Gosche Mark: Budget Debate 
Gosche Mark: Budget Debate 
[Volume:639;Page:9534] 
Hon MARK GOSCHE (Labour—Maungakiekie) 
: 
 Talofa lava. That previous speech was from National’s spokesperson on social services. One would not have known it because she was more obsessed with somebody shifting off to Australia. She was knocking New Zealand as usual—because that is all that the National Party is good for. There was not a single jot about what National would do for the poorest and lowest-paid people in this country—the people she should be caring about. But could we expect Judith Collins to care about anybody but herself? Not a show! 
One would have thought that the National Party would wholeheartedly support this Budget because it is the party that once claimed to be the “party of business”. But National members will sit in this House over the next week and slam this Budget—a Budget that gives the biggest tax cuts to businesses that we have seen in a long time. It is such a long time that we have to go back to the previous Labour Government to see anything of this kind. Yet National will vote against the package for business in this Budget that will see a $2.1 billion cut in the company tax rate from 33 percent to 30 percent effective from 2008-09. It will vote against that even though it is supposed to be the “party of business”. It will vote against the $630 million package for research and development tax credits for business and it will say that it is not enough. But what did that party ever deliver in its 9 long years of Government through the 1990s? It delivered much the same as it did in transport—zip zilch nothing! 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: What a load of “dooey”! 
Hon MARK GOSCHE 
: The former Minister of Transport is over there. Poor old Maurice Williamson. In 9 long years did he open a single piece of motorway in Auckland? None zip zilch—he did not open a single piece of motorway. What did he spend on public transport? He froze the spending for 5 to 6 years at a miserable $43 million. He allowed the railway system to go to rack and ruin. He said to the bus companies: “Don’t buy new buses just let them run out.” The National Government does not believe in public transport. It thinks the railway lines should be pulled up because they are a waste of time. 
Let us look at what this Government has done. I am somewhat bemused by the Green Party’s attitude on this one because I see a figure in front of me stating that there will be $600 million for upgrades to Auckland and Wellington passenger rail. That includes electrification of the Auckland rail and replacing the worn-out infrastructure in Wellington. I would have thought that the Green Party like the Labour Party would applaud the Government for that. I am really disappointed that it does not see that as a major victory for green policies because it is. It is a major victory for Auckland and a major victory for this Government. The Green members should be jumping on that train and saying: “We helped to achieve that.” because they did. I cannot understand their attitude on this one because it is an important development. 
We saw Maurice Williamson wreck rail and we have seen this Government restore it and now improve upon it. Auckland will be the beneficiary of that including all those trucking companies that are whingeing at the moment. If we get people off the roads and into trains and buses it will get trucks moving through Auckland at a much more rapid rate. At the moment they have to go to the wharf at night because that is the most economical time to do it. I am sure that those truckdrivers will welcome the idea of being able to work day shift as well. Having a decent transport system that takes people off the roads and out of their cars where they sit one by one on the motorway and into a decent modern train system is something that should be applauded by all of us. But it will be voted against by the head-in-sand National Party which votes against tax cuts for business and tax cuts for research and development which opposes this money being spent on rail and which opposes the sorts of things that any sensible Government that wants to grow its economy would do. National will vote against every single one of those things. 
National members do not like KiwiSaver because they cannot knock it. The vast majority of New Zealanders say that KiwiSaver is great. They have struggled to save but they now have a Government that says to low-paid workers as well as to those on middle incomes that if they are earning $26000 a year and they put up 4 percent they will save three times as much. The Government will put in money and the employer will put in money and the Government will help employers to do that. I have heard all the rubbish from members opposite about the underclass and the poor people and how they want to give them charity. This Government does not want to give them charity; it just wants to give them a helping hand. It says that if people are prepared to put in 4 percent it will stick in its $20 the employer will stick in its 4 percent and those people will have three times as much in their account at the end of the year. 
The Government is chipping in about $1000 and I think that is a great thing particularly when we think about the difficulty people have trying to buy houses. This is a great little story. It is a story that I think many New Zealanders would be interested in. If we have a couple—we will call them Meg and Jack because that is what it says on the piece of paper in front of me—who are aged 30 years and earn $37500 a year each which is the average combined income for many many households and if they each contribute 4 percent of their salary into KiwiSaver from 1 July this year at the end of a 5-year period they will have a $35000 deposit to buy a house. 
That is why the National members opposite are cringing and do not want to attack KiwiSaver; it is because they know they would be attacking the opportunity for New Zealand families to buy their first homes. That opportunity was stripped out from under people in the 1990s when the Housing Corporation mortgages were sold off to the private sector which continued to rip off the poorest people in this country. That is the disgusting legacy of the National Party. 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: What a load of “dooey”. 
Hon MARK GOSCHE 
: National took away the opportunity that Maurice Williamson’s family had and my family had to get a State Advances loan to buy their first home. All of those people in our generation had it. The National— 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: What? We never had a State Advances loan. 
Hon MARK GOSCHE 
: Maybe Maurice did not have to worry about it. Maybe his parents were slightly better off than my parents. My parents got the 3 percent State Advances loan. The parents of a large number of members in this House would have got that loan. National took away that wonderful legacy put into place by a past Labour Government. It was stripped away by a National Government. Michael Cullen has said: “We don’t quite have the loot to do that one any more but we will have KiwiSaver and we will allow families on $37500 a year each to have a $35000 deposit after 5 years of saving to put on a house.” 
But it gets better. If those people continue to save with KiwiSaver at the age of 65 years they will have $390000 in savings in their account plus they will have bought a house along the way. That is why KiwiSaver is so popular out there. That is why people will be lining up. It will not be just middle-income families; it will be low-income families. I sat on the Finance and Expenditure Committee and heard from the people who looked into this matter that the best savers in New Zealand are our lowest paid. They do not have any other choice. Nobody runs up to them and says: “Here’s a credit card I’m going to lend you a whole heap of money.” They have to save. They have a savings habit and they will benefit from KiwiSaver and this Government’s assistance to do that saving. They look forward to putting aside some money for their retirement and to maybe buying a house along the way. 
How can the National Party oppose that? How can it oppose business tax cuts? How can it oppose the building of a rail system and better roads? How can National Opposition members in all seriousness sit over there 18 months out from an election and have not a single policy or answer but oppose all those wonderful measures that every New Zealander knows are sensible? National members think they can sleepwalk to the next election. They are so arrogant they think the country will elect them because they have that fresh young face called John Key. John is not running the show; he is a puppet—Bill English is behind him and we all know what Bill did in the 1990s. He was responsible for all the things we have talked about and he will do that again if given a chance. But I think New Zealanders are much wiser than that. That is why this Budget is a wonderful Budget for New Zealand and a wonderful Budget for this Government.