Foster-Bell PaulPAUL FOSTER-BELL (National): E Te Tiamana kia ora tātou. In speaking in this appropriations debate I want to refer to the Government administration component in particular—the Government Administration Committee is of course the committee that I sit on as deputy chair. This Government is undertaking a significant range of improvements to the services that are offered to New Zealand citizens particularly in the digital transactions space. For the first time in our history the majority—more than 50 percent—of the 10 most commonly performed transactions between citizens and the Government are now delivered in a digital format. This is incredibly useful in terms of efficiency cost savings making it easier and the sheer convenience for the members of the public who want to renew a passport for instance or register the birth of their new child—these sorts of things.But also I think it offers interesting opportunities for some of our citizens who are more vulnerable and have traditionally been less engaged. So for instance those with disabilities now can access online a service where a form can be presented to them in an accessible manner and they can have the information read out to them. This is wonderful for engaging members of our deaf and hearing-impaired community for members of the blind population and for others who have traditionally had difficulty getting to a Government office to undertake a manual paper-based transaction. So I think this is a very positive measure. In fact Kiwis are rightfully demanding access to these services online and as a result of some of the convenience and the innovations that are being offered there has been an increase in the uptake and compliance with some of the requirements—the bureaucratic requirements—that we impose upon our citizens.To give an example passport services are now almost entirely available online. Rather than going down to the pharmacy to have a photo taken and printed out on a polaroid to post in one can actually now take one's passport photo on a smartphone and append it to an application. This has seen a real boost in the number of passport applications that are being delivered online. We are informed and the departmental—well certainly the select committee's report on the Department of Internal Affairs appropriations is worth looking at because it reflects on the fact that nearly 23000 passport applications were processed online in the month of September 2016. And of course people do not need to be reminded that their passport is now valid for 10 years—a very good cost saving and certainly a time saving that has been provided to New Zealand citizens thanks to the foresightedness of this Government this National-led Government and with other Government services I think there have been real improvements made.Another issue that the Department of Internal Affairs appropriations covers is the SmartStart programme. This is an integration of different digital services to effectively provide a one-stop shop for parents who are wanting to go through the paperwork side of having a new addition to the family—a new baby. This is where the Ministry of Social Development the Department of Internal Affairs the Ministry of Health the Inland Revenue Department and even external agencies like Plunket and New Zealand midwives cooperate and work together so that as a new parent you do not have to go through the rigmarole and difficulty of actually finding out who it is you need to talk to about all these different processes.This is everything from registering the name to make sure that your new baby is able to access the wonderful top-quality healthcare that is provided in our public health system thanks in large part to the sterling work of the Minister of Health the Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman but also the other things that you need to do—getting an IRD number so that your new addition to your family is set up for their first savings account and these sorts of things. This has all been made much much easier all put together in a one-stop shop and I think this is very much the way of the future. This is something that this Government is focusing on—making sure that our citizens the people of our great country have access to Government services in a very convenient way.There are some other important issues in this area of appropriations such as the reform of the New Zealand Fire Service into Fire and Emergency New Zealand and I think these have been very well covered in this debate.Reports noted.