Hipkins Chris: Debate on Prime Minister’s StatementText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeHipkins Chris: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement[Sitting date: 17 February 2015. Volume:703;Page:1604. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]CHRIS HIPKINS (Labour—Rimutaka):The Prime Minister’s statement is an opportunity for a Government to show vision. It is an opportunity to spell out a comprehensive plan and to demonstrate that it has a grasp on the challenging issues facing New Zealanders. This Government has failed on all three counts when it comes to the Prime Minister’s statement this year because it has no vision for the brighter future that it promised New Zealanders all those years ago. Instead it is content to manage a low-wage economy indebted to the rest of the world with declining standards of living and an escalating degree of environmental degradation. That is what it is promising New Zealanders. This is not a Government with a plan for the future. It is a Government of short-term wheeling and dealing living for today and not worrying about future generations or what it is leaving behind.This Government will be defined by its dodgy deal with Skycity. Nothing else defines them more than the dodgy deal with Skycity. When even Matthew Hooton is saying that it is corrupt the Government should be standing up and taking notice. It is absolutely wrong. John Key promised New Zealanders a free convention centre that would not cost the taxpayers a cent—aside of course from the increase in problem gambling that was going to go from the concessions that the Government granted to Skycity. He said that the convention centre was going to be free. Then he tried to tell New Zealanders last week that they were going to have to fork out some money or it was going to end up being an eyesore. And then he turned around and said: “Oh no no no. We’re not going to throw in the extra money any more. We’re just going to settle for a convention centre that is 10 percent smaller.”Well I agree with Andrew Little when he said to Skycity that a deal is a deal and that if this Government has signed up to a deal for a convention centre of a certain size in exchange for the concessions it got if Skycity does not front up with that then there is absolutely no guarantee that those concessions will be continuing—there is no guarantee those concessions will be continuing under a Labour Government. A deal is a deal and that is the message that this Government if it had the backbone would be sending Skycity. John Key promised New Zealanders a higher degree of accountability when it came to his MPs and his Ministers and he has failed to deliver on that and he now fails even his own test when it comes to openness and transparency. While the National Party is distracted by all of its internal manoeuvrings and the splits and divisions that are becoming by the day more apparent within the Government it is simply ignoring the big issues facing New Zealanders.The National Party likes to think and likes to tell New Zealanders that it is doing a good job of managing the economy. So let us actually look at that. I went back and found the Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update from 2008. So what exactly did the National Party inherit when it came into Government? On page 22 of the fiscal update prior to the election it is there for everyone to see: the net core Crown debt—that is the amount of money overall that the New Zealand Government owes—was zero. The Government when National became Government—we owed nothing. It was zero. It is there for all to see. Of course we were going into the global financial crisis so there were some projections for government debt to increase as you would expect in a massive economic downturn and those estimates suggested that net core Crown debt by 2013 would become $13 billion. That sounds like a lot of money $13 billion. So let us fast forward to last year’s December update and how did things pan out? As of the end of last year 2014 this Government had racked up nearly $60 billion—three times the amount forecast prior to the 2008 election. This Government had amassed four times that amount of debt. These brilliant economic maestros had quadrupled the amount of Government debt in their time in office.I recall Bill English in Michael Cullen’s seventh Budget after he had been Minister of Finance decrying 7 years of surpluses and still no tax cuts. Well I will tell you what I want to hear Bill English stand up in this year’s Budget and admit that he has delivered 7 years of Budgets and still no surplus. Not one surplus after his 7 years in charge of the Government finances. Bill English has clocked up the largest Government debt in New Zealand’s history. Let me repeat that again. Bill English has clocked up the largest Government debt in New Zealand’s history. He has out-borrowed Rob Muldoon. He has even out-borrowed New Zealand’s war effort for the Second World War. These guys Bill English and John Key have borrowed more money than ever before in New Zealand’s history and it has taken them only 7 years—6 years actually. They are now into their seventh year and they have amassed the largest Government debt in New Zealand’s history. That will be their economic track record. If basic economic management is the acid test for Government competence this Government has failed spectacularly.Then let us talk about what that means for New Zealanders. Unemployment was at record low levels under the last Labour Government and it has increased under the National Government. There are 46000 extra New Zealanders unemployed out of work under National than there were when National became Government. That is an absolute disgrace. And what about those who are in work and who can actually find work? Wage growth under National has been stagnant. It has been absolutely stagnant. After 9 years of solid wage growth where those who went out and worked hard had the opportunity to get ahead under National New Zealanders have faced stagnant wage growth. While the cost of living has gone up and while GST has gone up despite John Key’s promise that he would not do that this Government has kept wages low. It has been supressing wages because Bill English—when it comes to openness and transparency at least he was open about this—turned around and said that the low wages in New Zealand were good for us. It was good for us; it gave us a competitive advantage against Australia. Bill English was at least open about that. That is the extent of their aspiration for New Zealanders. I say that is not good enough. New Zealanders who work hard should be able to get ahead.We recognise on this side of the House that the nature of work in New Zealand is changing. At the beginning of the year Andrew Little set out how the nature of work is changing. More people are working in small business than ever before. Some of those huge employers have been broken up and those people are now consultants they are contractors and they are small-business people. The nature of work is changing and the Labour Party is aware of that. We are going to get into that. We are going to make sure that we get behind those small businesses and support them.What is the message from John Key and Steven Joyce? They are saying that anybody who thinks the nature of work has changed does not understand what work is. They are saying to every small-business person in New Zealand that they do not know what work is. I say to them that actually all those small businesses that I talk to on a regular basis in my electorate know exactly what work is. They know exactly what it means to put their necks on the line to create jobs for themselves and create jobs for others. This Government is so arrogant that it tries to tell them that they do not know what work is. Well I say they do know what work is they need a Government that is going to back them and they are not getting that from this National Government. It is so arrogant. It is so arrogant in its approach to small business and I think it is a breath of fresh air that Andrew Little is getting in behind small businesses in New Zealand and saying that the Labour Party is going to help them get ahead.As for the corporate welfare that this Government seems intent on dishing out it cannot find money to support families who are struggling—oh no no it cannot find money for that—it cannot find money for education health and those social issues that we know are so important but it can find hundreds of millions of dollars in corporate welfare for corporates and for famers. Let us not get into the irrigation subsidies the subsidies for polluters or the absolute rort that is known as the Primary Growth Partnership which the Auditor-General says there is no—no—economic benefit from. Let us not get into all that. Let us just deal with the corporate welfare. The Government is quite happy to find money to hand out to corporates and it cannot similarly find money for the families for the things that would really support New Zealand families to get ahead.There is a better way. Let me tell you the Labour Party is on the way back. We are going to back New Zealanders to get ahead. We will bring fairness and decency back into Government. Under Labour New Zealanders will have a Government that will back them to get ahead and they will have a Government that actually upholds some minimum standards of decency which this Government seems to have lost track of. This Government has lost track of them. This Government is simply beset by sleaze scandal and distraction. It has lost track of the big issues that are facing New Zealand. Its economic management is a train wreck. It is a joke. The Labour Party will get things back on track. New Zealanders know they can trust our record: nine surpluses in a row record low unemployment versus sky-rocketing debt and increasing unemployment. I know which way New Zealanders are going to go at the next election and the Labour Party will be back. So do not get too comfortable over there boys.