Guy Nathan: Budget DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeGuy Nathan: Budget Debate[Sitting date: 20 May 2014. Volume:699;Page:18093. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon NATHAN GUY (Minister for Primary Industries): That was David Parker. We did not hear one word about an alternative Budget. He stood up in the House and said that it is an underwhelming Budget. Well I must say when I was in my fantastic electorate ofŌtaki on the weekend doing a bit of doorknocking in Waikanae every person whose door I knocked on said “What a great Budget.” They really appreciated the real focus of this Budget on families. I need to acknowledge Bill English’s sixth Budget and what a fantastic job he has done tracking us through the tough economic times and returning us to surplus. Bill English is a star in our Cabinet. He has delivered a fantastic 2014 Budget. It needs to be acknowledged the hard work that he does supported by the Prime Minister who is doing a fantastic job also.What we have not heard from Labour over the other side is an alternative Budget. We are 4 months out from the election and we cannot even recall hardly any Labour policy. I can actually. I can recall something. Labour talked about banning trucks in the fast lane on four-lane highways in New Zealand. I think we worked out that there is less than 50 kilometres of four-lane highway in New Zealand. That was one of Labour’s big policy announcements.This Budget is all about building on the work of hard-working New Zealand households and importantly businesses over the last 5 years. We also need to acknowledge our export sector. Our export sector and our manufacturers are not in crisis like our opponents wanted us all to believe 6 or 8 months ago. They are the ones who are driving this economy forward—our hard-working Kiwi farmers. Even up against pretty challenging exchange rates they are delivering for this country.Growth is forecast to be 4 percent next year in 2015. When you look out across the next 3 years it is an average of 10 percent. Is that not fantastic? And 170000 people are predicted to be in employment by 2018 with unemployment forecast to be down to 4.4 percent in the next few years. Is that not fantastic?The other important thing that we should not lose sight of is that when Labour was in office in 2008 interest rates were at an all-time high of over 10 percent. If we think back to 2005 the tradable sector which is basically everything apart from Government spending was in deficit. That was masked over by excessive Government spending in the last term of a failing Labour Government. It came to Bill English and John Key to get Government expenditure under control to move New Zealand towards savings and away from consumption and also focusing on decent long-term fiscal policy and financial management. We are now the envy of many developed countries around the world—4 percent economic growth. If you look across the Tasman at Australia’s Budget what a contrast. We have seen the damage that Labor and the Greens have done over in Australia. Its economic growth is on a decline; ours is on an up.This is a real family-focused Budget with $500 million invested paid parental leave extended by 4 weeks parental tax credits up from $150 to $220 a week entitlements extended from 8 weeks to 10 weeks and free general practitioner visits and also prescriptions free of charge for under-13-year-olds. The feedback I got on the doorsteps on the weekend about paid parental leave was that people are very excited about that and excited that we are focused on families making sure that every 13-year-old and younger can get the chance to see a doctor. And importantly there is $156 million invested in early childhood centres making sure that they are accessible and affordable. Also there is $33 million focused on vulnerable children with eight new children’s teams looking at at-risk children. Importantly for my electorate and for many elderly up and down the country—I have got one of the highest proportions of over-65s in any electorate in New Zealand. When I am knocking on the doors like I was on the weekend they mention to me the focus that we have under Tony Ryall particularly on elective surgery and more hip and knee replacements—$110 million of new money over the next 4 years.Importantly this afternoon in the House we heard that ACC is out there publicly consulting on levy reductions. That means that the average vehicle registration charge could drop by $130 a year. Is that not fantastic? When you look at the Ministry for Primary Industries’ budget it is up by $17.4 million. It is strengthening its core system working with my colleague Nikki Kaye on food safety supporting the engine room of our primary industries and boosting biosecurity which is my No. 1 priority. We heard today in the House my colleague the Hon Dr Nick Smith talking about how we are investing more in kauri dieback disease prevention. It is fantastic to be able to work with the Department of Conservation and the regional councils to focus on what is a serious disease affecting our kauri and on tracks boardwalks hygiene stations and education. Importantly the Ministry of Primary Industries is doing work on research. It is also focusing on our overseas footprint with $2.2 million invested there to look at what we need to do beefing up our resources in China and importantly looking out over the horizon with industry on new and emerging markets.Think back to just 12 or 14 months ago to how we were in the worst drought that we have ever seen some say for the last 70 or so years. We do not have a water shortage issue in this country. We have a water storage issue. We collect only 2 percent of rain that falls in this country. The rest goes into our rivers and streams and heads out to sea. That is why in Budget 2014 we are investing $40 million and purchasing shares in Crown Irrigation Investments Ltd which carefully selects projects to support. Think back to the research that the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research did which forecast that 420000 hectares could be under irrigation that is not currently an investment return for our exporters and our GDP of $3 billion to $4 billion. This is all about growing our exports but importantly focusing on the environment as well. When you have decent water storage projects you have consistent summer river flows whichare good for the aquatic and marine life and also take the pressure off the groundwater that is extracted from those aquifers. This is about growing our exports but importantly looking after the environment in a sustainable way moving forward.In summary we have had a fantastic Budget delivered by Bill English this year. It has been applauded by most people up and down the country. Some of the education people have been pretty silent. Normally on the back of the Budget every year they say that we are not doing enough. We have not heard too much from them. This is a Budget that is focusing on families a Budget that is looking after our elderly a Budget that is looking after our most vulnerable a Budget that is focused on growing our exports and a Budget that is looking at our overseas footprint to make sure we are doing more.What do we have from members on the other side of the House? We had no support from them when we went through the tough 6 years previously and no support from them for what we were doing about savings and restraint. They did not back one initiative that this Government put up. They said no to welfare reform. They do not support getting people back into work. They said no to any tax reductions. They said no to a 90-day probation period to support our small and medium enterprises. They do not care about business; we do. They said no to Resource Management Act reform and no to special housing areas. The list is long and it goes on and on and on.Under Bill English and John Key this is a Budget for the future. This is a Budget of confidence in New Zealand. This is a Budget indicating that we are going to get back into surplus. This is a Budget forecasting 170000 jobs by 2018. This is a Budget that has been well received by New Zealanders. This is a Budget whereby people acknowledge that Bill English John Key and the leadership of the National Government have been through tough economic times. In 4 months’ time people will be queuing up to return the leadership of John Key and Bill English for a brighter future. Bring it on.