Robertson GrantGRANT ROBERTSON (Labour—Wellington Central): I have a short phrase to respond to that speech from Chris Bishop: bring back David Bennett because at least David Bennett would have tried to mount some kind of proactive support for the Budget Policy Statement. Instead we have a range of Mr Bishop's memories from 2011 and 2014. He managed to miss out a couple of them—in fact I suspect he might have been responsible for the following quote from the then economic development Minister Steven Joyce who reacted to a statement from the Retirement Commissioner saying that the nation's superannuation system was affordable and no changes needed to be made. That is what Chris Bishop wrote for Steven Joyce. So if we are getting into the idea of who might have moved their position Mr Bishop the House is a very glass one.When we look at the high-level numbers and indicators that are in the Budget Policy Statement it would be easy to say the New Zealand economy is doing absolutely fine at that high level. I am reminded of what I did when I was a young university student and I managed to earn myself a little bit of money. I was very excited to buy a car—I wanted to buy my first car—and I went and bought a car from a very reputable used car sales yard. It was painted red and that was the most important thing to me even then that the car was painted red.Kris Faafoi: What was it?GRANT ROBERTSON: It was in fact a Nissan station wagon Mr Faafoi and it looked fantastic. It looked brilliant. I drove it home from the used car yard and I drove along and it was going fine and then one or two rattles started to emerge. So when I got back home I lifted up the bonnet and then I saw the real story. That is what is happening with the New Zealand economy.Tim Macindoe: Caveat emptor Grant.GRANT ROBERTSON: If we look under the bonnet it is not quite so attractive is it Mr Macindoe? If we look under the bonnet there are still 140000 New Zealanders unemployed. If we look under the bonnet there are 90000 15- to 24-year-olds not in education not in employment and not in training and unlike the Prime Minister we do not think they are drug-addled hopeless people; we think they are New Zealand's future who deserve some support and some investment. But that is the statistic that is sitting in front of the National Party. Long-term unemployment has nearly tripled to 44000 under this Government.Remember this every time the Government members get up to tell us something about unemployment statistics—remember this: in every region of New Zealand the unemployment rate is higher than it was when National came into office. It declared the global financial crisis over in 2012. Where are the benefits there? Under the bonnet of this economy we have long-term problems going unaddressed. New Zealanders look at those high-level statistics and wonder Where's the benefit for me?". Wage and salary earners who average ordinary-time wages are falling behind: 45 percent of Kiwis did not even get a pay rise last year; more than two-thirds of New Zealanders got a pay rise of less than 2 percent. At the same time their housing costs were spiralling—on average an increase of 11 percent. Steven Joyce admitted in this House just a couple of weeks ago that the net effect of those low wage increases and those spiralling housing costs has been that for the average household last year they were $1 a day better off—$1 a day.That is the benefit of the so-called growing economy. That is what ordinary New Zealanders are experiencing and that is why they are questioning whether or not these high-level statistics actually mean anything. Yes GDP growth is at 3 percent; real GDP per capita is less than 1 percent. It is population growth that is driving GDP growth. We are not seeing the improvements in productivity that Bill English and Steven Joyce like to talk about. What we are seeing is New Zealanders working more and more hours and not getting ahead. That is what is happening in the real economy that the National Party members do not want to talk about.So where does that leave us as a country looking at this Budget Policy Statement? We should be seeing in this Budget Policy Statement some kind of vision for growing the wealth of all New Zealanders some kind of sense of shared prosperity because there is no point in an economy that delivers growth rates of over 3 percent if more than 5 percent of New Zealanders are unemployed. There is no point in growth rates of over 3 percent if people are living in cars and garages and 41000 New Zealanders are homeless. The economy is not an end in itself; it is the means to creating the kind of society that all New Zealanders can enjoy the benefits of and that is what this Budget should be focusing on.It is a Budget that should be focusing on how we grow decent work opportunities all around New Zealand. I was really pleased when Andrew Little went to both Dunedin and Gisborne in the adjournment that we just had and came up with practical ideas to create jobs in those areas: a centre of digital excellence in Dunedin and another wood processing plant in Gisborne. That is what will grow decent jobs that is what will spread the benefits of a growing economy around the population: practical partnerships from an active Government in the regions of New Zealand growing those decent work opportunities.In Dunedin my old home town we look now—with the Cadbury's factory closing with Hillside having closed—at cities and regions that have been left behind by this Government. We can do practical things as a Government about that: a procurement policy that actually gives New Zealand firms a fair go at bidding for contracts. We have not seen that from this Government and places like Hillside have lost out. We can do better than that and the Labour Party will make sure that we do. We need to look at the drivers of productivity. We need to get more capital to our small businesses to allow them to grow and develop. It is hard work out there running a small business in New Zealand at the moment. The Government can do all the roadshows it likes with Jacqui Dean in charge but in reality what those firms want is some support to actually be able to grow themselves. We also need to invest in skills and training. This is the most important thing we can do for the future of New Zealand—not write off a whole cohort of young people but actually do active programmes like Ready for Work which Andrew Little announced at the Labour Party conference; like revamping our careers advice and guidance service so every single school-leaver has a plan about what they will be doing; like Dole for Apprenticeships where we take that money paid in the dole to 18- and 19-year-olds and convert it into a subsidy for apprenticeships. These are practical policies that are about giving young New Zealanders the skills that they need.Relying on anecdote relying on saying that everyone who comes into a business is failing a drug test and that is the problem is absolute rubbish and it is defeatist nonsense from the Prime Minister who does not want to face up to the fact that after 9 years in Government he has left 90000 15- to 24-year-olds outside of any kind of training or work. That is the kind of issue that has to be addressed head on and it is certainly what the Labour Government will do after the next election.Then we start to look at the issue of housing and this remains one of the most critical things. When you take a look at the Budget Policy Statement once again the Government has failed to tackle the housing crisis. It has failed to tackle the fundamental issue that gives New Zealanders security—owning your own home or at the very least having some security of tenure in your rental property. That is the issue that time and again Budget after Budget the Government has thrown its hands up and said it is somebody else's responsibility. Well that has to change and that is why the Labour Party has proposed a suite of measures from the KiwiBuild programme of building 100000 affordable homes over 10 years through to a proper social housing agency in Housing New Zealand responsible for actually creating security for people who are not able to house themselves through to addressing homelessness. All of those issues have to be addressed because they are core economic issues. If we do not get housing right if people do not feel secure then they will not be able to get ahead.What this Budget Policy Statement reveals is a series of deficits underneath the surplus: an infrastructure deficit. We have a massive shortfall in housing. We have transportation issues in Auckland that are clogging up the roads and destroying productivity in that centre. We have a deficit in infrastructure that this Government has let rise and that will need to be addressed and will be a significant priority for a future Labour Government.But we have also got a massive social deficit. The under-investment in health in education in housing and in addressing child poverty has to be dealt with in a Budget. This Budget Policy Statement from the Government lacks vision lacks courage and lacks the kinds of investments that will allow all New Zealanders to succeed. Under a future Labour Government we will prioritise security and opportunity for all New Zealanders."