Webb DuncanHon Dr DUNCAN WEBB (Labour—Christchurch Central): Thank you for the indulgence Mr Speaker. This Taxation (Budget Measures) Bill is a centrepiece of this Government's Budget. What it amounts to is a borrow-and-burn Budget. These tax measures are costing the Government $3.6 billion. Where's it coming from? Where is the $3.6 billion coming from? This Government is now borrowing—borrowing—more money than any other Government before. The debt—there's going to be $9.2 billion in financing costs. The suggestion that this Government is not borrowing for its tax package is absolutely laughable. There are two sides of the ledger: one of them has got borrowing" on them one of them has got this tax package on the other. The $3.2 billion has to come from somewhere. If you didn't spend $3.2 billion on this tax package that's $3.2 billion that you wouldn't have to spend.We know what's going to happen. I've seen the Minister of Finance say with a straight face an expressionless face that this won't be inflationary. But the fact is that when you put $3.2 billion into the economy it is going to be spent. That is economic vandalism. That is borrowing and burning.What's more they say "Don't worry we've found money. Somehow we've magicked up some money by doing things like cutting unnecessary programmes."—stealing from the climate fund. You know the country is burning and you've just thrown some gasoline on it. It's absolutely outrageous. "Oh we've found something to cut. Let's take a sandwich out of the kids' school lunches." You know that's basically what they've done. Those school lunches—I hope everyone in this House has gone and seen them—are good healthy balanced lunches with a with a range of food. Not anymore. It's going to be a Marmite sandwich. That's not a healthy school lunch—Carl Bates: My kids love them. A good Marmite sandwich—my kids love them.Hon Dr DUNCAN WEBB: His kids love them—that's what we've got. You know that's great for you but what I aspire to is giving kids lunches which are fully rounded and nourishing. And this Government is cutting lunches in half. [Interruption]SPEAKER: Yeah—that's enough. Just carry on; we'll just have a bit of quiet. Thank you.Hon Dr DUNCAN WEBB: And of course free prescriptions. This is how he finds money—a mostly five buck surcharge. Those members—that Government—wants to cut that five buck surcharge knowing that our most needy New Zealanders will walk past the pharmacy because they haven't got the five bucks to pay for their medicine to pay for their antibiotics for their lung infection to pay for their pain medication—all of those things that not only make their lives better but also make them less costly to the New Zealand Government in the long run. So I am surprised and appalled that that is the approach being taken.Chlöe Swarbrick made a good point. Child poverty indicators—if you have a look at the child poverty report that came out which is premised on this Budget and these tax measures the child poverty measures are going up. Child poverty is increasing. That is the choice that this Government is making—that children will be in material hardship. They choose that because they want to buy some lollies with the grocery money effectively. They want a sugar hit and that's what they've done with this tax package. We know what child poverty leads to—we know. There's actually a reason why they're spending hundreds of millions of dollars building prison beds whilst child poverty is going up—because the two things are linked.So this is a Budget which isn't fiscally responsible which is needlessly increasing debt which is inflationary but what is worse is that it's harmful to our most vulnerable New Zealanders. It's a shameful Budget and it's a dark day where I stand here and watch that Government vote in favour of it. Thank you Mr Speaker."