Bayly Andrew: Debate on Prime Minister’s StatementText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBayly Andrew: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement[Sitting date: 18 February 2015. Volume:703;Page:1705. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]ANDREW BAYLY (National—Hunua): It is a pleasure to be standing here in support of the Prime Minister’s statement. In fact it is more than that; it is actually exciting to be part of the team that is radically overhauling New Zealand and that this Prime Minister has been leading for the last 6½ years. This is clearly a Government with a plan that is working hard achieving results and delivering great outcomes. This is not about having talkfests symposiums and conferences.The results say it all—an economy growing by 3.2 percent. We have one of the fastest-growing economies in the world and Treasury is forecasting that we are going to sustain that at 3 percent per annum for the next 3 years. We have got interest rates at a 20-year low which is great for people wanting to buy new houses and expand their businesses. We have got more jobs—80000 last year and even Treasury is projecting that we will create 151000 new jobs over the next 5 years. That means a quarter of a million new jobs for New Zealanders. That is pretty encouraging for people wanting to gain self-respect from having a good job and earning a regular income.That brings me to income. Average wages have risen by 15 percent over the last 5 years and will continue to grow now that we have tamed inflation which is at less than 1 percent. Debt is at a mere 26 percent of GDP and targeted to be at 20 percent by 2020. The prudent steps we have taken to control the Government sector—our Government expenditure is now sitting at just over 30 percent a far cry from where it was 6 years ago.I also want to acknowledge the great work that the Minister for Social Development has achieved in getting more people into work. There are 1600 more people a week who are now enjoying the respect of having a good job.Better health outcomes—as the Minister of Finance noted earlier today free doctors visits for under-13s are to be introduced from 1 July this year. There is a focus on immunisation for our young toddlers. There are programmes to reduce obesity and to encourage more active lifestyles.Improved educational outcomes—after doubling our investment in early childhood education we are now at a stage where we have got 96 percent of our young children participating in early childhood education. We have much-improved National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) levels. Only this morning in the Education and Science Committee did we hear from the Ministry of Education that level 2 NCEA achievement rates for Māori and Pacific Islanders have increased by 10 percent and 12 percent respectively. They are great outcomes.We are also assisting to get people into homes not only with a supply of new homes but also through our Welcome Home Loan package which allows first-time homeowners to buy their first homes.We are also creating a better environment for our business people—reduced ACC levies easier workplace practices and changes to the Resource Management Act. We are also creating the right environment so that health and safety pervades all our work environments.Finally and most important is our focus on vulnerable families. Our package of measures is comprehensive coherent and welcome. It was timely that earlier this week or last week the Salvation Army released its update report which showed we had achieved improvement in 10 out of 13 measures. This is a Government that has a heart. This is a Government that has a soul and a desire to improve the well-being of all New Zealanders.In essence there is a lot more confidence in our regions as well as at an individual level. This is good government. All of us know that there is more to do and that is why all 60 of us in the National Party cannot wait to continue focusing on dealing with the hard issues that have been troubling New Zealand’s generations. Our story is incomplete but it has been exciting reading some of the chapters so far. I commend the Prime Minister for his vision and energy. It is great to be part of his team.