Henare Tau: Budget Debate 
Henare Tau: Budget Debate 
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Hon TAU HENARE (National) 
: 
 There is a song by that famous rock and roll band AC/DC called “Back in Black”. I tell members that the Budget we have just been given will put us back in black by 2014. By 2014 we will be back in black. Today somebody referred to Labour as being petty and pathetic. I have to agree with whoever said that— 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: That’s just their good points. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: That was just the two good points of that party. All those members could moan about were BMWs and the cost of a paint job and a few curtains. The BMWs were actually bought and signed off by none other than the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme Helen Clark. But there was no talk of how good it will be with 170000 new jobs over the next 4 years. Nobody stood up and thanked Mr English very much not for creating 170000 jobs but for creating the conditions so that employers can get out there and start employing the unemployed. Today I heard the Governor of the Reserve Bank— 
Hon Member 
: Who? 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: That is what I expect from members of the Labour Party. That member asked who the Governor of the Reserve Bank is. All members opposite do is hate farmers but farmers are the backbone of this country. They still produce 30-odd percent of our economy and we should always stand up and thank them. 
This is the third Budget by the Hon Bill English. In 2009 we helped New Zealanders through the recession. We turned round the forecast of ever-rising debt. In 2010 we built the platform for growth savings and investments. In 2010— 
Carmel Sepuloni 
: Read the line again Tau. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: I will get back to that member very shortly. In 2010 we made the biggest tax reform in 25 years. In 2011 we will have a faster path to reach surplus we will have faster growth and we will rebuild New Zealand’s second-largest city Christchurch. We will have done that all in the space of 3 years. 
This Government’s management over the last 3 years has been great. Oh here he is. Here comes the walking wounded “Mr Sonny Bill”. That is right. I say to him: “Have a seat; we’ll wait for 5 minutes while you sit down.” 
Why do Labour members hate the producers of wealth in this country? Is it because of jealousy? Last week I was down in Queenstown in Cromwell and in Alexandra. Queenstown is not a place I usually go to but I talked to some people on the ground. This is what I found out. They know that things are hard at the moment. They know that things are tough they know that things need a good management team and they know they have the team to do the job. I was touched by some of the words from those people in the south. 
I turn now to Auckland City. 
Todd McClay 
: Get on to Carmel Sepuloni. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: She will be in there somewhere. I want to talk about Auckland City and how I see that city as being the engine room of New Zealand. I see it as the engine room of our economy. But there is something going on in west Auckland that is an absolute outrage. I have not heard one Labour member from the west talk about their so-called constituents. I know that we have a member of Parliament who does not even bother to turn up for work and that is an outrage too. It is an abject outrage. 
Simon Bridges 
: Are you talking about Carmel Sepuloni? 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: No I am not talking about Carmel Sepuloni or Phil Twyford but I will soon. My message to Len Brown Mayor of Auckland City is this: stop bleeding west Auckland dry. The Auckland City Council had the chance to bring in a rating system for all Aucklanders. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Rodney promised not to. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: I say this to “Mr Crippled” on the other side: Rodney Hide put together— 
Catherine Delahunty 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I am offended by people of any side of this House being referred to as cripples or people with disabilities being referred to as cripples or people with any kind of sports injury being referred to as cripples. It is no longer a contemporary parlance that is acceptable. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: I hear the member. I think it was done in jest. I looked at the member who was targeted and he was not responding in a way that he could have. But I hear what the member says and I just remind members that when we are in the House there is the requirement to address people by their names. I ask that we respect that point. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: I apologise to the member. On average west Auckland businesses pay 40 percent more than anybody else in Auckland City and that is a constitutional outrage. 
I tell members that we played the game out in west Auckland. We went to see Len Brown. We made a submission. The businesses made a submission to the Auckland City Council and the council threw its hands up because its members are all lefties; they do not know what to do. They threw their hands up and said there was nothing they could do. Well the legislation that was put through under the stewardship of the Hon Rodney Hide allows them to make a change. But they have said they will not do it. 
Here is the thing: it is not as if businesses in west Auckland do not want to pay any rates; they do. They want to pay their fair share. But what they are being asked to do is an abject disgrace on Auckland City Council. Those businesses pay 40 percent more than anybody else in Auckland City. Do members know what effect that has on businesses in west Auckland? They are not in a position to pay for extra staff when times are tough. When times are tough nobody from the Auckland City Council and nobody from Len Brown’s office comes out and says that they will cut those businesses some slack for the next 3 years. No they expect businesses out in west Auckland to pay another 3.9 percent on top of the 40 percent extra they are paying in rates. 
I have just a little bit to say on Carmel Sepuloni and the other guy out in west Auckland—I forget his name. It would have been all right if Labour had a home-grown candidate but out of 180000 people in west Auckland it could come up only with somebody from Taranaki and somebody from—in fact I do not know where he is from because he has been all over. 
Simon Bridges 
: He’s from Herne Bay isn’t he? 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: No he is not in Herne Bay; that is the other west Auckland Labour member of Parliament. There are three seats in west Auckland. David Cunliffe is not from west Auckland. Carmel Sepuloni is not from west Auckland— 
Carmel Sepuloni 
: Taupo! 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: The member says “Taupo”. For goodness’ sake I am from South Auckland—25 years ago. I moved into the city and did the hard yards before I got into politics. It is time for west Aucklanders to think very seriously about the sort of representation we have had out of the Labour Party. It has amounted to nothing more than a slogan that west Auckland is an eco-city. That will change on 26 November when I come back to this House and I am the National member for Te Atatu.