Swarbrick Chlöe; Williams PotoCHLÖE SWARBRICK (Green): Tēnā koe e Te Māngai. Tēnā koutou e Te Whare. I just wanted to touch on something noted by Chris Bishop and ask: if the National Party is so adverse to us spending money on this fees-free policy will they reverse it? I invite the next speaker to address that point.This was my first Budget and it was indeed quite a special exciting Budget day for me. My very friendly echo chamber of Twitter was alight with hot takes and reckons and a lot of names flying around for the Budget as I think is often kind of custom and tradition. My unsolicited hot take my title for this Budget is that it is a Budget of bread butter and birds". This is a Budget of rebuilding. It is a Budget that is focused on people and the planet and as has been critiqued—interestingly enough—by the Opposition it's a Budget of collaboration because that's what happens when you have more than one monopoly one hive mind working on something. That's what happens when you have to pore over the details and when you cannot take a monopoly of power for granted. You end up with something more robust and more representative.The honourable member of the Opposition Scott Simpson was pulling the figure of $100 million seemingly out of thin air when attempting to point out what the Greens had won in this Budget. I don't know who in the National research department is providing him with those figures but I would like to offer a slight fact check. There is half a billion dollars in this Budget related to the mahi past and present of the Green Party of Aotearoa / New Zealand. That's in the funding of the independent Climate Commission; of a Green Infrastructure Fund; of a significant increase in the funding for the Department of Conservation; of the beginning of the long overdue overhaul of the broken welfare system; towards ending energy poverty in New Zealand; of a pilot project for integrated therapies and mental health for young adults; and so much more.Secondly the Hon Scott Simpson was trying to pigeon-hole those Green wins into the environment. I'd refer him to the 20 diverse and ultimately holistic goals in the Green-Labour confidence and supply agreement and I have a copy of it here should he like to come and take it later and have a read. They are under the headings of "Sustainable Economy" "Healthy Environment" and "Fair Society". Alternatively he is welcome to engage in a kōrero with our party at any time about the inextricable values that underpin the Green Party: ecological wisdom social responsibility appropriate decision-making and non-violence. It is fundamentally about people and the planet as indeed this Budget is.Thirdly whilst I understand that some in this House are into this game of short-sighted tit-for-tat politics I think most of us relatively fresh off the back of an election campaign are more than aware of the fact that New Zealanders out there in the world beyond this plush carpet and wood panelling couldn't care less about high-level rhetoric or point-scoring because you cannot feed your kids with political rhetoric you cannot pay our nation's teachers with political rhetoric and you cannot fix our rivers or build futureproofed infrastructure with political rhetoric. If I could allude to a rather well-known quip from the previous Leader of the Opposition this Government's shared values set the agenda and this Budget pays the bills. Rightfully the New Zealand public couldn't care less about who gets to win the political football. The only score that they are keeping track of is the quality of their lives of the lives of their kids and their whānau and on that scorecard this Budget is a win.As the Greens' education spokesperson I am particularly proud of what this Government has achieved in learning support and inclusive education with our very first Budget. In a Budget that covers the bases and starts to rebuild our foundations it's not only a strong signal of where this Government's values and commitments lie but it's going to have a tangible impact on the lives of thousands of kids around our country and on the lives of their whānau. So it should come as no surprise that I will use my call in this Budget debate to speak in particular to the significance of the $249.3 million of spending committed over four years to deliver on five learning support outcomes.This is a crucial move towards delivering on the rights of kids in Aotearoa to have equitable access to education. That right is woven through so much of our legislation and indeed in international agreements too. The Education Act of 1989 at section 8(1) states "people who have special educational needs (whether because of disability or otherwise) have the same rights to enrol and receive education at State schools as people who do not." The 2006 United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to which New Zealand is a signatory in the child-friendly version of the document at article 23 states "You have the right to special education and care if you have a disability as well as all the rights in this convention so that you can live a full life." In the 2007 release of The New Zealand Curriculum the inclusion principle required that "The curriculum is non-sexist non-racist and non-discriminatory; it ensures that students' identities languages abilities and talents are recognised and affirmed and that their learning needs are addressed." Progress has continued over that past decade but not at the rate that is required to genuinely deliver on the need that still exists.In 2016 at the request of my fantastic predecessor the last Green education spokesperson Catherine Delahunty in the previously titled Education and Science Committee undertook an inquiry along with the rest of the committee into the identification and support for students with significant challenges in dyslexia dyspraxia and autism spectrum disorders in primary and secondary schools. That inquiry produced 46 recommendations a number of which are picked up on and delivered on in this Budget.So what exactly is it that we are going to do over the next four years in inclusive education and learning support? Well firstly we're injecting $133.5 million into the ongoing resourcing scheme—otherwise known as ORS—to give learning support to another thousand students as early as next year. That's more speech language therapists psychologists occupational therapy and physiotherapy additional teacher time and teacher-aide support for school students with the highest and most complex learning needs. Secondly there is $30.2 million to support about 2900 deaf and hard of hearing students and approximately 1500 low-vision students through the sensory schools and New Zealand Sign Language programmes. Additionally and thirdly there is $59.3 million extra going into critical teacher-aide funding. Fourthly for the Te Kahu Toi Intensive Wraparound Service there's an additional $4.8 million to reach an extra 30 eligible students each year increasing delivery to 365 students from July 2018.Fifthly and finally something which I'm personally over the moon about is that early intervention services will receive an extra $21.5 million in an operating boost plus $272000 in capital to recruit additional early intervention staff. What that tangibly means is an additional 1900 early childhood education children with high needs will receive support from next year.I am incredibly proud of this Budget as a starting point for what this Government is going to do over its three-year term and indeed potentially into the future. I'm also incredibly proud to highlight that as of next year the co-leader of the Greens Minister of Statistics and Associate Minister of Finance James Shaw has been actively involved in a process to produce the well-being framework which will produce a well-being Budget from next year.So what I have to say to the Opposition is that it's going to get even better folks. This is just the beginning. I would like to acknowledge the work of our partners in Government both New Zealand First and the Labour Party. It's just the beginning.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): I understand this is a split call. Simeon Brown you have five minutes."