Ardern Shane: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeArdern Shane: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 19 February 2014. Volume:696;Page:16061. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]3.SHANE ARDERN (National—Taranaki - King Country) to theMinister of Finance: How is the Government balancing its focus on responsibly managing its finances with addressing some of the most challenging social issues facing vulnerable families?Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance): The Government has been clear since it became the Government that the 50 percent jump in Government spending in the 5 years to 2008 was unsustainable. In setting a path back to surplus we rejected the option of aggressively cutting spending. Instead we took the time to understand the drivers of existing spending and whether the spending was delivering results and to ensure that results were delivered. At the same time we put significant resourcing and effort into improving the lives of the most vulnerable New Zealanders particularly children. We are not doing that by throwing taxpayers’ money around indiscriminately.We are attempting to resolve the complex and persistent problems that mean some of our children have lives that sap their sense of opportunity.Shane Ardern: What are some of the social issues the Government is addressing to improve the lives of the most vulnerable New Zealanders?Hon BILL ENGLISH: The Government has set out what it believes those social issues are but more than that it is publishing results in order that the public can hold us and the Public Service to account for achieving something for the most vulnerable New Zealanders. The Better Public Services targets are particularly challenging because they cover some of New Zealand’s most persistent problems like long-term welfare dependency vulnerable children and the amount of violence that they suffer the need to build skills and employment so these young New Zealanders have real opportunities and also crime reduction and making our communities safer. Overall we are making good progress towards meeting these results and further updates will be published tomorrow.Shane Ardern: What kinds of social issues affecting the most vulnerable New Zealanders did this Government inherit in 2008?Hon BILL ENGLISH: There were a number of longstanding social issues making the lives of New Zealanders miserable in 2008. They are set out clearly in the Salvation Army’s state of the nation report of February 2008. It said: “The social outcomes which we as New Zealanders have achieved over the past five years”—that is under the previous Labour-led Government—“were somewhat mixed and in some areas quite disappointing.” The report noted that in 2008 more children appeared to be at risk of harm more young people were engaged in petty crime there was more violent crime and the number of people going to jail was rising at a significant rate. I do not think that any of those trends could be seen as progress. The Salvation Army noted in 2008 that New Zealand households were chronically indebted.Shane Ardern: What else do reports say about the serious social challenges facing New Zealanders when this Government took office and particularly the fiscal policy approach to dealing with those issues?Hon BILL ENGLISH: The Salvation Army said in its report in 2008 that perhaps the most disappointing aspect was that New Zealand had invested huge amounts of money in core areas of social spending but the spending seemed to have contributed very little to New Zealand’s social progress. This was not said by the then Opposition’s spokespeople; this was from the people from the Salvation Army. The report listed billions of taxpayers’ dollars that had been spent and then listed many indicators that were going backwards—rising numbers of referrals to Child Youth and Family Services more children in Child Youth and Family Services care rising youth offending rising teenage pregnancy and abortion rates continuing educational inequality and early childhood enrolment rates lower than 65 percent. Funnily enough in 2014 almost all of these indicators are turning positive when the Government has been very careful about its spending but instead has focused on its effectiveness.Jacinda Ardern: In light of the Deputy Prime Minister’s line of questioning around the Salvation Army report I seek leave to table a graph from the Salvation Army demonstrating—Mr SPEAKER: Order! The member will resume her seat. That report was certainly available to all members.