This is the full text of the Budget economic debate that took place in the House of Assembly on Friday.

Finance Minister Eugene Cox is a “miracle man” and Government's budget reflected “the vision of the Progressive Labour Party (PLP)” and the “aspirations of the people of Bermuda”, Home Affairs Minister Terry Lister told the House of Assembly.

“I've heard nonsense today about we've raised too much money... Have you ever heard such nonsense? Mr. Cox has raised the money we need.”

He added: “I remember when the people lined this House and demanded that the (former UBP government) budget be rolled back and it was,” he said.

Government had reduced the debt from $147 million to $123 million, proof that the PLP's stewardship of the economy had been prudent, he said.

He derided electoral scare tactics used by the party's political opponents.

“What happened to all that bogeyman stuff we heard ?” There had been no flight of capital and people, he said. “If that were true I wouldn't have much work because the people are leaving. Mr. Speaker you don't know how hard I work.”

Mr. Cox had to admit he had brought in more money than he expected, he said. “Can President Bush say that ?” interjected backbencher Dale Butler. “Can Blair say that ?”

Mr. Lister reminded the House that retail sales, international business spending and employment in the sector had all increased. “We were supposed to mess it up but we made things work.”

And responding to criticism that an additional $100 million had been added to the tax burden since 1999, Mr. Lister pointed out that a four percent rise in employment income would balance it out.

“Inflation rate is only 2.3 percent this year, 2.5 percent last year. Is anybody here embarrassed?” he added. “The things that drive it up we can't control. President Bush wants to have a war, so we might have a little inflation but it's imported inflation.”

He promised more of the same policies “when” his party won the next election.

The fact that loans taken by Bermudians and non-Bermudians were up six percent and 25 percent respectively showed that there was confidence in the future, the Minister said.

The Opposition was attempting the impossible in its criticism. “They trying to take this juicy apple and turn it into a sour lemon... It can't be done,” Mr. Lister said. “We have an economy that can be compared to any country in the world. Name a country you want to compare us with and we will stand tall.”

Mr. Lister defended the growth of jobs in the civil service, saying that the new Government had found too many people working as temps and not having the same pension benefits as permanent staff.

Many temps had been made permanent, he explained. “The people's government stepped in and dealt with the needs of these people.”

An additional 104 jobs had been added in Education, for which the PLP made no apology, he said.

Mr. Lister acknowledged that 13 Government departments had overspent their budgets but reminded the House that the PLP had started with three years of UBP overspending.

And he tore into UBP promises saying they had promised an office of economic empowerment before but never delivered and that the PLP had taken it up from their first day in Government.

Bermuda's tourism performance was better than most other destinations, he pointed out. Swiss tourism declined 35 percent last year while Bermuda went up six percent, he offered by way of example.

UBP's mainstreaming of special needs children had been a “disaster all around” for many children, Mr. Lister said.

And Government was making no apologies for providing money to set up a special school and a gifted children programme.

As he expressed his amazement that his Ministry was allotted more than ten hours in the forthcoming Budget debate, Mr. Lister denied the Government had been soft on crime.

“There is always alarm and outrage in the community when outrageous crimes take place, but the reality is violent crime is at its lowest level since 1999,” he said. “If Bermuda was not a good place to be, we wouldn't have 26 percent of jobs held by non-Bermudians.

“As this Government continues, we are dealing with the issue.”

Mr. Lister also said the Government is developing a Department of Court Services and had allotted more money for training programmes for prison inmates.

“The Opposition is failing to understand we are doing things. That's what this Government is all about,” he said.

“The Opposition is talking about in the future, they will mandate rehabilitation, but Mr. Speaker, do you remember me passing this legislation in June... They must have been away that week,” said Mr. Lister. “The country needs better political accountability than that.

“This is the Budget for the future which puts an emphasis on the needs of the youth. This budget is to build a Bermuda for all, a foundation for the future.”

Opposition Whip Maxwell Burgess said while he had seen “all kinds of budgets” in his political career: “I have come to realise that promises made at night must be kept in the day.

“When the delivery date comes, what can those persons to whom promises were made can expect?” he asked. “As we speak, Land Tax has increased by 52 percent under the present Government... All too many Bermudians, particularly blacks, have a burden with their wealth being tied up in real estate. While they are paying these taxes out of their pockets, they've had their incomes suppressed by rent control on the other hand,” he said.

Mr. Burgess also said Government had put a “concrete block” on seniors who relied on rents to assist them to lead a reasonable life because of the expansion of rent control. He also accused the Government of depleting the Island's middle class.

“The burden of payroll tax has increased by 27 percent. The middle class are not so middle anymore. What made us the envy of the world was our middle class. Now that's slipping away.”

The Opposition also criticised the Government for not giving back some of the $30 million surplus it earned.

“They could have given some back to our seniors, but no. They said, ‘This is all mine'.”

And he said certain sectors of the community such as taxi drivers should have seen rollbacks in this year's Budget.

Mr. Burgess also called for structural changes on the Island which he said would help boost tourism.

“If not, tourism in the 22nd Century will look like that of the 20th Century.

“We live at the standard we do because of international business. I would not be surprised if the two percent increase in tourism came from offshore business,” he said. “We've got to ask ourselves where do we want to be?”

While Mr. Burgess said he was excited when he heard new Housing Minister David Burch talk about bringing forth crooks, he suggested the same energy Mr. Burch was using to gather arrears should be used to bring crooks before the courts.

“Why are they continuing to run free? “ he asked. “It seems to me if these crooks are brought forward, people can have their mortgages redrawn because the cost of owning a house is now lower.”

