Roberts Angela; Rurawhe AdrianANGELA ROBERTS (Labour): Thank you Mr Speaker. I despair sometimes but I'm a patient teacher. There's a constant reminder from the other side of the House that there is a lack of basic understanding of how our economy works. So it's great that I've got a teachable matter because there's a level 2 concept in NCEA which talks about our production possibility frontier. It is a little curve but it's an important little curve because actually what the model does is it helps us to explain what happens when we provide support for today and invest for tomorrow.So there are two things that an economy generally tries to do: they try and shift the economy towards the frontier and then they also like to shift that frontier because that means that our possibilities are growing and we are much more likely to be able to grow our economy. There are some really wonderful examples—in fact dozens of examples—in this year's Budget that were brought to us by the Hon Grant Robertson and so it's wonderful; we've got some great teachable moments. There are things that help us move towards possibilities that we already have such as making sure that we look after health and housing so that our children can get to school and so that our workers can get to work. Housing transport—we've heard so much about that in the last few weeks. Our low unemployment is evidence of where we are getting to the edge of that frontier. Of course then we have supply issues and we get pressure points externally globally and we have inflationary pressure. So what we need to do is we need to shift our frontier and we do that by investing. We do it by investing in our infrastructure and we do it by investing in our people because when we invest in our people and they become more productive our whole curve moves out and our entire nation is better off because of it. So I just wanted to touch on a couple of aspects of investing in our people that I'm really really proud to remind the House of such as the Training Incentive Allowance that we know people in this House have been able to take advantage of over the years. Since its reinstatement in 2021 it has supported over 6000 eligible Ministry of Social Development clients. We know that this is life changing. This is about making sure that individuals are able to reach their potential and that we move them towards the production possibility frontier.I think I've already spoken about this in the House but it's pretty exciting so it is worth reminding people about our Apprenticeship Boost. It has been significant. We've heard concerns about success for Māori and we do know that there's been a 71 percent increase in Māori apprenticeships since we supported industry and we supported small firms and large firms to invest in their workers. We know that that pays off not just because they become more productive but because those workers are more resilient and more adaptable in the future and their careers. It's a great thing to have seen that continued in this year's Budget.One of the other things that we have invested in is our industry transformation plans. This is about making sure that we don't just keep up but that we are transformative and continue to be world leading. There are eight of those plans; they've taken a long time to develop with industry. It's wonderful to see evidence of the Government and industry and workers walking alongside each other and making sure that we grapple with those really challenging issues about making sure that we have a sustainable and wonderful economy in the future. There are seven industry transformation plans and three of them are highlighted in the Budget for additional investment. We've heard about the digital technology plan many times in the House even just today—especially how exciting it's going to be to see the gaming industry being supported and how we make sure that our young people transition into the workplace and into further training and skills. It's a wonderful process and I'm sure one that will be replicated as we see the industry training plan for tourism and for agritech and all of the others continue.It is a wonderful Budget and it is going to make sure that we have a just transition that we have a strong and sustainable economy and that the wellbeing of our people and of our planet is something that we will be happy with in the future.The debate having concluded the motion lapsed.SPEAKER: I declare the House in committee for consideration of the New Plymouth District Council (Perpetual Investment Fund) Bill.