Jones Dail: Budget Debate 
Jones Dail: Budget Debate 
[Volume:647;Page:16565] 
DAIL JONES (NZ First) 
: 
 One of the interesting press articles coming out after the delivery of the Budget was the  
Dominion Post 
 one about the “last chance saloon”. I thought about that phrase and how appropriate it was. All the parties are sitting around the table making their bids. The chips are in the middle of the table and it is the final round. Gordon Copeland calls and puts down his cards. The ACT party puts down its cards the Greens put down their cards and it is up to New Zealand First to show what it has. We call Labour. We want to know what it has and it shows us. So now it is up to the National Party in the last chance saloon. This is its last chance. What does it have? It has nothing. It has absolutely folded. It has just run away. 
This Budget debate has continued in the same vein. It is as if the National Party like a 4-year-old has decided it does not like the game of tax cuts any more and it has picked up its ball and run away. It has not taken part in this debate to tell us what its tax cuts will be. That is an absolute failure on the part of the National Party. 
What we do know of course is that it will cut the foreign affairs vote. That vote is going up by $120 million a year but National will take that away. We know that National will scrap the new spending on the National Library. What a bunch of philistines! The National Library is one of the cornerstones of our education system and intellectual development in this country. But the National Party like philistines will cut that back. Then we have Government House which is one of the iconic buildings in New Zealand. We will spend some money to make sure that it is done up but if National comes into office it will stop that and let Government House run to rack and ruin. What a bunch of vandals! We were talking about graffiti artists but that is even worse. 
Of course when we look at other votes such as those to do with transport and roading we see that New Zealand First has made sure that the roading budget has expanded dramatically. How much did we spend on roading in Auckland in the 1990s in total? We spent $40 million. What is being spent in the Auckland region now? It is $40 million per month—not $40 million over 9 years but $40 million per month. What will National do to fund whatever tax cuts it might have? It will take money away from the excise tax and the roading tax. That is what it will use once again in the traditional Muldoon way to fund its Government expenditure. 
In respect of defence we have to congratulate Major Mark—Ron Mark—as we see that we have five wonderful new helicopters in defence. We applaud the Government for doing that. What will National do? Well if it wants to make cuts bang go those five wonderful new helicopters. That is clearly what National would have in mind. 
Doug Woolerton our spokesperson on agriculture has made a wonderful contribution in this debate already and he is working hard for the country. We have just heard from our spokesperson on health Barbara Stewart. She is putting up a strong fight for the people of New Zealand in the health field. Pita Paraone who is away on parliamentary business has fought hard on the issue of Maori wardens and we have seen great improvements in that area. 
I am concerned about Vote Justice. I am concerned about whether National will scrap the vote for increases in legal aid. There is a 10 percent increase in funding for legal aid in this Budget which is the first increase since 1996. In fact the budget for legal aid was increased in 1998 by the Treasurer—who was from New Zealand First—in the National - New Zealand First Government. That increase was cancelled by National in 1999 and the budget was taken back to the 1996 figure. 
We have had an increase in the funding for legal aid this time. All those ladies involved in domestic violence cases who cannot get lawyers will now have the opportunity to get lawyers for their cases. Will National scrap that increase again? That is the question we have to ask. We have not had a word from that party on that. 
As far as the funding for education in the Budget is concerned I am concerned that Playcentre New Zealand has not been recognised for the work it does and I believe that some consideration should be given to including it in that early childhood education grant. I would like to see more done for computer science in schools and of course New Zealand First supports having a universal student allowance. 
New Zealand First is here to make a difference. We front up when the chips are down when the “last chance saloon” comparison is made. Our MPs have made it clear that we talk the talk and we walk the walk; we have been able to get things done for New Zealand First supporters in this Budget. Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker