Little AndrewBUDGET DEBATEDebate resumed from 4 June on the Appropriation (2020/21 Estimates) Bill.Hon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Justice): I want to begin by saying how proud I am to be part of a Government that is successfully facing one of the biggest crises and catastrophes that has faced this country and indeed the entire world. What a proud reputation we've established for New Zealand. Little old New Zealand in this corner of the world is now able to claim that we have eliminated COVID-19 in our communities in our streets and our towns and our businesses and our households are safe for now—but the risk remains. And the way we continue to manage this particular challenge is to continue to be careful and cautious and that's what we're doing.The great thing is of course that the starting point for this Government was one where we had near record-low unemployment; we had near record-low Government debt in terms of ratio to GDP; we had just committed $12 billion of investment in infrastructure; and we had new investment in education particularly in skills and training as well as in health services and facilities. This is a forward-thinking far-reaching Government that was doing all of this even before we were afflicted with COVID-19.And then in January and February the word came through that a pandemic had broken out in China and we had to start making some decisions. But we did it in the right way. We were cautious we listened to the evidence we took advice we started closing off our borders to parts of the world where the risk was greatest because we are a country of travellers and we are a country of hosts to travellers—that's what's built our tourism industry that is used to hosting 3 million to 4 million people a year. That's where our biggest risk was and this Government was smart and sharp and focused on what the issue was and made decisions accordingly. And of course I have to say none of this was made easier by a country that was still reeling from nine years of neglect from the previous administration. So our decisions had to take that into account as well as the long-term future prospects of this great country of ours.And you know I look at our Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and I look at my Cabinet colleagues and indeed all the members on this side of the House and you look at the challenges that this Government has faced: a terrorist attack volcanic eruption drought and then this year the COVID-19 pandemic that we had to face along with the rest of the world. It required resolute action and it got it. And it got the right decisions at the right time and we went hard and we went early and we are reaping the benefits of that now. Look around the world see what's happening to other countries—it's not a pretty picture. But with the leadership of Jacinda Ardern with the assistance of our Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield and all of the other experts and the scientists and the others who were informing us and informing our decisions we took the crucial decision and New Zealanders now are safer as a result.I said it to this House a few weeks ago—possibly more now because I'm kind of losing track of time with what we've had to go through—but the question on the lips of voters in September this year will be Did you keep us safe?" And I know all members in this House as we get around our communities and do our meetings members on this side members on that side we are all hearing the same message. New Zealanders are saying "You kept us safe. Keep keeping us safe. Don't make rash decisions don't give in to the nattering nabobs of negativity."—as Spiro Agnew would have called them—"Make sure you keep this country safe." That's what they're saying and that's what this Government is doing. We've won the battle of COVID-19 but it's not over yet. Just today there were two new cases from across the border but because of our testing and our border management regime they were picked up and—once again—we're swinging into action to keep our people safe again.Now we've got another big battle another big challenge and that's the recovery—because this has been tough. This has been tough for New Zealanders—it's been tough for New Zealand business owners it's been tough for workers in those businesses it's been tough for families and it's been tough for elderly people and now we've got to focus on the recovery and that's going to have its own challenges as well.CHAIRPERSON (Hon Anne Tolley): And can I just ask the Minister—focus on the Budget?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: I was just coming to the very point. Great minds think alike as they say and I was just about to say that's why this Budget is so important. It reflects those commitments but actually this is a Budget that says we are prepared to commit and take the action of $50 billion to get the recovery going.Now as the Minister of Finance said just a short while ago the commentary is already changing. There is already confidence returning to the economy—Kiwibank yesterday said that the worst case scenarios are off the table—but we still need this public investment in infrastructure in income support and that's the stuff that we're doing. So we've extended the wage subsidy by eight weeks to protect those jobs—we've put $3.2 billion into that. We've put $400 million into the tourism industry because this is going to be a long time for that industry to recover. We have to be real. And I know members opposite—the reality is they are equally as concerned as us about that industry. But this isn't going to return to pre-COVID conditions any time soon and we've got to support that industry because eventually the borders will open and the travellers will return and we have to have something for them to return to—an economy that is robust and is growing.We've got the loan scheme for small businesses—$1 billion now signed up to through IRD to support small businesses and to support their cash flow. We've got the Lunches in Schools programme that's going to not only feed 200000 kids but generate more jobs to boot. Eight thousand new public houses—they're the houses that you live in not the houses that you drink in—are going to be built. That's going to be a stimulus as well. There is another $3 billion in infrastructure projects on top of the $12 billion that was committed to last year $36 million in a redeployment package to assist the regions and there are decisions already being made in Northland Hawke's Bay Rotorua and Queenstown Lakes. Eleven thousand environmental jobs are created as well because in restoring the economy we can't just ignore what's happening in the environment as well and we've got long-term challenges there as well.I want to finish by just spending a couple of minutes on an area that's important to me and that is what we're doing in the justice system because that's important too. So we've got changes to our Family Court system. We've actually allowed parties going through the very painful and emotionally upsetting event of a marital or partnership separation to now get access to legal advice from the outset a Family Court system that is resourced and equipped to help them navigate that very difficult time through a very tricky system. So we've reinstated that. We've put in place Family Court liaison staff to help people—just there to assist parties to get through the process know what help and support is available know where to get the counselling and know where to get other advice and support so they can navigate their way through that very tricky time in their lives. That's been long overdue and that's now happening and there will be other commitments in that system as time progresses.And then the other is in our community law centres. What an amazing job they do there to help people who wouldn't otherwise have access to legal advice or access to the justice system. So more money is going to our community law centres because you can predict—with what is happening with the difficulties that people are going through with their residential tenancies with their employment with what's happening with income support—a lot more people are going to need a lot more advice and they would be able to get it through a recharged re-supported and highly charged community law centre network. So that is going well as well.What we do in that system the support that we provide people whether it's in their employment through the extension of the wage subsidy scheme through the regional investment programmes that we've put in place through the reviewing and reallocating some of the Provincial Growth Fund money this is a country that is on its way on the journey of recovery. We are not there yet and it will take time but this is a country that can look back on the last few weeks and the last few months and say we had a hell of a challenge but we met that challenge and we supported each other. We supported each other through the health crisis and now it's time to support each other through the economic crisis and the economic rebuild—and we will do that. This is a country that has proven that when it's hard up against it we pull together we work together we cooperate we collaborate and we make the difference. This is a time to celebrate what we've done but not to rest on our laurels—to be thankful for the leadership that we have had to be thankful for the investment that has been put in through this Budget as we recover and get back on our feet again."