Smith Murray: Budget Debate 
Smith Murray: Budget Debate 
[Volume:626;Page:21095] 
MURRAY SMITH (United Future) 
: 
 United Future is delighted to have once again achieved significant policy progress through this Budget. After the Budget we consulted with the Government and asked what it was happy for us to claim as being United Future’s successes out of this process. We came up with a list of $300 million worth of policy initiatives that came out of United Future’s Budget bids. In fact when we add the tax cuts the sum comes to $1 billion worth of policy proposals. 
Once again we have achieved considerable success in furthering New Zealand as we have done in every Budget that has been issued since we arrived in Parliament 3 years ago. Prior to our arrival the word “family” was hardly ever mentioned—it was certainly not mentioned in Budgets for some time before we arrived—but it is hard to see now how that could have possibly been so. United Future’s arrival here has really put family on the map. 
We have identified with the Government 29 different provisions in this Budget that are a direct result of Budget bids we made to the Minister of Finance. Those include a $70.9 million boost for residential care funding to enable a much-needed improvement in staff wages and conditions; the allowing of withdrawals from the Government’s new workplace retirement savings scheme for first-home purchasers and a $5000 grant to scheme participants; an increase in the student earnings threshold from $135 to $180 per week before the student allowance is affected; an increase in the parental income threshold for students with siblings who are also students from $2200 to $7000; $7 million for numeracy and literacy programmes in the workplace; $6 million to expand the Modern Apprenticeships scheme providing another 500 places; $47 million for family early intervention programmes; the extension of paid parental leave to self-employed women benefiting an estimated 2173 mothers; $6.2 million over 4 years for counselling to help parents reduce the impact of separation on their children; a rise in the legal aid thresholds enabling 1.2 million people to get legal aid—up from 765000; an additional $73.6 million to provide another 245 police; an $18.7 million increase in home-based support funding; $27.7 million to help more sickness and invalids beneficiaries move into work; $4.4 million over 4 years for services to help prisoners reintegrate into society; $3 million for elder abuse programmes; and an extra $100 million in the National Land Transport Fund over 2006-07. Those are just some of the things we have achieved through the Budget process. 
Of course we would have liked to write the Budget. Maybe one day we will write the Budget. There are things in the Budget that concern us and we did not get everything we would have liked to get. We are particularly concerned about some measures that did not go as far as we would have liked. Nevertheless we have a remarkable list of achievements. 
Some 29 different policies have been implemented in the Budget that will benefit families in this nation. Without United Future that would not have happened. Through our position here in the last 3 years we have achieved every one of our key policies from the last election campaign. That is a remarkable achievement. No other party—not even Labour probably—can say that it has achieved that measure of success. With only eight votes out of 120 we have certainly boxed above our weight and achieved a great deal in our time here. 
Obviously there are more things that we would like to see. We would like to see a lot more progress in terms of our finance policy and our tax policy. We would have liked to see the tax bands increased immediately and by far more significant amounts. We asked for a 13 percent increase. At least we have seen the establishment of the policy whereby the tax bands will be increased even though we will have to wait for the delivery. We may be able to speed that up in next year’s Budget. 
Bonding of tertiary graduates is another key scheme we want to see extended. Only 500 students have been getting those bonds and we would like to see the scheme extended far more broadly. Another key measure we would like to see is preparatory work on a voluntary savings scheme in order to provide incentives for parents to set aside money for their children’s tertiary education. So we need to do a lot more for families but we have done a lot for them already.