Wagner Nicky: Budget DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeWagner Nicky: Budget Debate[Sitting date: 27 May 2015. Volume:705;Page:4053. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon NICKY WAGNER (Minister of Customs): Well Budget 2015 is a great Budget. It is Minister Bill English’s seventh Budget and I think he has nailed it. The Government’s plan is working. We have got a strong growing economy and it is translating into real benefits for Kiwi families Kiwi households and Kiwi businesses. I think really the Budget delivers careful management of public spending but also shows investment into better services that Kiwis need. We have prioritised the things that matter most to most New Zealanders. If you think about it we cannot do anything in life unless we are healthy so we have put more money into health: $1.7 billion more this year. That will mean there is a record spend of $15.9 billion for 2015-16. And then there is education. Our Government believes that a good education is the best foundation for people to live good lives to be able to have choices in their lives. We have invested there again another $686 million which means that the suite of early childhood primary and secondary education is getting $10.8 billion and then on top of that we are spending over $3 billion on tertiary education.But for me as the Minister for Disability Issues I am really interested in what is being spent for special education. We have increased the amount of spending every year since we have been in Government. This year we are investing a further $62.9 million over 4 years. That is more money for the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS) funding. What we have got this funding for is for significantly disabled youngsters—people who have problems with physical or mental issues and learning disabilities. What we are doing is putting this money in towards giving them a better quality of life and a better chance of education. We are also going to add $23 million for extra in-class aides for kids who do not quite meet the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme category. They are the ones who still need help but are not in the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme. We want to make sure that our disabled youngsters have the best opportunity to live the life of ordinary kids. We believe that education is the best place to make that happen.We are also working on housing programmes obviously. We are particularly focusing on affordable housing in Auckland and Christchurch but also for first home owners. We are investing in ultra-fast broadband regional highways KiwiRail and urban cycleways. They are all things that I think are money well spent. Let us look at jobs. Our Government believes that work is good for you. We believe in work not just for getting wages or a salary but because if you go to work you are part of a team you are part of a contribution you can use your skills and that is what people do in our communities. I am delighted that businesses have been able to create 194000 new jobs since 2011 but we are backing them to do more. We are backing them to deliver 150000 jobs over the next 4 years. We also want good wages. Average wages have increased by 15 percent in the last 5 years. We are expecting that to continue and we are hoping that the average wage will be able to rise by about $7000 to get to $63000 by mid-2019. The ACC annual levy cuts will also inject $2 billion into the back pockets of Kiwis between 2012 and 2016 and I think that has been very well received.But I have to say the highlight of the Budget has got to be the package for children from poorer families which is the $25 a week increase in benefits. We understand that people on benefits struggle to look after their kids so $25 will make a difference for families with children. As we have already heard this is the first time in 43 years that benefits have been lifted. But we are not forgetting the people who are working with lower incomes either. The Working for Families payments will also increase by $12.50 a week. That total package is $790 million over 4 years and that will help about 160000 low-income families and will touch 300 children. I think that is absolutely a great effort it will make a real difference and it is something that I think most Kiwis support.Going back to the disabilities sector I am delighted that Budget 2015 also provides special money for transition for disabled students. It provides $16.3 million for participation and inclusion services to help young people who are disabled and who are leaving school and entering into adult life. We are giving them what we call our very high-needs support system. I think anyone who has been involved with teenagers understands how difficult that transition from school to the real world is. It is particularly difficult for disabled people particularly if they have significant physical intellectual or sensory impairments or maybe a combination of all these things—learning hearing vision or mobility impairments. I think this is a particularly important area and I am really pleased to see that money has been put there.Now I want to talk about the Customs Service because customs and the security and safety of our border have benefited from Budget 2015. First of all there is a capital sum of $4.7 million for extra officers to screen departing passengers—that is screening them for terrorism and drug threats. That extended risk screening for departures complements what we already do there in terms of existing automated and face-to-face passport checks and also complements the alert system that is already in place. This is an aim to counter terrorism and to make sure that we can maintain New Zealand’s low-risk status. It is important that New Zealand is seen as a safe country and New Zealanders have told us they want that to remain that way.It is because they are so keen to see a safe and secure border that we are introducing the new border processing levy for travellers. It is an important step in managing both biosecurity and people threats at the border. It brings the screening of travellers and the cost recovery of processing at the border in line with what we already do with goods. Since the early 1990s there has been a cost recovery from importers of goods and now we are looking at travellers. The beauty of this levy is that it is flexible because as the numbers of travellers go across our borders the amount of resource increases. This is particularly important because we are getting larger numbers every year—about a 3.5 percent increase and we are expecting that to increase—and more complex passengers language issues and different cultures. It is really important that that resource will be available where it is needed.The border processing levy is also fairer. At the moment taxpayers—that is you me the panel beater from Whangarei and the solo mum from Christchurch—all pay for visitors to come across our border. Of those people coming across our border 58 percent are international visitors. Many of them are on luxury cruises or golfing trips to New Zealand and I do not really think it is right that the New Zealand taxpayer should pay for them. What is more it is a lose-lose. We pay for those overseas visitors to come through our border but as soon as we go back to their country we have to pay again. This is because most countries have a border levy; it is international best practice. New Zealand’s border levy will be about $20 give or take and that is actually very light in comparison to the countries that we visit—places like Australia which charges about NZ$58; the UK which charges NZ$150; and Canada and the US which are all very similar. The majority of the levy will be on the arrival part simply because that is where the biosecurity screening happens but we still need part of the levy to cover departures and the face-to-face and screening of passport checks. It will apply to all travellers—about 95 percent are airline passengers but also cruise passengers. If you come on your private yacht or airline you will have to pay as well. We are getting stakeholders a consultation—