Coleman Jonathan: Budget DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeColeman Jonathan: Budget Debate[Sitting date: 28 May 2013. Volume:690;Page:10426. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN (Minister of Defence): Poor old Rino Tirikatene. Look he is a nice bloke but that was absolutely dreadful. I mean how misinformed. What is going on in that caucus over there? He had nothing good to say about the Budget. He could not even agree with David Parker his finance spokesman who said that getting to surplus is the right thing to do. So Labour Party members cannot even get one crucial message right about this Budget.What I can tell you is that when you look at the Budget it tells a very clear story. There have been 4½ years of very difficult economic conditions which the National Government has shepherded the country through. It has not been easy. We had to have a couple of zero Budgets but we are now building momentum with this Budget and it tells a very good story. If you do not believe me you have got to just look at the external validation that the New Zealand economy is getting—that objective feedback. So Standard and Poor’s says that this is the ninth-best place in the world to hold debt. So actually this is a very good place to invest. The IMF just the day before the Budgetcame out and said that the New Zealand Government is absolutely on the right track with its policies. It pretty much said: “Don’t change those policy settings. Don’t go back to the policy settings of the Labour Government because it was getting New Zealand into deep deep shtick.”Hon Member: Who said that?Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: That was the IMF.If you look at what was happening when Labour was holding the purse strings you will see that it was spending like Topsy—it was spending like Topsy. What was happening was that the growth of the Public Service was going out of control. When we came into Government we had a look at those books and we said that New Zealand could not continue like that. Debt has been a problem—$70 billion now—but do you know what it would have been under Labour if it had continued with those policies? It would be $170 billion and that is a fact. The Labour Government was out of control. We inherited a situation where debt was heading to 60 percent of GDP so we had to do something and we had to do it very very quickly.Look at the environment we are in now. We have the lowest interest rates for 50 years—50 years—inflation is just less than 1 percent over the last year and wages are growing at 2 percent over the last year and are projected to grow real incomes in nominal terms by 20 percent over the next 4 years against the background of 9 percent inflation. So actually there is more money in people’s pockets at the same time as mortgages are cheaper.We are in a very very good position but the one danger on the horizon is the far-left Government that Labour and the Greens would deliver because as John Key said—Darien Fenton: Ha ha!Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: They might laugh on the Labour side but David Shearer has wrapped himself in the Greens. There is no question about it. These dangerous left-wing fundamentalists these Bolsheviks like David Clendon over there are going to be there with the Labour Party if it gets the chance to be in Government. You would have someone like Russel Norman as the Minister of Finance. He will be printing money. Labour knows it can never get into power unless it promises things like the finance portfolio to Russel Norman. You will have Metiria Turei—The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson): Order!Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: —running the transport or environment portfolios. Seriously it is going to be really really bad. This election is going to be a contest between the centre-right and the far left and for New Zealanders that is going to be very very scary. You can actually see five Labour members and one Green here in the Chamber and there is not a day of business experience between them. Is that not frightening?Hon Member: Rubbish.Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: That reflects the reality of what you would get with a Labour Government and they are saying: “Rubbish.”The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson): Order!Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: Well it is absolutely true. David Clendon is getting more excited than I have ever seen him in the House and the Assistant Speaker is trying to bring the debate back to him but this is the reality. We are facing a situation where if those people opposite ever got hold of the Treasury benches New Zealand would be in a huge power of trouble.This is a very very good Budget. We have set out our four priorities very very clearly. We are going to be in surplus by next year—a $75 million surplus. It is thin but it is there and that is what 4½ years of fiscal discipline brings you. This year we have a deficit of $2 billion. Back in 2010 we had an $18.7 billion deficit. When you look atwhere we are positioned compared to Australia—they have got a deficit of A$20 billion this year—we are in a very very good position.The Opposition can go on about the state of the economy but the fact is that we and the Australians have grown at the fastest rate in the OECD over the past year—the fastest rate. Over the next year we are going to be growing at 3 percent. No one is going to be growing faster in the OECD. The eurozone is really down the gurgler as is the UK the US and Japan. We are very very well positioned. There have been 50000 new jobs over the past 2 years. Unemployment has gone from 6.8 percent to 6.2 percent.We are hearing from Labour a lot of whinging we are hearing a lot of misinformed comment but we are not getting one comment about what it would do better. In fact we are not even getting a comment about what it would do—full stop. It is going to be very clear where the balance lies. You have got a Government with a very sound economic record which is getting us—Clare Curran: We’re going to bring down power bills; that’s what we’re going to do.Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: Ah! Getting down power bills. Labour reckons it is going to get down power bills by regulating and nationalising the electricity industry. Well good luck with that because that is going to take us back to blackouts. That is not going to be the way forward. That is going to totally stop new generation and it is going to be incredibly bad for the economy.I can tell you what is going to happen if these people opposite were ever in charge—it would be an end to inward investment in New Zealand because these people do not like the Chinese. They were very clear about that during the whole Shanghai Pengxin Group episode. They spoke out about it on the basis of political opportunism and that is very very dangerous for New Zealand. But I think what you will see if these people ever get the chance to get close to the Treasury benches is a big change in those ratings from people like Standard and Poor’s. You will see the IMF—Darien Fenton: Doom and gloom.Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: When the IMF sees hard-bitten unionists like Darien Fenton over there getting anywhere near the immigration portfolio stopping the inflow of skills and stopping the inflow of capital investment will fly from New Zealand. There is no question about it—it will leave. There is no question.We focused very much on our priorities: getting back into surplus economic growth and this is interesting—[Interruption]Hon Maurice Williamson: Pay attention.Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: Yes. We are growing the economy getting the skills here that we need in New Zealand encouraging new apprenticeships and new skills getting people down to Christchurch and making a firm commitment to rebuilding Christchurch. The impact that Christchurch has had is actually incredible but we have willingly said it is very very important that we rebuild New Zealand’s second-biggest city. The Government’s contribution is $15 billion out of a total rebuild of $40 billion and that has gone up quite considerably from $30 billion. Despite that we are still going to hit surplus.What I can say is that if those people opposite reckon they are going to get down debt rebuild schools build hospitals and fund fast broadband where is the money going to come from? They are going to stop partial share floats.Hon Members: That’s right.Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: Yes. “That’s right.” they say. They are proud of it. This is how economically illiterate those people opposite are. They need to explain—and I am looking forward to the next speaker getting up to explain—Darien Fenton: There’s more than one way.Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: Darien Fenton when you are Associate Minister of Finance—The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson): Order! The member has now brought the Chair into the debate four times.Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: Oh come on. When that member Darien Fenton is Associate Minister of Finance and she cancels partial shares—Darien Fenton: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I do not wish to be picky but as we observe it in one language it would also be nice if the member would call me by my proper name. It is “Dar-rien” not “Darry-en”.Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: I thought Darien was going to get up and deny that she was going to be the Associate Minister of Finance and in fact many members from both sides might have agreed with that. Anyway one thing we have learnt from the Labour contribution in this debate is how to pronounce Darien Fenton’s name.What I would say is that if Labour is going to stop partial share floats where is it going to get the money from? It is concerned about debt but it is going to have to borrow more. Or is it going to go down to Christchurch and say: “No we’re not going to rebuild Megan Woods’ Christchurch Hospital we’re not going to rebuild schools and we’re not going to put in fast broadband because we’re not going to borrow the money and we’re not going to raise money for the Future Investment Fund.” So basically what you are going to have with those people is more debt and you are going to have investment flying out the door. When that member from Dunedin who has just come in David Clark says that nonsense about the worst economic record in 50 years he is telling a gross mistruth.Dr David Clark: The worst economic record in 50 years of any Government.Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: Here he goes. That is the only contribution he can make. In conclusion it is a very good Budget we are going ahead well the economy is growing and New Zealand is on the right track. New Zealand do not put it all at risk. Kia ora.