Dyson Ruth: Budget Debate 
Dyson Ruth: Budget Debate 
[Volume:625;Page:20780] 
Hon RUTH DYSON (Minister for ACC) 
: 
 It is very sad to see that once highly regarded former Government whip in the same way that it is sad to see the state of the National Party that he belongs to—a party that was also once highly regarded. John Carter asked what the education improvements and health improvements in the Budget were. He must have become so used to turning off when his leader speaks that he tuned out when the Budget was read. I am not surprised that John Carter tunes out when Don Brash speaks. Dr Brash’s most recent embarrassment was when we had the foot-and-mouth scare—which was fortunately a hoax—on Waiheke Island. Jim Sutton and Helen Clark did exactly the right thing. They made the information public so that the people on Waiheke Island and the rest of the farming community across the whole country were absolutely aware of the threat that had been posed to us and of what the Government was doing about it. Don Brash said that they should have kept quiet about it—that they should have said nothing. What an outrage to assume that a Government should keep quiet about such a major threat to our economy as a possible foot-and-mouth scandal! 
John Carter did another thing that his current leader Don Brash frequently does which is to bad-mouth our country. I think that is an outrage. We have the best country in the world. We are all doing everything we can—on the Government side of the House at least—to provide better opportunities and a fairer go for everyday hard-working New Zealanders so that they can build a stronger stake in our great country. And National’s former whip is attacking our country in Parliament. Frankly it beggars belief that that sort of behaviour is tolerated in the current major party of opposition. 
Let me give the House a couple of points about education that John Carter clearly missed in the Budget. The operations grant for schools has increased by 15 percent over the last 5 years. That is an increase per pupil in every school in New Zealand of $348. John Carter would have that reversed with the provision of bulk funding and incentives for individual teachers. Well I look forward to National candidates going up and down the country and telling teachers that National will no longer respect and value the integrity of their profession and will start to give them demerit points. That will go down a treat! 
John Carter also failed to comment on the significant increases in health spending. As the Minister for Senior Citizens I want to mention two of them that I have been very proud of and which have made older New Zealanders very very happy. We have put in enough money to double the number of hip replacements that are publicly funded over the 4 years from the date of that announcement last year. We have doubled the number of hip replacements and we all know that the majority of hip replacements are performed on older New Zealanders. It is a very good thing that fewer New Zealanders will now have to wait for that operation. In this Budget we announced over $17 million more in funding so that we can fund cataract operations for 7500 New Zealanders and we know again that it is primarily older New Zealanders who will benefit from that increase. 
Those are just a couple of the reasons that this Budget the sixth Budget presented to the House by the Hon Dr Cullen makes me feel very proud to be Labour and makes me feel very enthusiastic about this year’s election campaign. We have had a very strong and credible fiscal record for the last 5½ years. We can take that record to the country and show that we are committed to sound economic management but we know that the purpose of having sound economic management is so that more and more New Zealanders can be included and offered an opportunity to participate in our country. The Budget is fair in the same way that the Government is fair. We are helping more New Zealanders to build a stake in their country. 
One of my other portfolios is that of disability issues and for disabled New Zealanders this Budget provides more very good news about the commitment that this Government has to removing the barriers to their participation particularly in employment and education. I want to compare briefly one Budget initiative with an initiative of the previous National Government. I remember when Nick Smith had responsibility for the special-education portfolio. 
Government Member 
: Who? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: It is a bit like having to ask: “Who?”. Thank goodness that memory is fading. But Nick Smith gave a block of money for very high-needs students who were leaving school and going into vocational services. Just over 200 students were in that category. Until then they had had no funding. It was good news that he gave them funding but do members know what was attached to that funding? A time limit! Were those students suddenly going to stop having very high needs? Would they suddenly be able to carry on with their vocational services programme with no support? No they would not. It was time-limited politically motivated funding to ease the concerns of their families without letting them know that exactly the same problem would come up in another 3 years. We put a stop to that time-limited funding and in this year’s Budget we have increased the funding by nearly $10 million so that another 350 school leavers with very high needs can get the support they need to go into the vocational services programme. That gives them a better chance to get into employment after they have left school and it will be very warmly welcomed by those young people and their families. 
We have put a lot of focus on providing better support for people who are on the sickness benefit or invalids benefit. The previous National Government ignored those people. They got a benefit—they got their cheque in the mail—and that was it. Well actually the people who are on benefits want to be given support an opportunity to retrain and an opportunity to meet employers. They want to know about jobs. They want some practical assistance to enable them to move off a benefit and into a job. That is what this Government is providing them with—particularly the people who have been classified as invalids and told that they will never work and that they should just get their benefit and stay home. Some people will never be able to work and we give an absolute commitment to ensure that those people have the social security support they need. But anyone who is able to work and who wants to work must be given the support to do so. In this Budget we have invested over $27 million over the next 4 years specifically to help people who are on a sickness benefit or an invalids benefit to get into work. 
There are initiatives such as ensuring those beneficiaries can meet with an employer and look at the workplace to assess whether they need specialist equipment or other workplace modifications. An additional 1000 people will be able to move into employment either part-time or full-time depending on their disability because of that extra funding. There is an ongoing funding commitment through the out-years for 1500 additional people to be able to get that support. The biggest opportunity that we as a Government can give New Zealanders is to remove the barriers that are in their way and stand between them and a job. If they are able to get a job they will have the self-esteem the respect and the earning power that they cannot get when receiving a benefit. They can then move into a much more confident and contributing position in our community. That is what I hear at every meeting of disabled people around the country. They say we should continue to help them to get work. 
Another great lot of benefits have been provided in this Budget for the senior citizens of New Zealand. I go to Grey Power meetings most weeks. I have the pleasure of being the Minister for Senior Citizens and I enjoy travelling all around the country. In fact when I became Minister for Senior Citizens I made the commitment to Grey Power that if any branch invited me to a meeting I would go. Frankly I made that commitment before I found out that there were 78 Grey Power branches around the country. But I have honoured that commitment in the same way that our Government has honoured its commitment to the senior citizens of New Zealand made in its manifestos in 1999 and 2002. This year we have delivered an increase in the rates rebate threshold. The increase in the amount that people can receive will be a huge support as will be the additional funding for the provision of the programme targeting elder abuse and elder neglect. My colleague Darren Hughes from Horowhenua has been a very strong supporter of that programme and he will make sure that it is available to older people in the Horowhenua electorate. 
The Budget is packed full of good news. But particularly for the disabled New Zealanders whom I represent and for senior citizens it is a Budget that I know they will be celebrating. They know that we have presented this Budget in a considered way by working with them to develop the priorities in a way that ensures we maintain our reputation of strong fiscal management. This Budget is one that puts us in a very strong position as a major country in the Pacific leading into the future.