the Budget Policy Statement. Unlike the last speaker who accused my colleague of staring at his other colleague I say it is surely better than staring at oneself for most of the time as that member did. The “Prince of Ponsonby” claims he travels up and down the country listening to the people. The “Prince of Ponsonby” is used to sipping a latte in a Ponsonby cafe on a Saturday morning. But I digress. 
I come back to the Budget Policy Statement before us which the last speaker did not refer to once. The first page of the executive summary in the Budget Policy Statement says that New Zealand is on the road to recovery—and it is under this Government. The previous Government put through a number of policies that have almost destroyed our economy. The Budget Policy Statement confirms that the Government’s focus in this year 2010 is on getting the economy growing again. Its focus is on getting the economy growing again and ensuring that growth is higher and more sustainable in the years to come. It supports the statement made by the Prime Minister in this very Chamber on 9 February. He set out the framework for a significant programme of economic and social policies that this Government will roll out in the coming years. 
There has been a lot of comment about what the Budget on 20 May will hold. I must admit that I myself do not know the contents of the Budget but certainly the debate that has occurred in this Chamber around tax and around productivity is healthy. It is about what this Government wants to achieve. What does it want to achieve? The Government’s focus is on the long-term growth potential of this country New Zealand. It is about increasing our savings rates. It is about increasing exports—and I will come to the question of exports. It is also about investment in productive resources. 
Along the way we will come into a few speed bumps. One of the things I have heard out in the electorate and in Maungakiekie where a number of small to medium sized businesses are located is that there are some very grave fears around unemployment. There are grave fears around the exchange rate for example. It is the high exchange rate that precludes our productive sector from getting ahead. One of the other things that is clear from this Budget Policy Statement is the debt levels. The debt levels and the fiscal position of our economy are quite grave and we face another 6 years of deficits—6 years of borrowing $240 million a week. That is something we have to bear in mind. I know that my colleague the Hon Sir Roger Douglas referred to those debt levels and referred to some of the measures that he would like to see taken to beat back some of the debt that we have incurred over time. 
But to put it into context some of the speakers opposite have referred to what they gave us as a Government in terms of the economy. Let me talk about a few of the things they gave us. They gave us falling economic growth of 0.2 percent in 2008-09. They gave us rising unemployment. They gave us high inflation of 3.4 percent of CPI growth in 2008-09. They gave us a rising current account deficit of 9 percent of GDP. The “member for Ponsonby” knows that. He knows that annual productivity growth— 
Grant Robertson 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I am reluctant to interrupt the member’s speech but there is a practice in the House of referring to members either by their name or by the electorate they represent. The member has twice now referred to a member of Parliament by an electorate that does not exist. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: All members must refer to a person by his or her full name or by Mr Mrs Ms and not use abbreviations. We do not use the practice here in our Parliament of referring to an electorate. Some Parliaments do but the New Zealand Parliament does not. I ask the member to continue. 
PESETA SAM LOTU-IIGA 
: Mr Robertson knows that the annual productivity growth in this country over the last 9 years has been 1.1 percent per annum. The Hon Sir Roger Douglas said that had the productivity levels been the same as under the previous Government we would have had over $100 more per week per worker. That is quite clear. The real tragedy here is— 
Hon Tau Henare 
: Labour. 
PESETA SAM LOTU-IIGA 
: I say to Mr Henare that the real tragedy here is that the tradable sector of our economy has been in recession for 5 years. Government spending has gone up by 50 percent over the last 5 years but the tradable sector—the sector that exports and the industries that import—has declined by 10 percent over the last 5 years. That is a tragedy. We can ask why it is a tragedy. It is a tragedy because while that sector declines and diminishes the standard of living we are able to have in this country will also decline. It is a tragedy because if we do not grow the pie that is “New Zealand Incorporated” the numbers— 
Hon David Cunliffe 
: What is the member doing for exporters? 
PESETA SAM LOTU-IIGA 
: The amount and quality of social services that that member would like to see roll out diminishes over time. It is a tragedy because while the tradable sector declines and diminishes jobs and opportunities for those out there looking for them also decline. 
As a country we have a clear choice here. We either carry on down the same path of the previous Government of increased Government spending and a lack of fiscal restraint or we can set our sights higher and create a country where hard-working Kiwis are able to get ahead raise their families and look forward to a comfortable retirement. Our end game is quite clear. It is about high long-term growth. The Prime Minister was quite clear about how we go about that. In his statement on 9 February he said that it is about six things. It is about investing in productive infrastructure removing red tape and improving regulation supporting business innovation and trade improving our education and skills lifting productivity and strengthening the tax system. 
Let us quickly look into those six things. Regarding productive infrastructure I am glad that the Minister of Transport is here because we now have a Minister who is about taking action. He and I visited the construction site on Mangere Bridge on Onehunga harbour 2 weeks ago. He announced that this project which is well overdue for our community in Maungakiekie is now 6 months ahead of schedule—6 months. That is the type of action that certainly my constituents demand of this Government. 
He is also rolling out broadband and we have had announcements on a number of roads of national significance across this country. When we look at supporting trade and business innovation we see Mr Groser who has negotiated a number of free-trade agreements that will benefit this country reduce the barriers to trade and increase the access to the markets of those firms that I discussed earlier—the exportable tradable sector. That is the sector we are trying to assist. 
Our Government is also about improving education and skills. Last week I was with the Hon Anne Tolley talking to our parents and our teachers about how national standards will lift the education of our children. The parents loved it. They welcomed the fact that the Minister was out there listening and talking to the electorate. It was a good exchange between the Minister and parents. May I say a final thing before I wind this up. It is about the tax system. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: The level of interjection is too high because there is this cross-play. They should be rare and reasonable. Interjections are fine but when I cannot hear the speaker that is unacceptable. 
PESETA SAM LOTU-IIGA 
: I am sorry; I will have to speak up. We heard the Leader of the Opposition slam the proposed tax changes that have not been finalised. Yet here we have a man who leads the Labour Party who was part of a Government that raised GST and did not compensate those same middle-class and lower-income families that he now supposedly defends.