Andersen GinnyGINNY ANDERSEN (Labour—Hutt South): Talofa lava. Thank you very much Mr Speaker. What an opportunity to be able to speak today on such a magnificent Budget. I must say that in the recess time I'm lucky enough to be able to get out into my community and talk to people about what's in the Budget. I never get sick of doing that. It's a great opportunity because Budget 2021 was about securing our recovery from COVID and people can see this. When you look at what's happened in the past people know that New Zealand has delivered a strong health response; they can see that. People know that through the wage subsidy our local businesses and local workers continue to be employed and our local economy in the Hutt is thriving. We can also see there's been a significant investment in infrastructure and that translates not just to the things that we need to drive or trains or hospitals but it also means jobs—jobs in terms of our apprenticeships and our people working and bringing home a good wage and that's what people see when you talk to them.But this Budget builds on that. It builds on that platform that's already been delivered over the last Budget and it lays the foundations for coming out of COVID stronger and building back even better by addressing some of those challenges that we know are systemic within New Zealand: the housing crisis inequality and also climate change. There is a whole lot of good work in there that continues to develop the hard work that's gone on before.When you think about real examples and you talk to people—I met an early childhood education teacher the other week who knew that they were going to get as much pay as kindergarten teachers and that was making a significant difference to what they could afford to buy. A local business owner who now had two apprenticeships going under his watch instead of just one because of the apprenticeship scheme. And because that had worked so well for his business he'd taken on two in Mana in Mahi who were previously unemployed and had got the benefits through that and he was looking at taking those lads from Mana in Mahi into doing apprenticeships. When you talk to someone who knows they'll be able to now get the Training Incentive Allowance that their bus fare that their books that their additional support to be able to get to and learn and improve and drive stronger—that is what New Zealand wants. It's to give opportunities to people to make the most of what their lives can be. And it even helps so much more to have the mum or the dad who knows they're getting that extra money in their benefit to buy some shoes to buy some food and to buy those extra things to help get by.I could talk about all of those things a lot because there are so many things in this Budget. There are so many great things to pick out. But I'm going to use my remaining time to talk about something that I'm really passionate about and that's Te Pae Oranga which is Māori justice panels. Just today we've had the announcement in Hamilton that Budget 2021 will invest in reducing reoffending by funding an additional 12 Te Pae Oranga community justice panels or iwi community justice panels. This will include nine new rangatahi or youth panels and that will fund approximately 35 fulltime-equivalent positions within police to work within communities.I was waiting to hear the cries from the benches opposite of Soft on crime." but they seem to have gone quiet today. But I came prepared just in case they did cry out "Soft on crime." because I have a couple of great quotes. The first one I'd like to quote is—Hon Members: Soft on crime!GINNY ANDERSEN: Oh there you go thank you. "Sending someone off to jail for their first shoplifting offence might make society feel good but if that then sets them on a lifetime path of crime then I don't think society has won out of the deal." That was by the former Minister of Justice the Hon Amy Adams in 2016. Here's another one: "Having sat through these panels they are not soft on crime. The offender certainly has to pay the price." So it's great to know that there's agreement across the House on the fact that having a community response having an offender work within their community to address the underlying issues of what is driving low-level offending is actually how you drive transformational change within the justice system.When I first worked on police and sat on these panels and saw how they operated I can say firsthand that people who would have entered the justice system were prevented from doing so. They provide real opportunity for local autonomy local communities local marae to work hand in hand with police and their people to make sure we have positive long-term outcomes for our next generation. I'm proud to be part of a Government that delivers a system that enables that engagement early on and does not resort to just courts and prison as a knee-jerk reaction instead of addressing the underlying factors that are driving that offending in the first place. I think that is the way we will work forward to have a better New Zealand and that is what Budget 2021 delivers."