Coleman JonathanHon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN (Minister of Health): I actually feel quite uplifted by that speech. The reason I do is I know that it is a speech that member has been delivering in my electorate of Northcote. With its lack of structure its downbeat message and its general negativity I am pleased that Mr Kelvin Davis will be taking that message to a much wider audience because I think that traditional Labour supporters need to hear the sort of negativity that is coming out of the Labour Party. I was very disappointed with the very narrow focus that Kelvin Davis was taking there. You know he should be looking at the big picture because Mr Davis there is actually a lot in this Budget that is fantastic for Māori. I was very disappointed that Mr Davis completely ignored the $2 billion Family Incomes Package which is going to lift the incomes of all middle to lower income New Zealanders. It is going to make a huge difference and I can assure Mr Davis that many Māori will benefit from that.We almost had a rare outbreak of consensus here in the House last week because those sensible Opposition parties literally came to the party with the announcement of the Family Incomes Package. We saw widespread almost-consensus in favour of what is a very good initiative to lift the incomes of 1.3 million New Zealand families. But we did not quite get there because the Labour members could not quite bring themselves to vote for it. That was a real shame because what they are not able to lay out for the public is what in their minds is the counter-factual. Those members are opposing just for the sake of opposing. I think in their hearts—you know people like Stuart Nash would know that this is actually an excellent Budget. That is because it has managed to do what no other Budget in our 9 great years of Government has managed to do: it has actually lifted incomes at the same time as investing extensively in infrastructure at the same time as insuring us against future shocks but also interestingly on top of all that investing heavily in public services. What other Budget has brought together all four of those elements at once? I mean this is an artful Budget. The architect Steven Joyce has done a fantastic job of it.I can tell you the reception we are getting out in the electorates—you know I was out on the main street of my electorate Birkenhead the other day. Boy was I getting great feedback on this Budget. This is because it has actually covered all the bases. It has hit the right points and it is the sort of Budget that people were expecting to see. In this context you have just got to look back over the last 9 years and the situation that the National Government inherited. They were dark days around the time of the global financial crisis. We were facing a decade of deficits. It was looking pretty grim. Debt was getting out of hand; it was set to peak at about 60 percent of GDP and it needed real fiscal discipline which was applied by the finance Minister Bill English over eight Budgets to get us into this situation today where the Government now has real choices about how we are spending accumulating surpluses. That is something that now gives us huge choices. It enables us to actually start spending more money on things that people are requiring of the Government. If you look at the state of the economy in the last 6 years there has been positive growth in all but one quarter. The future outlook is good as well: average growth of over 3 percent over the next 5 years peaking at 3.8 percent. But those surpluses are going to be the key: $2.9 billion in 2017-18 rising to $7.2 billion in 2020-21. When you think that we were dealing with an $18 billion deficit a few years ago—boy have those books been turned around. It is a very positive story. It is an outlook driven by a strong economic plan that the Government has and it is supported actually by confident New Zealand companies that feel confident to employ more people to develop more products and to look for more markets. We have got a great growth in jobs. We have had about 215000 jobs added over the last 3 years and over the next couple of years we are looking to add another 200000 jobs. The unemployment rate is set to fall below 4.5 percent. Very importantly at the same time as we have got these economic gains—you know debt falling below 20 percent of GDP by 2020—we are also dealing with the hard social stuff. I do not think even the most hardbitten Labour member could begrudge the fact that we have got 60000 fewer children growing up in benefit-dependent homes than we did just 6 years ago. You know that is a massive achievement. That is something—Hon Member: How many? Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: —60000 fewer—that is going to be a real legacy for this Government. If you look at the debt situation—so 20 percent of GDP by 2020—we have now set a new target in the Budget of 10 to 15 percent debt-to-GDP ratio by 2025. Of course living in an environment where natural disaster has been something we have been exposed to over the past few years we know the importance as a country of literally storing up resources for a rainy day because those rainy days have come in the past and they will come again. It is a great Budget though in terms of the $4 billion for infrastructure—a record amount in one Budget—that $2 billion for the Family Incomes Package and of course $321 million for flagship social investment projects. Last week I was at the World Health Assembly the World Health Organization annual meeting and it was interesting meeting with other health Ministers from around the globe. What is very clear is that we are all facing a common set of challenges with the ageing population and the growth in population in Western countries but we are also grappling with these three big disease groups: non-communicable diseases infectious diseases and the third big grouping—which has taken on much greater prominence over the last 5 years—of mental health issues. Around the globe all Western countries are grappling with this issue of how do we adapt our response in the face of rising mental health demand. Well I can tell you this $888 million in the Budget this allocation of $3.9 billion over the next 4 years—record amounts for health under this Government taking the total budget to $16.77 billion—is going to enable us to continue to improve and increase access to a range of health services including mental health. So there is $224 million over 4 years for mental health—that is $100 million within the ring-fence—and $24 million spread for initiatives across Māori development education and corrections. But also very importantly there is $100 million that is going to focus on innovative solutions to what is a real societal challenge—that is maintaining and improving the mental wellness the mental health of New Zealanders. It is a great year for district health boards (DHBs)—$439 million is in there. That is going to enable them to continue to improve and increase access to services. Of course none of this would have been possible without that steady strong long-term management of the economy. I am very proud that we are going to be investing another $38.5 million over the next 4 years for the further roll-out of the bowel screening programme. We are doing the Hutt Valley and Wairarapa DHBs of course and Waitematā DHB as well in July and later this year the Southern and Counties-Manukau DHBs. That is going to screen 700000 New Zealanders every 2 years and save 700 lives a year. It is an initiative that literally will be lifesaving. We are putting in another $205 million for disability services. That is going to take the total spend to $1.2 billion this year. Double-crewing for ambulances—a huge issue in Todd Barclay's electorate. That is going to be massive for those rural electorates where they have been facing over the long term one ambulance turning up 90 percent—Hon Scott Simpson: Coromandel. Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: Yes Coromandel as well—Scott Simpson's electorate. Andrew Bayly: Waiuku. Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: Andrew Bayly's electorate as well. So you know that is very well received out there by the constituents. That is going to be another initiative that literally saves lives. But of course there is also $60 million over 4 years for Pharmac. It is important that New Zealanders continue to get access to the world-class drugs that they need and deserve. It is incredible you know—3.5 million New Zealanders received a funded medicine last year. But the big one is $2 billion for the care and support workers over 5 years benefiting 55000 of the hardest-working lowest-paid New Zealanders most of whom are on the minimum wage. They are going to see a rise in their incomes of between 21 and 49 percent. I can tell you I was in the Northcote local rest home Anne Maree Court. The people were literally singing and dancing. They had the karaoke machine out. They were very appreciative. So there is a lot to sing and dance about around this Budget and I just wish that Labour would get on board and cheer up about it.