Macindoe Tim: Budget DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeMacindoe Tim: Budget Debate[Sitting date: 21 May 2014. Volume:699;Page:18234. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]TIM MACINDOE (National—Hamilton West): I am very proud to be associated with this Government. I would be proud to vote for it tomorrow and I am proudly promoting it in the Hamilton West electorate. There have been some very fine contributions to this debate from members on this side of the House including from members of our supply and confidence partners. I thank them for highlighting the important aspects of a Budget that is delivering in areas that matter to New Zealanders. This is a Government that is getting the job done.Nearly 6 years ago New Zealanders voted for change. The recession was already biting. The previous Government had squandered the best economic conditions of a generation. Labour was spending like drunken sailors without securing the revenue to fund its commitments. It had encouraged an explosion in bureaucracy while overseeing a major decline in the delivery of public services. Treasury was predicting that the incoming Government would face at least a decade of deficits. So that is why New Zealanders voted for change. They knew that the next few years would be difficult. They were prepared to back a Government that promised to get its own finances under control while protecting the vulnerable from the sharp edges of the recession and that is what we have done.One only needs to look at many of the countries with which we like to compare ourselves and those with which we trade—the United Kingdom the United States of America Spain Portugal Greece India and the list goes on—to appreciate the staggering accomplishments of the John Key - led administration and especially our excellent Minister of Finance the Hon Bill English. As we saw last week the pain and the cuts are now really biting across the Tasman as the new Australian Government attempts to rescue that country from the ravages and the irresponsibility of the former Labor-Greens Government. What a grim warning that is to all New Zealanders to not put it all at risk on this side of the Tasman when they go to the polls on 20 September this year.Earlier this evening I heard some of the Hon Nick Smith’s contribution to this debate. He quite rightly made the point that New Zealand’s level of debt would have reached bankruptcy levels if the former Labour Government’s reckless fiscal mismanagement had continued beyond 2008. So I say to the member for Dunedin North David Clark who barracks across the House regularly about this Government’s economic record that he knows and more important his constituents in Dunedin North know that this Government has rescued the country and its finances from the worst Labour Government they have ever seen.I am very proud of our achievements in getting the books back into surplus within 5 years not least because the previous Government delighted in spending all the money it had and plenty it did not have when it was clear that it was headed for electoral oblivion. Achieving that feat of a surplus in half the time that Treasury predicted to the incoming Government it would take was commendable in itself. But given that no one knew then what devastation lay ahead for the people of Canterbury and the city of Christchurch it is nothing short of remarkable. As others have noted in this debate getting back into surplus is important because it gives the Government and New Zealanders generally choices. It means that we can start planning for future debt repayments and contributions to the Superannuation Fund. I and others on this side of the House are determined to achieve both of those goals in order to ensure that our children and their children are not saddled with an impossible burden that would encourage many who could to leave our shores and cause living standards to plummet for those who would have to stay behind.It has been utterly disingenuous to hear members opposite crying crocodile tears in this debate about our country’s indebtedness while every reasonable person knows that those same members who were here during the 9 long years of the Clark administration are responsible for it. Had the voters not intervened as decisively as they did in 2008 the debt projections now would be astronomical. In the critical areas of managing the Crown’s finances this is a Government that is getting the job done. When it comes to delivering better public services which is a major responsibility of any Government and one of the clear priorities of this one some demanding targets have been set and met right across the board and again we are getting the job done.In the time remaining I want to focus on some recent announcements that have been warmly welcomed in Hamilton and elsewhere I am sure. Prior to Budget day we heard about the terrific initiatives to deal with this worrying problem of rheumatic fever. This is an issue that we thought had been dealt with a generation ago and now it has come back. It is striking at communities right around the country. We have to deal with it and we have put measures in place to ensure that it can be dealt with. We have seen the new measures for children who need cochlear implants. Again this is something that those living in the deaf community have been calling forfor a long time. Because of our responsible fiscal management we are now in a position to deal with it. I look forward to seeing people in my area and elsewhere being able to take advantage of this terrific initiative. These were the things that people were talking to me about when I was in Rotorua a couple of weeks ago and last weekend in Hamilton at the Women’s Lifestyle Expo. It is the sort of thing that matters to families.So of course the next thing is to look at how the Budget delivered for our families and our children. I was pleased to hear Barbara Stewart my colleague from the Waikato region acknowledging the importance of the free doctors visits for children under 13. I am sure that this is something that is warmly welcomed across the House. I am sure that we are all pleased to see that it is being delivered. It is part of a $500 million package of measures to support children and families and $90 million of that is being spent on those free doctors visits. There will be $171.8 million allocated to increase paid parentalleave to 18 weeks by 2016. We have heard a lot about that issue in recent times. I am proud to be part of a Government that is delivering on it.There is the $42.3 million measure to increase the parental tax credit. That was something introduced by National back in 1999. It helps families with newborn children who are not on a benefit and who are not receiving paid parental leave.Darien Fenton: Say something original. Stop reading your research notes.TIM MACINDOE: To the member who is chirping at the moment I would remind her that many of those people are the ones who used to be called “Mike Moore’s battlers” and the “Kiwi battlers”. The Labour Party fought for them but it does not any more. Now it is National that is delivering.There is a substantial increase to early childhood education. We are seeing results with far more children being enrolled in early childhood education. That will benefit them for a lifetime. We have more than doubled expenditure on early childhood education while we have been in office. As the Minister for Social Development talked about earlier this evening that vital $33 million package to help vulnerable children includes eight new children’s teams around the country. I hope and expect to see something in the Waikato to identify and work with our at-risk children. We are getting the job done in really important ways.Could I close just by paying a tribute to budget advisory services right around the country.Dr Cam Calder: More money.TIM MACINDOE: In Hamilton the Hamilton Budgeting Advisory Trust is one of those budgeting services doing tremendous work as my colleague Dr Calder is noting with financially vulnerable members of our community. I meet regularly with that wonderful team in my city of Hamilton. I am full of admiration for the work they do. It is practical it is compassionate and it is making a real difference for families.Dr Cam Calder: Effective.TIM MACINDOE: It is as Dr Calder says effective. There is so much I would like to be able to speak about but I am pleased with that $22 million package for the budget advisory services. I am proud of this Budget. I return to my theme. This is a Government that is getting the job done and I will be proud to campaign on it right through to 20 September.