Macindoe Tim: Budget DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeMacindoe Tim: Budget Debate[Sitting date: 06 June 2013. Volume:690;Page:10890. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]TIM MACINDOE (National—Hamilton West): And since 2008 New Zealanders have been receiving much better from their Government. I am very proud to be a member of the John Key - led National Government and I am incredibly proud to support the 2013 Budget presented by the Minister of Finance the Hon Bill English.As we conclude the annual appropriations debate it is notable that speakers on this side of the House have spoken about specific facts and figures that demonstrate that this is indeed a Budget that builds on the momentum of the four Budgets that preceded it and that there are significant signs of real progress in all of the Government’s well-publicised priorities. Members on this side of the House are united in our support for theBudget proud to promote it and delighted by the reception it has been receiving in our electorates. The fine folk of Hamilton West tell me that it is a well-measured and well-balanced package and they are very pleased with its provisions.New Zealanders of course have been through very tough times but they are increasingly confident and optimistic. They can see that National is indeed Building a Brighter Future for everyone—not for just a few but for everyone—which has been our unrelenting focus since we came into office in late 2008.By contrast speakers opposite have avoided the details in the Budget ignored the considerable evidence of substantial and sustainable progress and resorted to a combination of mock outrage disingenuous criticism such as those we have just heard repeated again by the member for Rimutaka and personal attacks—some of them being nasty personal attacks. Their approach has been uncoordinated unconvincing and embarrassing.Budgets contain many details and are about figures but ultimately and more important they are about people. This year’s Budget delivers particularly encouraging news for those New Zealanders who have suffered a great deal in the 5 years since the onset of the global financial crisis and the previous Government’s reckless spending which combined to plunge our country into recession just months before we were elected.I commend to those who may have missed them the speeches delivered in this Budget yesterday by our indefatigable Minister of Trade the Hon Tim Groser and another by the same Minister in the general debate on 15 May. Perhaps it is our shared Christian names or our youthful blond locks but I thought they were two of the best speeches I have heard this year. The figures he produced comparing New Zealand’s economic performance with some of the most prosperous nations in the OECD exposed the shallow nonsense of our critics opposite and highlighted the gains we have made. He noted that New Zealand along with Australia is growing faster than any developed country in the world. It is currently at 3.1 percent growth and it is projected to continue at between 2 and 3 per cent for the next 3 years. He noted that the annual increase in the cost of living—currently less than 1 per cent—is about as low as it has been for three decades.Opposition members love to talk about families struggling to put food on the table. Well I am proud to point out to them that not only have food prices not risen in the past 12 months they have actually fallen slightly.Meanwhile let us have a look at how this Government is assisting those people whom Labour once claimed to represent to boost their incomes. After-tax wages have increased by 20 per cent since 2008—20 percent—more than double the cost of living. When this Government came into office in late 2008 a New Zealander working a 40-hour week on the minimum wage was paid $480 gross per week. The PAYE on that wage was $78. This Government has increased the minimum wage incrementally every year since then. So the same worker in June 2013 earns $550 and thanks to the significant tax cuts that we introduced in 2010 now pays $77.50 in PAYE on that higher amount. That alone is an extra $70.50 for that person per week from the income that that worker worked so hard to achieve which he or she can now retain and he or she may well be entitled to other forms of support such as Working for Families which could be in the region of $280.Life is difficult for those people—no question about it—but they are significantly better off than they were when Labour was in office and they will be better off again as we keep building a more productive and competitive economy and delivering better public services. We must maintain that determination if we are to make further progress in reducing our rate of unemployment. That is why our welfare policies and the furtherinitiatives announced in this Budget are so firmly focused on helping everyone who is looking for work to find it. Although an unemployment rate of 6.2 per cent is still too high it is trending downwards and it compares very favourably with all of those countries we like to compare ourselves with. Again as Tim Groser told us yesterday if you look at a country like Sweden which currently has a youth unemployment rate of 25.1 percent—25.1 percent youth unemployment—you realise we are not doing so badly.We are reducing debt we are rebuilding Canterbury and we are on track to returning to surplus in 2014-15. It is a remarkable record. It is a tribute not only to the work of our excellent Minister of Finance our Prime Minister and his Cabinet but to hard-working realistic New Zealanders from Northland to Stewart Island who understand what needs to be done and who support our clear programme and our Business Growth Agenda to achieve it. We are delivering a brighter future. This is a great country of great people and great opportunities. This is a Budget that is fair visionary and well-targeted and I repeat that I am proud to be associated with it. I congratulate Bill English on the fine work that he is doing and I know every member of this side shares that sentiment.