McAnulty Kieran; Rurawhe AdrianKIERAN McANULTY (Labour—Wairarapa): Thank you very much Mr Speaker. I'm very pleased to be able to get up here and make a contribution in response to the Budget. What a marvellous Budget it was and don't just take my word for it. Take the word of the good people of Wairarapa the Tararua District and Central Hawke's Bay the three districts that make up my electorate of Wairarapa. For the last week I've been travelling around from Waipawa in the north down to South Wairarapa to meet with people to discuss the Budget. Now these were interest groups they were groups of business owners they were groups of the elderly and everyone in between. I reckon I did about 10 last week—10 meetings after the Budget—to get a bit of a feel as to how it was getting perceived in the regions and to also give them an opportunity to ask some questions. I can say hand on heart that it was received well. It was received well because the people of Wairarapa know that we wouldn't even be in a position to discuss the Budget and we wouldn't even be in a position to be able to debate where this Government is investing if it weren't for the fact that this country is benefiting from what was an effective response to COVID-19.It is very important I believe to touch on that because you only have to look overseas to see what things could have been like if the response here in New Zealand was not of the ilk that set us up for this Budget to make such a difference. The Prime Minister said right from the start that the best economic response to COVID was an effective health response. In many ways it is regrettable that New Zealand is now the only developed country in the world to have only had one nationwide lockdown and is the only developed country in the world not to have some form of lockdown at the moment. I say that with the greatest amount of sincerity because I would like to have seen other countries benefit like New Zealand is benefiting now. It was going hard and it was going early that allowed us to be in this position today and that fact is not lost on the good people of Wairarapa the Tararua District and Central Hawke's Bay. Many of them have family members and friends overseas that are still struggling and that are still in some form of lockdown and can't even think about opening up to other countries like we have with Australia and the Cook Islands. It is that sort of response that enables us to be nimble and adjust when there are cases overseas that puts us in good stead but we are now experiencing and benefiting from an economy that has 4.7 percent unemployment. That is essentially the same as what it was before COVID hit. We got down to 4.2 percent at one stage but to get back to the level that we were essentially before COVID hit is a phenomenal achievement and it is testament to the work of everyone in this country. The team of 5 million never really rang so true as when it was referred to in our COVID response. I think of the businesses in Wairarapa that at the moment are genuinely thriving. They are flying particularly in South Wairarapa. They themselves have adjusted to the new environment. They cannot benefit from international tourism. Now admittedly our share of international tourism is nowhere near the ilk of other places like Queenstown and the West Coast but they still adapted to the new reality and in fact the work that the region has put in to attract new visitors has offset the amount that they have lost for international tourists. That can actually be said for the northern parts of the electorate as well. So I commend them for the work that they've done and I commend the work of everyone in the electorate to demonstrate to people why the Wairarapa is a place where people want to visit and spend their money and make our economy tick over for the benefit of all. Those businesses will benefit from what is in this Budget because we know that for the vast majority of small to medium sized businesses their turnover depends on people's capacity to spend. The increase in benefits is doing something that should have been done a long long time ago. It is righting a wrong but there is a clear economic argument for this as well. The other side may argue for tax cuts but that doesn't guarantee stimulus of the economy. Putting money to those that need it most will.DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! The member's time has expired.