Duynhoven Harry: Budget Debate 
Duynhoven Harry: Budget Debate 
[Volume:608;Page:5917] 
Hon HARRY DUYNHOVEN (Minister of State) 
: 
 As I am the Associate Minister of Energy and the Associate Minister of Transport—both subjects that I have had a long interest in—people might expect me to spend much of my time in this Budget speech on those items. But I am not going to because firstly I am the MP for New Plymouth and I have looked at this fine Budget with a view to what it means for ordinary people such as those who live in my electorate. 
Budget speeches are an opportunity for members of Parliament to talk about how things are going in their electorates and how the Budget affects the people they represent. It is really important for an MP not to lose sight of the people who have elected him or her. They want to hear their own area being spoken about in the House. A point I think I should make is that it may well be useful for the House to consider having perhaps once a year a “state of the electorates” debate so that other members of Parliament might be informed about what is going on in the electorates of MPs who represent them. I think that many people would be surprised to find out what is happening. For example there are many people who would not know that Port Taranaki is one of the major export ports of this country and growing and that I believe it actually ships more cargo out of New Zealand now as exports than does the Port of Wellington. That is an example of a statistic that most people would not be aware of. Unless we have the opportunity to speak in the House and tell them they would not know those sorts of things. 
This Budget is about a Government that is actually doing what it said it would do—keeping its word. We campaigned on getting more people into work and on making life better for ordinary people. I want to look at a few aspects that have been pretty dear to my heart over the years and being one of the very few members of Parliament ever to have been a tradesman I say to the House that in particular I am absolutely delighted at the success of the Modern Apprenticeships programme. Over 5100 people were doing new apprenticeships under that programme as at 31 March this year. Over 5000 people have been placed in apprenticeships since this Government came into power and that is a marvellous— 
Steve Chadwick 
: Fantastic! 
Hon HARRY DUYNHOVEN 
: My colleague is absolutely right—that is fantastic. And we are well on target for the figure to be 6000 by the end of this year. More New Zealanders now are working than ever before. Since December 1999 the number of New Zealanders employed has increased by 132000. I sat in the Chamber—regrettably for only 6 of the 9 years that Labour was in Opposition—hearing Government MPs of the day prattle on time after time saying what a wonderful thing it was they were doing. Their efforts were insignificant compared with what this Government has already done in that regard. I tell New Zealanders that this Budget invests in their future. We have done a huge amount— 
Simon Power 
: Unless you are a student. 
Hon HARRY DUYNHOVEN 
: I will come to that too. We have done a huge amount particularly with regard to New Zealand’s trade situation. Investment New Zealand has been established with the merger of Trade New Zealand and Industry New Zealand and at the Federated Farmers’ conference on Monday I heard our excellent Minister for Trade Negotiations and Minister of Agriculture Jim Sutton commended—by Federated Farmers no less—for the tremendous work we are doing in terms of growing New Zealand’s international trade. He was complimented on his performance and on the way the Government is putting effort into that area. 
The Budget approaches the whole issue of a sustainable growth rate as a whole-of-Government approach. If offers certainty and stability in a world that we would have to say has been pretty dysfunctional in the last year or two with things like tourism incidents severe acute respiratory syndrome and all the rest of it. We ask: “OK. What can the New Zealand Government do to give stability?”. I say that it is actually doing it. This Budget reinforces New Zealand’s reputation. Moreover it reinforces Labour’s reputation as being fiscally prudent and economically pragmatic in terms of—as National wants us to do—spending everything. National has both sides of the argument. On the one hand my National colleagues on the other side of the House say we should be spending more on this that and everything else—and I hope someone is tallying up all the things they want us to spend money on because Don Brash will not be happy about that—and on the other hand— 
Simon Power 
: He is not. 
Hon HARRY DUYNHOVEN 
: I am sure he is not. Simon Power agrees with me that he is not happy about the promises National members are making. On the other hand Mr Brash says: “No no no. We have to ensure that the budgetary constraints are put on tightly. We shouldn’t spend anything. We should drop taxes.” They cannot have it both ways. The Minister of Finance has done a huge job in getting things structured and well ordered for the future. We all know that next year will be a tough year. We all know that the drought has reduced production which means that next year’s export receipts will not be quite as high as they have been. We all know that we are being affected by our terms of trade especially the value of our dollar against the US dollar. But our Minister of Finance has structured the Budget in such a way that ensures we prepare prudently for the future. 
Let us look at some of the areas in which the Government has spent money wisely. Health has received a 9 percent increase in funding and industry and regional development has received a 43 percent increase. Those are two key areas for the future. I have young children and I want to be sure that for as long as possible they have a Government that acts in the way this Government is: ensuring that spending is prudent. Let us look at economic growth. Our growth rate at present is one of the strongest in the OECD. We are looking at 4.4 percent growth. That is what we know our growth rate is. Next year is not going to be as good; we know that. 
Simon Power 
: Like 2 percent. 
Hon HARRY DUYNHOVEN 
: Yes it may be 2 percent but I say to the member opposite that I think successive National Ministers would have been delighted to achieve what we have in such a short time. Next year we will see perhaps a little more than 2 percent growth but then it is expected to rebound to more than 3 percent. Growth will still be above the OECD average. Let us look at our debt as a proportion of gross domestic product. It is at the lowest level since Treasury began collecting the data. It also is forecast to drop further to 23 percent by 2006-07. Look at superannuation. We have fully funded it this year. The complete amount $1.879 billion has been transferred. Anyone knows that unless we prudently put aside and save for our future we will have problems in the longer term. 
The Budget contains a number of specific initiatives. I particularly want to turn to what we are doing within the framework of growth and innovation because that is a really important Government policy for the future. Over the next 4 years $140 million excluding capital is to go to research science and technology; $73 million is to go into promoting overseas trade; and $44 million has been allocated to attract migrants to New Zealand—migrants who have the skills the economy needs; technical skills that we do not naturally have ourselves. Those are the sorts of areas the Budget is addressing. My own electorate of New Plymouth has already dramatically benefited from that. At present New Plymouth has a very strong growth rate. We have had a number of initiatives many of them long term—not just the movie that has been filmed there in the last 6 months although that brought in a tremendous amount of skills and enterprising entrepreneurs who have got out there and used that to best advantage but a whole lot of things that have been going on for years and years. 
I had a dream 15 years ago of a shipyard in New Plymouth. Reclamation was undertaken. I did the legislation for it. It is in place and happening today. That does not come across as something that can be done overnight but it is— 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: “Ah had a dream.”! 
Hon HARRY DUYNHOVEN 
: The member Maurice Williamson is quite right. But it is happening and we are building yachts. Fitzroy Yachts is doing a marvellous job creating jobs employing local people and bringing new people to the area. It is benefiting Taranaki’s economy with its skilled high-tech approach. That is the sort of enterprise I want to see generated and I have lots more ideas. I recommend to the Speaker that we have some opportunity—once a year perhaps—for each electorate member of Parliament to talk about what is happening in his or her electorate and what they would like to see in their plans for the future. I think that would be tremendous. The Budget speech is probably not the best place to do it but it is a marvellous opportunity.