Leary IngridINGRID LEARY (Labour—Taieri): I am so delighted to stand up and speak in this debate on the appropriation bill particularly as the member for Taieri where we have got fantastic examples of wellbeing and the wellbeing approach both in terms of the Hillside Workshops but also some other work that is going on in Balclutha. First though I just want to bring us back to what this Budget is about which is recovery and safety. I was given a stark reminder of this during an all-night Zoom session last night with the women parliamentary leaders from around the globe. I was very privileged to attend that conference as the women's parliamentary ambassador for New Zealand. I was aware as many of us are in a kind of fuzzy way because we are quite immune from COVID here that COVID is having a really negative effect on women and girls in countries where the virus has raged out of control. Last night brought that into a very clear focus for me with the number of 47 million women and girls who will be catapulted back into poverty as a direct result of this virus. There was speaker after speaker from country after country who spoke very emotionally about the impact that COVID has had on women and girls in their countries supported by very sound research and evidence. The speakers included people like the Rt Hon Helen Clark Chlöe Swarbrick from this House former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and President Macron from France. In the introduction to that conference it was mentioned that the countries that had women leaders were outperforming those in the race against the virus from those who didn't. It mentioned that there were a handful of countries but only one leader was actually mentioned by name and that was our Prime Minister the Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern. That really brought that home to me—how lucky we are in New Zealand to have a response to COVID that put safety first and a Budget that puts safety and recovery at the heart.The women and girls in those countries will not only be catapulted back into poverty; it affects every level of advancement that we have made as women over the last 20 to 40 years around education around the workplace around health. We know that marginalised groups are impacted most when there are crises and that is the same for COVID. We may not have felt it to such stark extent here but it is happening globally and I am so pleased that we have a Budget that ensures that our safety comes first.On to wellbeing. I don't know who was more excited about the $85 million announcement for the Hillside expansion myself as the MP for Taieri Grant Robertson as the Minister of Finance and a former South Dunedin boy or perhaps the former trade union leader Jim Kelly. Jim if you're watching I would like to tautoko you for the work you did. We were all enormously excited. To say that doing wagon assembly at Hillside amounts to doing Meccano lessons is quite frankly disrespectful. It is a serious business assembling trains and it will breathe new life into our region. It also shows that we are very serious about our climate response and that we are looking at much more responsible more efficient ways of carrying around freight. Now Jim Kelly whom I mentioned former Rail and Maritime Transport Union (RMTU) man was not able to make it down for the exciting announcement about Hillside unfortunately so we invited his daughter Lisa Kelly to speak and she represented him beautifully. It was quite a daunting thing to do. There were people from KiwiRail there was the Prime Minister and the finance Minister there was my predecessor Clare Curran who had done so much to fight for the revival of Hillside and there were rail workers who had been in the job for many many years and Lisa spoke so well that she was asked to go on breakfast TV the next morning with John Campbell. After the event the finance Minister had a little bit of time before his next appointment and he actually went up to Jim Kelly's house to have a cup of tea and to talk about the old days in South Dunedin. Jim Kelly was sitting there with a Hillside mug that I had found him at an op shop down the road and when I posted photos online I got emails not only from constituents but from around the world saying how proud they were of New Zealand and comments like Only in New Zealand". So that's why it's been so exciting for us. I just want to mention briefly my predecessor Clare Curran. She did play an incredible role and was mentioned on that day in terms of reversing the National Government decision to close down Hillside in 2012. That was a devastating move for our region. It cost 90 jobs and through her tenacity and the work of Jim and also the Rail and Maritime Transport Union and other advocates she was able to secure $19.97 million from the Provincial Growth Fund and that was to make Hillside into a mechanical hub and a heavy engineering facility. The opportunities for that are fantastic in terms of not only assembling wagons but also looking at engineering excellence across sectors. We have Telford farming school not too far down the road looking at farming innovation. We have a marine sector and we're very close to coastal beaches. The world is our oyster if we can get engineering excellence happening and Hillside is the place to do it. It will also create 445 jobs both for Dunedin and Christchurch 300 of them around construction and around 150 of those directly related to rail services. It is going to boost our Otago economy and it is going to make railway more self-reliant. And for anybody that says "Oh this is just looking after the boys. And what about the girls?" the RMTU have some research that they put out in 2019 noting that there's been a 14 percent increase in women's involvement in the rail sector. But not only are we delivering on our manifesto commitment to invest in rail and create jobs we are also creating trades opportunities and trades training and nowhere is that better seen than in Balclutha which is also in my electorate. I was lucky enough to go there last night for an event around job opportunities. What does one get when one puts a job and an opportunity together? One gets "Jobbortunities"—and I did have to say that because I made a promise to those present—and 100000 New Zealanders have gone into free trades training. What Jobbortunities does is it marries employers with those looking for jobs. So it's a little bit like speed dating and is run by the indefatigable Ruth Carraway who is an absolute taonga in our electorate. Not only is it about matching these skills with the opportunities; there is wraparound support which is really important. So for example in Milton the trades apprentices meet once per week to do their paperwork together. They convene together. They support each other to get their important part of the mahi done. That programme which has secured funding from the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) under this Budget for another year has created 104 jobs. That's double the original target. I'd really like to acknowledge the forces behind not only Ruth but also the mayor Bryan Cadogan the Clutha District Council MSD employers and job seekers. So those are just two examples of how the Wellbeing Budget that is based on recovery and that is based on safety are affecting my electorate and I can tell that people in my electorate are very very excited. There is one other element that I seem to have time to touch on—and I will—and that is the announcement which will mean so much to so many people in Taieri around lifting the weekly benefit rates. So that will be between $32 per adult and $55 per adult in line with a key Welfare Expert Advisory Group recommendation. This can't come a moment too soon. As members are aware the first changes of $20 per week will kick in very soon from 1 July and then will be implemented over time through to April next year. It is not only the right thing to do; it is the right thing to do by our economy. An economy that can close the gap of inequality is going to be better for everyone. Nobody knows that more than the people who live in Taieri who work hard or who live there because they want to make the most of the flat lands because they are unable to work because of disabilities. They love this Budget. I am so proud as their member to be able to stand here and tautoko not only our finance Minister and the whole team but also the people like my predecessor Clare Curran and the Jim Kellys of the world who fought the good fight and have lived to see this day and this Budget. I commend the bill to the House."