Bayly Andrew: Budget DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBayly Andrew: Budget Debate[Sitting date: 31 May 2016. Volume:714;Page:11511. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]ANDREW BAYLY (National—Hunua): What great times we live in. This is a very good Budget but it is an absolute travesty that few people actually recognise the situation that New Zealand is in at the moment and it is despicable how some people misrepresent the situation that we are in at the moment. Most finance Ministers around the world would give their eye teeth to be in the situation that New Zealand is in at the moment—their absolute eye teeth.We have got an average growth rate of about 2.8 percent over the next 3 years forecast by Treasury. We have created 200000 new jobs over the last 3 years and another 170000 are expected to come to fruition over the next few years until 2020. We have rising surpluses—we are going to achieve a massive $6.7 billion surplus in a few years’ time—which I know most Opposition parties are dying to spend. We are reducing debt back to 20 percent by 2021 which of course puts us in a situation where we can deal with any downturns that may happen in the future—it is prudent. And we are going to see increasing wages as we have already seen over the past few years.This Budget is massive in the context of today: $1.4 million in increased capital spending and an increase of $1.6 billion of operational spend. It is a big Budget. It is a big Budget directed at the right areas and it also means that the Government is focusing on delivering better public services and getting our public spending under control. Even with that bogeyman around the current account deficit the projections look like it is well within reasonable levels which is where we should be as a country.But all that I hear from the Opposition is squealing—squealing. What I do not hear from the Opposition is the connection between the fact that if you have good strong economic times you have the ability to raise money and to spend money; and that you cannot spend what you do not have—unless you are an Opposition party. We are in Government. We can only spend what we have and we have got to be prudent about it. This Budget follows last year’s Budget where we invested $790 million on the vulnerable people that the previous speaker Marama Davidson was talking about. But when I look across the other side of these benches everyone seems to have a very short-term memory.Let us look at the highlights. The first one I think—and this is one that got very little media coverage and I do not know why—is the $761 million that we are putting into creating an even more innovative New Zealand economy. We are putting $411 million into science and innovation where this Minister just arriving—the Minister of Science of Innovation—is doing a fantastic job in helping us to get to our target of $1.6 billion invested in science by 2020.There is also $257 million we are putting into tertiary education and in my view just as importantly the apprenticeship schemes. Most New Zealanders do not realise the level of apprenticeship schemes in New Zealand. We are already putting through 42000 apprenticeships every year and this is going to increase it to just fewer than 50000. Then of course there is the regional development that all my colleagues if I look around not only on this side of the House but on the other side of the House are going to benefit from.Then we have got the big investment in education: the $884 million that is going to go—most of it—into building new schools right across the country. There is the $42 million into helping children with higher needs—of course everyone believes that we should be doing that and here we have got a Budget that has allocated money to that. And the nearly $400 million package into early childhood education is getting us towards that target of 98 percent—we are just about there now but we are forecasting and meeting the future needs of increasing numbers of students coming through.For health there is that staggering package of $2.2 billion.In the areas that I think are really relevant like the environment I have just heard the previous speaker say that we are not doing enough. Well I think that we are. I think the emissions trading scheme (ETS) change—removing the one-for-two subsidy on the ETS—is a very prudent practical measure in today’s economy. We also have the $100 million investment in cleaning up waterways the $21 million for targeted pest control and the $16 million for plant species eradication.I think this is a very prudent and sound Budget.