Ross Jami-Lee: Budget DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeRoss Jami-Lee: Budget Debate[Sitting date: 21 May 2014. Volume:699;Page:18183. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]JAMI-LEE ROSS (National—Botany): The Prime Minister was right when he said in question time that the Labour Party used to care. The Labour Party used to care about a growing economy. The Labour Party used to care about the welfare of New Zealanders. The Labour Party used to care about those who were down on their luck and needed help from the Government the most. But when we hear Labour Party MPs questioning popular and necessary Budget initiatives like free general practitioner visits for those under 13 when we hear Labour MPs wanting to impose more costs on New Zealanders wanting to buy homes when you hear Labour MPs now complaining about the fact that New Zealanders are voting with their feet and are staying in this country you have to wonder why the Labour Party is in such dire straits right now. It is because it simply does not get it any more.The Labour Party simply does not get it any more but New Zealanders do. New Zealanders get it right now because they understand that this economy is growing. They understand that more children are getting an education in this economy. They understand that more children are getting the health care they require and that more operations are taking place. They understand that crime is coming down and that the law and order situation in this country is so much better than it ever was under Labour. And they also understand that wages are rising and that it is going to become even easier to get into a home in future years. They know that it is working.Jacinda Ardern was the last individual speaking from the other side. Jacinda Ardern is the police spokesperson for the Labour Party. I have heard her make comments about the police budget in recent weeks. The fact of the matter is that when it comes to the police our police are doing such a good job that crime is down 20 percent.Hon Annette King: You wait.JAMI-LEE ROSS: Those members do not like to hear it. They like to cackle from the other side of the House but crime is down 20 percent. We have the lowest crimerate in 33 years. When Annette King was in Government crime actually started to rise just a little bit in Labour’s last year. It actually started to rise in her last year when she was the police Minister. Crime has now dropped by 20 percent. Reoffending in this country is coming down. Reoffending is down 12.5 percent in this country because of the investment of time and effort that Ministers like Judith Collins and Anne Tolley have put into the police and corrections budgets. New Zealanders know that that is the situation. They know that it is successful. They know that it is working.Jacinda Ardern also talked about housing. I am glad she talked about housing because I live in the Botany electorate where some of the important special housing areas that are going to get Auckland housing moving again are taking place. Nick Smith just recently a couple of weeks ago announced the largest of the special housing areas in Flat Bush near where I live. In the Flat Bush special housing area 4500 houses are going to be built—4500. The people living in that area are seeing housing taking off. They are seeing the builders getting out there and working. They are seeing the developers getting out there subdividing the land and increasing the supply that we desperately need in this country.And then we hear the Labour Party talking about its 100000 houses over 10 years. Well guess what! That is 10000 a year. Under National we are already building 13000 right here. Thirteen thousand houses a year are going to be built under National under the housing accord and the special housing areas. The Labour Party’s big idea for housing is 100000 houses 10000 a year. That is fewer than are being proposed and it is happening under the special housing area policy that this Government is implementing. And that 13000 is only in Auckland. The Labour Party’s plan is supposedly for across the whole of the country. Labour simply does not get it. Its numbers are wrong and it actually will not do anything under the policies it is proposing. If it really cared about housing it would get in and support Resource Management Act reform which this country desperately needs—Resource Management Act reform that is being blocked by the likes of the Labour Party and being blocked by the likes of the Green Party. Those are policies that should be taking place.If we look at a capital gains tax those parties believe that that is the grand panacea for housing. Well it is being done in Australia right now and guess what! It is not working. Under Labour housing costs went up by 96 percent. In the past 5 years they have gone up by only 28 percent. Compare that 96 percent with 28 percent. If you want to ask New Zealanders whom they believe on housing just look at the statistics. They know that the Labour Party has got it absolutely wrong.I also want to talk about jobs because jobs are what is going to get New Zealanders wealthier. The jobs are what is going to get New Zealanders out of welfare and on to a better track for their lives. I listened a little bit to Asenati Lole-Taylor and Jacinda Ardern lamenting the fact that there are individuals out there who do not have jobs lamenting the fact that there are individuals out there who are in difficult circumstances. That is absolutely right.There are people in this country who need a helping hand. There are people in this country who need to get back on their feet. The only way they are going to get back on their feet is if we have a growing economy if we get more jobs for them if we help get them better educated and if we ensure that law and order is sorted out in this country. Those are the things we are doing. Those are the things that are going to get people out of the poverty trap. The extra 170000 jobs that will be created over the next 4 years will get those people out of the poverty trap. The 84000 jobs that were created in the past year are helping to get New Zealanders out of the poverty trap. Fifteen thousand New Zealanders are coming off welfare right now. Fifteen hundred a week are coming off welfare right now. In the last year 30000 fewer children ended up living in benefit-dependent homes. Thirty thousand children are no longer living in benefit-dependent homes. Those are the children who are going to be the success of the future. Those are the children whose parents have been able to get into work and who will be better off because of it. For everyone else who is on welfare right now we should be doing everything we possibly can to help them get a job help them get better educated and ensure that they and their children are healthy—that is the way to a prosperous New Zealand.Those people on the other side might like to think that we over on this side are all just rich Tories and everything like that. Well I have to say I remember growing up in South Auckland with a young mother and no father in a poor household. You know the best thing I was taught when I was growing up was to work hard get educated and do what you can to get ahead in life. If every New Zealander who wants to get ahead in life just worked hard got educated and put their best foot forward with help from the Government to get into jobs that is the way New Zealanders get ahead in this country.I am particularly proud of being a National member of Parliament when we are seeing more kids getting educated. When we came into office 67 percent of children were getting National Certificate of Educational Achievement level 2; that is now at 77 percent.Hon Trevor Mallard: Standards are dropping.JAMI-LEE ROSS: Standards are not dropping. National standards are ensuring that we can actually measure how things are working properly. Trevor Mallard the failure of an education Minister never cared about properly measuring children. It took Anne Tolley to sort that system out. It took Anne Tolley to put in place a national standards system so that New Zealanders actually know how their children are faring.I am also proud of being part of a Government that is investing properly in Auckland transport. There is hundreds of millions of dollars of money being invested through this Budget and in past Budgets into Auckland transport. We are fast-tracking development in Auckland transport over the next 10 years. The Prime Minister last year announced $10 billion worth of investment in Auckland transport. That has been reflected in this Budget and New Zealanders living in Auckland know that as well.ACC levies are coming down more jobs are being created more kids are getting healthy and more kids are getting an education—that is what this country wants. And if you want to see how much New Zealanders appreciate the fact that this country is in a much better shape just look at how they are voting with their feet. Under Labour 3000 New Zealanders a month were leaving for Australia; now it is only 350. Labour wants to change the immigration system as it stands. It wants to change it completely. It is actually a bit confused about it. But right now the statistics are showing that New Zealanders are voting with their feet. This country is in much better shape because of the John Key - led Government and I am proud to be a part of it.