Penk ChrisHon CHRIS PENK (National—Kaipara ki Mahurangi): Thank you very much Madam Speaker. I hope this will be better—as they say. This Government was elected on a platform to get New Zealand back on track. And while that particular phrase was the plank of the National Party's manifesto and policies leading up to the election I do want to just take a moment to acknowledge our coalition partners in New Zealand First and the ACT Party for their constructive contribution to the Government of this country. I have been enjoying working alongside them and will continue to do so.Being back on track means specifically rebuilding the economy; restoring law and order; and providing quality services that New Zealanders expect and deserve particularly health and education but a couple of other critical ones too. And of course the connection between these things is that we can't even hope to provide better services in health and education or for that matter restore law and order unless we have an economy that is rebuilt that is sufficiently robust that does provide the revenue for those services to be provided by Government. So that's the overall context in which this Budget is being debated and that will be the overall theme of my remarks even as I delve into a couple of areas where I want to point out some of the Government's work as reflected in the Budget in portfolios that I'm privileged to hold for the time being.Of course like any Budget it is criticised from the left and the right. I think that we have—if I may say—done a very good job of adopting a measured approach. But more importantly even than being measured and moderate in the way that we are governing New Zealand it is a measuring approach. We are interested in the outcomes we are interested in the effects actually of the spending that the Government of New Zealand does on behalf of its people. It is important that we improve the outcomes in health and education not merely spend money in the mere hope that those outcomes might somehow magically be improved. So in that context the Better Public Service targets and the very specific measurable outcomes that we are aiming to achieve in health and education and in other key areas of New Zealand life are really important and must be seen alongside the Budget measures themselves that we are debating today. Therefore I would highlight to the House it's not just what's in the Budget but also the things that the Budget allows by way of policy development that actually makes it easier for things to happen in the real world that aren't necessarily the result of Government spending.I'm going to start on the subject of veterans. It's a portfolio about which I'm very passionate and I know others in this House are including my colleague and friend Dr Vanessa Weenink. And I was very pleased and indeed grateful that there was an uplift in the Budget for Veterans' Affairs as part of Vote Defence in which an additional $4 million was provided over four years. And that was very particularly for the purpose of improving the processing of claims where people have served our country are eligible under the Veterans' Support Act—and I see the Hon Peeni Henare nodding and I thank him for that acknowledgment and actually our interaction at the select committee in the first scrutiny week to follow. But it's so important that people who make claims and have a reasonable expectation and a legal obligation actually on behalf of the State for those claims to be met and processed in a reasonable time that that actually happens. So we're putting in a bit of additional money for that to be facilitated.But I'm very clear as the Minister and Veterans' Affairs are clear too that we can and must do much better and that includes by way of improving and upgrading the system and doing things in a more efficient and productive way. So that's ongoing work but it was reflected as a Government priority to provide better services by that additional funding that was provided. And along with that it's the partial—for now partial—restoration of the Veterans' Independence Programme; the VIP services. And we would love to be able to restore that fully as time and funds permit. But as I say to have at least some step in the right direction by way of funding and by way of system improvement for those who have served our nation including in the various battles and operations that are reflected around these walls is important to the Government and it's important to me.I do also want to acknowledge—on the subject of veterans and going into defence—since the last time I spoke in this House we have a new Chief of Defence Force. I congratulate Air Vice-Marshal Tony Davies on his new role. There'll be other senior leaders in the Defence Force who are appointed in due course. We thank them for their service along with every soldier sailor and aviator who serves our country. We know in the context of the recent Budget there was an additional amount of spending that was obtained and I congratulate and thank the Minister of Defence Judith Collins for going into bat for our people.But it's no secret all the same that times are tough. And that's the case across New Zealand public life and of course in the private sphere too. And the Defence Force isn't immune to those cost pressures. If we think about additional cost of fuel and other factors that are frankly outside the control of the New Zealand Defence Force—being asked to do more with less is an unfortunate reality of many spheres of New Zealand life at this stage. I know that they are undertaking the exercise of reprioritising and ensuring that Government outcomes can be met in the best way possible and I wish them luck with that endeavour. And I know that the Government will support them in any decisions that they can make to those ends. And I'm really confident because of the quality of personnel we have in our Defence Force that they will do the best possible job with that even as we rebuild the Defence Force and as I say rebuild the economy and provide those better services of health and education in particular.I'd like to touch as well on the Land Information portfolio. And it's not often front of centre in this House—whether it's at question time or the subject of other debates but damn it all I've got 10 minutes on the Budget and I'm going to talk about it. No one can stop me for the next four minutes and four seconds! Which is to invite a point of order isn't it but I'm giving them no—Camilla Belich: How much did it get in the Budget?Hon CHRIS PENK: Well interesting you ask about the Budget Madam Speaker—well not you obviously asking but the Opposition because there are very key priorities in this portfolio that again aren't mentioned much in this House but are actually hugely significant for New Zealand Inc. One of them is the project known as SouthPAN and that's a satellite system that we're doing in conjunction with Australia. We're providing 25 percent of the cost of that; Australia's stumping up obviously the other three-quarters and we're going to get a 50/50 share in that—a pretty good deal if you ask me. Not often you can get more out of the Australians than you put in but well done to whoever's been involved in that project along the way from the Land Information side. That's ongoing work that's important work that's going to have huge benefits some of which we can appreciate and understand now; others won't have even occurred to us. But to be able to have satellite systems measuring global positioning within 10 centimetres will be a game changer for many different industries and operators in New Zealand and in Australia too for that matter. So that's important work that's ongoing.So too is the upgrade of the Landonline system that's to do with processing property titles and so on. These are important greasing of wheels of commerce and the economy and society indeed more generally because private property rights are an important part of any functioning democracy. The Budget continues to fund the Overseas Investment Office—that's a crucial aspect of New Zealand's foreign direct investment regime. Frankly we need more of it. We need more people who want to invest in this country being able to do so. And it's not particularly because that's helpful to them—it might be; that's all well and good—but actually New Zealand needs the foreign direct investment. We need that capital to build infrastructure and other facilities in New Zealand that are sadly lacking and have been lacking for far too many years.In terms of building and construction again the Budget continues to allow some great policy work that's been done by our friends in the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment to continue so Government priorities are supported along the lines of coming up with good policy in relation to remote visual inspections for consents; opening up building products liberalising that regime to ensure better choice and competition for New Zealand consumers; the so-called granny flats" policy—a real crowd pleaser. So again good policy doesn't need to cost more money we just need to focus the State towards the better outcomes that New Zealanders demand. But the Budget continues the funding for those who are doing this valuable work and I thank them for it.Finally in terms of the Budget and also future budgets—if I can glimpse into the future—we know that much more is needed on our defence estate. That's one of the particular delegations that I have as the Associate Minister of Defence under Judith Collins. We know that our construction sector too is crying out for work at the moment. These are dark days for those who would build things in this country. We can help to solve a couple of problems at once by building infrastructure including accommodation but other facilities too that our women and men of the New Zealand Defence Force expect and deserve. We can prioritise those things we will prioritise those things. The Budget in itself points the way ahead to a much better future for our New Zealand Defence Forces. And of course with the Defence Capability Plan shortly due to come out as well we'll have a road map that enables the future spending to be done in a coherent fashion that enables the Government's outcomes to be met in relation to foreign relations and of course but more particularly national security.So on that note I finish as I started by emphasising those key Government themes. If we're to rebuild the economy restore law and order and provide the health and education services this country needs we'll do it through this Budget and future ones and get New Zealand back on track."