Smith NickHon Dr NICK SMITH (National—Nelson): I want to talk in this appropriation bill about the shambles in the Government's response to the enormous challenge for New Zealand from COVID-19. I want to talk about jobs and particularly jobs for my home community of Nelson and I also want to raise real concerns about the levels of debt that this Government is proposing for New Zealand with poor quality spending.Now first to the shambles: what is the gaping hole in this bill and the Government's response? It has been so plain to see in the last week over the mess at the border. You don't have to be Albert Einstein to work out that the biggest risk to New Zealand after all of the pain that we went through supported by National for the lockdown was to ensure that our border was secure. Every New Zealander is just aghast at the incompetence of allowing thousands of people from countries where COVID-19 is rampant across our borders without testing for COVID. It's not a complicated thing. It's a very basic thing—Hon Shane Jones: Relevance—relevance.Hon Dr NICK SMITH: I say to Shane Jones: why has he and his incompetent ministerial colleagues not got the basics right of testing people when they come across the border?Here's the part that's even more extraordinary: seven days ago after we learnt of the famous British couple who came in to New Zealand and tested positive for COVID-19 every New Zealander was asking the question: how many people have come into New Zealand without being tested?ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Adrian Rurawhe): As interesting as that is Dr Smith you need—Hon Dr NICK SMITH: A simple question—and it is relevant—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Adrian Rurawhe): No. Order!Hon Dr NICK SMITH: It is absolutely relevant to these Estimates.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Adrian Rurawhe): Order! Thank you. As interesting as that is you have to link your statements to the contents of the bill and so far I have not heard that. So—Hon Dr NICK SMITH: These appropriations—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Adrian Rurawhe): No I'm still on my feet—sit down. OK so I'm telling you: get to the bill and reference it to your statements because I have not heard that yet.Hon Dr NICK SMITH: Right at the beginning—Hon Shane Jones: Page—give us the page.Hon Dr NICK SMITH: —I referenced to the appropriations bill.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Adrian Rurawhe): Order! Order! Hon Shane Jones if you relocate yourself—you know the rules—you do not interject.Hon Dr NICK SMITH: This bill extensively refers to the additional appropriations that are required for COVID-19 that include the response of our border agencies. Mr Speaker I checked with the Clerk of the House who told me it was a very broad debate for me to be able to refer to such matters. The question I ask any Government speaker: why after a week of knowing that our border was like a colander that was leaking COVID-19 through why do we not know even today how many people have come across our border without being tested?The issue with these appropriations is if we were truly interested in the economic wellbeing of New Zealand the very first item in this bill would be testing for every person that came across our border to ensure that COVID-19 does not get a second wave. It's not there. Ministers have been so incompetent that we've had the Minister of Health sidelined and now we've got the Minister of KiwiBuild—now that's been a ripper success—now in charge of the borders and a few days into the job it is turning out as successful.But it's not just the shambles at the border; the shambles has been as much in the economic response. In April we had the Government announce its big IRD plan for providing business support but something I have not seen in 30 years—not seen in 30 years—is the Minister of Revenue bring a bill into this House rush it through all three stages and for it to be the wrong bill. I have not seen that ever in my time that level of incompetence where new records are being set by Ministers opposite.But it's more serious than that—more serious. I have a business in my community: Armadillo's is a restaurant in Richmond. It received a grant under that very scheme. Here's your $240000 to help support those eight jobs." Do you know what happened? The next day IRD wrote and said "We want the money back. We want the money back immediately." Now they—Michael Wood: IRD doesn't administer that scheme.Hon Dr NICK SMITH: Well IRD—and I'll be happy if the member across the House who I am sure is as incompetent as his ministerial colleagues would like me to table the letter from IRD demanding the return of that money. I'd be more than happy to do so and I seek his help in trying to save those jobs in Richmond on which I have corresponded with the Minister and for which the Government handed out the money one moment pulled it back the next—how that's friendly for small business I do not know.Then we had in the same parameter the Government saying the scheme's going to provide $6 billion of support—$6 billion. Two months later less than $60 million has been paid out. Now I accept we've got a delivery rate on KiwiBuild of 0.4 percent; on the IRD business support scheme we have a delivery of 1.4 percent was what the Minister told us this afternoon. Well let it make plain: members on this side of the House rate 1.4 percent or one out of 100 as an abysmal fail in their response.I want to come to the issue that should be the focus of this appropriation bill and that is the issue of jobs. I think I'm the only member of Parliament—when this country had 10 percent unemployment and I have to tell you meeting hundreds thousands of good hard-working committed people desperate for a job would be one of the most challenging and depressing times I as a member of Parliament have had. I say to this Parliament: we need to pull out every possible action we can to ensure that the numbers predicted by Treasury of our unemployment surging to 10 percent or 260000 New Zealanders does not occur. I just simply ask people to look at the track record because every year through the 1990s—and this appropriation bill should learn the lessons of the 1990s of working with the private sector to create and grow jobs because we inherited 10 percent unemployment from Labour in 1990 and when we left Government in 1999 we had more than halved it. Surprise surprise when we came back into Government in 2008 unemployment again had soared—it had got to over 8 percent. Again a National Government did the hard yards of getting people back into work every single year.Hon Tracey Martin: No no no just taking them off the list—just taking them off the list. Not necessarily a job—just cut them off the list. Cut them off cut them off cut them off.Hon Dr NICK SMITH: From 2010 2011 2012 13 14 15 16 and 17 the number of people on the dole declined and I'm proud of that National record. Here's the interesting part for the Minister that's interjecting: in the first two years of your Government even before COVID came the numbers on the dole increased—13000 in 2019; 10000 in 2018. The record is plain. Dole numbers go up under Labour administrations and down under ours and that is why members on this side of the House say that jobs are at the core of the issues in this appropriation bill and at the core of the issues that will face the country on 19 September. Those New Zealanders who are concerned about jobs will be looking to National in the same way as in previous economic downturns. The hard yards have been left to National to create the jobs and keep Kiwis in work.The last point I want to make which is so much covered in this bill is the lack of shovel-ready projects. You know in my electorate of Nelson last week they announced one of their big infrastructure projects: they are going to put some kerb and channel on Beach Road. It's a $320000 project—be smaller than the Table Office in the House. That's the infrastructure vision that we have from this Government? It is truly pathetic. What we need is the sort of infrastructure projects that this Government—just look at Auckland light rail to see where this Government is incapable of delivering the infrastructure that New Zealand needs.The last thing I note in this appropriation is the extra money for parliamentary services which so well illustrates the waste: the $570000 for the slide on the front lawn of Parliament that—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Adrian Rurawhe): The member's time has expired."