Ross Jami-Lee; Borrows ChesterJAMI-LEE ROSS (National—Botany): In about half an hour's time this House is going to have an opportunity to decide whether it has confidence in the Government and confidence in the Budget we have put forward and I am looking forward to that result. I am also looking forward to the New Zealand public deciding in about 4 months' time whether they have confidence in this Government and the programme we have set forward. I have confidence that the Budget set forward by Steven Joyce followed up with Bill English's fantastic speech a couple of weeks ago will show to the public that we are serious about delivering results for New Zealanders we are serious about doing better for this country and we are serious about delivering public services that will help our country get ahead.The day of 25 May will go down in Labour's books as the day that it knew that it was going to be an uphill battle and difficult for it to do very well in September. The Leader of the Opposition could not even fill 20 minutes on the Budget. The Leader of the Opposition could not even fill 5 minutes without resorting to the iPad. The Leader of the Opposition could not even deliver a coherent speech opposed to a Budget in election year. The Budget put forward by Steven Joyce had people on the 6 o'clock news—families; typical Labour voters probably in their eyes—praising the Budget. That would have been a sad day for the Labour Party members when they knew that they were going to struggle to get ahead voting against the Budget.But they will vote against it. They will be opposed to all of the gains in the Budget for New Zealanders. They will be opposed even further to 1.3 million families getting more money in their back pockets. They will be opposed to all of the investment in education in healthcare and in law and order because they are opposed to everything.At least the Green Party and the New Zealand First Party knew that the Family Incomes Package a package that would put more money in the pockets of those most in need was something that should be supported. In the first reading they showed their cards they showed their hands and they voted for the package for families. Did the Labour Party members wake up in the second reading and think: Well our coalition partners our bed buddies our marriage partners the Greens—they're in favour of it. Maybe we should adjust this. Maybe we should come to our senses and decide that 1.3 million New Zealanders getting $26 on average a week in their back pockets is fair and reasonable."? Did they come to that conclusion? No they did not. Did they decide that in the Committee stage when they could see the overwhelming support out there in "voter land" for more money in the back pockets of New Zealanders? Did they come to their senses then? No they did not. When it came to the third reading when they had one final opportunity to prove to New Zealanders that they were prepared to stand up for the little guy who needed more support were they prepared to support it then? No. They failed once again to stand up for New Zealanders just as they have been failing for 9 years to represent what average Kiwis want.Average Kiwis want more jobs. In the last 3 years 200000 New Zealanders have jobs.Todd Barclay: How many?JAMI-LEE ROSS: There are 200000 New Zealanders who now have jobs created in the past 3 years based on an economy that is growing. It does not matter how many times the Opposition members stand up in question time and talk about failure. It does not matter how many speeches they give in this House saying that the Government has got it all wrong. The bottom line is that 200000 New Zealanders have jobs off the back of this growing economy. The Government does not create jobs but the Government can put in place the policies that allow the economy to grow.Living in one of the fastest-growing economies in the OECD I think every single member of this House who votes for Budgets that see our economy grow that see more New Zealanders get jobs that see the average wage go up that see fewer people in welfare-dependent homes that see more people getting education and more people getting healthcare—if you are someone who votes for a Budget that does that you can be proud of yourself. But if you are a member of a party that is opposed to absolutely everything that does not support families that does not support more investment in important public services and you are not prepared to stand up for 1.3 million families—anyone who votes against this Budget on that basis should be ashamed of themselves.When the public has an opportunity to decide in just less than 4 months' time whether or not they prefer jobs whether or not they prefer a growing economy whether or not they prefer to see more investment in healthcare and education—I believe that New Zealanders will choose to back a growing economy and they will choose to back a Government that is putting more funding and more support in place for New Zealanders.We heard from Hekia Parata just about 20 minutes ago and she will go down in history in this country as one of the best education Ministers we have ever seen. Why is that? Why is that? It is because when Labour was in office it left one-third of children failing in the education system. It did not care enough to assist those children to get an education. Labour members