Goodhew Jo: General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeGoodhew Jo: General Debate[Sitting date: 11 November 2015. Volume:710;Page:7901. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon JO GOODHEW (Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector): Well I rise to take part in this general debate. What we have seen an absence of this afternoon from the Opposition is debate on the issues that New Zealanders really care about. New Zealanders really care about their own lives and what this Government is doing to assist them.So after a busy 7 years I am able to report just like my colleagues have said before that there is still so much to do. We are absolutely energetic about it but it has been a very busy 7 years. It has been a challenging 7 years at times. But we are still completely focused on New Zealanders and how we are going to make their lives better. That will be about a well-performing economy. It will be about more jobs—not Government-created jobs but business-created jobs. It will be about lifting their incomes and providing the essential services that support them and their families.So when a New Zealander is considering their own bank statement what do they want to know? They want to know that the Government is responsibly managing its own bank statement. They want to be able to trust in the Government not to be profligate spenders and not to promise and deliver vast arrays of spending without any thought about whether they are getting value for money.New Zealanders also if they are in business want to know that the Government is focused on making their business lives better that they are going to be more productive they are going to add to an economy that the Government is focused on for example free-trade agreements so that they can sell their products overseas if they wish that the Government is always looking to a higher prize. And that certainly is what our Business Growth Agenda is all about.New Zealanders also want to know that when they pay tax those tax dollars are being used to good effect and that we are not squandering their tax dollars and that certainly is not what we are doing. However I do have to say that we have now a record $25 billion going into our health and education expenditure. That is good news—that is all good news—and I want to move on to some more good news. In fact this is breaking news. Members of the Parliament this is breaking news.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Heartbreaking news.Hon JO GOODHEW: Oh well I do not think you will find it so Mr Peters. This is the Charities Aid Foundation World Giving Index for 2015. It is in its sixth year. It is a leading authority on global generosity.I think that people who feel good about their lives often are generous as well. The index shows a picture of charitable behaviour across the world comparing 145 countries. New Zealand is third. New Zealand is third behind Myanmar and the US. New Zealand is in the top three. We have moved up two places. That does not sound like a country that is feeling down in the dumps to me.We have been volunteering our time in greater numbers than ever before. So we are the fourth with 45 percent of our 15-year-olds and over volunteering their time and sixth when it comes to giving away money if you are over 15 years of age. I think that is fantastic news and I just know that that is not a sentiment that would happen if this country was in the doldrums. No this is a country that has confidence in the John Key - led Parliament.But then there is more good news. I have more good news for the members of the House. I want to talk about the fantastic numbers of products in our supermarkets right now with front-of-pack labelling. It is not a new idea; we introduced it about 18 months ago. There are 600 products in our supermarkets that tell you at a glance so that you can compare across products what is the healthier product. What a radical idea that is!This has also meant that the companies have reduced their sugar and their salt in their products in order to get more stars. So between half a star and five stars—five being the best—70 percent of New Zealand’s breakfast cereals have reformulated to be healthier. Gosh that was easy; it was all voluntary. How did that happen? I cannot believe it but it did happen. The bulk bins in the supermarket are going to be there. People say “Oh you only buy on price.” but in fact the cheapest products—the home brand products—are right up there: 500 by the end of the year. So I can say that this is a success of this Government: healthier products for our New Zealanders.