Woods MeganBUDGET DEBATEDebate resumed from 12 June on the Appropriation (2019/20 Estimates) Bill.Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS (Minister of Energy and Resources): It is my great pleasure to take a call in this debate. Budgets are a chance for Governments to spell out their priorities and their vision and I am proud to be part of a Government that set out the vision and the priorities that it did in this year's Budget. This was a Budget that put wellbeing the wellbeing of New Zealanders at the centre of everything. It was a Budget that had the courage to govern for the next generation and not just the next election. It was a Budget that delivered a plan to address the mental health challenges that are facing this country and have been allowed to go on for far too long. It was a Budget that delivered housing to the homeless. It was a Budget that lifted tens of thousands of Kiwi kids out of poverty. It was a Budget that will deliver low unemployment. It was a Budget that delivered low debt and it was a Government that has delivered a strong surplus.When I have gone around my electorate of Wigram and spoken to people about this year's Budget I know that these are the things that are important to them. These are the things that are important to New Zealanders. We've tackled those long-term issues facing New Zealand and we're balancing record levels of investment in this year's Budget over our long-term challenges while maintaining fiscal responsibility delivering strong surplus growth well ahead of the OECD average and near record low levels of unemployment and low debt. That is something that I know when I've spoken to people that all New Zealanders are rightly proud of.If we look at the money that we have put into mental health in many ways the centrepiece of this Budget this is something that I think there is not a member in this House on either side of it that doesn't have strong personal stories and connections to the struggles that many New Zealanders are facing in the areas of mental health. I know in the city that I come from Christchurch the last nine years have really taken a toll on people's mental health. There are many people in my city struggling with their mental wellbeing and their mental health as there are all over the country. This is why this Government set aside a record investment in our mental health services with a new universal front-line service making it as easy as possible for people to get help early before those small issues become major problems. The Budget includes new funding for suicide prevention addiction treatment and housing for almost 300000 homeless people.Then if we turn to the issue of child wellbeing it is so important that any Government—and I am so proud that our Government has put breaking the cycle of child poverty and family violence right at the centre of what we're doing. Our Families Package and Wellbeing Budget are projected to lift 50000 to 74000 children out of poverty and this is something that we can all be proud of. We're providing record funding for services to break the cycle of family and sexual violence and new funding to stop kids falling through the cracks. We're extending the nurses in schools programme meaning it will reach an additional 5600 students and this is something that is so important. We're doing this while we're sketching out a long-term vision of how it is we can transform our economy and how we can grow and modernise our economy while ensuring that we are setting ourselves on the pathway to a just transition to a low-emissions future. We're backing KiwiRail to get trucks off the roads. We're fixing our schools and hospitals and we're investing to meet the challenges of climate change. We are not a Government that is content to leave this without adequate provision. One of the things that I do want to spend some time talking about is mental health services. For all of us we know that it is something that has been left by the wayside for too long. In Christchurch we had looked when we first came into Government at some of the critical areas of need and they were our children. In February last year only a few months into being in Government we put additional funding in to help our children. I am pleased now that we have been able to roll out additional support for children and people all over our country who do require those services. When I speak to my constituents one of the things that I know families have struggled with has been the increased costs associated with a so-called free education. The school donations have been seen as an increasing burden that families have had to face every January. They're just getting over that Christmas hump they're just getting on top of things again and school donations come into play so it is especially satisfying for me that we are looking to offer the help to schools so that they don't have to ask families for those donations. It is $150 per student targeted at schools from decile 1 to 7—Hon Dr Nick Smith: Not what you said; a broken promise.Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: —just as we promised in our election costings. In my electorate of Wigram there are 18 schools that fall within this decile rating. There are 18 schools that will be eligible to not ask parents for $150 a year. There are 18 schools that instead will be able to apply to the Government for $150 per student. In my quick back-of-the-envelope calculation that means that $900000 if every school takes that up will be put back into the pockets of families of Wigram alone and I know that that will make a difference. I know that for those families that will make a huge difference and I am proud that we are targeting it at this area of need first. But it is important that while we address these long-run issues we also address the pressing problems that face us in the 21st century and make sure that we are grasping the opportunities that sit alongside that. Transforming the economy is something that this Government believes passionately in and we can see this all through Budget 2019. We've got the productive and sustainable land use package boosting funding to protect and restore at-risk waterways and wetlands and providing support for farmers and growers to use their land more sustainably. It is critical that we invest in this and that we get this right. But one of the things that I am most proud of as both the Minister of Research Science and Innovation and the Minister of Energy and Resources is that we are investing in the long-term transition to renewable energy. There is $27 million for a new energy centre in New Plymouth where we can get right the way in which New Zealand can put in place the plans to get off fossil fuels and plan for a 100 percent renewable future. In addition to the $27 million for the new energy centre another $20 million fund is being put into renewable energy research and this is vital. We need to ensure that as we go through this transition we are ensuring that we are setting up industries that will provide high-paid jobs for people. We don't bury our heads in the sand and just wait for industries to run out of steam as it were. This is a Government that is not prepared to leave workers and communities by the wayside as we go through the transitions that economies all around the world are finding themselves facing. It is critical that we have a Government that is brave enough and that has the courage to look at these long-term problems and put in place the kind of long-term thinking that we need to address these issues. We cannot afford to ignore the problems like the previous Government did for nine long years. Our Budget this year built on last year's Budget is putting New Zealand on a path of having a very clear plan for the future and a very clear way forward where we can take advantage of the opportunities and our people are placed at its centre.