Ross Jami-Lee: Budget DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeRoss Jami-Lee: Budget Debate[Sitting date: 26 May 2015. Volume:705;Page:3977. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]JAMI-LEE ROSS (National—Botany): It is interesting following Ron Mark from the New Zealand First Party. You would think it was single-handedly responsible for all the good things that might have happened in the policing budget in New Zealand’s history. In fact the last time that police numbers were increased in this country New Zealand First was not even in Parliament. New Zealand First was not even in Parliament because it got turfed out after its shoddy dealings in Parliament between 2005 and 2008.This Government I have to say to Mr Mark is delivering for New Zealanders in the law and order sector. Crime is down by 20 percent Mr Mark. If you want to talk to police officers come to Counties Manukau and I will put you in front of a whole lot of police officers who will say that they are working hard every single day to get crime down. The disrespect shown by members like Mr Mark who are saying that police officers are not getting crime down I think is shameful. Our police do an excellent job. Crime is down by 20 percent and 600 extra police officers have been delivered by this Government. Crime is at a 35-year low. This Budget backs up the police through the funding they require to do their job and on this side of the House we are proud of the things we are doing for police and for New Zealanders when it comes to law and order. I did not intend to start my speech by talking about law and order but after listening to the drivel from Ron Mark I simply had to respond. He is wrong and New Zealanders know it.I want to join with my colleagues in congratulating the Hon Bill English on delivering his seventh Budget. I had the pleasure last night of delivering a presentation to my local Rotary club about Budget 2015. It showed many of the slides and graphs about how we are tracking as a country compared with other countries how we have responsibly kept spending in check and how we are getting our country back to a position where it can start to pay down the debt incurred when we had to borrow during the global financial crisis. The fact is that wages in this country are going up employment is coming down and more New Zealanders are able to get into work put food on the table for their families and ultimately live a better life.It is good when one looks properly at the graphs around this Budget. There was an executive summary with a whole lot of information in a visual format which is quite easy for taxpayers to look at. When you look at the spending that we have been tracking and following for the last 7 years compared with the very large amounts of additional expenditure that Labour was putting into its Budgets you can see that this Government has been extremely responsible during tough times. New Zealanders have tightened their belts in a huge way as well and we should be congratulating New Zealanders on what they have done to try to help this country get back into a better fiscal position.I have actually brought the graph along with me. When one looks at the 2008 year when Labour was spending $7 billion extra that is in fact more in 1 year than what we have spent in additional spending in all of our Budgets put together. That is responsible spending and it is only through that responsible spending that we see wages go up. Wages are expected to go up by $7000 on average for New Zealanders over the next 4 years. If we put that together with the fact that wages have gone up by $6000 in the past 4 years we see that that is a $13000 average increase over that 8-year period for New Zealanders. That accounts for about a 25 percent increase in wages for New Zealanders.But the news gets better for New Zealanders because over that same 8-year period inflation will have tracked up by only about 14 percent. So New Zealanders are actually getting wealthier. New Zealanders are seeing more money in their pockets. Inflation is low in this country and that is a good thing for New Zealanders. We are seeing wages going up and I say to those people who go out there and like to give the police a hard time that when they are talking to the police about all the good work the police are doing they should go and talk to New Zealanders too about whether they are seeing more money in their back pockets because the answer absolutely is yes.The fact that inflation in this country is pretty low at the moment has its positives and it also has its negatives. One of the negatives unfortunately for the Government is that it has not seen the amount of revenue that it was expecting. Yes we have not been able to post a surplus this year as we were hoping to. We are expecting to post that next year.When other members get up on their hind legs in this House and complain that we have not posted a surplus this year that we are supposedly not doing enough for families in hardship and that they want to spend more money in other areas of the Budget—and at the same time say we should not have removed the KiwiSaver kick-start—I say to those members that they simply cannot have everything. They simply cannot have all those things on their wish list go to the public and credibly say that they can put together a Budget properly. Look at the things on their wish list and the fact that they complain that we do not spend enough in certain areas and that we should not be cutting back in other areas. To get a balanced Budget there are a whole lot of things that have to come together and Bill English has been able to do that.I am also very proud that for the first time in 43 years we have a Government that is willing to increase benefit rates. Whilst New Zealanders in work are seeing on average their wages going up the fact of the matter is that there is a range of New Zealanders who are in hardship and do need more assistance. Unashamedly this Government is prepared to step up to the plate and invest in the areas where New Zealanders need it. The Hon Anne Tolley has been pushing hard for some time—alongside the Prime Minister I must add—to see those increases to assist those who are most in need.I have to say that it is not actually the parents who are getting the benefit that we are really looking out for here. It is in fact the children in those families who will benefit from those increases through the welfare system. If the children who are most in need and who are living in families in hardship do not get the assistance they require—for example children who may have seen their families interact with Child Youth and Family or the corrections system or their families may have been on a benefit for a long period of time—then it is those children right at the bottom there who are at most risk in our society and they are the children who need the most investment by Government and by New Zealanders as well.There are 160000 families in this country that will benefit from this $790 million package. Some may think it is unusual for a National Government to be doing it but I have to say that if there is one thing that they have not worked out yet about John Key it is the fact that he is willing to step up to put the money of the Government where his mouth is and he is prepared to invest in areas where New Zealanders need and require investment. This Government is delivering for those people.I also want to touch just briefly on the housing area in my last 2 minutes because housing is a significant issue for Auckland. Ultimately we still stand by our view that the housing supply needs to increase. We are seeing housing increase at a very fast rate. When we came into office 200 houses per month were being built in Auckland. Now 750 houses per month are being built in Auckland. The supply of housing is increasing quite rapidly. The special housing areas are seeing more houses being built as well. There are about 40000-odd sections that have been made available for the special housing areas. New Zealanders have been giving us a clear message—and it is one that we have been listening to—that we need to do more about those who are buying and selling properties and effectively speculating through the property system. The fact that we are now stepping up and clarifying the tax situation for New Zealanders and clearly outlining that those who trade property within 2 years regardless of their intention will now be taxed is I think a very positive thing and one that shows that we are a Government that does listen to New Zealanders.Hon David Cunliffe: It took 7 years.JAMI-LEE ROSS: Although David Cunliffe the man opposite who just spoke out wanted to go to New Zealanders with an unworkable full-scale capital gains tax again we are doing things in a measured way in a way in which New Zealanders understand and appreciate and in a way that will make it easy for New Zealanders to understand their tax obligations. Also alongside the requirement for IRD numbers to be provided for those offshore who are buying properties this measure will see more impact on the housing market which will benefit Auckland and ultimately all New Zealanders. I commend this Budget to the House. It is a very good one. Thank you.