Bridges SimonHon SIMON BRIDGES (National—Tauranga): I like that member that's just spoken the member for Palmerston North and how did he describe Palmerston North?Hon David Bennett: Semi.Hon SIMON BRIDGES: As semi-beautiful. That's how he describes his electorate. Well I've got news for him: don't try that on your partner Madam Speaker—you know You're looking semi-beautiful love." I just don't know that that's going to work.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): Oh oh! Order! Order! Does the member really wish to bring the Speaker into this debate at this time? I think not. Hon David Bennett: You can't be saying she's semi. Hon SIMON BRIDGES: She's beautiful Tauranga's beautiful—my wife is beautiful Madam Speaker. But I tell you what—Hon David Bennett: Palmerston North is beautiful. Hon SIMON BRIDGES: Well it's semi-beautiful—that's what he says. But I tell you what this is a semi-beautiful Budget and I'll tell you what that's code for: it's ordinary. It's an ordinary Budget because—I'll tell you why. Three things that I just want to go through rattle through—I only get five minutes. I deserve 10 but I only get five. So the three points I want to make: the first is that this Budget has us borrowing billions for benefits right? I didn't just say that because it's quite a good alliteration there—lots of "Bs"—but because actually that's the reality of it. Really if you look at the guts of this bill what's in it: billions for benefits that they have to borrow right? That's what they have done here. I say to the members on the other side of the House that the issue of giving more to beneficiaries is entirely of their own making. It is entirely of their own making because Labour has lost control of housing and the rental market and instead are chasing an ever-increasing cycle of rent and lack of housing and I tell you what it's very simple. KiwiBuild—what did they do?Barbara Kuriger: Nothing.Hon SIMON BRIDGES: Stuff-all of nothing—right—and now they're reduced to talking about consents: "Oh consents are up." You can't live in a consent—that's what Phil Twyford told us. That's the reality of it.On the rental side of it we've got all those rules and regulations. All they've succeeded in doing is pushing up the price for the landlords who pushed it on to the poor old renters and that's why we've got significantly increased poverty in this country. If cash was the answer we would have solved this decades ago. It's not actually it's more houses; it's a better rental market. But Labour can't deliver just as they haven't delivered in housing. No one can live in a consent. It's also true you can't drive on an announcement. So whilst they've talked a big game on infrastructure nothing has happened in nearly four years.The second point I want to make is simply this. While Labour is borrowing billions and I've already talked about that fundamentally it's about benefits. That's the one big thing they're doing. There is nothing not a skerrick zilch nada—there is nothing in this Budget for beneficiaries for the working poor who rent for middle New Zealand—Mark Cameron: And the farmers.Hon SIMON BRIDGES: —who get up and go to work try hard—and yes include some farmers. But not just farmers; people in suburbia in the beautiful city of Tauranga. There's nothing for business—it's just not there. So what was needed in this Budget was some aspiration some hope and a plan for New Zealand to reduce debt actually so that New Zealanders don't think that them their children and their grandchildren are going to be paying it for years to come—to grow the economy and to deliver some real productivity gains in this country. Otherwise—otherwise—all this Budget is a second-rate semi-beautiful advertisement for workers and middle New Zealand and business people to move to Aussie and we're going to watch them go.Chlöe Swarbrick: But not to vote for National.Hon SIMON BRIDGES: That's what we're going to see. No no no some of them probably vote for the Green Party because of all the spin of Chlöe Swarbrick over there. She cares so much about carbon; she spends all her time on aeroplanes actually.But they will go and they will look back at New Zealand romantically as nothing economically is happening here. There is nothing in this Budget for middle New Zealand for workers or for businesses. I tell you what I know this: we will see in the next couple of years those numbers of hard-working Kiwis with skills who build who do real stuff moving to Australia. We will start talking about the brain drain again in this country like never before because that's what New Zealanders have been experiencing.I want to say this in the last 20 seconds: the justice sector got a cut. It got a cut. Why is that? Well because actually they're no longer putting people in prisons. Well has crime gone down? No it hasn't. Crime's got worse. Gangs have got worse. These issues are getting worse and in this Budget we saw a cut. It's a disgrace and it's making New Zealanders less safe.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): The time has come for the House to rise for the dinner break. We will resume at 7 o'clock.Sitting suspended from 6.02 p.m. to 7 p.m."