Ngaro Alfred; Tisch LindsayHon ALFRED NGARO (Minister for Pacific Peoples): I like Richard Prosser because he is a principled man—he is a principled man. He is a man who stands for his principles and with his party members he stands for the things they believe in. They are principled because the things that they disagree with they will vote against whether it be around changing the flag whether it be around Whānau Ora or whether it be around issues around Treaty claims and so forth. But in this case Mr Prosser and New Zealand First members drank the cup of tea that they talked about. They drank the cup of tea because it was strong enough and it was enough to give some relief to New Zealanders and they were there. So I thank Mr Prosser. I thank New Zealand First. I thank the Greens and all the other parties that voted for it. They may not have agreed with all of the Budget but they certainly felt that there was enough in there to give some relief. It was a cup of tea that would give some relief to the families and to those communities out there to give them a difference. So Mr Prosser thank you and I appreciate the support that you have given to this Budget. Mr Assistant Speaker fa'afetai mo le avanoa. It is Samoan Language Week. I just want to acknowledge that up and down the country many aoga amata—Samoan language nests—are celebrating Samoan Language Week so as the Minister for Pacific Peoples I want to acknowledge the importance of Samoan Language Week. It was post-Budget when I was up in Auckland speaking at a Pacific business and providers post-Budget breakfast. One of the things I talked about when relating to the Budget was that it is similar to when we think about a normal household where people in the household will go out they will work hard to make sure that there are enough resources that are inside the house to be able to pay for the things that matter most to those in the household—to the family members for those who are present there—like the things that are important around education so that the children who are there and the young people have access to good education and the opportunities and the pathways that it provides. There are issues around health for instance—I talked about how in the Budget it is important for us to think about those things that are important around health—and around employment. So the analogy that I gave was that the importance of the Budget was in a sense no different to a household where people have worked hard to make sure that they have sufficient in there to meet the needs that are there for them and their family as well.So I am proud that this Budget is entitled Delivering for New Zealanders". Previous Budgets have been called "Working for New Zealanders". So it is showing that as a Government not only have we worked hard for New Zealanders as in other New Zealand households but now we are delivering for the things that matter most to New Zealanders up and down the country—things for instance around public services and the investment through this Budget that we are making in public services. The way that I explained that was that under this Government we have made sure that when we think about public services we are actually saying first and foremost that if we are going to ask for change and help other families and other communities to change we need to ask that of ourselves first as a Government and as the departments that are there as well. Under public services and Better Public Services targets is where the Government is saying: "Let's make sure that we've got our house in order. Let's make sure that we're doing the right things." When we serve our community to deliver on the things that matter most that is important.The other part of the Budget is around record investment and infrastructure. For those of us who live in Auckland we know what the challenge is in our roading—the infrastructure that we have there. For the first time this is a Government that has committed a serious amount of investment—over $11 billion over 4 or 5 years—to invest in infrastructure up and down the country. That investment is not only in that but there is also previous investment around the Housing Infrastructure Fund as well. So this is a Government that is delivering—and through this Budget—on record investment in infrastructure. This is a Government that wants to improve the resilience of our country and future shocks. Mr Prosser was talking about Christchurch but it is not just Christchurch. Let us think about Kaikōura as well. We all know the cost there is to ensure—when these incidents happen these tragedies that happen at times in our country then we need to know that we have got enough to ensure—that we can cater for those needs as well and also too just recently with Edgecumbe. The last thing around the four elements of this strong economy and this Budget is that it is strengthening families by lifting their incomes. This is significant because it also continues on the theme as I said with previous Budgets where it is working for families. I want to acknowledge the Hon Nanaia Mahuta. She talked about when we talk about the Budget here what it does actually mean for those who are actually at home in our communities now thinking: "So how does that make a difference?". We can now say this: over 154000 low-income families will benefit by an average of $35 a week. That is $1800 a year under the Family Incomes Package and that is really significant. Let us think about that and I wanted