Bennett PaulaHon PAULA BENNETT (Deputy Prime Minister): Well that member Jenny Salesa talked about planets. I would suggest it is time that she visited planet Earth for there she will find a families package. That member had the audacity to stand up in this House and talk about a Budget that was not delivering—her words—for low-income people.It is with absolute pride that I stand here in support of Steven Joyce's first Budget and talk about a families package that is delivering literally billions of dollars into the pockets of some of our lower-income people in New Zealand. This Budget is about giving back to New Zealanders when times are a bit better—yes? It is what we do in our own households it is what we should do as a Government and it is certainly what we should do with the Government's purse for after all it is not actually our money that we are spending; it is the money of other hard-working New Zealanders—business out there and small businesses I would like to say.So many of those businesses are taking risks employing people and putting a bit of money away for a rainy day. We have seen record numbers of people come off benefits in the last few years and they are finding employment. Under the leadership of Bill English and with a Minister of Finance like Steven Joyce we are now able to let those New Zealanders reap the rewards of their hard work and see some of the benefits of it and actually we really also support those who are on lower incomes including those on benefits—and I want to go there a bit more.Steven Joyce has really delivered—you have got to give it to the bloke. He has really delivered on this Budget and for literally millions of New Zealanders. He has delivered a package that puts cash in people's pockets—and here is the man of the moment now. It is easier talking about him when he is not in the room. There are families sitting in their homes right now listening to this that would have applauded with them Mr Joyce—applauded with your own caucus. That is what they would have done.I jest but I do not because this is actually a Budget that literally has been supporting families and hard-working New Zealanders. It invests in vital public services. As we see—being a really really lucky country that people want to stay in and move to instead of a country that people want to move from—we are now in the position of having to deliver more in public services and that is absolutely what this Budget did.We have heard a lot during this debate and a lot of that talking New Zealand down—you know talking down the benefits of being in a country that is actually as awesome as this one is where people are doing well where they are getting ahead where they have got a Government that supports them and where out of this Budget they are going to get more money in their pockets which makes a huge difference particularly for those who are on lower incomes and who are struggling a bit. This means literally a huge and significant difference for them.So there is a family in west Auckland—you know a good old Waitakere family. They are going to sit there after this Budget and with the increases in the accommodation supplement and the differences in the tax thresholds they are going to see 155 bucks a week more in their pocket.Hon Member: How much?Hon PAULA BENNETT: 155 bucks a week. And I heard one of the Opposition members at one stage literally say that that was not a lot of money. Having $155 a week more in your household budget Labour is a lot of money. That is a lot of money in anyone's terms.I cannot help but talk a bit about police—why would I not? We are absolutely seeing $500 million more go into the New Zealand Police. Actually it is a $2 billion justice package that is there. That is 1125 more police. That is actually an increase of 10 percent—a 10 percent increase in our police numbers. That is about keeping our communities safer and that makes a huge difference.I do want to break that down. That means another 140 rural officers—out in the heartland of this country working alongside those very people who are the salt of the earth and making a difference every day policing our communities. That means 95 percent of all New Zealanders are going to live within 25 kilometres of a 24/7 working station. That is huge that is significant and that makes a real difference.I want to just acknowledge some of my ministerial colleagues here particularly Anne Tolley and Amy Adams who are doing such great work in family violence. This money for police means they can play their part in that work around family harm. I tell you what when police are going to more than 100000 incidents of family harm a year and actually going in there they are more often than not going in and sorting the situation out as it is and trying to do the follow-up work but then they are on to the next one. Having these extra police will fundamentally mean that they can embrace the social investment approach which means working more extensively with other professionals to get the right support in at the right time and over a longer period. It is literally going to save lives.This Budget means an additional 74 specialist investigators for child protection and sexual assault. That work is really hard and unfortunately necessary so we are putting those people and those specialists in place as they are needed. It means 12 more mobile policing units—these are cool. They go around your district they literally get into communities and they are doing preventative work they are doing education work and obviously they can also be deployed when you need a larger number of police in an emergency situation. Having 12 more of them means that all of New Zealand will benefit from those mobile policing units being able to get out there and around.There has been a bit of talk lately about police pursuits and that comes up from time to time. It is a tricky one. It is safety first and no one wants to see police pursuing people in a dangerous manner that leads to a loss of life or to injury. But equally you cannot not do pursuits because otherwise people will know that they can take off and that the police cannot chase them and it will be all right. Having a 24/7 Eagle helicopter is the answer to that at some level. So this Budget is actually going to be paying for the Eagle helicopter which can then be looking at those vehicles that are taking off amongst other things and ultimately stop those police pursuits which can be a bit dangerous because you have got that eye looking after them.I have got a lot that I could say about policing. Equally I have got a lot that I could say about tourism and the $100 million in infrastructure spend that colleagues is coming to a community near you any day now—any day now. Already 14 projects have been funded. We have got more than 20 in the mix with $5.5 million and I can tell you I am so looking forward to working with local government and those local tourism operators on how we spend that money.But it is the Family Incomes Package that I want to end on in the couple of minutes that I have got left. I mean I was the Minister for Social Development for quite some time and then even as Minister for Social Housing I worked with that accommodation supplement. I will be the first to tell you that I struggled with it because it is expensive to give people extra money into their pocket but so necessary. You know through the global financial crisis we could not do it. We had to maintain benefits but we could not get that extra which quite frankly people needed.That extra money in the accommodation supplement is going to make a huge huge difference for those families that need it most. The Opposition can ignore it. It can pretend that we have not delivered and keep saying that this is not actually delivering for New Zealanders but those New Zealanders know what a difference that even 40 bucks a week can make let alone—for some of them—well over $100 a week for those who are worst off. Yes the tax thresholds make a difference but man those Working for Families changes will help those who have got children and are really struggling to make ends meet.But let us not finish on what I say for my short time as I stand here talking about this Budget. Let us instead finish on some other people's words. This is not just a Budget that has prioritised family. This is not just a Budget that has prioritised public services. This is not just a Budget that has dealt with infrastructure and roading and broadband and health and education and the list goes on. This is a Budget that is actually delivering for everybody. I will end with the words of others. Business New Zealand said: Business welcomes the spending on transport and tourism infrastructure help for exporters and co-funding for greater research and development through Callaghan Innovation. This is judicious investment in high-growth areas of the economy." Murray Brewer from Grant Thornton said: "The Government is cutting income tax for individuals to provide greater rewards for low and middle-income earners and this will support long-run economic performance." and the Salvation Army said: "Budget 2017 delivers a substantial boost to low-income working families."I am incredibly proud to be part of this National-led Government I am incredibly proud to be a colleague of Steven Joyce's and I congratulate him on his first Budget and what an outstanding job he has done for New Zealanders."