Hide Rodney: Budget Debate 
Hide Rodney: Budget Debate 
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RODNEY HIDE (ACT NZ) 
: 
 This Labour Government with this Budget has forgotten all about New Zealanders—New Zealanders who work New Zealanders who earn a living— 
Hon Judith Tizard 
: You don’t know anyone. 
RODNEY HIDE 
: Judith Tizard calls out that she does not know any and from hearing her speak in this House I think that is true. Judith Tizard does not know anyone who works pays his or her way and pays the taxes that this Budget spends. This Budget is all about Government all about politicians all about their spending and all about their grandiose plans and is nothing about hard-working New Zealanders who are expected to pay for it. 
The ACT party has not forgotten about taxpayers and has not forgotten about voters. We have undertaken the first-ever electronic petition. In this box in front of me full to the top are the responses. They would shock Judith Tizard; and they would shock this Labour Government if it had any care for working New Zealanders. 
Hon Ken Shirley 
: What was the petition for? 
RODNEY HIDE 
: The petition is for lower taxes because people want more money in their pockets not in the Government’s coffers. 
I shall read out some of the comments. The first says: “I wouldn’t mind paying the taxes imposed on us by the Government if only the things they spent it on reflected the difficulty I face in raising it.” Here is another comment for the interest of the Minister with responsibility for Auckland Issues: “All forms of taxation are far too high and act as a real disincentive to business growth and investment in our country.” Here is another one for this Government and Dr Cullen to consider: “Please give us hard-working overworked underpaid stressed employers a break.” Here is another: “I am extremely disappointed that no tax cuts were given to boost the economy and keep it humming.” Finally here is one response out of literally hundreds of responses: “Yes we’re overtaxed. Please do something about this. Our tax money is being spent on vote-gathering PC-type projects instead of building New Zealand’s economy and intellectual-based economy.” 
 In the last 10 years our economy averaged 3.6 percent growth a year and endured the Asian crisis and Helen Clark said at the time that the economy just marked time. If we pick up the Budget we see the Treasury forecast for the economy over the next 10 years is a woeful 2.6 percent average growth rate per year. That is a rate of 1 percent less growth than when the economy according to our Prime Minister was marking time and the policies were failures. We would not mind that sort of failure going ahead if that is the difference in response. 
Where is the money going? It is being frittered away as the petitioners in our survey say on PC projects and policies of reverse racism—policies that get measured not by results not by the help to the poor and downtrodden and not by where we will be in 10 years’ time but simply by how much hard-working taxpayers’ money is thrown at the problem. Civil servants have said to me that the difficulty they have is that they cannot spend the money this Government is throwing at them quickly enough. How is that money being spent? 
Hon Judith Tizard 
: Ha ha! 
RODNEY HIDE 
: Judith Tizard laughs because she thinks it is funny that taxpayers’ money gets spent in this way. Here is an example of how it is spent. I have a photograph of the Hon Dover Samuels with Hemana Waaka at a Labour Party party before the election. We have a photograph of them having a few drinks. Each of those drinks was paid for by the taxpayer; hard-working people paid for those drinks. Here is a photograph of a speaker at a function with the Hon John Tamihere and Hemana Waaka. Where did the money for that come from? It came from hard-working taxpayers whom the Labour Party once used to say it represented. A $10000 grant was given and $5400 of that was spent on a booze-up for the Labour Party for John Tamihere and for Dover Samuels during the election campaign. We understand now that not only was the Hemana Waaka - Maori Sportscasting International handout paying for that function but it was paying for Mr Tame Te Rangi to be flown around New Zealand and to Australia to watch sporting matches. There is nothing wrong with that but who was paying for it? It was the taxpayers of New Zealand. What was Mr Tame Te Rangi’s role in all of this? He was the man overseeing the money being paid to Maori Sportscasting International. We have a Minister of Maori Affairs and a Prime Minister who think that that is an everyday occurrence. Why? Because we have policies of reverse racism when money is thrown at Maori problems without care or concern. 
I want to read an answer that the Minister of Maori Affairs gave to a written question of mine: “I am advised by my officials that there have been no payments of cash by Maori Sportscasting International to any employees of Te Mangai Paho.” So he was saying that it was just Maori Sportscasting International that paid for Mr Tame Te Rangi to watch the game. Let me read an email released by Te Mangai Paho. It is from Hemana Waaka’s email address to Mr Tame Te Rangi and is dated 15 October 2001. Members should remember that this email is to a senior civil servant of this Government. The email concluded: “Your payment for services will be placed into account this day.” 
Opposition Member 
: Corruption! 
RODNEY HIDE 
: That is corruption and I understand the payment was put into his TAB account so it could not be traced. The email stated further: “Hiamoe will have with him on his arrival the petrol vouchers/cash/copies of commentators and instructions.” Mr Tame Te Rangi’s job is being the radio manager at Te Mangai Paho. This was his response in brief: “What is included in the ‘cash’ that Hiamoe will have?”. Oh they have gone silent now have they not? Then he said: “Thanks for the ‘advance’. I am surprised at the choice of words! When can I expect the balance?”. 
Minister Parekura Horomia has known about this issue since the beginning of February when I first raised it with him. What has he done? Nothing! What little energy he has he is expending on protecting thieves and liars because that is what has happened in this case. This Government is taking hard-earned taxpayers’ money bundling it up in the millions and sending it to every which way cause with no abandon. This is just one example amongst many of where that money is ending up. 
Do we see this issue addressed in the Budget? Do we see a care for hard-working families and for hard-working workers? Do we think that Michael Joseph Savage would tolerate this? Do we think that Norman Kirk would tolerate this? Did we ever think that any Government would tolerate this at any stage? Well we have one such Government. It is Helen Clark’s Government and this case is all OK because it is for “Maori”. I say that the policies of spend and waste and the policies of reverse racism should come to an immediate end. I do not know how members of this Government can get up in good conscience and speak on this Budget. We are against it. 
I seek the leave of the House to table in summary form the comments that we have received on our petition concerning this Budget and on the need for tax cuts for every worker in New Zealand. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Is there any objection to that course of action being taken? There is.