一切以人民为先
工党领袖 大卫谢尔 （David Shearer）
下周，比尔英格里希将发布他的第五个财政预算。
这份预算将堆砌华丽词藻来宣讲他们的商业成长计划和各种进度报告。
然而其中一定会有什么被遗漏掉。
那就是：人民。
对于帮助人们就业、购屋、支付生活费用或阻止他们为获得更好机会而奔往澳洲，这份预算将起不到丝毫作用。
5年前，约翰基登位之时许下大把诺言。
他说会有更多工作、更高工资，还说他将弥合贫富差距。
可是他没能兑现自己的承诺。他辜负了新西兰人的期望。
全球经济都不景气，这个我们都知道。但其他国家都已走出低谷。为什么我们却不能？
我坚信新西兰可以做得更好。只是我们需要改变。我们不能继续像这样停滞不前、全球排名继续下滑。
我们必须有前瞻的眼光。我们必须把重点放在行之有效的措施上并为了国家的发展推行根本性的改革。不能把希望寄托在不实的承诺上。
我相信新西兰。我们是一个充满乐天精神、人人都有机会的国家。但我认为我们必须做得更好。
我们需要更好的教育来为所有人打开机会之门。
我们需要更好的经济，它是以高技能、创造性、科学、勤奋工作的决心和我国得天独厚的自然优势为基础而打造的。
我们完全可以为老百姓做到更好。
这就是为什么我领导的政府将一切以百姓为中心。
在我的领导下，我们将打造一个令商业成长、创造高价值、高收入工作的经济。
我们将解决阻碍我国经济发展的各种问题，诸如纽币高涨而伤及我国出口业、以及我国商业缺乏投资等问题。
我们有大胆的创新思维来推动我国经济发展并提升人民生活水平，并无需以更多借债为代价。
我的政府将是一个智慧型、充满行动力的实干政府。它将充分运用政府力量真正改变百姓的生活面貌。
我领导的将是一个负责任的政府，将投入于经济成长及控制债务。
一个负责任的政府财政是我的底线。
我在涉及财政方面是保守的。我生长于一个基督教长老会派的家庭，我们家奉行量入为出的原则。作为一个国家我们也应当量入为出。
我们工党对这一点非常明白。上一届工党政府执政时，每一年我们的预算都有盈余。
当你回顾历届政府所为，国家党治下我国的经济成长平均只有2.7%，而工党治下，成长率是3.9%。
这是一个出色的成绩，未来的工党政府还将继续交出同样出色的答卷。
这也是为什么工党看重低费用的创新举措的原因。
就以我们降低电费的计划来说吧：设立作为唯一买手的纽西兰电业局不需要花多少钱，却能创造很大效益。每户家庭的电费平均每年可降至230至330纽元。
商企每年则能节省5%至7%电费。
独立经济学家组织BERL已对这个政策作过审，他们认为这项政策将提升我国GDP至4.5亿纽元，并创造至少5000个工作岗位。
同样，我们旨在帮助国人解决住房问题的计划将令10万新西兰人住上适价房。KiwiBuild（新西兰建造）计划简单明了，它靠时间推移自筹资金，让人们实现居者有其屋的梦想。
这个计划也将有力促进经济增长并创造上万就业及培训机会。
诸如此类的政策有益于老百姓、也有益于我们的国家。（霍建强议员办公室 供稿）
By David Shearer
Labour Leader
Next week, Bill English will deliver his fifth Budget.
It will contain a lot of fine words about business growth agendas and progress reports.
But there will be something missing.
People.
This Budget won’t have anything in it to help people get jobs, buy a house, pay their bills or to stop them moving to Australia in search of better opportunities.
John Key made a lot of promises when he came to power five years ago.
He said there would be more jobs, higher wages and that he’d close the gap between the wealthy and those people who are struggling to make ends meet.
But he has failed to deliver. He has let New Zealanders down.
Times have been tough around the world. We know that. But other countries have turned the corner. Why haven’t we?
I believe New Zealand can do better. But we need to make changes. We cannot continue along as we have, slowly stagnating, sliding down the global rankings.
We must be forward looking. We must focus on what works and be prepared to make the fundamental changes needed to get our country growing again. We can’t just drift along on the back of false promises.
I believe in New Zealand. We are a country of unique optimism and opportunity for all people. But I believe we need to do better.
We need better education to unlock opportunities for everyone.
We need a better economy, built on our skills, creativity, science, our commitment to hard work and our natural advantages.
We can do better for our people.
That’s why my Government will put people at the heart of everything we do.
Under my leadership, we will create an economy that grows businesses and high value, well-paid jobs.
We will tackle the problems that hold our economy back, like the high and volatile dollar which is crippling our exporters and the lack of investment in our businesses.
We’ve got new, bold ideas that will improve lives without pushing the country further into debt.
My Government will be smart, active and hands-on. It will use the power only a Government has to make a real difference to people’s lives.
I’ll run a responsible Government that invests in growth and controls debt.
A bottom line for me is being fiscally responsible.
I’m a fiscal conservative. I grew up in a Presbyterian household where we saved up and lived within our means. As a country we must live within our means too.
We understand that in Labour. In the last Labour Government, we produced Budget surpluses every year.
When you look back over all governments, growth under National has been just 2.7%. Under Labour governments, it was 3.9%.
That is a strong record and one we are committed to continuing under the future Labour Government.
That’s why Labour is focused on smart ideas that don’t cost a lot.
Take our plan to bring down power bills. It won’t cost much to set up the single buyer NZ Power, but it creates big benefits. The annual average household power bill will come down by between $230 and $330 a year.
Businesses will save between 5-7% on their power bills.
Independent economists BERL have reviewed the policy and they believe it will lift GDP by $450 million and create at least 5000 jobs.
It’s the same with our plan to help 100,000 Kiwi families into affordable homes. KiwiBuild is simple. It funds itself over time and will help people realise their dream of home ownership.
It’ll also provide a real boost to the economy and create thousands of jobs and training opportunities.
These kinds of policies are good for people and good for our economy.
.jpg)
