Upston LouiseHon LOUISE UPSTON (Minister for Social Development and Employment): The member who resumed her seat doesn't believe that 3.5 million New Zealanders believe tax relief—doesn't believe hard-working New Zealanders should get tax relief. Now that's a sad place to start because in reality the Budget that was delivered by the Minister of Finance Nicola Willis on 30 May prioritised hard-working New Zealanders. I want to tell the House this because that side of the House does not think those 3.5 million New Zealanders get it. They do. They absolutely get it. They know that each and every day that they are struggling that they are doing it tough they know although we might still see some months ahead it will actually get better and they know why. They know because they voted in a coalition Government at the election last year that they could depend on for delivering their promises.They knew that there was a Minister of Finance who not only delivered a Budget on 30 May but also delivered a mini-Budget before Christmas literally weeks after coming in to actually lay the foundations for what our country needs not just in the days and weeks ahead but the months and years ahead.That side of the House thinks that New Zealanders don't get it. They think New Zealanders don't get it but actually what are they doing at home? They are thinking about how they take more care with their weekly budget how they balance it. Actually for far too many it is too tough. Some of them might have to borrow to get through this period of time but they are not wasting their money on frivolous things that don't lead to a better life for them.The other side of the House don't think that hard-working New Zealanders get what our Government is doing for them. So the 3.5 million New Zealanders who understand—and as Minister Bishop quite rightly laid out he described it in other terms. I'm going to describe it as the sugar hit—the sugar hit of the previous Government spraying money away around everywhere not caring whether it landed not caring whether it actually delivered anything or delivered any outcomes. But you know what it's like when you've had too much sugar. If you stop sugar it's a crash and you feel rotten your head hurts and you feel sick but actually once you've got through that period without the sugar you are actually way better off. That's exactly the period of time. Unfortunately based on Treasury's forecasts it could be sort of six months—hopefully not too much longer than that—but this Government is up front with New Zealanders about the position we are in and what we have inherited but more importantly the steps we are taking to resolve it.It was fascinating—scrutiny week last week was the opportunity for the Opposition to grill Ministers on their budgets and on their estimates and gosh wasn't that surprising. There were actually very very few opportunities for the Opposition to land a hit because at the end of the day New Zealanders everywhere from one end of this country to the other are contacting their new MPs—and we've got some fantastic new MPs in this House—and they are contacting Ministers and they are saying Keep going. We know the decisions you're taking are tough but please keep going." because they absolutely know they are the right decisions.So the member that resumed her seat before me was somewhat interesting when she talked about the Budget Economic and Fiscal Update and the fiscal update that was provided by Treasury and talked about the unemployment rate rising to 5.3 percent. If we can hold it at 5.3 percent despite these absolutely dire economic situations and circumstances we have inherited that's actually a win.Here's the thing: despite there being very low unemployment that side of the House when they were in Government managed to clock up an extra 70000 people on the jobseeker benefit—Hon Member: Outrageous.Hon LOUISE UPSTON: Absolutely outrageous. At a time when many businesses everywhere were desperate for staff it is just unbelievable that they were so successful in doing that. So instead this Government lays out a clear plan—it will be ambitious—for reducing the number of people on the jobseeker benefit by 50000. But if we just picked a number out of the air and said "Oh well sounds like a good number. Sounds like a good slogan."—no there's a detailed plan that goes with it because the coalition Government every Minister every MP that's working hard on the ground knows that it is our job even in tough times to improve the lives of the people we represent.So in social development and employment it's reducing the number on the jobseeker benefit. So what have we done? First and foremost we do believe on this side of the House that there are rights and responsibilities. If somebody's on the jobseeker benefit they have the right to get welfare support but they have the responsibility to take steps that they should be taking to improve their chances of finding a job so if they don't there should be a consequence. It's called a sanction.What else have we done to make the welfare system more active? We've introduced Kōrero Mahi so if somebody signs on for the jobseeker benefit within two weeks we want them back at a seminar connecting with the Ministry of Social Development talking about what steps they are taking to find a job—actually not that kind of shocking or stunning right?When we announced it one of the journalists was like "But surely that already happens." and like no unfortunately it doesn't. After signing on for a benefit somebody could go for up to 12 months with zero contact—zero.So instead we are a Government that is focused on supporting people into employment. It will be hard these times particularly the next six months and we do recognise in the Treasury documents that the numbers are due to increase. But rather than just say "Oh you know that's tough." no we will double our efforts to support more Kiwis into work. That is exactly what this side of the House will do.Another group of New Zealanders that we are supporting in this Budget is of course disabled New Zealanders. Unfortunately what we've seen and this is a classic example in the creation of Whaikaha - Ministry of Disabled People—the previous Government set it up with a big fanfare and they set these wildly high expectations but actually didn't address the fundamental issues of funding the disability support service that they knew and were in the establishment Cabinet paper yet did nothing. They did nothing to address it so this Government comes along and inherits a mess.Do we just surrender? No we are doing the work; we have a review to understand exactly what has happened but more importantly what we need to do to solve it because disabled New Zealanders their carers and their families deserve better than what the previous Government set up the ministry to do.I'm absolutely committed that Whaikaha will be successful. Disabled New Zealanders need them to be. They need us as a coalition Government to deliver better. Whether it's access whether it's employment whether it's ensuring there are sufficient care and support workers our Government is focused on improving the lives of disabled people their families and carers.I want to return to where I started and say this is a Government who is absolutely delivering for New Zealanders. So even in challenging times we focused on New Zealanders being able to keep more of what they earn. The other side of the House doesn't think they deserve it. They don't think they deserve it. It's outrageous—that is absolutely outrageous. They think they can spend it better than taxpayers can. Well actually no we trust and we back New Zealanders. That's why we've allowed 3.5 million New Zealanders to keep their own money and we will be incredibly careful with what they provide in tax. That's why every Minister has been very careful in looking at expenditure focusing on the front line—is it delivering results or is it not? Yes that means some tough choices but if you think about this Budget it's delivering more in health more in education more in disability and in keeping our community safe."