Key John: Budget Statement — Budget DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeKey John: Budget Statement — Budget Debate[Sitting date: 26 May 2016. Volume:714;Page:11340. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister): That was poor old Andrew Little was it not who has achieved only one thing in 2016 and that is to make David Cunliffe look popular and confident. That is it for 2016. They do not call him “Angry Andrew” for nothing—but not without good reason because half of his caucus wants to leave and the other half of the caucus wants him to leave.You cannot say that he does not have a vision like all of the great left-wing leaders around the world. I mean just take a look at it: Bernie Sanders wants to rid the world of poverty. Jeremy Corbyn: he wants to rid the world of conflict. And Andrew Little: he wants to rid the phonebook of Chinese-sounding surnames. He has got a vision for all of those Chinese and Indian chefs. He wants them to be called Bruce or Trevor—that is his idea of a Chinese chef.Yet again it was another great Budget from Bill English. The man is a maestro. Budget 2016 paints a picture of positivity and success for New Zealand and our economy. Let us take just a bit of a look at some of those numbers because they are sparkling: 3 percent growth for the next 5 years stronger than almost any of our counterpart countries. A hundred and seventy thousand new jobs over the next 3 to 4 years on top of the 200000 we created in the last 3 years. Under this Government average wages have gone up $11000—$11000 a year; that is $211 per week for the average New Zealander. They are going to go up another $5000 over this Budget period which will mean that the average New Zealander is earning $307 per week in their pocket under a National-led Government.We do know that Labour knows how to tax and it knows how to spend. A National-led Government knows how to get expenses under control. They were 34 percent of GDP; they are now under 30 percent of GDP and debt is on track to be 20 percent of GDP by 2020. Go and have a look around the world. Japan: Government debt is at 220 percent of GDP; the United States: the better part of 90 percent; the United Kingdom: 80 or 90 percent; and there is Australia with deficits as far as the eye can see. Bill English has got this country on the right track and under control and debt under control as well.Let us look at the facts. This is an economy that is attracting more people attracting more investment attracting more international students and attracting more visitors. This is a place where interest rates are low and where inflation is low. When it comes to older New Zealanders this is a Government that cares and delivers. How do I know that?Rt Hon Winston Peters: Oh really?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: How do I know that Mr Peters? Well under the National Government the New Zealand Superannuation Fund has gone up by 34 percent in the time we have been here—34 percent. The average married couple are $250 a fortnight better off under a National-led Government.I sometimes listen to Mr Little and I accept that I made a comment to Gerry Brownlee before about Andrew Little’s speech. He said: “You mate are the only one who’s listening.” But I listened to it and I hear this doe-eyed kind of history lesson that is so out of touch with reality. Here is what happened when National came into Government: deficits as far as the eye could see. It was not a health system that was delivering for New Zealand; it was a disgrace. Cancer sufferers in this country did not get help; they got a boarding pass to Australia. That is what happened under a Labour Government.Before we came into office 35000 New Zealanders a year said: “I’ve got a good idea: it’s called living in Australia.” The education system under those people did not even bother to tell parents whether their kids could read or write. It was a country where core interest rates were four times faster. Wages were going up all right—so was inflation. Real wages were going backwards and in the last 5 years Labour increased Government spending by 15 percent. Our economy was hopelessly ill-equipped to cope.Let us have a look at the position today. Eight years on—what is the situation across our economy? Well it is prosperous and productive. This is where expansion is taking place: horticulture viticulture ICT export education tourism beef lamb honey manufacturing and high-tech industries. Here is a clue about how the New Zealand economy is going: there are now more Australians coming to live in New Zealand than New Zealanders going to Australia and the No. 1 selling white wine in Australia is a Kiwi sauvignon blanc. It is a takeover—it is a takeover.I want to take a moment to reflect on the strong and stable Government we have provided for the last 8 years with our partners. Can I thank the ACT Party United Future and the Māori Party for their strong and sensible support of the Government their input their ideas and for ensuring that the New Zealand public knows each day that this country is going to run well and efficiently.Let us go and have a look at some of the specifics in this Budget because there are some real gems here. There is a whopping $2.2 billion for health. Let us just take a step down memory lane. This Government this National-led Government—one of the very first things we did was say we were standing behind the women of New Zealand. We have funded Herceptin and as a result of that 1704 women have been granted Herceptin. It is no surprise that in Budget 2016 there is $124 million more for Pharmac. There is funding for drugs for melanoma like Opdivo. There is a hepatitis C drug that will help 50000 sufferers of hepatitis C with a 90 to 100 percent success rate. But most of all there is a $39 million investment in a national bowel-screening programme where 700000 New Zealanders will every 2 years get early detection. That is what a strong economy delivers. It saves lives for New Zealanders on issues that really matter.This is a Government that has delivered more elective surgery each and every year. We know it is not just about spending more money. It is about doing things better and more wisely. In this Budget there is another $96 million for more hip and knee operations. I remember when I came into Parliament in 2002. Half of the people who came to my electorate office could not even get on a waiting list for a hip or knee operation. Now they get that treatment. And for those who are disabled in our society there is $169 million.Let us talk about the plight of the less well-off New Zealand children what is happening to them and the support they are getting. I heard all that nonsense about Housing New Zealand before from Andrew Little. Here are the facts: when we took over the Housing New Zealand stock was dilapidated and it was run down. This Government has spent $2.2 billion on fixing it up and building more homes. Before those members get a bit too doe-eyed about what they did in respect of Housing New Zealand in the single-biggest year under the last Labour Government Labour spent $550 million on building or fixing State houses. Budget 2016 will see a billion dollars spent in Housing New Zealand.Andrew Little has woken up—maybe people need to live in dry insulated homes. Well hello and welcome to the 21st century. Under this National-led Government already 290000 homes