Lee Melissa: Budget Debate 
Lee Melissa: Budget Debate 
[Volume:673;Page:19175] 
MELISSA LEE (National) 
: 
 I start by saying that what was irresponsible was Labour’s transferral of people who were on the unemployment benefit on to the sickness benefit in order to improve the numbers. At least we are not doing that. 
Jacinda Ardern tried to say that Labour is a fiscally responsible party. That is an oxymoron to start with. What is wrong with people having two to three jobs so that those who want to work can get ahead in life? I remember my parents having more than one job to make sure we had a brighter future than they had. I remember that I took on a second job when I was much younger and even a third job to try to better my bank balance so that I could travel and all that sort of stuff. I do not see anything wrong with that and I do not know why Ms Ardern thinks that is a bad thing. 
Budget 2011 is about three things: building faster economic growth based on savings and not spending setting a credible path back to surplus faster and repaying our debts and rebuilding Christchurch over the next few years. That is basically it. It is a simple yet very very clear plan to move New Zealand forward not back-pedalling from where the previous Labour Government left us. After 9 years of bad management we were left with a decade of deficits. 
The Labour Opposition would have people believe that New Zealand would be in a much better position if they had chosen Labour back in 2008. Well let me tell members we would be $45 billion poorer if Labour was the Government right now. 
To top it all off we have had unprecedented natural disasters that have literally rocked the foundation of this country. The rebuilding of Christchurch will take quite a few years. This National Government has delivered a Budget to return this country into surplus earlier than predicted. A return to surplus in 2014-15 will mean reducing the need for this Government to borrow more and lifting national standards. It was appropriate for the Government to run a larger deficit to help protect New Zealanders and support jobs through the recession but now that the economy is returning to more normal times we need to reduce our need for extra borrowing and get the Government books back into surplus. That is what this National-led Government is doing and I am very proud of the Budget our Minister of Finance has delivered. 
There are many aspects of this Budget I could highlight that are good for our nation but to begin with investing $4 billion in front-line public services in health education and supporting our young people into jobs has to be good news in my book. The Labour Opposition makes it sound like the Budget is to quote one of the Opposition members last night—I think it was Clare Curran—all gloss with no substance. Gloss with no substance is the Labour Opposition’s thin veneer that it actually cares about people who need assistance. If Labour really cared about its people and its constituencies it would really thank the National Government because this Government is doing much more than Labour ever did in its term in Government in respect of looking after people in New Zealand who are vulnerable. 
Under Labour’s watch cancer patients had to wait so long that they ended up going to Australia. Now under National cancer patients get attention within a month of diagnosis. Which would people prefer? The National Government can deliver less waiting time. There is no longer the need to go to Australia for cancer treatment. The National Government can produce those results: faster attention less waiting time and no longer the need to go to Australia for cancer treatment. 
The 2011 Budget improves on what is already a huge improvement in Vote Health compared with the previous Government’s performance or lack thereof. It includes $80 million for widened access to medicines which means that 32000 patients will benefit from the extra funding in the first year; $68 million for more elective surgery which is a continuing increase of 4000 extra operations a year and which will naturally translate to less waiting time for those surgeries; and $80 million for 40 extra medical training places. National promised more doctors and that is what we will achieve. There will be more doctors so that they can see more patients with shorter waiting times. Budget 2011 delivers an extra $2.2 billion to public health services over the next 4 years. 
Another aspect of the Budget I am really pleased with is Vote Education which is another big winner and no wonder. The previous Labour Government failed our children. It was Labour that failed our children not National when so many children were leaving our schools unable to read write or do maths. It was a disaster and that is the legacy the former Labour Government left this country. 
This Government is delivering an extra $550 million for early childhood education focusing on increasing participation for Maori Pasifika and low-income families. The Budget also includes $66.5 million to increase the number of trades academies and service academies to keep more of our 16 and 17-year-olds engaged in education and training as part of the wider Youth Guarantee. 
When some children go to high school they are not necessarily academically focused and they do not do as well as others who are orientated for academic careers in the future and will progress into universities. Trades academies are focused on children who are more interested in the trades for their career in the future and I think that is fantastic. In one story I heard from a colleague he told me that he had seen some builders who had come out of school unable to read and write. They could not even read instructions on the building material when they were punching holes and hammering nails. That is a sad indictment on our education. Our Minister of Education Anne Tolley has provided leadership by focusing on our children to make sure they leave our schools with the ability to read write and do maths and I commend her. The extra money for Vote Education reflects that focus of this Government. 
The Budget’s $12 million of new funding with a specific focus on lifting Maori achievement is also a fantastic thing. There is $17 million of reprioritised funding to extend the Te Kotahitanga programme to an additional 20 schools and I also welcome that. As an ethnic person I recognise the fact that some of us learn differently. I learnt differently when I was in Korea and when I came to New Zealand I learnt differently again. The way Europeans in their culture teach their children is very different from the way the Maori Pacific Island or Asian communities teach their children. They come from different cultures and this culturally focused method will do very well for the Maori community and the children who are failing in the current system and I welcome that. 
There are so many more specifics that I can brag about but this Budget focuses on the three points that I made earlier: reducing debt getting our books back into surplus and increasing savings to promote faster economic growth and rebuilding Christchurch. Labour apparently has a plan and Labour members claim that National does not. Labour wants to borrow big and spend even bigger to win votes. But what Labour really has done for New Zealanders who vote for Labour is to make sure they stay poor because when they stay poor with no aspirations to do better for their lives they will keep on voting Labour. 
This Government wants to make sure that New Zealanders have aspirations to do better than they are doing. We want them to achieve to their potential. We want them to earn a better living for themselves and their families. Do members know what? Thirteen percent of New Zealanders pay 51 percent of the taxes. I think it was Metiria Turei who said that something was wrong with that picture and said almost that those people who earned more should be punished by paying higher taxes. Thirteen percent of people pay 51 percent of the tax. We should celebrate that and congratulate them for their hard work.