Dunne Peter: Budget Debate 
Dunne Peter: Budget Debate 
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Hon PETER DUNNE (Leader—United Future) 
: 
 It could be tempting to describe this Budget as solid but unspectacular but to do so would be to overlook a number of key pillars that lie behind it that have not been challenged in the course of this debate thus far. 
The KiwiSaver scheme which gives New Zealanders the opportunity to save for their future and make a contribution to their retirement has not been attacked in this debate nor has the Working for Families package. In fact the significance of that package has not been fully appreciated—$165 a fortnight on average goes to the qualifying families in this country—and I have not yet heard anyone come up with an alternative that will deliver more to those families. The infrastructure spending contained in this Budget is $13.4 billion in total which will see significant investment in roading right across the country. I am delighted to see the progress in respect of roading that is being made here in Wellington. In passing I ask the Greens who become upset about new roading because they think people will not be encouraged to use buses what on earth they think buses travel on to get people to and from work. Then we have the Telecom unbundling which no one has yet come out against. 
The point I am making about those pillars is that they shape the future direction of this country. Any constructive criticism of the Budget needs to put in place alternatives to those pillars—and there have not been any. 
Now it is time to move on the next area of transformation. The Minister of Finance made reference in his Budget speech to the business tax review that he and I are conducting. We will be releasing a series of proposals in the next couple of months we will be inviting widespread participation in and consultation on those proposals and we will be doing so for this reason: we want to boost productivity in New Zealand and ensure that our business sector enjoys a tax regime that is comparable with that of our major trading partner Australia in particular. But we also want to make sure that the things we do are sustainable and link into the pillars I have already referred to. 
Beyond that other issues need to be addressed. This Budget introduces the theme of families young and old. United Future has talked about families for a long time. I am delighted that this year a total of $6 billion of expenditure will be committed to that theme. Not long ago in this House we could look at a Budget and not even see any reference to family issues so that has been a huge step forward. But other matters that affect families will be coming on to the agenda in the next couple of years. One of the big issues about family income is the spread of that income and that is why we secured agreement from the Government to prepare a discussion document—which is always the preparatory way one goes about making tax policy changes—on income splitting. That document will be released in early 2008 and sufficient time for debate on it will be given before policy proposals are developed. 
Many New Zealanders enjoy what has emerged as almost a tradition in this country and that is the support we give to the voluntary sector through charitable donations. Now that the Charities Act is in place and the registration process is under way it is time to look again at the way in which we treat charitable donations for tax purposes. We will be developing proposals in that area towards the end of this year. 
All of those things are about making this country a better place for New Zealand families and United Future is delighted with the initiatives contained in the Budget that take us forward in that area. I refer to the $6 million that will be provided over the next 4 years for the Children in the Middle programme which is being trialled on the North Shore in Auckland. That programme will help children who are caught in the middle of difficult parental situations to get a step ahead. I am delighted that $23 million more is going to Plunket to complete the roll-out of the Well Child Framework. 
Christopher Finlayson 
: What about PlunketLine? 
Hon PETER DUNNE 
: I tell Mr Finlayson that I am on record as saying that we ought to be funding PlunketLine. If the member puts up some proposals in that regard we will support them because PlunketLine is iconic. The Government knows that—I have told it that many times. The member opposite ought to giver credit where credit is due. There will be $10 million more for— 
Christopher Finlayson 
: You’ve been in Parliament for 20 years. 
Hon PETER DUNNE 
: Absolutely and we have seen— 
Christopher Finlayson 
: And what have you done about Transmission Gully? You’re all talk. 
Hon PETER DUNNE 
: Mr Finlayson has been a member of Parliament for 5 minutes. Most people do not know who he is. I am giving him more publicity than he has ever had. He will not be here for 20 years—or anything like it. 
As I was saying—and the Budget made particular reference to this—we will see a huge improvement in funding to the Council of Victim Support Groups. One of the things that came through in a seminar in Upper Hutt last week—a seminar in which everyone but the National Party played a constructive role— 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: I am sorry to interrupt the honourable member but there is a debate going on across the House. Members know that rules permitting interjections are predicated on the assumption that the person who is being interjected against has the call. Interjections are not permitted when they are directed to a member who does not have the call and that is happening on my left and my right. I ask Mr Dunne to please continue. 
Hon PETER DUNNE 
: The point I was making is that we support the fact that over the next 4 years nearly $11 million will go towards improving support for victims. Victims of crime are long forgotten in terms of the way in which we approach penal policy in this country and we welcome that change. We also welcome the fact that there will be an increase in apprenticeships to 14000 by December 2008. Anyone who spends any time talking to small businesses knows the value of the Modern Apprenticeships scheme and the training opportunities it provides and that extension is well worth it. 
As far as parents are concerned we welcome the fact that this Budget will increase thresholds for liability for student allowances to about $39270 from 1 January next year. Put alongside the changes made to the student loan policy and the improvements to Working for Families this is an important step towards alleviating the burden that many families feel in trying to support a student who is not eligible for student allowances. 
We are delighted at the $126 million that will go to home-based support services and aged-based residential care for older New Zealanders. This will allow a number of critical issues to be addressed relating to the payment of nurses and also home-care providers who have been long overlooked. They will get the assistance they need to ensure not only a fair deal for them but also that the many many elderly people who prefer to stay for as long as possible in their own homes in their own surroundings are able to do so in a state of security and dignity. We are also pleased to see the increased funding for the Office of Treaty Settlements to enable more progress to be made in that area. 
This Budget sets in place the framework for the next decade and beyond. Many of the changes that it makes—or builds on—are ones on which there is now an emerging bipartisan consensus. I have not heard anyone either in the election campaign or in Parliament subsequently come back and say: “We’re going to get rid of Working for Families we’re going to stop spending on infrastructure we’re in favour of retaining the existing arrangements with regard to telecommunications and we’re going to scrap the KiwiSaver scheme.” If people want to have a debate about options they should put up some options. But they should not come down here spend their time criticising around the fringes then quietly accept the pillars on which transformation has been based because that is where New Zealanders are at today. 
The reason that members opposite are not making the progress they think they ought to be making is that the vast majority of New Zealanders are not interested in petty arguments; they are interested in how policies affect them. New Zealanders see that things are improving for them in a number of areas and they want those chances to continue. This Budget gives them that hope and opportunity.