Blue Jackie: Budget Debate 
Blue Jackie: Budget Debate 
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Dr JACKIE BLUE (National) 
: 
 I am delighted to participate in this debate on Budget 2011. It is a Budget for our times and like the previous Government speaker Chris Tremain I would like to take the time to wish the Hon John Carter all the best in the Cook Islands. I know that the Hon Craig Foss will do an excellent job as a Minister; it is well deserved. 
This Budget is not about borrow and hope. It has been very carefully thought out. It is a Budget for our times. We have had a difficult time in the last couple of years so it is being taken very seriously. It is about making those next steps in building faster growth increasing national savings and creating sustainable jobs for the future. It is about ensuring the Government returns to surplus by 2014-15 by halving the deficit next year and halving it yet again in the following year. It is about investing significantly in health and education while continuing to protect the most vulnerable New Zealanders. 
We have clearly set out our policy to New Zealanders so they can give us the verdict come election day on 26 November. The voters can decide. There is no lolly scramble because we cannot be irresponsible. We cannot engage in a big spend-up and big knees-up and put our economy at risk when New Zealanders are working so hard to pay off their own debt. Equally the Budget is not a case of slash and burn. It has been very carefully thought through. It is about building faster economic growth and higher national savings getting a credible path back to surplus and rebuilding Christchurch over the next few years. 
My congratulations go to the Hon Tony Ryall who over his term as the Minister of Health has shown remarkable leadership. Vote Health was the biggest recipient of Budget 2011. Health is one of the few areas to receive a modest funding increase which will be paid for by making efficiencies in other Government departments. It continues the Government’s election pledge to continue the growth of funding in the public health system. Budget 2011 is delivering an extra $2.2 billion over the next 4 years including an additional $585 million in initiatives this coming year. The Budget included $80 million for widened access to medicines and it is expected that around 32000 patients will benefit from that widened access in the first year. In all the investment in medicines—together with the $100 million extra in the last 2 years—means that over this term the Government has invested an additional $180 million in medicines. More patients will get access to the drugs they need to keep them healthy and well and out of hospital. That is what it is all about. 
Despite the serious economic situation we have been in the Government has continued to invest new resources in the health sector to meet our commitment for strong and enduring public health services. This is in contrast to many countries around the world that have taken the opposite approach: they have slashed their funding of public health services in response to the global financial crisis. 
Although New Zealand has weathered the storm better than some countries this Government still has to make some tough decisions especially when faced with the events of the two Christchurch earthquakes. Indeed the world changed: New Zealand changed on 22 February this year and it had an amazing and considerable impact both in personal and financial terms and on the whole of the Canterbury region. The Government has had to provide support packages for Christchurch in the short term and to the displaced population whether they remained in Canterbury or went elsewhere in New Zealand and that has put tremendous pressure on health services across the country. Facilities in Christchurch both public and private have been damaged and some are beyond repair. The efforts of the entire health workforce in Canterbury and the extra assistance provided nationally have been absolutely outstanding. I acknowledge and commend those workers for their work and their perseverance. 
I want to focus on one area that will make a real difference in health and that is the extra money that is going to mothers and new babies. There is over $20 million over 4 years for Well Child visits. Currently there are 12 free child visits from birth to 5 years. The additional money means there will be an extra 54000 Well Child visits which average out to an extra three visits from birth to 8 weeks to be targeted to those mums and babies who will benefit. There is also $33 million over 4 years for quality and safety initiatives. These include multidisciplinary reviews of all births parent information services assisting vulnerable mothers’ access to health and social services assisting midwives to make appropriate and timely referrals to other practitioners and the one-off funding of $2 million for the collection of national district health board maternity data. I know that has been very well received. These budgetary allocations build on the extra $103 million that was in Budget 2009 for maternity services and these include longer stays for new mothers in hospital optional team meetings each trimester for at-risk mums full funding of PlunketLine and obstetric training and/or refreshers for general practitioners who want to get back into deliveries and also meeting the costs of the extra births each year. 
It is very clear that better economic performance will enable us to spend more on health care and at the same time New Zealand must strive to get more services for existing health spending by reducing waste and bureaucracy and lifting productivity. There is no doubt that Budget 2011 sets out the next steps to build faster growth increase national savings and create sustainable jobs. Strong fiscal policy and management and commitment from this Government have provided the backdrop against interest rates which have fallen dramatically to the lowest level since 1964. Tax changes have put more money into the back pockets of hard-working Kiwis and more money into household budgets at a time when it is really needed. Annual inflation when Labour left office was 5.1 percent; now it is 4.5 percent. That includes the one-off impact of the GST rise in October for which everybody including beneficiaries and superannuitants was compensated. Our tax reforms mean that three-quarters of New Zealand taxpayers now face a top marginal tax rate of only 17.5 percent. Despite difficult global conditions and international pressure on food and petrol prices our tax reforms have helped to ensure that Kiwis’ after-tax wages on average have risen faster than the cost of living. Increases in after-tax wages have flowed through to superannuation rates for older people with superannuation rising by $166 a fortnight for a married couple since September 2008 an almost 20 percent increase or 8.5 percent once we adjust for inflation. 
Just today we have had very good news that the total number of people on welfare has dropped by 2295 in the last month. The total number of benefits paid has fallen for 4 consecutive months. That is extremely good news. There is no doubt that the Government’s Future Focus package and increasing business confidence have made a real difference and more people are finding work. More than 9000 New Zealanders went off benefits and into work in May and that is down to greater business confidence. Businesses that have confidence will employ people. They will expand their businesses and that is what we are seeing. It is clear that the reforms that have already been implemented by National are having an impact. Our economic performance will deliver higher incomes. It will help people directly and it will allow social spending to grow where it is needed. Thank you.