Goldsmith Paul: Budget DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeGoldsmith Paul: Budget Debate[Sitting date: 26 May 2015. Volume:705;Page:4009. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH (Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs): This Budget shows what New Zealand can do after 7 years of a strong stable Government led by John Key Bill English and this National Government. We see great growth in this economy—nearly 3 percent is projected for the next 4 years which is one of the fastest levels of growth in the OECD. We have seen a jobs boom in New Zealand with 194000 jobs created in this economy since 2011. That impacts countless thousands of lives of families across this nation who have had access to work and the dignity of work. We expect another 150000 jobs to be created in this economy over the next 4 years. We see optimism dynamism and enthusiasm in this economy and in this country.This Budget has shown that we also have the ability to help the most vulnerable thanks to the prudent management of the economy with a $790 million package for the poorest families in New Zealand. It shows that this Government is managing this country for everyone. It shows that we recognise that there are families genuinely in need in this economy and we can help them out. Some people—and we just heard it in the latest speech by Jenny Salesa—think that we did that because it is politically clever. That is not the point at all. We have done it because it is the right thing to do in this country. We have done it because thanks to the prudent management of this economy over the past few years we do have the resources to help those who are most in need. We do it because it is the right thing to do.At the same time we expect responsibility back from those we help. This Budget has talked about solo parents being available for 20 hours of work once their youngest is 3 and they need to reapply each year. Again we do that not because we want to make life difficult; we do it because we genuinely believe that the best thing you can do for families is to encourage them back to work. We do it because again it is the right thing to do. We have had decades of just giving people money no questions asked as long as you like and no understanding of the dependence that it has developed over decades. This Government wants to do better and understands that it is important for the families of this country that we do do better and that we encourage people to get back to work. That is why I am so enthusiastic about this Budget.We have seen an interesting survey come out from Statistics New Zealand that again demonstrates the progress that has been made over these past 6 years. We have had this review the general social survey showing that families who say they have enough money to live on has increased from just over 50 percent in 2008 to nearly 63 percent last year. That is a significant improvement over a short period of time. We have seen families who say that they do not have enough money to live on dropping from over 15 percent in 2008 down to 12 percent in 2014. We will see that the extra $25 a week that will be delivered through this Budget will also help. That is showing the progress we are making.We constantly hear history lessons in this Budget debate from the other side. They talk about 9 years of surpluses. They need to read and understand that there were 8 years of surpluses yes and good luck to them. At the start of the first term of the Labour Government they were reasonably disciplined but the final year is what counts. They left a massive deficit for this economy. Conditions count. Yes we inherited the global financial crisis and we inherited the Christchurch earthquakes. Yes we could have slashed and burnt and got back to surplus faster but we judged that the best thing for the economy was to set a clear path back to surplus to manage things carefully and to be disciplined with our spending.When we talk about disciplined spending we just have to look at this graph here that demonstrates in the last 5 years of the previous Labour Government billions and billions of dollars of extra spending was poured into each Budget. In the last Budget in 2008 there was $7 billion of new spending in 1 year whereas this Government has been so much more disciplined averaging well less than $1 billion a year of new spending—$1 billion this year but about $600 million or $700 million on average. It is that extended period of a disciplined Government seven Budgets in a row that has led us to this good strong position that we are in today.I also heard on the radio when I was driving around town a couple of days ago one commentator saying that this Budget reflects a left-wing Government. What a load of nonsense that was. What we have seen here is that strong disciplined spending has reduced core Government expenditure from nearly 34 percent in 2008 down to 30 percent a very significant drop in the size of overall Government. We have actually got control over the size of the Government. We are reducing it. We are focusing it on actually doing the job well. The outcome is leaving a larger slice of the economy to the private sector and job creators.I also want to reflect on the biggest issue in my area where I come from the Epsom electorate which has been the Auckland housing market and the rapid growth in prices that we have seen there recently. I hear every day lots of speculation and lots of rumours about what is going on. There is some concern and some Opposition scaremongering talking about every other country coming in. The Opposition seems to be very anti-migrants in some areas which is interesting again. Going back to that survey that I just referred to before about three-quarters of New Zealanders are very comfortable with people of different ethnicities and migrants coming in and living next to them. Most New Zealanders are very tolerant and welcoming of new people. We are naturally concerned about what is influencing the Auckland housing market. It is a serious matter. That is why this Government has put a huge amount of focus on that in the last few years working with Auckland Council to try to free up more land for the building of houses is the best thing we can do. We are trying to reform the Resource Management Act. I only wish some of the Opposition parties would get in there and support us New Zealand First included.This Budget has brought in new measures such as requiring IRD numbers or the equivalent from overseas buyers and new buyers when purchasing extra property and that for the first time will give us a good clear understanding of what exactly is going on in the Auckland market. It will help the Inland Revenue Department to enforce the current tax law which shows that if you are buying and selling property with the intention of trading then you do pay tax in this country. We are extending that making it clear putting a brightline test in place and giving the Inland Revenue Department the resources to police that. That is an important step to deal with the demand for an important issue. We have considered these things carefully and we are making good progress. The Budget also refers to extending Crown land available for building new houses in Auckland.This Budget is also about building a more competitive and international economy. One of the areas that I am responsible for is the New Zealand Business Number. We are investing $12 million there to provide a unique identifier for businesses so that Kiwi businesses do not have to go out and constantly update information with a plethora of different Government departments. It is just one small way in which we are helping New Zealand businesses get ahead.The other thing that I want to refer to is that it is important that we have strong financial markets to give the capital resources for businesses to grow and that is why we continue to invest strongly in the Financial Markets Authority and why we are reviewing the Financial Advisers Act which I announced today and outlined the details of.We are also focused on improving the living standards of all New Zealanders and that is the focus of the Business Growth Agenda. It is the focus of the Better Public Services so that people get quality resources in health and education and safer communities through a good and effective police force and justice system. It is also about trying to keep control of the costs of everything and that is why good strong competition laws are so important to the economy. That is why this year we will be reviewing section 36 of our competition law which relates to the misuse of market power. This is an important element of making sure that the New Zealand economy is competitive so that New Zealand living standards can be maintained. And so this is a great Budget. It confirms 7 years of good solid stable sensible Government in New Zealand and we are starting to see the fruits of that. I commend it to the House. Thank you.