Phil GOFF
Labour Leader
Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Thursday 14 July, 2011, 2pm
SPEECH

Sometimes in an election, there's not a lot to distinguish one party from the other.

This election will not be one of those. This year, voters get to choose between two very different answers to the same question:

How do we get New Zealand back on its feet?

Make no mistake; the New Zealand you get over next five, ten, and twenty years will be very different depending on the choice we make this year.

New Zealanders will have a stark choice to make on November 26th.

It will either be Labour’s plan to change the economy so we can keep our assets, pay back the debt, give most New Zealanders a tax break, and grow the economy. Or National’s plan to sell our assets and leave us poorer.

Everyone understands how much money we owe, everyone understands we have to get back in the black. And until now, you've mostly been hearing that the government's way is the only way.

This government would like you to believe hat the only way out is to cut our services and sell our country's assets.

They, and all the people who get to clip the ticket each time one of our assets gets sold, want you to think that there is no alternative.

In fact they're making it a test.

They want you to vote this election to give them the green light.

Selling our electricity companies is good for the people who list the shares and draw up the legal documents. It’s good for the brokers who sell the shares at a profit to overseas investors who will end up owning even more of New Zealand. But it’s not good for the rest of us.

They are a short-term fix but in the long run you pay dearly.

When we sell our power stations, when we sell the businesses that bring us income, when we sell our Kiwi resources, when we sell the things that Kiwis have built and paid for; we sell our future.

Putting our heritage up for auction is not the solution to our current problems.
If you ask New Zealanders if they think we should sell what we own to get out of debt the answer from by far the majority is "NO”.

New Zealanders have said, loud and clear, our future is not for sale.

We agree with them.

The proposal to sell off New Zealand’s assets was the proposal that changed our thinking.

It was a declaration of intent that called on us to find the political courage to map out a better, more viable alternative. It lifted our sights well beyond the election in 2011. It inspired us to set out an alternative vision for the future – a future we can own, not sell.

Selling off our assets is like selling your house to pay off the mortgage. It doesn’t make sense.

We have to pay our way, we have to grow our economy but, as we have so recently seen, we also have to plan for the unexpected.

Events like the Global Financial Crisis & the Christchurch earthquakes created a major impact. They reminded us that we need to be better financially prepared.

Selling assets to solve crises is not viable long-term planning. You can only sell assets once. We need a far more robust alternative.

We must have an economy that grows and enables us to keep our assets and to plan for future shocks so that our heritage does not go back on the block ever again.

Today I am announcing that Labour’s tax package which includes a Capital Gains Tax – excluding the family home – and other measures to make our tax system fairer.

The first reason for Labour’s plan for tax changes is to enable us to own our future and to safeguard it for future generations.

The second reason is that it provides a fairer tax system. You should pay your fair share of tax no matter how you earn your income.

The third reason is to ensure that we grow the productive economy where real jobs and wealth are created.

Labour’s plan is a bold one. It is a game changer which creates greater fairness, allows us to keep our assets, pay off debt and build a stronger economy.

It is a plan whose time has come. To outline the details of the package, I will now hand over to Shadow Finance Minister, David Cunliffe.

ENDS

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