have been insulated and 30000 Housing New Zealand homes. Budget 2016 sees that a further 20000 rental properties for the lowest-income New Zealanders will be insulated. Our Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill will see a further 180000 homes insulated. If you add all of that up—520000 homes insulated under this National-led Government. And what did the doe-eyed boys over there deliver? It was 50000—actually fewer than 50000. There is 10 times more insulation under a National-led Government.It is right that the Government should support the most vulnerable in our community but it is this National-led Government in the worst of times when people were standing up and saying to cut benefits and cut entitlements that said no. We stood behind the most vulnerable New Zealanders. We maintained Working for Families. We maintained entitlements. We maintained benefits. And guess what? This year for the first time in 43 years a National-led Government raised benefits for New Zealanders. There is $652 million worth of social investment—$200 million for Child Youth and Family for the most at-risk youngsters tens of millions of dollars to support young parents and young families drug and alcohol programmes for young pregnant mums and $41 million for emergency housing. More money is being spent in these areas than ever before.Let us turn to housing just for a moment. Once again what we heard from Andrew Little was some sort of dream-world. OK under a Labour Government this is how many houses a day were built in Auckland: 10—10. Apparently Labour is going to house everyone but its track record is 10 houses. Well we deliver 40 houses a day and two every hour in Auckland if the builders work 24 hours around the clock.The metropolitan urban limit choked off demand so 154 special housing areas were announced allowing 56000 extra houses to be developed. What happened when National announced that? Phil Twyford got out there. He thought he was in an election campaign and put up a whole lot of billboards saying “What a terrible thing” and then 2 weeks ago it was: “Oh I’m sorry about that. I’ve changed my mind. I got that one wrong.” It was the same thing when it comes to surplus Crown land. It stayed surplus under Labour but under National there is more money in this Budget.Very soon the Government will release the national policy statement on urban development. As New Zealand grows faster one thing that maybe we can agree on is that there is an emerging consensus that land supply issues have not kept up with all of the demand and must be addressed. So let me make this crystal clear because this is what the national policy statement will do when it is released over the next few years. It will ensure that councils must make available sufficient land to accommodate growth in the communities. It is no longer a matter of choice or debate for those councils. Land will be zoned residential and developed in quantities sufficient to meet demand—period. That is the same when it comes to industrial land. Let us see who stands up and votes for that if it requires legislation ultimately in the House.In order to live like a First World economy one needs to earn like a First World economy. That is why under Bill English and Steven Joyce you are now seeing this massive investment in a smarter more high-tech economy. There is $761 million to allow us to compete and be more productive. This is a Government that has put science at the heart of its thinking and has put science at the heart of the economy. We want to make sure that we move away from those commodity markets. But if we want to address the big issues—climate change the environment the protection of our native species—all of these things require more money. In science and innovation Budget 2016 has hundreds of millions of dollars dedicated to this area and in tertiary education in more apprenticeships and in a range of different research projects. This will make New Zealand a smarter better-equipped economy to compete in the First World.This Budget will also make it easier for our smaller businesses our small to medium sized enterprises which at the moment have to pay their provisional tax off a basically very antiquated system which is one of guesswork which they can never hope to get right. As a result of the $187 million investment tens of thousands of small businesses will no longer have to worry about that aspect. They will just have to get out there and make their businesses successful.Tourism is going better than ever—better than ever I say. There was a time when the Labour Party used to mock the cycleways—mock them. Mind you there was a time when they used to mock The Hobbit and then they went off to the premiere and they liked the movie. But there was a time when they used to mock the cycleways. In 2015—here is a number that is worth remembering—a million people went on the cycleways so there is $25 million more there.Education is at the heart of a decent society. That is why we have got national standards that is why we have wired up every school for ultra-fast broadband and that is why we have the higher expectations for kids getting National Certificate of Educational Standards level 2 or above and for having every child in early childhood education. There is $883 million in this Budget for nine new schools 480 classrooms and more help for the most vulnerable. You see when we get up and say “Those poor kids actually deserve a bit more support.” Labour does not like it. So its members get up the whole time and say “Give money to poor families” and the National-led Government delivers just that—more money for poor families—and they do not like it. Where are their priorities?We are going to continue to invest in keeping our communities safe because it is the expectation of every New Zealander that they will be safe and it is the responsibility of the Government to do that. There is more money for our intelligence services better tools for cyber-security more money for those brave men and women in the New Zealand police force and better programmes for drugs and alcohol and all the different things that we are doing. We are investing in the latest GPS for high-risk investors—I mean offenders not investors but we are willing to invest in those as well.The number eight is lucky in Chinese is it not? The number eight is lucky. Bill English’s eighth Budget will be successful for our country but not because of the number eight and not because of luck but because of good management and good choices. While the Opposition is lost in a fog of negativity Bill English shines a light on prosperity and opportunity. While the Opposition seeks to close off new markets and to ban those who were not born here from investing or immigrating to our country Bill English seeks to make it easier for New Zealand companies large and small to compete and win on the world stage. While the Opposition demonstrates a complete lack of faith in New Zealanders and their abilities and drive to want to succeed and to get ahead without the support of the Government it is Bill English who empowers them to make the most of their lives to back themselves and their families and to understand the most basic principle in life: that there is no substitute for hard work and determination. This country New Zealand has a brighter future and in very large part we have the maestro Bill English to thank for that.