Curran ClareHon CLARE CURRAN (Minister for Government Digital Services): Well here we are hearing from the Opposition the Opposition with a very large chip on its shoulder repeating the tired old lines—the tired old lines that certainly aren't resonating and that keep changing. They keep changing. They can't have it both ways. We're either taxing or spending or we're not doing anything. I'm so proud to be standing up here and talking about this Budget and the Supplementary Estimates. I want to start off with education as well because this is $310 million authorised for the implementation of that first-year fees-free policy for post - secondary education. It is one of the most fundamentally important changes—and we've got a number of them—that this Government has introduced. It's just the beginning. It's the beginning of a much bigger strategy around the importance of lifelong learning. That previous Government now that Opposition with a big chip on its shoulder could never think beyond a year or two ahead. This Government is thinking about the big picture. It's putting in place the foundations for the future for rebuilding the critical public services for building a strong economy but it's doing a lot more than that. It's actually thinking about what the shape of the future is going to look like in the near to medium term. It's making sure that we're putting in place now the ability for people not to be left high and dry and for people to be able to continue to learn and to build the skill sets that are needed for the jobs of the future so that we're not having major disruptions in our country and in our society. That's why I'm so proud of that policy that was put in by the Hon Chris Hipkins in post - secondary school education which isn't just about kids going to university or polytech. It's about people going and doing trade apprenticeships but it's also about people who are in the workforce now having the option and having the ability and the encouragement to be able to go and retrain for the jobs of the future so that they can have a future. I feel incredibly proud of that. Our productivity story over the last decade has been woeful. One of the biggest issues that emerged under that previous Government was our low productivity and our lack of ability to be thinking about where the value-add in our economy needed to be and what were the things that needed to be done and be put in place for that. That Government never went there—never went there. This Government is putting in place the foundations so that we can boost our productivity. We can do that volume-to-value story that will mean that our children and our grandchildren will benefit from that. It will be a much stronger economy and a much more unified and inclusive society and we're rebuilding critical public services at the same time. I heard the comments made by Amy Adams around putting money back into the New Zealand Superannuation Fund. What New Zealanders can do is trust that this coalition Government is safeguarding the future of superannuation. How can they argue that we are not doing that? This again goes to longer-term thinking which is something that New Zealanders have been crying out for. I give speech after speech after speech to business audiences in this country and what they are crying out for is a plan and to know that there is a Government with a plan. [Interruption] Oh they're laughing because they consider that the new economy is not—are they not effective businesses? Are they not the businesses of the future? What they want is a Government that listens a Government that's prepared to work with them and a Government that has a plan and that's what this Government has. New Zealanders can trust this coalition Government. It was Michael Cullen who set that fund up and it's Grant Robertson who has resumed those contributions after Bill English and Steven Joyce ignored it and that is the hallmark that is the legacy of that previous Government. It is that they ignored the future. That decision by National meant that we forwent more than $23 billion for the Superannuation Fund over that period. Our plan for the Superannuation Fund is to contribute $7.7 billion over the next five years with $500 million in 2017-18 and I'm really proud to be part of the Government that has done that. On the infrastructure deficit the infrastructure deficit from the previous Government—the national housing crisis is just a part of that. The infrastructure deficit in education and in local government and the lack again of a plan and a lack of forward thinking—we are putting in place the foundations for the future. This Supplementary Estimates bill invests $600 million to invest in the water and roading infrastructure to support the increase in housing supply. Under our infrastructure spending this Government will invest $42 billion—that's $42 billion—in new capital and infrastructure over the next five years. That previous speaker Amy Adams had the temerity to get up and say that this Government was not investing as much in infrastructure as they did—$42 billion over the next five years is a Government that has a plan and is putting in place the foundations for the future. We are absolutely committed and that is what is resonating out there because people know that this Government will rebuild critical public services and will put in place the foundations for a strong economy. In the regions lifting regional productivity—well my goodness where was that? Where was the impetus for that under the previous Government? This bill appropriates $124 million to lift regional productivity through the Provincial Growth Fund. This Government is addressing regional productivity—something that that previous Government neglected for far too long. You see it everywhere you go around the country and you also see the people and the communities that are just so thankful that they have finally got a Government that is listening and a Government that is enabling regional productivity to be a priority and that is seeing the value in regional New Zealand. The $1 billion per year Provincial Growth Fund—it's the biggest fund of its type in the world per head of population. It represents the biggest investment in our regions in our lifetimes. What that is demonstrating is true leadership as we roll out our plan to make New Zealand's economy more productive more sustainable and more inclusive. This Government had a 100-day plan which it delivered on. We've delivered a Budget which puts in place the foundations—the true foundations—for a strong productive sustainable economy and to rebuild critical services which resonates with New Zealanders all around New Zealand. We have put a value on regional New Zealand we've put a value on housing we've put a value on education—particularly on lifelong learning—and we've put a value on health and the need in health to rebuild critical services in health. I'm proud to be part of this coalition Government I'm proud to be speaking on these Supplementary Estimates and I'm proud that this country can have a future for everyone because everyone is included in this Government. It's a Government for everyone not just for a few.