Gilmore Aaron: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
Gilmore Aaron: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:671;Page:17462] 
AARON GILMORE (National) 
: 
 I will go back to a few things raised by the Opposition—in particular the complete ranting about the Government’s lack of a plan for the economy. I will go back to the six key things that people keep forgetting about. This Government is spending more on infrastructure than anyone has ever spent before. We are spending more on education than anyone has ever spent before. We are spending plenty more money on innovation thanks to Minister Mapp sitting in front of me. We are spending plenty of money in turning round and getting rid of waste in terms of lack of resources and bureaucrats. We are putting plenty of effort into dealing with crime and getting things put in place. Those are the key parts of the Government’s economic plan. 
The report we are debating today was released in early February. The key aspect of what has happened between then and now is that on 22 February the town I was born in and grew up in suffered a tragedy—a massive tragedy that probably cost the lives of about 180 people. New Zealand has changed as a result of that tragedy and my home town has changed as a result of that tragedy. We need to think carefully about what that might mean for our fiscal accounts. There has been much debate by many people on the other side of the House about some of the options and choices that that gives us. From my perspective we have limited choices. We have to rebuild Christchurch. Christchurch makes up about one-sixth of the New Zealand economy. Not only does it make up one-sixth of our economy but it is a more productive part of the economy than other parts of New Zealand. More exports come out of Canterbury than almost any other part of New Zealand and it has much higher levels of exports per capita than any other part of New Zealand. 
The tragedy we have incurred will cost our country about $15 billion. We are very lucky in that most of that cost is insured money that will be paid for by people having been prudent and having put insurance contracts in place. Some money has to come from the Government and I think that is one of the key reasons why we are starting to make some tough key decisions about our choices in the future. You see we do not have a giant piggy bank of money sitting there to pay for things. I wish we did. We have made choices in the past that mean we do not have a giant piggy bank of money. So we have to make collectively some tough choices about how we will pay that $15 billion. There are options in place for us to make some tough calls and spend it on the things that make the most sense. 
We have had a series of community meetings in Christchurch in the last 2 weeks. They have been attended by about 3000 people in total. I can tell members what the feelings of those people are. Those people have strong feelings about the future of Christchurch and about the role of the Government in that future. I know that the gentleman currently sitting in the Chair the Hon Rick Barker sat in on one of the smallest of those meetings and listened to some of those people’s views and opinions. They are worried and concerned about their futures in New Zealand and they want guidance from the Government to provide them with some clarity about what will happen to their jobs their homes their families their schools their roads and everything else that makes up their lives in this country. This Government is one that will provide that. 
Yes that will mean that some time in the future there will be tough decisions made about things we probably do not really need right now because there are some other things we do really need right now and they will need to be rebuilt—things like schools in my area that kids cannot go to at the moment or the sewerage system that is currently floating through the Avon River. About 80 percent of sewage from Christchurch is floating through the Avon River through our wetlands and out through the beach. It is like the forests that I normally go mountain-biking through. There are 240000 tonnes of silt and demolition material in that massive recreational area which 800000 people a year used to go through. Those are the things we have to fix before we can get back to growing our economy the way we want it to grow. 
Despite all the things that have happened over the last 2½ years—global recession global credit crunch a series of one-off economic disasters ranging from our first earthquake to our second earthquake and Pike River in between—it is remarkable that the Opposition seems to think that nothing has changed. It is a bit like a drunken sailor who keeps going from town to town spending his money everywhere he goes and having spent everything turns up to the next place and thinks he can borrow money from his mates. Then he turns round and thinks he can borrow money from another mate. He turns up at home and borrows it from his mum and dad and still thinks he can keep spending the way he has been spending in every single town. 
We cannot keep doing that; we have to think very carefully. That is the reason this Government has taken prudent positions and prudent decisions on the way forward. That is wise not just for me but for my children. Those decisions mean that my children will stay in New Zealand in times to come. Those are the reasons why we have to rebuild our country—particularly my home city—in the way we really want it to be. That will not be easy. The easy option is to jump on a plane and leave for Australia. The tough decision is to stay here and make New Zealand the way we all want it to be. For my home town in particular that will be a long hard road.