Brown SimeonHon SIMEON BROWN (Minister for Energy): Well thank you Madam Speaker for the opportunity to talk about the 2024 Budget and what a great Budget for New Zealanders this Budget was. It's quite interesting when you follow the Green Party over there because every single speech they end with has to be A new tax. A new tax." It's all about more tax. They haven't seen something yet that they don't want to tax. Everything they see they want to tax and that's their modus operandi.But this Budget was about tax and it was about tax relief. Tax relief for hard-working New Zealanders who by the way haven't had tax relief since 2010—14 years. The other side have been happy to let inflation erode people's real incomes let tax creep continue to take its toll on people's incomes and they didn't do anything about it. In fact I think it's really important to note whilst it's been 14 years since New Zealanders have had tax relief it would be a lot sooner if the last Government hadn't repealed the tax relief that the last National Government put in place in 2017. Because of course in 2017 the Hon Steven Joyce legislated tax relief and the very very very first thing the Labour Party did when they came into power was to repeal the tax relief that New Zealanders had received under that National Government. That is exactly how the that last Government operated: tax tax tax spend spend spend and not worry about the future while this Government is now having to clean up the fiscal mess left behind by the last Government.And what a mess it is a mess all over the place: the borrowing the borrowing and the spending. In fact us as Ministers going through our portfolios having to clean up our portfolios and find the savings and make the tough decisions is exactly what the New Zealand public have been expecting of us.That is exactly why the New Zealand public voted to get rid of that last Government: because they could see the reckless spending that they were going down. Spending like drunken sailors not worrying about the future borrowing money and nothing to show for it—nothing to show for it. Then they have the audacity to stand up and say "Oh well we have to be you know worrying about the $3 billion iRex project." Well I'm sorry; again nothing to show for it. Nothing to show for it even after six years in Government.So this Budget was about giving New Zealanders the tax relief that they need to ensure that New Zealanders can address the cost of living crisis. I've heard members on this side speaking in this debate saying the pain that New Zealanders are currently feeling—and it is real it is real. The economy is in a tough position left behind by the last Government who had no plan for the economy who had no plan other than to tax spend borrow tax spend borrow.Well this Government has inherited that mess and we're having to make the tough decisions but the first and number one priority for this Government is to provide that tax relief for working families so that New Zealanders can just keep a little more of what they earn—the principle of keeping a bit more of what they earn. [Interruption] I tell the members on the other side of the House: they don't believe in it; they just want to take it. If they ever get back into Government—if they ever get back into Government—I can guarantee New Zealanders that the first thing they will do is increase taxes. The first thing they will do is increase taxes because that's exactly what every single Labour Government does. They get in and they increase taxes on working New Zealanders. [Interruption] They know it—they know it. They can feel it deep in their hearts. They can feel it. They feel the desire to keep taxing New Zealanders. It's bubbling away as they interject in my speech. They can't wait—but they won't because the public of New Zealand can see right through it. The public of New Zealand won't let them ever get hold of the Treasury benches ever again because they know that this country has fundamental challenges which need fixing: the cost of living crisis crime public services—making sure that public services actually work for New Zealanders—and of course infrastructure. I heard the member who sat down just before Chlöe Swarbrick talk about the infrastructure deficit. Well billions of dollars borrowed and what have we got to show for it? They cancelled the roads of national significance—gone. We think about the Northland Expressway up to Whangārei—cancelled. No planning done for the last six years. I came in and asked the NZ Transport Agency what major roading projects across the country had been consented. Well the good news is—the good news—there's one. It's Warkworth to Te Hana going north of Auckland. The bad news? There's only one: Warkworth to Te Hana. The pipeline of infrastructure was stopped by the last Government other than of course the pretty pictures: the pretty pictures of "Auckland Light Fail" and Let's Get Wellington Moving. The beautiful pictures and slogans which they spent hundreds of millions of dollars on; they couldn't even deliver a business case—they couldn't even deliver a business case. An absolute fail.We have inherited an infrastructure deficit that we are tackling in this year's Budget and I'm proud of the investment that we're putting into roads into rail into fixing the potholes on our roads improving public transport for New Zealanders. This Budget delivers for infrastructure in New Zealand.As Minister of Transport of course I'm incredibly proud of the $2.68 billion increase in investment in roads and rail and public transport to support the Government Policy Statement on land transport: another billion dollars to advance the roads of national significance and major public transport projects—isn't that great for the regions of New Zealand where roads are what are critical to unlocking the economic growth and productivity of our country—and $939 million for the recovery of the roads which were damaged by the East Coast North Island weather events. That is going to make a huge difference to the State highways and the local roads. And $266.9 million for rail in our metropolitan rail networks. This is going to mean that the City Rail Link in Auckland is able to be opened with the rail rebuild completed in 2026.This is going to make a huge difference to Auckland. For six years talking about Auckland light fail whilst the last National Government made the tough decisions to start the City Rail Link which would double the capacity of our rail network in Auckland. That is real change for our public transport network. That will make a real difference to congestion and getting Aucklanders moving. The last Government didn't even deliver a business case let alone some pretty pictures.Another $200 million to support KiwiRail to carry out maintenance and renewals of the national rail network; money for the Civil Aviation Authority so we can keep the important work they do going; money for Surf Life Saving in the Coastguard to help them on the critical safety work that they do. We have made a huge investment here as well in decarbonising the bus fleet which is going to make a big difference in terms of lowering emissions in our public transport system.This additional $2.68 billion goes on top of the already announced draft Government policy statement which includes over $20 billion of investment in the next three years. I'm proud of the decisions already made by the NZ Transport Agency to invest a 91 percent increase in pothole prevention and maintenance on our State highway network and an increase of 50 percent of pothole prevention on local roads. It's not just about making sure there's increased funding—we need it—but also making sure that there are outcomes delivering for New Zealanders. We have set very clear expectations around how we want that money to be spent and the targets that we want the agency to be delivering against.This Budget delivers for the infrastructure that New Zealanders need. This Government understands the infrastructure challenges New Zealand has and we've also set aside an increase in the multi-year capital allowance increasing it to $7.5 billion because we do know there are other challenges and other decisions that need to be made in terms of infrastructure in the coming years. We've obviously had the conversation earlier today around the ferries; there's other major roading and rail projects and other infrastructure challenges this country faces. We will face up and make the tough decisions invest in the infrastructure that New Zealanders rely on so we can grow our economy boost productivity and help New Zealanders get where they need to go quickly and safely. This Government's Budget delivers for infrastructure. Thank you Madam Speaker."