Upston Louise: Budget Debate 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Upston Louise: Budget Debate 
[Sitting date: 12 June 2012. Volume:680;Page:2833. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupo) 
: 
 I am very proud to stand and take a call in this Budget 2012 debate. Over the last couple of weeks since Budget day I have been taking the Budget to the people of the Taupo electorate which I am enormously proud to represent. I have had post-Budget coffee catch-ups in places like Tirau Putaruru Tokoroa Cambridge Taupo and Turangi. One of the things that has been quite interesting is that I have been surprised at the fact that there have not actually been many people who have been turning up with lots of questions to ask. I firmly believe that that is because they know that this is a Budget for our times. This is a Budget that is sensible that is moderate that is balanced and that perfectly fits the times we are in. It sets the path back to surplus but more important it has that balance right in terms of protecting those who need protection and also making sure that we have an economy that is heading in the right direction and that is growing albeit slowly—slowly and steadily. That is why I am proud of this Budget.  
One of the things that has been really important is to remind the people of my community about the broader context in which this Budget was delivered. I am staggered that some on the other side of the House tend to forget some of the major economic issues that this Government has faced. It came in after 9 years of Labour to not only a recession already under way a global financial crisis a continuing environment where there is still uncertainty in Europe and a space that is changing by the day but also the destructive earthquakes in Canterbury which have come with a price tag to the Crown of $20 billion. That side of the House tends to forget that that is the context in which this Budget has been set.  
The reality is that although we would like to have really certain times in front of us they are not and they are not going to be for quite some time. So this is a Budget that has taken that into consideration. But we have still managed to put new spending into the areas that matter—new spending into areas like science and innovation new spending into health new spending into education and new spending into reducing areas like my colleague Jacqui Dean spoke about before in terms of getting on top of crime. These are the things that people in my electorate say are important. So this Government is spending the money exactly where New Zealanders want it to be spent. We are managing the finances tightly we are building a more competitive environment we are making sure that the recipe is in place for businesses to grow and we are rebuilding Canterbury getting that city and that region back on its feet all the while with international challenges still in front of us.  
It is really interesting because what we are spending in Budget 2012 is exactly what New Zealanders are asking for—exactly what New Zealanders are asking for. However we are spending through savings. That should be no surprise to anyone in this House if they are in direct contact with the people they represent because that is exactly what individuals families businesses and community organisations are doing up and down this country. They do not have new wads of money that float through their doors on a daily basis. They are making do with what they have and that is exactly what this Government is demonstrating. It is not a “slash-and-burn Budget”; it is a responsible Budget. We have a very tight constraint on the spending we have and we are spending new spending on the areas that count to New Zealanders.  
If we look at health for example there is $1.5 billion going into health. Where is some of that spending going? Well it is going into things like faster treatment for people who have cancer. If anyone in this House has dealt with or spent time with someone in that situation they know that that is important to ordinary New Zealanders. So that is the priority on this side of the House and that is exactly what we are doing.  
In terms of welfare reform the approach that this Government is taking is saying: “Well actually we might have to spend a bit more money up front.” Spending the money up front to get families and individuals out of poverty and out of the welfare benefit trap is worth it. That is another area that New Zealanders up and down this country are saying they are supportive of. They support exactly what this Government is doing. New Zealanders are supporting exactly what we are doing.  
Let us talk education. 
Andrew Little 
: Yeah yeah quick. 
LOUISE UPSTON 
: Yes absolutely. I am very pleased to talk about education. I am very proud to be part of this side of the House and to be part of a party that has an unrelenting focus on lifting student achievement—unrelenting unrelenting. Do you want me to say it again? Student achievement is the focus of this Government—absolutely. In this one— 
Phil Twyford 
: How about those class sizes then? 
LOUISE UPSTON 
: Yes absolutely. I am more than happy to talk about the class sizes. What happened was that parents told us that they were concerned about where that might go. So what did we do? What did we do? We responded exactly to the feedback that we were given. And do you know what I have had since then? I have had texts I have had emails and I have had phone calls from people saying: “Thank you. Thank you for listening.” Do you know why members on that side of the House are so plugged in about it? It is because they never listened. They never listened. They never responded. They are so out of touch with ordinary New Zealanders. They cannot handle the fact that we are willing to say: “OK let’s say we are focusing on student achievement.” That side of the House clearly did not do it because it left one in five children behind and we are not willing to do that. We are not willing to leave one in five of our young people behind. That is clearly demonstrated in some of the results and some of the targets that we have set in our public services. Members opposite are going quiet.  
In early childhood education 98 percent participation is what we have set for our young people. If you ask any primary school teacher who teaches a new entrant class what makes the difference in terms of them teaching those children the answer is that it is early childhood education—absolutely. And we have been spending more money than Labour ever spent in 9 years in Government. 
Hon Maryan Street 
: Quite wrong. 
LOUISE UPSTON 
: Spending absolutely has increased and that side of the House just cannot handle it. What else have we set in terms of targets? The next one—and I am happy to say that it is ambitious—is to have 85 percent of our school leavers leave with National Certificate of Educational Achievement level 2 by 2016. That is going to be tough. That is going to be a challenge. But does this side of the House shy away from a challenge like that? Absolutely not because it is worth it. This side of the House is focused on results.  
One of the results that my colleague Jacqui Dean talked about in the area of law and order which is another area that is particularly important to the people of the Taupo electorate is keeping our families and our communities safer. If you look at the target that we have set in terms of reducing prisoner reoffending if we reduce that by 25 percent that translates to 18500 fewer victims every year—18500 fewer victims. That is the sort of thing that this side of the House is focused on and that is why New Zealanders are supporting what we are doing. They trust that our Budget our plan will get the results that they are interested in.  
I am proud of Budget 2012. I am proud of what we have delivered despite being in tough times. I recognise listening to my constituents on a daily basis that individuals families businesses and communities have been doing it tough. I recognise that and I hear it nearly daily. But this side of the House unlike those who live on “Planet Labour” does not want to wish away the recession. We are not pretending that there is no global financial crisis. We are not pretending that Canterbury does not come with a $20 billion price tag. We are actually taking the actions slowly surely moderately sensibly and deliberately which will get New Zealand where we all want it to be. Things are getting better. Our economy is growing slowly and surely. The number of jobs is growing—17000 in Christchurch alone. Business confidence is growing. Our major export markets of Asia and Australia are growing—