were happy with that they were comfortable with that and Hekia Parata and Anne Tolley before her stood up and said that is not good enough. They were prepared to buck the trend that the unions wanted the trend the Labour Party was supporting. They were prepared to stand up to them. They were prepared to work with parents and say: "We need to invest in quality education. We need to invest in the quality of teaching. We need to lift achievement rates for students through national standards and through other policies that are all about supporting parents and children to do better in the education system."Why will Hekia Parata be one of the best education Ministers this country has had? It is because more children are achieving in the education system. More children are getting an education that they deserve and they are going on to get jobs they are going on to higher education. They are going on—not to live in welfare-dependent homes not to be stuck at the bottom of the cliff with no opportunity; they are going to go on because they have got an opportunity through education to go on—and get a job and provide for their families.Sitting next to Hekia Parata is Amy Adams. Amy Adams is the Minister responsible for Social Investment. The Labour Party members do not like talking about this because it actually will mean that more New Zealanders will get up and more New Zealanders will be able to do well by themselves. Amy Adams and Bill English along with the rest of Cabinet are leading a revolution in the way social policies are provided by Government. No longer do we just ask how we can fix the problem when it has arisen; now we ask how we can ensure New Zealanders do not get themselves into difficulty in the first place.This Budget invests a third of a billion dollars into social investment. That is important because we do not want New Zealanders to fall into the trap of being stuck in poverty. We do not want New Zealanders to fall into the trap where the State and social services have failed them. We want to get in front of it. We want to use good quality data. We want to ensure that we are gearing our social policies towards achievement for New Zealanders. That is what this Budget is about. That is what this Government is about. We see more support for that.Every time the Labour Party members stand up and oppose greater spending in healthcare or education or law and order policies—which they will do by voting against this Budget—they are saying to New Zealanders that they do not care. Of course they stand up in question time and in public and say that we have cut budgets. Apparently now a cut in a budget is what Michael Cullen might have spent money on; if we have changed that budget a bit apparently that is a cut. They talk about cuts to healthcare. We have poured billions of dollars more into healthcare. It is not just more money though; we are seeing better results: 50000 New Zealanders are getting access to elective surgery that they were not getting under the Labour Government. Fifty thousand New Zealanders are getting access to that healthcare. We are investing another $3.9 billion into healthcare through this Budget and we should be proud of that.Let us talk about mental health too because I know Labour is going to rabbit on about it during the election campaign. Here is the reality for you: mental health funding has gone up—it is at $1.4 billion right now and we are investing another quarter of a billion dollars into that. I do not want to hear any more speeches from members of the Labour Party saying that we have cut healthcare. We are putting billions of dollars into it. More children are getting free access to doctors; more people are getting access to elective surgeries. Healthcare is another area in which we are delivering.I enjoyed the speech from David Clendon as well. He is talking about law and order. He wants New Zealand to be a safer place. Good on him—so do we. Mr Clendon please do not vote against extra funding for more police officers in the Budget because New Zealanders want to see better law and order policies. They want to see the crime rate continue to drop and the best way to do that is by putting more police on the street. This Budget will do that. This Budget will invest half a billion dollars into another 1100 police staff and I think we should be proud of that. Mr Clendon I know you care deeply about law and order policies. Good on you. Come on board and support a Budget that will deliver better law and order policies for New Zealanders.Labour you talk about healthcare. Come on board and support better healthcare options for New Zealanders. New Zealand First—Tracey Martin over there cares about education. Well she should come on board and support a Budget that will deliver better education services for our Kiwi kids. This Budget delivers more for New Zealanders. It delivers better public services. It continues to see an economy that will grow and go from strength to strength. It will continue to see more New Zealanders getting jobs and higher wages. Most importantly 1.3 million families whom the Labour Party has abandoned will see more money in their back pockets and that is a good thing. I support this Budget.Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: This is a split call on behalf of the Labour Party and the first speaker is the Hon Clayton Cosgrove."