King Annette: Budget Debate 
King Annette: Budget Debate 
[Volume:663;Page:11302] 
Hon ANNETTE KING (Deputy Leader—Labour) 
: 
 It is hard to believe that a mere 18 months after the 2008 election people are asking where the fresh start is that they were promised by John Key—“Where is the fresh start?”. What is fresh about this Government other than its leader the front man—you know the one with the flash suit and the smile that is reminiscent of a rat with a gold tooth? After 18 months we have not had a fresh start; after 18 months we have had a false start. In fact the Government’s entire agenda is based on falsehoods. 
I listened yesterday to the Minister for Social Development and Employment who said that there was a real buzz around this Budget. I say yes I agree with that Minister: there is a whiff of something very stale about this Government and about this Budget but the buzz she can hear is the buzz of bluebottles as they rush around this Budget. 
I have to tell members opposite that increasingly New Zealanders are sick of the political sideshows from this Government. There is Rodney Hide with his latest travel itinerary flags on bridges toy tossing by Tariana Turia and bottom pinching by Richard Worth. New Zealanders have had enough of the political grandstanding and sideshows from this Government. Kiwis want a Government that focuses on the issues that matter to them—that focuses on the issues that matter to them. Photo opportunities appearing on television in America globetrotting and cocktail parties are not substitutes for real leadership. They are not substitutes for real leadership for real policy or a plan for the future. 
This Government has no plan. This Government floats from cloud cuckoo-land to cloud cuckoo-land. The Prime Minister’s views depend on who spoke to him last. Someone said to him: “Let’s have a Job Summit.” He thought that was a very good idea and that it would be a step change for New Zealand. I have to tell Mr Key that it was not a step change but a step back. If we look at this Budget we see that the big losers in New Zealand are the unemployed—young people Maori Pacific Islanders and Asian people. It is a roll-call of shame for the Government. The people who are unemployed now will continue to be unemployed. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Eric Roy) 
: I am sorry to interrupt the member. I have indicated to the member Paul Quinn that he must contain himself. He is not sitting in his own seat. If he persists I will ask him to go back to his own seat. 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: In Bill English’s own Budget documents he is planning on 60000 people to still be on the unemployment benefit in 4 years’ time. The equivalent of a city almost the size of Palmerston North will still be on the unemployment benefit in 4 years’ time. If members opposite do not believe me they should read their own Budget documents. The Government is budgeting for 145000 New Zealanders to be out of work—unemployed—in 4 years’ time. Members opposite might not know this but that is double the number of people on the unemployment benefit that National inherited when we left Government. In 4 years’ time there will still be double the number of people on the unemployment benefit than there were then. What does National think about that? It thinks that this major social and economic problem is just collateral damage to its Budget—just collateral damage. 
When I look at what the Minister for Social Development and Employment said I am appalled. She said she was excited because 12000 young New Zealanders would get short-term Job Ops jobs for 6 months over the next year. Do members opposite know how many young people under 25 years of age are unemployed today? 
Louise Upston 
: Do you prefer zero? Twelve thousand is a pretty strong number in my book. 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: I tell that member that there are 60000 young people unemployed in New Zealand. She thinks it is 12000. No wonder National cannot get its Budget figures right. There are 60000 young people unemployed at this moment and National has promised 12000 Job Ops jobs over the next year. Job Ops jobs last 6 months and the Minister said that they are not designed to give young people a permanent job. At the same time all sorts of funding for training are being reduced. Tertiary education is being reduced. National is even cutting employment assistance for those in New Zealand who are disabled. If members look in the Budget document they will see that the disabled have had their training opportunities and employment assistance cut in this Budget. The much-vaunted Youth Guarantee which was promised at the election will give 4000 places to young people up to 2011. That is National’s commitment to those people in New Zealand who do not have a job. 
New Zealanders were promised a Budget that would deliver to all families but I tell members opposite that 170000 children in this country will live in poverty in inadequate housing and with insufficient food and heating because of this Budget. No attempt has been made to deal with children who live in poverty and the Government opposite should be ashamed. People in New Zealand are worried sick about the struggle that they know is ahead of them: the struggle to get bread on the table to pay their school fees and to pay their power bills. And yes on the front page of the  
Dominion Post 
 today a power company is confirming what we knew was right. Power bills will go up by $5 a week and gas bills by $1.75 a month. It might not be much to members of Parliament on their salaries but $5 a week means that the extra $4.17 that people have after the increase in tax cuts and after the hike in GST is gone in one fell swoop. 
New Zealanders were told that the Budget was about making them work harder save more and spend less and that they were to step up once they got this big payout from the tax cuts as they would have more money in their pockets. Well most New Zealanders—the first 3 million taxpayers in this country—will have on average $4.17 extra a week and John Key will have $218 a week. That tells us the fairness of this Budget. I do not always agree with Richard Long but I certainly agreed with his column yesterday in the  
Dominion Post 
 when he said: “… in our low-wage economy three-quarters of the workforce are going to be left clutching just a handful of extra dollars. Most of this will go on living essentials price rises and buying the kids a new pair of shoes.” 
Only about 18 months ago John Key asked the public whether they felt better-off. Well New Zealanders after two Budgets from this Government are asking that question. After two Budgets and two tax cuts New Zealanders are asking themselves whether they feel better off. We have a GST increase and interest rates are going up; do they feel better off? Inflation is set to skyrocket to 6 percent next year; do they feel better off? Wage increases are at their lowest level in a decade; do they feel better off? There are higher-wage jobs better jobs and more opportunities in Australia; do they feel better off? With cuts to health care and cuts in education for preschoolers—cuts cuts cuts—do New Zealanders feel better off? Bill English said that the recession is over. Well I ask New Zealanders whether they feel better off and no they do not. It might have been a good question to ask 18 months ago I say to Mr Key when New Zealanders were in a much better position than they are in today but I do not think Mr Key will enjoy the answer. Millions of New Zealanders those who are on low and modest incomes do not feel better off they will not feel better off and this time next year I predict many of them will be in a far worse position than they are in today. 
This Government is asking too much of too many low and middle income earning Kiwis. It is asking them to carry the burden for the high-income earners on their shoulders and at the same time it is putting a burden of debt on the same people as it borrows to pay for tax cuts—borrows to pay for tax cuts to give to those who have the most. At the same time to rub salt into the wound the Government is now saying that it will sell State assets to help pay for those tax cuts. It will sell Kiwibank—there is no doubt about it. This Budget is a very big disappointment for a party and a Government that promised a turbo-charged approach to governance in this country. What we are seeing is a false start.