Davidson Marama: Budget DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeDavidson Marama: Budget Debate[Sitting date: 31 May 2016. Volume:714;Page:11510. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]MARAMA DAVIDSON (Green): Tēnā koutou katoa e Te Whare. Te Puea Marae in Māngere is working hard to house families who are without a home. My colleague from Labour Peeni Henare and I were privileged to be part of the Te Puea community in the weekend just gone so that we could listen and see firsthand exactly the compassion and the systemic and vital work that Mangere is doing to house people. Te Puea Marae is responding to the absolute mess and crisis that is a result of the National Government failing to ensure that every whānau has a warm dry safe and affordable home to live in. Te Puea Marae is leading and showing up the Government for its lack and its neglect of caring for our people.While we were at Te Puea Marae I listened to the stories of the donations and of the people who have opened their hearts to drop off goods and this is what I want to talk about in this Budget speech—what this Budget neglected to include. People know that it is wrong that our families are living in anything other than a safe affordable home; not cramming into the homes of other friends not living in garages not living in cars nor simply living in a home that is not secure because they have been asked to find somewhere else because the market is privileging using houses as a business instead of a home. I would have liked to see the Budget prioritise the fact that houses are supposed to be for homes not for a business.That is the real political leadership in our Budget that this country needs right now and certainly needs going forward because this mess has not happened overnight. This mess is a result of all of the previous seven failed Budgets. Wages and benefits have not kept up with the cost of living. This is why people are living elsewhere than in a good home because the rents are too high and the wages are too low. This is not rocket science; this is just pure basic good economics and basic math. This mess has happened because of an aggressive drive to cut and remove people’s benefits without actually having a good place or job or employment for these people to move to. Again people and organisations including Te Puea Marae are responding to a crisis and a failure of the National Government and this Budget highlighted even more that the National Government’s Budget does not prioritise caring for our families and communities.Real leadership would actually invest in the building of more State homes but also have a programme for affordable homes for first-home buyers. So many people are going to be locked out of owning a home but already people are locked out of even renting a home. Real leadership would be to also actually go and see for yourself exactly what is happening. As I am a resident of South Auckland I have been to Bruce Pulman Park in Papakura I have been to Te Puea Marae and I have been to the parks in Māngere where people are parking up in their cars at night.These are the things that should have been taken into account when planning our Budget so that we have a capital gains tax apart from the family home; so that we input measures to ensure that it is not more attractive to have a house for a business than it is to actually be able to live in one with your people and raise your family. Those are the sorts of investments that should have been essential and prioritised in the Budget. What else is a Government for if it is not prioritising our most vulnerable because that will—and already has—come back to bite us all anyway. Any good planning should take that into account. Again and to finish off in failing the most vulnerable in this Budget and the Budgets previously the National Government has failed all of us.