Mahuta Nanaia: Budget DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeMahuta Nanaia: Budget Debate[Sitting date: 26 May 2015. Volume:705;Page:3966. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon NANAIA MAHUTA (Labour—Hauraki-Waikato): Talofa lava. Can I just take a brief moment to acknowledge the families of the Pike River miners who are in the gallery today and who are listening to this particular debate. They could be forgiven for thinking that we were on a whole different planet and that Budget 2015 is delivering to the many regions across New Zealand in positive ways.Well Mr Bennett it gives me great pleasure to follow you. You mentioned Waikato University but you failed to recognise what the vice-chancellor himself said. He said that the change in tertiary policy has had a huge effect on new enrolments to Waikato University and that the change in postgraduate policies also had a huge implication for enrolments at that particular university. I am proud of our university I am proud of what it does and I am proud of what it is trying to do to ensure that more young people come to Waikato University to study. But the Budget did not actually deliver to many young people who see their prospects in education and it certainly did not deliver in tertiary education.There have been many things that have been said through this Budget debate that I am very very concerned about. In fact you could be forgiven for thinking that the Government wants to roll through this very quickly. When one listens to Minister Steven Joyce’s contribution one might almost think that the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment was becoming irrelevant to the aspirations of the regions.Just the other day I was in Manukau and it is glaring where the priorities of the Government are. We hear a lot about National’s economic plan and the benefits for the country. If you look on one side of the road you see that the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment office is in a very dimly lit building with no signage whatsoever. It is in a small building on the one side and just across the road in the biggest building the flashiest building on the street is Housing New Zealand. However people in Manukau have to ring an 0800 number to try to get a house. If they are lucky they might be rated as priority B but they more than likely will not get a house. There is hardship in the regions. This Budget has not delivered to a whole lot of families that I think it could have.Mr Bennett you made the comment that the $25 increase to base benefits will make a difference. It will make a slight difference but when you yourself know that the Children’s Commissioner said that it is a start but that it is not a plan to tackle child poverty how can you look members on this side of the House in the face and say: “We’re doing a whole lot to address child poverty.”?The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard): Order!Hon NANAIA MAHUTA: My apologies Mr Assistant Speaker. In fact the Government refuses to set targets for a comprehensive whole-of-Government strategy to reduce child poverty. The Opposition has continued to push for targets that are possible to measure by every Government department that has an ability to influence outcomes for children and set some simple measures in place.Coming back to the Budget there are a number of litmus tests that members might want to put across the Budget to ensure that it is achieving something. Mine is simple: regional development and regional opportunity. I have had a lot of opportunities to visit several regions. I just want to comment on a few things that have come up through the regions and then ask whether or not this Budget addresses issues for them.We were in Gisborne and one of the visits that we had was with an entrepreneur. He said: “Look at those ports out there. We want to be able to do more than export raw logs from our particular region but the rail link is a problem.” The Government has done nothing there. We are still exporting raw logs. There is a huge health and safety risk in the industry itself but there is huge potential to diversify what is happening in Gisborne. Did the Budget deliver for that region? I think not. I do not think any of the investment in research and innovation will go into the Gisborne area.I will take a look at some of the other areas. Yes the net migration to New Zealand is significantly positive. However over 50 percent of those people choose to live in Auckland and that compounds the housing pressure in Auckland. In regions like Invercargill and Gisborne people are saying: “We want to attract skilled migrants into our region. It is cheaper to get a house here than in Auckland. However we need a whole plan for regional growth and development where central government and local government and the business community can work together and collaborate around firm plans to ensure opportunity exists here.” Did the Budget deliver against that priority? I think not.In Pukekohe we have just got a new milk factory built by the Chinese down the road in Pōkeno. Again the people there are saying it is more than likely under the current growth limits for the city of Auckland that Tuakau and Pukekohe are prime areas to attract population into. But again there are the regulations around housing and some of the challenges around infrastructure and the investment required and the public transport needs create certain pressures for places like Pukekohe and Tuakau. They themselves would say that they have got huge challenges in both cutting through the red tape of local government and getting central government onside to recognise that there is more to Pukekohe than horticulture and the Glenbrook steel mill just down the road at Waiuku. Did the Budget deliver for them? Well perhaps in time but not immediately.In the area of education and skills training one of the things that continues to come up more and more as I travel around the country is the cost that occurs when you try to ensure that young people have opportunities beyond school not only in apprenticeships but also in going and studying at their nearest tertiary institution whether it is to secure a trade or a professional degree. Many parents teachers and indeed mayors identified that one of the significant barriers to getting their young people into training is the cost of travel from rural areas into the city. The cost of tertiary fees alone is a significant barrier as is the cost of accommodation if they have to find accommodation in the area where they are going to study. Has the Budget delivered for them? Is there hope and opportunity for the young people who are wanting to do more and be more? Well it is hard to see—it is very hard to see.This is a serious debate and it requires serious attention but one of the things that I am most concerned about is the lack of a plan for young New Zealanders. We were in urgency debating the removal of the $1000 kick-start payment. If you were to believe the member for Hamilton East David Bennett you would think that just because 38 percent of people take up the $1000 and make no contribution it is a justification for removing it. I totally reject that debate. I totally reject that proposition. In fact the kick-start payment enabled families to be able to open up an account and create a savings history.When KiwiSaver started it was really clear that New Zealanders were not good savers but KiwiSaver provided an opportunity for people to start to put a little bit away in the hope of having a nest egg. Taking away the kick-start payment will not help the next generation. It robs from the future and it creates no hope that people can have security in retirement.Coming back to the point that I really want to make about child poverty measures it is time now. If the Government makes the decision to give an extra $25 to those families who most need it in order to give them a little bit of support then it is now time for the Government to set some targets to reduce child poverty. We need a whole-of-Government target that it consistently reports against to ensure that all the policies—a comprehensive set of policies—can reduce poverty and inequality and improve the outcomes for children and young people. We just cannot have a country where inequality gets bigger. Budget 2015 was a major flop in my perspective for children whose lives really require our attention and who should be put at the centre of a whole-of-Government approach to improve opportunities for the future. Kia ora.