Swain Paul: Supplementary Estimates — Imprest Supply Debate 
Swain Paul: Supplementary Estimates — Imprest Supply Debate 
[Volume:648;Page:16874] 
Hon PAUL SWAIN (Labour—Rimutaka) 
: 
 Four words describe that speech: “Bring back Mark Peck.” The entire increase in education spending funded by National will be fixed by saving a boiler in a school in Dacre! That is how it will all work: it is simply a case of taking out a boiler and saving that money and that will fund all this increase in education. “Bring back Mark Peck” I say and I bet that is what people are saying down in Invercargill. 
This is a wide-ranging debate. I am old-fashioned having been here a little while. What is supposed to happen is that we are to compare policies. What happens is that the Government puts out its policies and looks towards its vision. Then the National Opposition is supposed to say a few things in order to compare its policies. The problem is that the debate has been one-sided because we have not heard a dicky-bird about what National will do. The Labour-led Government of course has done heaps. The previous speaker Eric Roy said that there has been great prosperity in New Zealand over the last 8 years and that is true. I will come back to talk about that in a moment. 
But it is true that people are feeling stressed at the moment. It is true; that is the case. We have rising oil prices primarily driven by speculation in other parts of the world. We have food prices— 
Dr Wayne Mapp 
: Oh rubbish! Demand’s driving it. 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: Oh the member says that demand is driving this. I was almost going to bring somebody into the debate which I am not allowed to do but the member says that demand is driving this. Speculation is driving price and most people who know anything about this would know that. Food prices are rising driven by a shortage. On the one hand that is good for our farmers but it is affecting consumers. And of course interest rates are rising due to the subprime mortgage situation in the United States and the credit crunch. We recognise that people are facing these difficulties. 
The National Party has railed against this so I ask what National members would do about the rising oil price. Let us start with Simon Power. What would Simon Power do about the rising petrol price and oil price? 
Ron Mark 
: Buy Saudi Arabia. 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: Buy Saudi Arabia. Well we would love to hear at least one little policy. What about Chris Finlayson? What would Chris Finlayson do about the rising world food price? 
Christopher Finlayson 
: Your rhetorical devices are so boring. 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: The member says that our rhetorical devices are so boring but do we hear an answer? That is all we want; we just want to hear an answer such as National would do X or National would think about doing Y. 
Let us try one other one then. What would National if it were ever in Government—fortunately not in my lifetime—do about the rising international pressure on interest rates? 
Simon Power 
: That’s easy—wasteful Government spending. 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: Here we go—back to the boiler in Dacre. That is what it is all about. It is back to the boiler in Dacre. Well this simply will not wash; it will not do. 
It is the case at the moment that there is a general feeling and a mood around for change. There is no question about that. Members on this side of the House are asking a change to what? Let us look at a change to what. Let us look at this because National members will not say what they would change. Do members know what? It sounds to me as if the hollow men are still at work—that is say nothing before and then do it all after. 
Let us look at a couple of things that Labour will do. The Labour-led Government has introduced tax cuts to come in this year in October. 
Simon Power 
: That took 8 years. 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: Yes it is good news because we adjusted and made sure that some of the basic infrastructure in health education and transport was fixed in those first few years we squirreled some away for the difficult times and we are now handing it back in tax cuts. That is the way it should be done. So there are tax cuts this year in 2010 and in 2011. 
You see the National Party has criticised the tax cuts. That party called the Budget the “block of cheese Budget”. Does the House know what the most surprising thing for National members was? It was that cheese comes in blocks. They did not realise that cheese comes in blocks until someone actually said so. They thought that it came in round packets with names on them from France. That is what they thought. So when they heard “block of cheese” they all rushed out to the supermarket. “My word!” they reported back to the caucus. “They are right; cheese does come in blocks. How long has it been like that?” they asked. That is because those members are out of touch. Cheese comes in round packets and in blocks. 
Given that the Labour-led Government has said what it will do let us ask Sandra Goudie how much people will get—here is a simple question—under National’s tax cuts. 
Simon Power 
: Wait and see. 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: Oh I am to wait and see? No I want to hear from Sandra Goudie. 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: Simon does not know. 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: No; the member says that he knows but I do not think that he does know. 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: He’s on the outer. 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: I think he is on the outer. There is the kitchen Cabinet and then there is the outhouse Cabinet which I think unfortunately Simon Power is in. [ 
Interruption 
] His stocks have slipped suddenly but to be fair I think they are coming back a bit. But I do not think he knows what the tax cut package is and I think that New Zealanders deserve to know. Why will the National Party not tell people? 
Lesley Soper 
: Because they don’t know. 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: Oh well they do not. One thing is that the members do not know but then again maybe it is also that the cut is not as big as what they thought they might be able to promise when they look at the books. Those members do not want to go into an election saying “Well as we have done with all the other Labour policies”—just photocopied them all and handed them out—“the tax cuts will be about the same as the cuts Labour gave.” 
Let us look at some of these other things. Let us look at some of these other policies. 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: KiwiSaver. 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: What will the National Party do about KiwiSaver? There is a simple question. Lockwood Smith is probably in the inner Cabinet do members think? Or is he— 
Dr the Hon Lockwood Smith 
: Just resign and we’ll show you. 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: No no. Well maybe he is— 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: He’s on an outer planet. 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: No I do not think he is on an outer planet to be fair. I think he is actually further away from the outhouse. He is probably way way down the backyard. But let us ask Lockwood Smith what the National Party will do about KiwiSaver. Well there is no answer—no answer on KiwiSaver. I thought that what would happen was that the employer contribution would be scrapped. Who said that? Kate Wilkinson said it. But then John Key said: “Oh no. She is only the employment and industrial relations spokesperson; she doesn’t know anything. She is not even involved in the policy.” There she was trying to be frank and give people a bit of a view. 
What will happen to Working for Families? Well let us ask Chris Tremain. What will happen to that? No; there is no answer. What about cheaper doctors’ visits? Did Tony Ryall not say that they would be scrapped? Then John Key came out and said: “No no. We did not mean to say that. No that is not true.” 
And what about 20 free hours of preschool education? What about asking Georgina te Heuheu who has always been a frank open person. What will happen for example to kohanga reo and 20 free hours’ early childhood education? What will happen there? 
Hon Georgina te Heuheu 
: Don’t worry about that. 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: The member says we are not to worry about that. I am worried about that because I want to hear the answer. What about the minimum wage? I bet we will not get any answer to that. 
You see this should be a debate where we say what we are doing and the National Party should respond. They are the hollow men. They will not say what they will do right up to the last minute and then they might not even do that. Then they will say that they promised no asset sales but that the economy is so bad they will have to sell a few. The public will not wear it. 
As it gets closer to the election the public will demand some answers and we will find the slippery slope of the National Party when either it will not be prepared to commit or if it does it will try to say things similar to what the Labour Party is saying. So I ask a change to what? Well that is the whole point of this—that in the end people will say that they will stick with what they know. They will say that they will stick with what they know rather than trust the slippery shadowy faces of the hollow men under the National Party. It will come down to a very simple choice and Labour is well on the way.