SpeechJONATHAN YOUNG (National—New Plymouth): Thank you Madam Speaker. Thank you for the opportunity to speak on the Budget 2020 as presented to this House. Indeed as the previous speaker alluded it is a Budget like no other. At the beginning of my speech I would like to acknowledge the Minister of Finance who presented a Budget he probably had no idea he would be presenting months earlier or envisaging spending as much money as is going out the front door right now. These are remarkable times so credit to him. He has not only managed the Crown's finances in a time of crisis to be able to roll out these support schemes to help New Zealand employees in particular—which I suspect is more an administrative miracle that he's achieved than a fiscal one—but he has also presented this Budget on due date.I think that as we give credit where it's due the Government should also give credit where it's due. We know the Prime Minister often chides us on the Opposition benches that prior to COVID-19 lockdown the Crown's books were in better shape than when they inherited them. Suffice to say that having a lower debt to GDP may not in fact be due to the Government's success in lowering debt but maybe businesses' success in raising GDP. I think that one thing that we say from this side of the House is that we wish the Government had worked and come out sooner and harder in supporting businesses because I think that many of the mechanisms which they say are supporting businesses are in fact failing to do that which they think and which they say is occurring. Why is it today—why is it today—that we still hear businesses saying We're going to the wall?" It's because those mechanisms which the Government has designed have not been fully tried and tested and doing the work they think that they are achieving.Giving credit where it's due may not only be given to businesses because of the incredible work that's happened in our economy over these last number of years—and an example of that is what Stats New Zealand say has been record export volumes and prices for our red meat sector—but also because this Government inherited the very solid and sound financial management of their predecessors and I mention John Key Bill English and Steven Joyce as they led us through the Canterbury earthquake and the global financial crisis. Of course these gentlemen and ladies across the way like to get the credit but do not like to give it back and I think credit where it's due and I think that we need to acknowledge that.But I think that it's not just a matter of bouquets; I think it's also a matter of brickbats as we look here at Budget 2020. Yes all credit that it came under a great trial of fire and credit that support went out in those early days and continues to go out but as my colleague the Hon Paul Goldsmith so clearly pointed out prior to COVID-19 things were actually going backwards. The economic growth had halved in times when we were getting those record prices from export commodities offshore. You just only have to read what Stats New Zealand said on 2 March this year—particularly as I talked about that beef and lamb trade rose to their highest level ever in the December 2019 quarter and they boosted overall export prices right across the country. Volumes increased by 3.2 percent values rose by 12 percent in the December 2019 quarter yet we still see an economy under pressure and people have wondered why this is. It just took two years for this Government to turn a solid surplus into a deficit.Then we had COVID-19 come along and COVID-19 has certainly dealt a massive blow—a massive blow—to the New Zealand economy. The Government are keen for New Zealanders to keep supporting their cheque account in order to continue to support this country. I think we have a confused economic landscape and I would say that when spending is best described as throwing everything including the kitchen sink we need to be cognisant of the fact that rainy days are here and rainy days will still come and we need to make sure that we have got a kitchen sink for future rainy days.So I would think that ensuring that our businesses are strong as they come through this—we all know that employees need an employer that we would have companies and businesses who have more than staff-only costs: they have overheads they have all sorts of other finance costs and yet it's been very difficult for many of them to receive the support they need to be able to get through. On the other side of it we want all of these people who have received wage subsidy support and all of the people who have lost their jobs to be able to come through this and find employment again in the future. Mr Alan McDonald from the Employers and Manufacturers Association head of advocacy and I quote him said his organisation has been calling for the past week for a return to level 1 more quickly than the Government has indicated. I think that what this is is businesses—it is businesses themselves—feeling the pain knowing what the solution is. Credit to the health outcomes that have been achieved but there needs to be a swift response. He went on to say "Every day we are under these restrictions more businesses are going to the wall and more people are made redundant." So this Budget is a recovery Budget but I just hope that they don't leave the expenditure that is needed for this recovery to take place until it's too late. I applaud the recovery package for the arts sector that was just released. In fact it was released very I guess spasmodically in an episode type of way. We received of course funding provisions on the day of the Budget. Then the Prime Minister in Te Papa last week talked about other elements and mechanisms and then in Napier on Friday further mechanisms which the Government will employ to support the arts sector. It's interesting the arts sector. Of course many of them are people in the creative industry who can't have work who are the last to get back into work because many of them perform before crowds. Going to an event when you have high production costs when you can only have 100 people there just doesn't make it work.It's like you know you go to a cafe in town: the doors are open but nobody's making money. In fact many of them say "We either make a decision to lose money slowly or to lose money quickly and if we open our door to business under the current restrictions we lose money quickly." Many of them say "It's cheaper for us to not open at all." So there is this cry for businesses to be heard and to be acknowledged about the pressures they are under and to get the balance right between the health concerns and the economic concerns and of course we understand this Government is quite divided in terms of those views.But I think that on the Opposition side of the bench we understand the importance of the health response and there has been a very good response as "Team NZ" have put their heart and soul into it. But as I've said to our local media New Zealanders will certainly cooperate and do the very best they can until they feel it's been unreasonable what's been asked of them. I think what we are sensing and perhaps the Government are sensing—which is why the Prime Minister has indicated today that they are going to look at level 1 next Monday—is that the public are not backing them in this decision and that there is a real cry particularly from business to get back into business.I've always felt that the support package to subsidise wages has been reasonable good and quick and it's been helpful but I've always been disappointed that there has not been a really good awareness and support package that has quickly come to businesses because on the other side of this—and we will get there but let's hope we get there sooner rather than later—we need those businesses to be strong to be employers which is why I acknowledge and respect what Todd Muller has been saying: that we have a package that will help them take up and support new employment because that's what we're going to need as we continue to see thousands upon thousands of New Zealanders lose their jobs. Thank you Madam Speaker."