Tremain Chris: Budget Debate 
Tremain Chris: Budget Debate 
[Volume:663;Page:11309] 
CHRIS TREMAIN (National—Napier) 
: 
 We know that New Zealanders have received a Budget really well when the Leader of the Opposition comes into the House for question time the very first day after the Budget and asks not one question to hold this Government to account on the Budget. We know it has been even better received when he comes into the House for question time on the second day after the Budget and cannot ask a question about the Budget to hold us to account. Literally hundreds of decisions have been made in relation to this Budget but the Leader of the Opposition cannot come into this House and ask one question to hold this Government to account. The Opposition is in tatters. 
We know as well that it has been a successful Budget when the Greens with two questions to ask day after day come into the House but do not ask one question about the environment or one question about the railways. It must be a Budget well received by New Zealanders. Where are the Greens holding this Government to account about their core policies? They are nowhere to be seen. They have asked nothing about the environment and nothing about public transport. They have not asked questions on the things they should be asking about. This Opposition is in tatters—in absolute tatters—if its members cannot come into this House and hold this Government to account. The Opposition is an absolute shambles. 
That aside we really know that the Budget has been successful when we go back to our electorates in this wonderful country—back to Tauranga to Auckland to the West Coast and to Christchurch. We listen to the people out there who are the real people in this country and who make the calls. There is no greater test than being on the Saturday morning sports field when the mums and the dads the granddads the grandmums the coaches and the volunteers are out there and talking to them about the Budget. I can tell members that the feeling on the sideline in Hawke’s Bay last weekend was absolutely fantastic. Heaps of people remarked to me about how they felt the Budget was a real step forward and had the right incentives in place. They said that it helped hard-working Kiwis in our country. 
One dad and his son from the Pan Pac Forest Products mill cutting room came up to me and said: “That’s a damn good Budget Chris. We’re really pleased with the way it went because it is out there and rewarding guys like us for getting out there and working hard.” The son had just bought a home. He said the Budget provisions would make his mortgage payments a bit easier and that he would save money. I was proud of what he said. I asked them what they thought about the top tax rate coming down. Do members know what they said? They said that if the company does not make any money they do not have jobs. 
People out there get that. We need companies and businesses doing well in this economy. We need the incentives to go ahead; that is really important. Hard-working Kiwis get that. They know that someone has to risk capital to start and to build companies. Outside the Wellington political beltway people in the provinces know that companies not Governments provide jobs. 
Hon Member 
: What! 
CHRIS TREMAIN 
: I know; it is hard to believe. They know that if companies are making money their jobs are secure. They know that if the company they work for is growing they deserve a slice of the action through improved wages and conditions. They deserve it so they are getting in behind this Budget and that is absolutely fantastic. 
Bill English’s Budget 2010 will be pivotal to this country’s future. The projections give Kiwis a slice of the action: 3 percent growth for 4 years running 170000 new jobs projected over the next 4 years and improved family income of $7000 over the next 4 years. I think that is absolutely fantastic and that is why those guys on the sideline back in Hawke’s Bay are proud of us and are supporting this Budget. 
Much has been made of the Australian comparison. They fact is that Australia got to its position by outgrowing us. In the late 1950s we had similar comparative wages to Australia. But over a 40-year period it has outgrown us by just a smidgen just a percent each and every year. That has delivered the situation in which we find ourselves today. The key message here is that growth really does matter. This Budget is about helping to tip the scales in order to achieve stronger growth and to get us on the long road towards wages that are comparable to our neighbour’s. Let us make no mistake: that is a focus for this Government. However we are realistic about the time frame over which it will be achievable. 
In fact as one commentator said the 2010 Budget has turned the tax disadvantage for workers between New Zealand and Aussie on its head. Previously the tax incentives to work in Australia versus New Zealand favoured Australia by up to $200000. Now from a tax perspective they favour New Zealand for wages of more than $50000. That is an absolutely sensational turn-round but I agree that it will not fix the wage issue immediately. That is a long-term project. Only the growth of our economy incrementally year in year out over a long-term period will fix those comparative wage levels. 
This Budget is pivotal in doing that. It provides incentives to get out there and work hard which tips the economy in favour of the productive sector. These are the drivers of growth. If we are to get wages sorted out then that is what we have to do. This Budget contains huge incentives to get ahead. Seventy-three percent of Kiwis will now face a marginal tax rate of no higher than 17.5 percent. In the mighty Hawke’s Bay closer to 80 percent of people will face a marginal tax rate of no higher than 17.5 percent and their average tax rate will be even lower. A full-time worker without children who earns a bit over the minimum wage of $15 per hour in the last 2.5 years has had his or her average wage rate drop from 19.1 percent to 12.5 percent. If that is not an incentive to get out there and work and to help the economy to grow then I do not know what is. 
We should not underestimate how incentives to get out there and work hard will drive growth in the economy. Labour members do not get it that if we incentivise people to go and do stuff they will work harder and that will drive growth. We are incentivising not only companies but also workers to get out there and do it. 
Simon Bridges 
: This is radical! 
CHRIS TREMAIN 
: I know that it is radical stuff! If we have a motivated workforce—members should listen to this—then growing businesses is a whole heap easier. Growing businesses need people to do overtime but when the marginal tax rate is too high people just say: “Well actually I can’t be bothered.” This Budget provides an incentive to get ahead and it provides it to the workers of this country which is really really important. Unless we have the workers on side companies cannot grow on their own. It is a double-edged sword; we need companies and workers going hard at it if we are going to lift wages. 
The Budget also tips the economy in favour of the productive sector and that is something I want to focus on now. A company tax rate of 28 percent gives our companies a 4-year head start on Australian businesses. The removal of depreciation claims on residential and commercial real estate properties sharpens the focus on where to invest and starts to tip economic decisions in favour of the productive economy and away from property investment. This does not mean that property prices will dive. Clearly if immigration and growth projections play out the demand for property will remain strong and will ensure that property prices remain buoyant. This Budget is pivotal to winding up this economy to grow. Over the next 3 years we have projected growth of 3 percent 170000 extra jobs and an improvement in family incomes of $7000. That is absolutely fantastic. 
In addition to those projections we have a strong focus on getting this country back to Budget surplus. Other speakers have focused on that today. There is a strong focus on keeping expenditure under control. I will give the example of one small statistic from this year; it is in only the small print. In terms of Government departments coming to the Government for new expenditure bids there were 714 bids under the previous Government. Can members guess how many bids there were under this Government? There were 30 bids. There has been a total change in culture out there. Government departments are driving lower expenditure and better efficiencies in their departments and that is absolutely fantastic. There is also a strong focus on getting our balance sheet under control which is absolutely sensational. 
All that aside I am absolutely excited that this Budget puts incentives out there for companies to grow and for workers to get in behind those companies to take this economy forward. It is a pivotal time. I am absolutely pleased with what Bill English has done; it has been sensational. I support this Budget. Thank you.