Young JonathanJONATHAN YOUNG (National—New Plymouth): I am very happy and proud to be able to stand in support of this Budget. To think that the previous speaker Barry Coates would read out a list of such a magnitude of cuts and deprivations is unbelievable. I think of the achievements that have been achieved for everyday New Zealanders. I think that yes there is $1.3 million for families in this Budget—on average $26 more a week. But looking beyond that the Minister of Finance the Hon Steven Joyce who has been a fantastic architect and brought together so many elements and moving parts has produced a complex Budget that delivers right across the board for New Zealanders. He has stated that in West Auckland and South Auckland—and I lived in West Auckland for 25 years; I know what it is like there—there will be families who will receive $100 a week more because of the cost of living there because of the care of this Government to enable some of those low-income families to have enough to make ends meet.All we get is scoffing and a list of incorrect facts that come from the other side of the House. You know we heard it from the second speaker in today's debate Grant Robertson who was saying that we are seeing cuts in health spending—$1.6 billion the most money spent on health ever in this country in this Budget. That is up by $4.3 billion per year since we came into Government. Claims that health funding has been cut are incorrect and it is deceptive to say so because this year New Zealand is forecast to spend 6.26 percent of its GDP on health. Under Labour the percentage of the economy spent on health was under 6 percent. And so to say that this year there have been cuts and there is less and there is deprivation in health spending—the facts just do not say that at all.So I do not know why we have this sort of information coming out. They are certainly alternative facts. I hear this afternoon about the lack of investment in education. I have information here on this card in respect of Māori students. What we need to understand when it comes to Māori students and particularly young Māori males is that they have the highest level of taking their lives of any demographic in our country.Ron Mark: What have you done about it?JONATHAN YOUNG: So there is grave concern for that group of people. Listen to this: year 12 NCEA level 2 achievement by Māori students in 2008 was 52 percent. This year it is 75 percent. That is what we are doing about it Mr Mark. We are ensuring that young Māori people are becoming engaged and have a future and a hope and a possibility to gain an apprenticeship and have the possibility to move forward in their lives. That is a lot more than what you would have done—52 percent to 75 percent talks about excellent educational achievement.I remember talking to one of the principals of our secondary schools who said this to me: If we can get Māori young boys into year 13 they will surpass the achievement of the rest of the boys in that cohort." And he knows that getting them through years 11 and 12 is really pivotal and this is what we are achieving. You know we need to thank the work of the Hon Hekia Parata and what she has done to drive achievement. She has been unrelenting in her goal to see young people in this country succeed and be able to get ahead.We have seen a 61 percent increase in these young Māori men and women gaining Bachelor's degrees since 2008. What a phenomenal achievement and this speaks of the investment that this Government is making and continues to make in this Budget: in education in health but also in infrastructure.I am really pleased to come from a region where it is very can-do and Andrew Little knows that. He also comes from Taranaki. It is a very can-do region. We have put up for a long time with a very difficult highway north out of our region up into the Waikato region and up into Auckland but I am pleased to say that our accelerated regional roading package is investing $135 million of infrastructure improvement in that highway. We do not have a railway north; we have a highway north only because of the very difficult and the very challenging topography and just the soil types—it is very difficult it is unstable and we need to have a secure and a resilient route. We are improving that as part of our investment going forward—$135 million to improve State Highway 3. There has been $24 million spent on the northern outlet in New Plymouth. Those are two roading projects that mean a lot to the people of Taranaki. They really do. The work that is being done around the Normanby overbridge and bypassing that—an $18 million investment. That is such an important infrastructure investment for the people of South Taranaki which no doubt the Hon Chester Borrows would like to talk about.These things all speak of a Government that has managed the fiscal position of this country exceedingly well so it is able to invest into the future. Look at him—scorning and smiling away through his squint. But listen: these are the facts. This is what is happening in New Zealand. It is improving the state of New Zealanders. We are seeing some great growth. That is why Moody's says that New Zealand is going to be one of the very best countries it will look to see in the years coming ahead. There is $32 billion of infrastructure investments over the next 4 years in schools roads and hospitals and all of the work that was done in terms of the investment into Canterbury Christchurch that held us back from those surpluses for 1 or 2 years: $18 billion was spent down there through the Government's investment.All of those things are very important. They come from a Government that works very very carefully that manages its spending while all the time working hard to improve the services for New Zealand whether that is in education health transportation or right across the board. I am hesitant to say that Taranaki is the second most affordable region in the country because some of you might want to come and live there. It is a great place to live and just what you were saying in terms of the emptiness of investment into arts and culture—you know we are very proud of the Len Lye Centre that this Government has invested in. You know it has made quite a difference in terms of the attraction that it has for the visitor industry. In fact in the last quarter of 2016 the last quarter of last year because there was a bit of an investigation around free parking on a Saturday the New Plymouth District Council did a survey to find out how many cars were coming into the CBD particularly at that end of town. It counted the number of vehicles over a whole 3-month period on a Saturday in New Plymouth up around the Len Lye Centre. Do you know what they found out? Sixty-eight percent of the cars at that end of town came from out of the region—68 percent; that is huge. They were all driving there for a great weekend in New Plymouth to go to the Len Lye Centre to enjoy the cafes and the gardens and the parks and the coastal walkway—to enjoy all of those things and spend their good money.You know I have talked to retailers particularly down that end of town and they say that that has turned around their businesses. That is because it is not just investment into arts culture and heritage; it is actually an investment into the economy. You know we have had all of that fantastic infrastructure built by Taranaki companies. They have won awards around the world. Those investments enhance our reputation internationally and also enhance our capability regionally. The regions are another great story about what this Government is doing.Winston Peters went around the regions for a 2-week tour and since he came back he has not asked one question on the regions. Do you know why? It is because he cannot find too many grumbling people out there because regional New Zealand is doing better under this Government than any before. I commend this legislation to the House. Thank you."