Government would rather litigate than negotiate where the long-running dispute over television service to the hospital is involved, but if the issue was settled, more money would be brought to the hospital's coffers when people subscribed for the service.

He also questioned why Government continued to pour money into the National Drug Commission (NDC) when the agency was not effective.

“It's critically important to understand that what's worked in the past is not working now.”

Wayne Perinchief (PLP) said the electorate should be aware of the undertones of the Opposition's Budget reply.

Calling the beginning of the Reply divisive, Mr. Perinchief took issue that the Opposition refers to a “Smith government in the document”.

“I want to make the public aware of what I see to be divisive, covert and overt racism,” he said. “It appears to me that in their reply the work “black” seems to be a theme for political advantage.

“This is a Budget reply. Why would anyone do this?”

The backbencher also questioned why race was being highlighted in the Opposition's response:”Why this constant harping on colour? Are people not selected on their ability? Is it important to have one black, one white, one yellow? If you picked the best person for the job, wouldn't you have diversity?

“Bermudians are long past the stage where they select people because of colour. That is patronising, despairingly, and disgusting.”

He called the UBP hypocrites for saying Government relied on international business, when they developed the concept.

The PLP had not had a good press because people were fearful of them but “Bermudians need to give us byes another chance - we're going to give you another good Budget”.

Government had been “beaten up” for spending money, but it had been in areas like education.

The UBP had attacked unemployment insurance because there was full employment, but did not understand that those in hospitality often only worked for seven months of the year.

“I wouldn't expect the UBP to look after the workers' needs. The rich man can't feel the pain of the poor man. The new UBP? Give me a break.”

Jamahl Simmons (UBP) said voters wanted a change to get rid of the “yes men” and replace them with people who have backbone, and he accused the PLP of changing because its members now had a few dollars.

“There has been a lot of arrogant boasting and bragging from a government that is out of touch. This (Budget) is the last gasp desperation of a government trying to cling to a shred of power with the very little dignity they have left,” he said.

Government was “soft on crime” and the “drug dealers and violent criminals know the deal - they are running things now”.

Life would mean life for capital offences under the UBP. There would be no second chances for murderers because their victims didn't get a second chance.

More Police were needed on the streets yet Government budgeted for more “white collar” Police in the financial crime unit.

Government continued to cover-up the report into whether Government MP Arthur Pitcher exposed his workers to asbestos at Southside. The report was commissioned years ago yet had still not been made public.

The PLP had a history of broken promises and continued to blame everyone from the media and the Police to the wider community, rather than accept responsibility for their own mistakes.

Transport Minister Ewart Brown said that if the last PLP budget took the wind out the sails of the UBP, this one took down the sails completely.

The UBP's reply had “no oomph, no push, no drive, no power, no sting, no burn”. The most telling sentence in the UBP reply to the budget was the last one - ‘This time it will be for everyone'.

“Who was it for the last time? In the past the Budget has not been for everyone. It must have been for a select few,” said Dr, Brown.

“They could have gone out to the people of Bermuda and apologised for the many, many years it was not for everyone. They could have apologised for blurring the line that's supposed to be between Government and business.

“They could have apologised that Parliament was only a place to ratify decisions that were made in other places. They could have apologised for not making the House a real place of business and relegating it to a place of mere ratification.”

White Bermudians had “automatically” enjoyed privilege and continued to do so. “When you are used to something and you have had it for hundreds of years, and when you don't get what you are used to, you believe someone else has done you an injustice, someone has withdrawn your privilege. When they don't get privilege, they believe we are taking are of ourselves.”

The Chamber of Commerce and Bermuda International Business Association had all said the PLP was doing well running the economy, he said.

It remained to be seen if the UBP had changed, but he warned: “Black faces in high places do not a new policy make”

The PLP made a clear distinction between Government and business. Government was supportive of business, but the two were separate.

“If previous governments found a construction company was in trouble financially, it was consistent with their position to bail the company out with millions of dollars, because the business was Government and Government was the business, so you had to help yourself.”

Under the UBP, the House of Assembly was an “extension of Front Street,” he said looking round at all the white portraits on the wall of the Chamber.

He said he could not believe black UBP members had supported part of the Opposition reply which said the PLP got into power because people voted with their hearts.

“That is interpreted on our side as insulting. It implies the heart had a role in decisions but the head did not.”

For the PLP, the heart and head were in the same place when making decisions. Those who couldn't understand this were “heartless”. Dr Brown said the PLP would be in power forever, if the UBP did not grasp this.

“When someone says to us ‘you made a decision with your heart' we say ‘and...What's wrong with that?' We were taught that that's at the centre of it all.

“We make no apology for the part played by the heart. I believe our supporters voted with their hearts and their minds and believe it is OK for the heart and the mind to speak with one voice to elect the government of the day. If you (the UBP), think you can erase that component, we are guaranteed further victories.”

The economy was in strong shape and Government had embarked on a policy of “compensatory economics - compensating for the injustices of the past. We have to compensate for the history, and I'm sure that doesn't take any elaboration,” he said.

The PLP was providing housing, while in 1998 before the election, the UBP was demolishing housing. When UBP members pointed out it was crack houses being torn down, Dr. Brown said it was addicts, not concrete, who had a drug problem.

“That lack of understanding of the issues is the difference between the two parties.”

Dr. Brown was dismissive of UBP complaints that Government suppressed official reports rather than making them public.

“We decide when a report comes out, and regardless of what the Opposition might say, the reason that they are less informed is that they are over there (in opposition) and we are over there (in government),” he said.

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