Naylor Jono: Budget DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeNaylor Jono: Budget Debate[Sitting date: 02 June 2015. Volume:706;Page:4180. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]JONO NAYLOR (National):I was so wrapped up in that speech by Jacinda Ardern that I thought it was going to keep on going for ever. As the member so rightly pointed out this is the first Budget that I have been able to participate in and it has certainly been a great experience. Last week when we went into urgency again it was the first time that I had been in the House when we had urgency I had a member opposite smugly come up to me and say: “I think we are enjoying this more than you guys.” I could not help but think that every minute that we were there during urgency was a minute we were getting closer to passing really really good legislation that was going to help this country and benefit New Zealanders and it was certainly an exciting time. I thought I would rather be in our shoes where we knew what the outcome was going to be and the outcome was going to be positive rather than being a little bit cocky about how long the process could be drawn out.But turning to this roughly 15 hours—and we are getting to the conclusion now—of the Budget debate I guess that I expected something different from the other side of the House. I expected to hear alternative plans. I expected to hear alternative options. I expected to hear alternatives in some respect so maybe that is a little naivety on my part it being the first time I have been here for the Budget debate. But I have heard nothing. I have heard members dwelling on the past like the previous speaker who has just talked about what happened in Labour Governments gone by of which she herself was not actually a member anyway. We have heard all this kind of talk about what has been done in the past but we have heard no alternatives. All we have heard from the other side is a couple of things.Firstly we have heard claims that there is going to be a new capital gains tax. Well we all know that there is nothing new about the capital gains tax. It has always been there and all we have announced is that we are going to get better at catching out those speculators. So it is not a new tax. Also all we have heard from the other side is people getting really really excited about whether or not we have met our surplus targets this year. Basically for just about every speaker who has got up that is all they have managed to talk about.I want to reiterate something that the Hon Nick Smith referred to in his speech. He did a bit of an analysis of the last 20 years’ Budgets and on average each of those predictions of every Minister of Finance was 4 percent out in their calculations when they were looking at it going forward. This year it looks like we are going to be 1.4 percent out. So on that basis we can draw from that analysis that this Minister of Finance is doing a better job than any of the other Ministers of Finance that we have had in the last 20 years.But of course you do not measure the success of a Budget simply on surplus or not getting surplus by a small margin. You might measure it by whether the country is experiencing economic growth whether or not there are jobs being created and whether or not there are other factors being achieved like the planned decrease that we are going to see in ACC levies. What we have seen from the other side of the House is a complete fixation with money. Well on this side on the House we are fixated with the people of New Zealand. We are focused on ensuring that we are taking people off welfare and into work that we are raising academic achievement and that we are investing where it is going to make the biggest difference. So we are going to be putting in the package which so many people have talked about to increase benefits for families with children. What we know is that two-thirds of children who are experiencing material hardship are in families with people on a benefit.We are not leaving it at just that. There is also going to be an increase for those people who are on Working for Families. We are going to see an increase to the childcare subsidy which is going to make it easier for people to be able to go out and get more work if they need that work to make ends meet for their families. But we have got to remember that these are the new announcements and they ride on the back of everything else that this Government has been talking about over the last little while.And let us not forget that this is in the context over the last little while of also increasing parental leave to 16 weeks. It is in the context of us making free GP visits available to under-13s. It is in the context of the HomeStart loans package which means that younger people in particular who are buying their first homes will be able to access more money through their KiwiSaver contributions and also all the other contributions that have been made to their KiwiSaver account in order to get into their first home. It is in the context of us increasing the immunisation rates amongst our young children. It is in the context of us having warmed up 300000 homes and of us seeing early childhood education participation going up. That is the kind of commitment that this Government has had to families in New Zealand. This Budget is in the context of that and is simply adding to the great work that has already been achieved.But this Budget is not simply about welfare and it is not simply about what we are doing directly for children and for families who are experiencing hardship. It is a well-rounded Budget. It is one that is committed to the regions and we are seeing that through the $25 million that has been set aside to establish new regional research institutions. Living in Palmerston North I can tell you that the benefits that those types of institutions bring to a place are incredible because you have money coming in that is actually multiplied. You have people working in those areas who are often well qualified and well paid—and well educated too I might add—who are contributing positively to our communities and so there is a flow-on effect from that. So we are going to see more of those being established in New Zealand.We are seeing an increased contribution to the ultra-fast broadband roll-out. Again in Palmerston North I can say that we are currently the third-fastest community in New Zealand to take up ultra-fast broadband in the home. I was speaking recently to a business that is doing international IT work with all sorts of people from the big manufacturers of hardware to people like Google and working with DreamWorks Animation and all sorts of places like that. That business can do that because of the connectivity it has. When its staff members need to work from home they can do that because ultra-fast broadband is available to them. That is what these kinds of things can deliver for New Zealand. That is the kind of process that we are working on with these types of initiatives.We are seeing a further $80 million going into research and development. We all know that if we are going to move ahead and if the economy is going to move ahead we need to continue to be more innovative. We need to ensure that those companies that are on the edge of that innovation are getting the assistance they need and that is what we are doing. Again in my home town of Palmerston North we see the impact of that research and development funding going not just to the institutions but also to private businesses.As I said it is well-rounded Budget. We have got help for families we have got help in terms of promoting economic growth and of course the very big thing that New Zealand has faced over the last little while has been the rebuild of Christchurch. This Budget continues to invest in the rebuild of Christchurch. Last Friday I was fortunate enough to be in Christchurch and I witnessed firsthand some of the great work that is being done down there by the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority and the things that are being achieved there. Despite the fact that Christchurch has had such a devastating last few years what we are now seeing growing up out of the ruins is what is going to be a state-of-the-art city—something that the people of Christchurch can be proud of and something that the people of New Zealand can be proud of. I am really looking forward to seeing what is going to rise up from the rubble so to speak. That is the kind of commitment that we have going forward.In summary I just want to add that I believe this is a balanced Budget. It is a Budget that is working towards great things for all of New Zealand. It is going to target those people who need our help the most and ensure they get it. We are not simply going to talk about what has been done in the past. We are looking forward. We are looking forward to seeing New Zealand have a future. We are looking forward to seeing people come out of poverty and into work and make their own way in the world. We are looking forward to an ongoing growing economy here in New Zealand as a result of the great work by this Minister of Finance with this Budget. Thank you.