Muller Todd: Budget DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeMuller Todd: Budget Debate[Sitting date: 31 May 2016. Volume:714;Page:11505. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]TODD MULLER (National—Bay of Plenty): It is great to be able to stand and support the motion moved by the Minister of Finance. Indeed I think he will go down in history as one of the best Ministers of Finance that we have had and this Budget talks to what he has achieved for this country.As the MP for the Bay of Plenty every now and again I do a survey of my electorate. I did one a month ago and I asked people to give me feedback in terms of the direction of travel of the Bay of Plenty electorate. Seventy-five percent said they expected their economic conditions to be the same or improve over the next year. The same number 74.5 percent said that the Bay of Plenty economy is going well or extremely well and this talks to the success of this Government and its policies and how it is playing out in my electorate. I did ask for feedback on the areas that they thought this Government should continue to work on on their behalf. They gave me very clear feedback that we should be focused on roading housing health employment and education.I went to two public meetings yesterday to discuss those five issues and others that were of concern. I could share the success of this Budget in terms of addressing those five areas. In roading I could talk to the total over the last few years and the planned over $1 billion of roading investment in the Bay of Plenty including the $512 million recently announced for the Tauranga Northern Link which I know is a critical piece of infrastructure for the Bay of Plenty economy. For housing—clearly that was an issue that they had raised in the survey—I could talk to the 3000 emergency places that have been promised: 60 for 3 months times four—that is 240 a year. In Tauranga that is an immediate impact for those who are struggling. So those on the other side of the House—those who are part of the alliance of Green and Labour who say that this Budget is doing nothing—are wrong. There is a clear demonstration there of our commitment to assist those who need more support in respect of housing.The national policy statement will direct councils to allow more housing development and the Bay of Plenty is already a test case in terms of being ahead of the game in terms of your strategic approach and the Bay of Plenty Regional Council the Western Bay of Plenty District Council and the Tauranga City Council for the last 15 years have worked at identifying where the settlement patterns were likely to be and where the aligned industry needed to be based. That is why we have an economy that is pumping well and that is why you can see that sort of approach being rolled out in Auckland.Health was the third issue that my electorate said they were interested in. In terms of our ongoing focus on health I can report $2.2 billion of additional spending over the next 4 years—$1.6 billion for district health board activity in particular. There was significant positive feedback on the $39 million to support the national bowel screening programme particularly from my constituent Brett Morrison. He has been a hugely strong and staunch advocate for this programme particularly since his wife passed away due to that dreadful disease.In respect of employment the fourth issue on the list I could talk of course to an economy in the Bay of Plenty that is doing particularly well. We have 5.1 percent unemployment. It is the lowest in the North Island. So there was significant resonance in the public meeting when I talked about our forecast of 175000 more jobs over the next 4 years on the back of an achievement a collective achievement with the people of New Zealand of 200000 jobs over the last 4 years. So it certainly resonated with my community.In respect of education I could talk to the significant investment in schools and new buildings and I have significant confidence that the Bay of Plenty will benefit both in schools and classrooms from that investment. Social services is an area that I think will be part of the reason why Bill English will be seen as being a great Minister of Finance in times to come. The thinking that has gone on to underpin our investment in social services has not just been the historical view that you achieve success electorally by just spending money. This is a Government that is focused on outcomes and does some deep thinking in partnership with the sector about how to fix complex issues that have structures that historically have not worked. Between us ourselves and NGOs I believe we are going to make a significant difference to those who are most vulnerable.I strongly support this Budget. It contrasts with the rhetoric that we have heard on the other side which is becoming stronger by the day. Their vision of the future is—