to give a few details and think about how we can maybe drill that down to some of the families whom we are working with. So I decided to get some examples and there is a tax calculator that people can work on. So let us take an example for instance that there is a family of five. They could be in west Auckland—in Henderson. There is a mum and dad and both are first-generation Kiwis wanting to show their three kids the importance of hard work. They are both working. Dad is a labourer and mum works part-time. Together they bring in a modest wage of $52000 and pay $420 a week rent for a three-bedroom house. The changes in the Budget are designed to help families just like them. The changes to tax thresholds and the family tax credit will mean that this family will get an additional $67.70 in their pockets every week to spend on the things they care about. But that is not all. Not only that but our changes to the accommodation supplement mean this family will be better off by almost $135 a week. So that is the Budget that we can see that happens in the homes and the communities. And I want to acknowledge the Hon Nanaia Mahuta because she said: "How does that make a difference?". So I wanted to take some time to work through that. Let us take another example for instance. People may be asking in our communities: "What about other examples?". So let us take a single mum. She is 27 and has two young boys aged 5 and 3. She is no longer with her husband—she is on her own; she is a single mum—but is doing everything she can to be a good role model for her kids. She works 25 hours a week as an office administrator and earns around about $19 an hour. She is hoping to do some accountancy studying once her youngest is in school. The changes to tax thresholds and family tax credit will mean that she gets an extra $46.83 every week to help out. She has been receiving $165 to help her with her accommodation supplement. With the changes in the accommodation supplement the recategorisation of the different areas is significant which means that she will be better off to the tune of $134.83 every week under this Budget. I wanted to get down to that detail; I know it is in the weeds but I think it is important. I think it is important so that people out in our community—everyday people—actually understand that this is what it is that is making a difference.You can take it from us but let us have a sense of what the response is of the people in the community—those who are working every day out there with those who are vulnerable and those who are in need as well. Here are some of the comments. They are from the chief executive officer of Community Housing Aotearoa Scott Figenshow and this is what he says: "We congratulate Government on the proposed changes to the Accommodation Supplement. Government's message has been that investment in housing is an investment in good social outcomes. … This is a big investment and is long overdue. It shows real commitment to delivering for many low income Kiwis … We are pleased to see Government build on the success of the Housing First model by budgeting $16.5 million into these programmes for the next four years and extending this over New Zealand. The $27 million investment into Māori housing over the next three to four years is also positive." These are the words from those who are experiencing that this Budget is a good Budget. This is a Budget that is meeting the needs of our community and is making a difference. I am going to read one more because I think it is important. This is from the Invercargill & Districts Budget Advisory Service and this is what it is saying: "An extra few bucks a week may be the difference to meet day-to-day living expenses and saving a little bit for things that don't crop up every week like car registration and school fees." These are people who are working in housing and they are people who are working in budgeting because they know that this is a Budget that makes a difference. We went from working for New Zealanders and now we are delivering for New Zealanders. We know that in this Budget it is actually dealing with some of the things that are important. I want to quickly make mention—because there was some concern around whether we are addressing the issues around housing. The Hon Amy Adams talked really clearly about how we have got a plan. The extra investment means that in Auckland alone over the next 10 years it is 34000 houses—social houses—that are being invested in there. The concern is also around homelessness. So people may have heard—the fact is that there is the extra investment of $16.5 million into the Housing First initiative which has a proven track record. It is a programme that initiated in Canada was piloted in the Waikato under The People's Project with the Wise Group and that made a difference because there were over 274 chronic homeless who over the 2-year period had a rate of retention to residency of 95.7 percent. That is significant because they know that when they can stabilise those conditions they can have a wraparound service that does meet their needs. We on this side of the House—and I also want to acknowledge all of those others who voted for the Budget—recognise that for some it may not be the full-strength cup of tea but it is enough to make a difference. We are proud of this Budget. It is delivering for all New Zealanders.The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch): The next call is a split call. Michael Wood—5 minutes."