Cullen Michael: General Debate 
Cullen Michael: General Debate 
[Volume:630;Page:2068] 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN (Deputy Prime Minister) 
: 
 National started this year by saying that the economy was going to be the issue. I have sat here in Parliament for 2 days this week and there has not been a single question to me as the Minister in charge of the economy. Where are all the big brave candidates for the leadership of the National Party taking on the Minister of Finance? They have all given up. Instead all they can do is complain about which hat Dover Samuels wears. I will tell them. The hat he wears is called an Akubra. It is one of those leather brown things that one can get in Australia. He wears it frequently but we will not go into how he sometimes uses it. The fact is that it is called an Akubra. The other complaint was that Harry Duynhoven’s answers were too long. I could have made that complaint as well as the Leader of the House but we will pass over that matter at this particular time. 
I point out that 1 April this year is a major date. It is a red-letter date for well over 1 million New Zealanders—parents children business people students graduates and superannuitants. That is the real political story. It is the real news that ordinary Kiwis actually care about. Instead of course we have the leader of the ACT party swimming around in the sewer and National members waiting by the outfall for their faithful dog to bring them something to chew on. Well I do not share the same taste as the National Party in politics or in anything else. 
So let us come to 1 April. What happens on 1 April affects every superannuitant in the country. It also affects three-quarters of all families with children the great majority of students and recent graduates and the great majority of New Zealand businesses. And it is good news for the economy. First it will put more spending power into the economy just as it is starting to slow down as part of the cycle. On 1 April we will see families with more spending power. That upsets John Key because he wants to have all the spending power in his own palatial home. It is not of course the home he registered on the electoral roll. Oh no he did not register his own home for that purpose but I will come back to that a bit later. Secondly when we come to the business changes they will be great for business investment. They will lead to more business investment and more growth within the economy. 
What happens with Working for Families? Under that package 350000 families qualify for targeted tax relief. Many families with two or three kids will be over $100 a week better of on 1 April this year. A billion dollars is going into support for New Zealand families with kids and I thank New Zealand First United Future and the Greens for supporting those measures. I cannot remember whether the Maori Party was split on that issue. I think it did vote for the last round of those particular matters. We will see a new in-work payment that will significantly increase the margin in terms of going into employment compared with being on a benefit which has been attacked by National members at every point. That is because they prefer the poor to be beneficiaries rather than being in work. 
And from 1 April we will remove the interest on student loans for those who stay in New Zealand. What that means is a much faster pay down of individual student loans. It means that all the payment goes towards paying off the principal not merely towards servicing the interest on the debt. That will remove a burden for many young people and as they move into adulthood they can begin to save have a home and have a family and not worry about the length of time the student debt incubus will hang over them. Will it cost as much as National has said? No it will not. I can tell National members that they will be even more disappointed than previously when they get the updated reports on the costing of that particular policy. 
The annual adjustment to superannuation this year does take people to 66 percent of the average wage but because of the agreement with New Zealand First that relativity will be maintained next year and the year after. So superannuitants will be better off while we work on the gold card. Indeed of course many superannuitants are better off because of higher interest rates. 
Debate interrupted.