Wood MichaelMICHAEL WOOD (Labour—Mt Roskill): This is a fascinating place to work and it is of great surprise to me—and I suspect the member in front of me David Seymour—to learn that it is now the policy of the National Party to have more restrictive rules on the sale of New Zealand property and businesses to offshore interests. I was fascinated to see the reaction of the honourable member for Hamilton East's colleagues sitting around him who were not moving a muscle during those weighty proclamations that he made and the commitments that he made on behalf of his party to introduce a more restrictive scheme in respect of overseas investments in New Zealand. I'm sure that members on this side will be very pleased to inform the Hon Nathan Guy and Milton Friedman's lovechild the new National Party finance spokesperson the Hon Paul Goldsmith that this is in fact now the new policy of the National Party. I think it really does speak so much to the chaos and confusion that is reigning on the benches of the National Party of the Opposition at the moment that we had a major speech from a former Minister of the previous National Government taking that position at the same time that a person of such absolute free market pedigree as the Hon Paul Goldsmith has become the finance spokesperson of that party. I want to at this point just acknowledge in all seriousness the contribution of the Hon Amy Adams whose pending retirement from this House was announced earlier this week. She's a person who on this side of the House we have a range of policy disagreements with but she is a person who has respect and is taken seriously and has a degree of economic competency about her that was not evident in the previous speech. So we wish Amy Adams well in the next steps that she takes in her life and her career. The National Party could seriously do with someone of Amy Adams' calibre in that respect and really I think it speaks volumes about the state of the Opposition at this point that a person of that competence sees the best move is to move away. I've had the privilege of speaking a couple of times this week in the Budget debate where I've focused on many of the significant wellbeing initiatives that this Government has been very very proud to stand behind in the Budget last month. Finally taking mental health seriously—a $1.9 billion investment to ensure that Kiwis get access to community-level primary mental health care when they need it. Serious action to lift our children out of poverty—and these are major wellbeing initiatives but I want to take a couple of minutes to talk about the fact that sitting alongside those this is a Budget that seriously delivers in terms of a balanced approach in terms of running the books well and having an economic plan and vision for New Zealand. I think one of the things that the Opposition has really struggled with over the course of this Budget debate is that here is a Government a cross-party Government that is committed to the wellbeing of New Zealanders and making those investments in our public sphere but that is also doing an excellent job of managing the books. Because let's be clear: this is a Budget which continues to see sustainable surpluses into the coming years so that New Zealanders can have security that the Government has money for a rainy day. This is a Budget which sees sustained economic growth above the level of most of our trading partners. This is a Budget which sees net Crown debt reducing to 19.9 percent lower than that previous Government ever got it and meeting the Government's Budget responsibility rules. This is a Budget which sees unemployment down at 4 percent—again lower than that previous Government ever got it—giving Kiwis an opportunity to get into meaningful work. Here's the really good news for those Kiwis who are in work: the Budget Economic and Fiscal Update tells us that average wage growth over the coming years is going to be over 3 percent well above inflation meaning that we are making a real difference to the living standards of New Zealanders. That is the economic track of this country under the coalition Government and I acknowledge our partners in Government the New Zealand First Party and the Green Party for their contribution in helping us to reach that sweet spot where we are meeting the wellbeing needs of New Zealanders while managing the books and the economy well—something that the OECD acknowledged in its report this week and New Zealanders can take a lot of confidence from that. What the OECD also acknowledged is that as well as managing the purse managing the books well at the moment there's a long-term economic plan here to deal with productivity. This is a Government which is investing in the research and development tax credit to drive productivity and to drive the high-value businesses and jobs that will give New Zealanders prosperity in the long run. This is a Government which is investing in vocational education to give Kiwis a chance and it's put up the Venture Investment Fund to help our businesses get off the ground and grow and export. I am so proud of the Wellbeing Budget. It invests in the wellbeing of New Zealanders and it has a serious economic plan and good fiscal management.