Naylor Jono: Budget DebateText is subject to correctionNaylor Jono: Budget Debate[Sitting date: 07 June 2016. Volume:714;Page:11681. Text is subject to correction.]JONO NAYLOR (National): In the year and a half that I have been in Parliament I have heard from the other side of the House a lot of reports about Sir Michael Cullen and what a financial genius he was—the great work that he did as finance Minister. I want to give credit where credit is due. Sir Michael Cullen obviously had an ability in this area and so we will give credit where it is due. I just want to think about in 2008 when he delivered his Budget what he predicted the current Crown net debt would be at this time. Dr Cullen said it would be around $160 billion. That was his best estimate—$160 billion. Where are we sitting now? It is $60 billion. We are $100 billion better off under this National Government over the last 8 years than what Dr Cullen predicted in 2008. That is good financial management. That is sound financial management.This Budget continues to do more great things for New Zealand. Let us take for example the impact of this Budget on the Manawatū where I come from. We have been through a reasonable period of time. There has been a business growth study done that identified some key areas that our region can benefit from to a greater degree. There is $44.4 million set aside in this Budget to help those regions that are going to have further work done on them and to help implement that regional growth study.The Accelerate25 programme is well under way. It is working with local government and local business to deliver good outcomes for New Zealand. There is $40 million for more regional research institutes. I know from my experience in Palmerston North what a good impact those institutes can have and so it is great to see that more communities around New Zealand are going to be impacted by the positivity that comes from having research institutes located there.But it is not just new institutions. This Budget has over $400 million extra in it for science and innovation. What I can tell you from my experience in Palmerston North is that where you have money going into research and innovation into science it creates jobs. It creates jobs not just for people who are doing the research but also those people are researching things that will create more jobs down the track for people.But it is not just about business. It is not just about jobs and creation. This is a Government that is committed to the environment. It is committed to cleaning up our rivers. There is another $100 million in this Budget towards cleaning up the rivers. I can tell you that the money that has been used so far is making a really good impact. I was privileged to be a part of the Manawatū River Leaders’ Accord that helped put together the Manawatū River action plan and since that time over 200 kilometres of fencing has been put across waterways. Two hundred kilometres of fencing has been put in place to ensure that that is happening. There are 120000 plants that have been planted to help improve the Manawatū River. The extra $100 million in this Budget is going to ensure that other rivers around New Zealand will also be able to improve over time and I think that that is incredibly important.But again it is not just about business. It is not just about the environment. In the education sector there is going to be a further $256 million going into tertiary education particularly focusing on those science and agricultural areas and veterinary science. Again it is very very good for the Manawatū and very very good for Palmerston North. That is going to ensure that the likes of Massey University can continue to grow and continue to have a positive impact on our region and I look forward to that.Finally there is $190 million extra being invested into the national freight rail network. Palmerston North is absolutely a logistics hub for the lower half of the North Island and also for New Zealand. It is a central point for five different railway lines. Investment into rail as well as road is going to help Palmerston North to grow more jobs in the logistics area—an area that is already growing significantly.So this is a good Budget. It is a sound Budget. It has been put together by a finance Minister who has shown and proven his credibility over the last 8 years by New Zealand being $100 million better off than what was predicted under the previous Labour Government. It is a good bill this appropriation Bill. It is a good Budget and I commend it to the House.