Kaye NikkiHon NIKKI KAYE (Minister of Education): Look I am delighted to speak in this appropriations debate. It is very humbling and good to be part of a united National Government—hopefully going to win a fourth term. This is an excellent Budget and I want to acknowledge both the former finance Minister the Rt Hon Bill English our Prime Minister and the current finance Minister the Hon Steven Joyce. I think the combination of not only investing more in public services investing significantly in infrastructure—but also in this income package for so many New Zealanders who need this money and who need this funding.What I am proud of is that we are a Government that is voting for this because we support it and we are backed up by parties like the New Zealand First Party and the Green Party. But what I have been quite shocked about is that the Labour Party members are not supporting it. I am concerned that they are turning their back on some of the most vulnerable New Zealanders and I am really proud to be in a Government through which some families may even get a couple of hundred bucks more a week. That is a lot of money and it is very important that we deliver that in this Budget.I want to talk about education. Some people out there say things like: There is a funding freeze." What I can confirm more than ever in this Budget is that we are putting in $1.5 billion more over 4 years for Vote Education. What has actually occurred over 8½ years is a 41 percent increase to $11.6 billion. It is not just about growth. It is absolutely not just about growth and I want to give you a couple of examples. In this Budget we are investing more in those young people who have behavioural issues: $34 million more to enable those young people who have those behavioural issues for which some may have correlating mental health issues to get the specialist support that they need. That is not just about growth funding; that is more targeted funding for some of our most vulnerable children.We are also investing more in the early childhood area. Again we are investing more in terms of growth—and I think there is about $350 million in growth. But we are investing more in that important area of oral language and communication because we know of the importance of both speaking and listening in those early years; they are the foundations of literacy—and that is $6 million more funding.In this Budget we were handed a school property estate that was a shambles. It was appalling. We could not even tell what the condition assessments were for all of the schools in New Zealand. We have gone and done those condition assessments. We have spent more than any other Government—in fact $5 billion—fixing leaky buildings fixing cold buildings ensuring that we have more classrooms in areas of high growth.There has been a lot of discussion lately about growth in schools and I just want to make these points. The first point is that we have always had issues of capacity. That has been the case in both National and Labour Governments—in fact it has been anywhere between 10 and 20 percent—but we are very generous in our property allocation so we are able to manage that well. But what we have been doing as a Government is not only fixing those leaky buildings but in an area like Wānaka we have just announced $19 million to make sure that we get ahead and we can build ahead for a community that is growing due to tourists but also due to internal migration.In an area like Auckland it is eye-watering the investment and the student spaces that we are delivering. We announced in 2014 that we would spend $350 million on 17000 student spaces. I am very delighted to confirm that we are in this Budget taking that figure—it is now going to be well over $400 million from that commitment we made in 2014 and we are going to deliver 21000 student spaces. If you think about that in the context of the whole of Auckland property it is sort of 8 to 9 percent of growing the property estate. It is absolutely massive. I was very proud to announce the other day that not only the new schools but also when I was at a school called Stonefields School—to be able confirm that it is going to get a new expansion.In the funding of this Budget we are investing more in terms of special education but also we are investing in satellite units in parts of New Zealand. So there are huge amounts of money for school property and I think just again to put it in historical perspective we have spent $5 billion but in this Budget over a 4-year period we will spend another $4.85 billion. We are the Government that will have the strongest legacy in terms of upgrading and fixing our schools to modern learning environments.Other aspects of this Budget that are incredibly important are around school operational grants. Again if you look back at the historical perspective there will be those people who will say "Well what are you doing? Are you just investing in growth?". What I can confirm is that if you look back over the period since 2010—I think CPI has gone up 11 percent cumulatively—we have actually increased the operations grant by 16 percent and what is fantastic about this Budget is that not only are schools going to get the 1.3 percent increase universal across all schools but they are also going to get targeted funding for those students who may be more disadvantaged on top of the funding that we provided last year. So these are very significant investments.In the area of special education or learning support you have got more teacher-aides funded in this Budget. You have also got a programme like the Incredible Years programme being funded. For those children who are aged 2 to 5 we are interested in supporting both teachers and parents to be able to help those children with autism. So in all of the major areas there is more funding but also we are targeting it at those children who need it most. So I am very proud to be part of a Government that is investing significantly in education but also we are receiving the results for that significant investment. Whether it is Māori or Pasifika achievement we have seen phenomenal lifts in achievement. Whether it is participation generally in early childhood education—again thousands more children are starting ahead of the starting line because they have actually been in early childhood education. So we are not only investing more in our public services we are also getting those significant results in terms of lifting achievement and also ensuring that more children are in early childhood education.In terms of the rest of the Budget I often give speeches—and I have been since the Budget—talking about what it actually means to be a child under a National Government. The reality is that people on the other side talk about having a strong social conscience but when they had a whole lot of surpluses they did not go and invest it in fixing our schools. We are the Government that is doing that. They did not go and insulate a whole lot of houses. We are the Government that has actually insulated about 100000 houses. We are the Government that is investing more in terms of Māori and Pasifika achievement. We are the Government that is investing in rheumatic fever programmes. We are the Government that is giving more money to low-income families through our family tax package. And where are the Opposition members? They are voting against it. It is extraordinary.So when people look over the next 3 or 4 months I hope that they ask the question: which is the party that can deliver a strong economy in terms of areas like less regulation improving the Resource Management Act improving our employment law less bureaucracy for business—and can deliver a stronger economy. But also which is the party with the stronger social conscience?I would argue in this House today that if you look at the record—the actual record—despite the earthquakes despite the global financial recession we have invested significantly around children whether it is our education budget whether it is the Family Incomes Package whether it is more money for health whether it is TerraNova and helping those people get more in terms of their pay packet per week we are the Government with a very strong social conscience. And this Budget more than ever before demonstrates that in terms of the huge investments in health and in education. If you look at what Minister Adams has announced in terms of the significant number of more housing in Auckland we are the Government that has put $4 million in a programme like Housing First to do more in terms of homelessness. We are the Government that is combating rheumatic fever. We have a huge record.Sitting suspended from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m."