Mark Ron; Tisch LindsayRON MARK (Deputy Leader—NZ First): Well I have got to start by saying that it is interesting being back in the House and the wonderful thing about this modern world is the connectivity that we have and the fact that we can connect up anywhere in the world through the internet and we can see things hear things that are thousands of miles away from us. The great thing was that I was able to sit there and watch the Rt Hon Winston Peters' reply to the Budget speech in the United States with family who are following New Zealand First online. The bad thing about connectivity and the internet is that you get to watch Steven Joyce deliver the Budget of all Disasters" and this is it. So it is a pleasure to be back here and to be speaking in the House but not so much a pleasure to be talking about this Budget.Let us have a look at this Budget. The first thing we look for is what is in it what is not in it and why and what should have been in it and why. The one thing that stands out—a couple of things that stood out to me in Steven Joyce's speech: he said that this is about delivering for New Zealanders delivering more public services the infrastructure the resilience and the incomes that they need to get ahead and provide for their families. What he did not say is that is "unless they live in the provinces and rural New Zealand."—that is in the regions. He went on to say: "This budget is about the opportunity we have to build on the platform we have all created and deliver greater prosperity for New Zealanders." What he should have said was "to deliver to foreign investors property speculators and financiers like the ones in my caucus." That is what he should have said.Looking at his speech—it is quite astounding actually—I go through page 8 and a couple of things leap out to me. Look at this: "$576 million for Defence Force upgrades $763 million for new prison capacity." Stop. What? This is in the same sentence in the same paragraph—$576 million for Defence Force upgrades and $763 million for a new prison at a time when crime is plummeting when there are fewer crimes being committed when the Government is trumpeting its success over the last 9 years in law and order. Why would they be building a new prison and spending more on prisons than they are on the Defence Force? It is absolutely mind-boggling for anyone in America to read this nonsense. There is "$63 million for Crown Irrigation to invest in new water"—sorry this is old money previously announced. If you have a quick look you will find that the Government keeps announcing these figures and not spending it. Not spending it—why? It is because the people who are wanting the money have got to put up the half—we know that. That is the sort of give with one hand and take back with both—give it with one hand from Steven and the Prime Minister takes it back with both.Then "$100 million for the Crown Land Programme"—old money re-announced—and "$450 million for KiwiRail for the rail network around New Zealand". "Hallelujah!" people say "This is great." But wait most of that goes on reparations for the Kaikōura earthquake. So we are left looking at two figures: $450 million for the KiwiRail network for the whole of provincial New Zealand—"$436 million for the first stage in Auckland's City Rail Link." For anyone in the provinces reading that one paragraph they have got it all. They know where the Government's priorities lie and they know where they do not lie. It is interesting when one has a quick look at the press release put out by the Rt Hon Winston Peters on 29 May which pretty much summed it up for Kaikōura people: "Kaikōura business people and residents hit hard by the recent earthquake have been dealt two new blows says New Zealand First. Like the rest of regional New Zealand they were virtually ignored in the Budget and face rates rises of around 6 per cent each year for four years." We are talking about business owners in Kaikōura facing ruin—some have gone many are just holding on while most homeowners and businesses have not got insurance payouts yet.It is interesting to note further down in the comments made by the Rt Hon Winston Peters: "It is disappointing to learn that too often at meetings"—and this is information direct from people in the provinces directly from the people in Kaikōura—"decision makers comment that Kaikōura businesses are falling over but new ones are starting". Well sorry what about the families of those businesses? Hello National: the party that once apparently used to represent small business and medium business; the party that once used to be interested in small-business people who employed other Kiwis. What about the families of those businesses that are falling over? What about the unsecured creditors? You see the people who make these types of comments so flippantly are the shining examples of the National Government's view of business their ethics and their values. The fact that a proud family business is forced to close its doors after decades of successfully operating in and serving its community means nought to Steven Joyce and means nought to this Government whose members have made their fortunes playing the spectrum market or clipping the ticket as bankers. Those people in National's caucus think nothing of a statement that says: "Well a few businesses in Kaikōura have fallen over but hey there's some new ones started up." They do not give a stuff about the unsecured creditors at all. These are members of the caucus who have never hammered a nail never turned a wrench and never welded a beam or toileted a patient. These are the reef fish of the New Zealand economy. These people see a closed family business in Kaikōura as an unfortunate piece of collateral damage and nothing to be concerned about. We in New Zealand First are appalled at that attitude. If we look at some of the other utterances and the statements that have been made by this Government I think one of the things that it needs to understand is that provincial New Zealand provides the backdrop. Provincial New Zealand provides the roads that the tourists travel on. Provincial New Zealand provides the scenery the visitor information network and the toilets. It deals with the freedom campers and it provides that local infrastructure that underpins the tourism market that this Government promotes internationally and pats itself on the back for increasing. Well that increase comes with a price tag that has to be borne by ratepayers taxpayers and provincial New Zealand. What does the Government get out of this? It was prattling on about the increase in tourism and how much its coffers are bulging through an increase in tourism with no mention of the amount of GST that it rakes off no mention about the cost to Masterton Martinborough Carterton the West Coast of the South Island Franz Josef Kaikōura or Bay of Plenty—no mention of the cost of the infrastructure bill that comes with that increased tourism. Oh no just pat yourself on the back National that you have increased tourism! It is as though there is no debit side to the ledger. Well the debit side to the ledger is carried by provincial New Zealanders and where are they represented in this Budget? Ha! Even the Government members are silent on that—not a mutter not a murmur out of them. They put their heads down behind their tables and they say naught because the sad reality is that they know that they could nominate a dead dog tie a blue ribbon round its neck call it "Bill" stand it in an election in provincial New Zealand and right up until 2017 it would have won. But there is a move coming. The move is coming built on the realisation of provincial New Zealand that they count for naught. Well now it is starting to get a little active. But have a look at what this Government has budgeted for Auckland. Compare it with what it has budgeted for the rail networks in Gisborne. Compare it with what it has not put in—you know where is the vision? For the amount of money that it is spending on roading it could actually extend this further. It could actually move the Auckland port up into Northland. It could actually relocate and free up land in the Auckland area something that Aucklanders would be happy about and something that would give Northland a hell of a shock to its economic arm. But the Government is not interested in that because it has no vision. It would rather focus on metropolitan areas because that is where its votes lie. It would rather focus on—well let us say it—those people who are funding its coffers and on that part of the electorate that is paying into its coffers for its campaign because that is where its resources and its votes lie. There is nothing for provincial New Zealand. Provincial New Zealand has woken up. Provincial New Zealand saw in what was achieved in Northland a hope and a vision for itself something that it once used to enjoy from a proud National Party. But that party is gone—long gone. And it is not just us saying it over here; this Budget says it. Rural New Zealanders are saying it. We have only got one thing to say: bring on that election. Bring on this Budget. Walk out on the election trails and wave it around and tell everybody that you are helping provincial New Zealand. From everything I have read in this Budget—and it did not take too long at all—there is nothing. What provincial New Zealand knows is that in biosecurity alone it is forgotten. Black-grass pea weevil myrtle rust velvetleaf and fruit fly: these are the legacy of the National Party on rural-provincial New Zealand and it will not forget it.The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch): The next call is a split call. Brett Hudson—5 minutes."