Rurawhe AdrianLAWRENCE YULE (National—Tukituki): It's my pleasure to rise and take a call in the Budget debate and I'll come to some of the points that Peeni Henare the previous speaker has just made in a minute. But at the outset I wish to say that it's my proper first time at speaking in this place since COVID and I wish to acknowledge the health response. It was good. I wish to acknowledge the Ministers and all MPs right across the Parliament who worked during that time because it was a difficult time for New Zealand. MPs and Ministers worked incredibly hard during that time and I want to give some acknowledgment of that including to the executive. But I also want to acknowledge people in my own area because yesterday we officially had no COVID-19 cases in Hawke's Bay any more. They have all recovered. We had one cluster caused by a cruise ship that came in which was deeply worrying for everybody and while there could be slightly related cases in the future to that they think it unlikely. So in Hawke's Bay yesterday we officially had no new cases. We had no deaths and I want to pay tribute to my DHB who did a fantastic job. The doctors nurses essential service workers and the people in rest homes—it's been an amazing response. I also want to thank the civil defence personnel. I was included fortunately with the leaders—with the mayors—with the chair of Ngāti Kahungunu and with all the civil defence. It was a united approach and it worked well. I also want to pay tribute to the Hawke's Bay economy. Like with many other parts of New Zealand at the time of COVID it is our peak production season so 10000 people in Hawke's Bay worked through the lockdown in pack-houses and orchards delivering fruit and all those types of things. Not one single person contracted COVID19 in that workforce and I pay tribute to the people who own those businesses the efforts they went to and the money they spent to keep their workers safe. But while I am complimentary of the health response that's where the similarities end because when I read the Budget it's fair to say I was shocked at the scale of the borrowings and the projected deficits. I also believe that the funding that has been—and the assumptions made by Treasury are optimistic. So we started off with a debt of $60 billion and in four years it's going to be $200 billion and we're going to run deficits of $100 billion over the next four years. I'm talking billions; I'm not talking millions—billions. Currently the total debt of New Zealand is around $60 billion so our deficits alone will be nearly twice that over the next four years. Why I worry about that—and I'll come to the borrowings in a minute—is that even though interest rates are historically low all that money has to be paid back by us by our children and by their children. Kieran McAnulty: So the member wouldn't borrow? LAWRENCE YULE: So I'm not against borrowing the money—I'll come to that Mr McAnulty if you just wait for a minute—but let's be clear: it does need to be paid back and it will be a major handbrake on the New Zealand economy. The wage subsidy has been a good thing. However the pain has only just hit. On Monday I spent the day in my electorate visiting businesses and talking to them. In my view the workers have not yet understood the full ramifications of what's going on because they've been sheltered by the wage subsidy. Those business owners are petrified. The small shops in my electorate the small and medium sized enterprises—all the stress currently or most of it should I say is going on the owners. They asked me about the next wage subsidy and they said this: If we qualify for a 50 percent reduction in turnover so we can get another eight weeks we might as well shut our doors because it doesn't work." You cannot trade when your turnover is 50 percent of what it was before. So as we go into June and as we go into July let's remember those small-business owners. We need to look after all New Zealanders but at the moment in my view they're taking the biggest brunt of the stress and financial concern that's going. Yes there is a small-business loan scheme and we heard today that $1 billion I think has been taken up. But there are massive inconsistencies between who can get the small-business loan and who can get the wage subsidy and I saw a classic example yesterday where it's completely misaligned. The equity support through the Government underwriting 80 percent of the new loans up to $500000—only $60 million has been taken up. Most people tell me that's because if the bank has to be the facilitator of that they might as well get it from the bank rather than using some new scheme that the Government's got. Then I come to the Hawke's Bay aspect of the Budget and some of the inconsistencies in some of the things that we've been promised. A couple of days before the Budget the Hon David Clark came out and said that it was the largest ever investment in the DHB sector. "Wonderful" I thought and then when I looked at the figures in the Budget it's a complete con. In Hawke's Bay last year's appropriation for the DHB was $538 million. This year's appropriation is $584 million or about a $50 million increase. One would think "Fantastic!" until one remembers that last year the Hawke's Bay DHB had a deficit of $21 million and this year they're projected to have a deficit of somewhere up to $30 million so the $50 million that's been added simply keeps up with the deficits they've been running. Not a single extra new operation no funding for the COVID response so far and all those people that have been waiting for elective surgery they've been bumped—nothing for them. A whole lot of screening and other things have been cancelled—nothing for them also. So it's a con. It is a new investment—sure—but it doesn't actually advance the health needs of my people in Hawke's Bay. Then another Minister also announced—fantastic it's part of the scheme—8000 new houses. State houses they said—8000. They conveniently forgot they'd promised 100000 KiwiBuild houses and built about 500—so 8000 new houses. I'll tell you in my electorate the situation: for 2¾ years there has been 2½ hectares of vacant Housing New Zealand land in the middle of Hastings and in that same period 10 houses have been built—10. At the same time we now have 550 people living in motels in Hastings and the Government can only build 10 houses. So it's all very well to make big announcements but there is absolutely no credibility associated with what this coalition Government can deliver. I also watched my councils. They said "Oh this is fantastic. We need some shovel-ready projects. The Ministers have come round and talked to us about what they need." and $300 million—or $310 million I think—was put up by the Hawke's Bay councils for shovel-ready projects: roading water and those types of things. I found out today that the total applications for that fund were $136 billion—$136 billion was the applications for the fund and the fund has got $3 billion in it. My councils seriously think they're going to have a reasonable show at $300 million. When you look at the number they'll be lucky if they get $5 million. So there have been lots of promises in this Government and there have been lots of discussions and I've heard Ministers and the Prime Minister say "We're not into austerity." Nor are we on this National side of the House. Nor are we under our new leader Todd Muller and what he wishes to do. We're not into austerity either. But what we are into is making sure that the massive amount of money that we're borrowing on behalf of New Zealand that we and my children and their children are going to pay is spent properly. So far in the 2¾ years that this Government has been in power their ability to deliver anything close to their promise has been woeful and I don't expect that to change. Thank you Mr Speaker. ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Adrian Rurawhe): I understand this is a split call. I call Dr Liz Craig—five minutes."