Brown SimeonSIMEON BROWN (National—Pakuranga): Thank you Madam Speaker for the chance to be able to take a speech on this backwards Budget which is leading New Zealanders backwards. And I just want to make a quick comment on what I just heard from the member opposite—Shanan Halbert—where he said proudly that 60 percent of the people in his electorate are now dependent on the State. That's 60 percent of the people who are now dependent upon the State. I find that obnoxious. I've been here listening to members of Parliament from the Labour Party get up one after the other and proudly boast about how many people in their electorates are now dependent on the State. Well I am proud to be a member of the National Party which actually believes that people should keep more of what they earn rather than having their money taken off them by a Government addicted to spending and then shuffled through the bureaucracy and then having money dished back to make them feel happy. That is called socialism—that is called socialism. We are living under a socialist experiment by this Government which is simply wanting to make more and more New Zealanders dependent upon the Sate.And that's what this cost of living payment is all about. It's not about actually trying to help New Zealanders stand up on their own two feet to be able to make their own decisions to be able to work hard and to get ahead. It's not about trying to ensure that there is a fair tax system which provides tax relief which means that people aren't being pushed into higher tax brackets based on their income shoving them up into higher tax brackets. Actually that's what the National Party says: give them back a little bit of what they earn. But what the Labour Party says is No what we're going to do is tax them tax them tax them and then we'll give them a measly 350 bucks over three months." You know what that equates to? A block of cheese and a pack of Weet-Bix a week. That's what it amounts to.And there's no aspiration there's no ability to actually try and say to New Zealanders "If you work hard you'll get ahead." because if you work any harder oh no you won't get your 350 bucks because it's only for people up to $70000 people below the average wage in New Zealand. So the average wage earner in New Zealand doesn't even get this block a cheese and a pack of Weet-Bix. That is shameful. And so it's this dependency which this Government is pushing more and more New Zealanders dependent on the State. I ask members on the other side so what are they going to do when the three months is up? Because this cost of living ain't going anywhere. The Budget documents make it clear: we've got inflation baked in for years to come through to 2025. Inflation over 3 percent until 2025. This cost of living crisis ain't going to be fixed by a block of cheese and a pack of Weet-Bix for three months. It's going to take a lot more than that to try to actually help New Zealanders. And so this backwards Budget just puts a plaster over a gaping wound and doesn't actually address the real issues.What we see in this Budget is we see a Government addicted to spending: a 68 percent increase in Government expenditure. And when you look at a 68 percent increase in Government expenditure you think—and if you're a typical Kiwi living in the wonderful electorate of Pakuranga you'd go "Well I wonder if I'm getting a 68 percent increase in Government services. Or is Government performing 68 percent better than it was five years ago?" And the overwhelming answer is no. We have crime rates up. Ram raids every other night. We have the shootings that we're seeing seven shootings just in one night last week. We're seeing worse outcomes through our education system truancy rates at record highs. I have people contacting my electorate office almost on a daily basis saying "I'm trying to see a specialist." and they can't get an appointment with a specialist. How's that an aspirational Budget? That's a backwards Budget. That's taking New Zealanders backwards and it's leaving them worse off.Now I come to transport which is my portfolio and you see the absolute wastage. Well you know what the most aspirational thing in this Budget for transport was? It was $200 million for a light rail working group—$200 million for a working group. That's all that the Minister of Transport could come up with when he's not wasting tens of millions of dollars on "Let's Get Wellington Consulting" tens of millions of dollars on a cycle bridge that he then cancels or hiring out empty offices on the front of Auckland or tens of thousands of dollars buying himself some big red zeros. He's just wasting money on light rail working groups. He said light rail would be built from the CBD to Mount Roskill by 2021. Well I'm not sure. These guys seem to be in a time warp because it's 2022. Hello? It's 2022. It ain't built—it ain't built. All you've done is issue press releases. But that's the outcome of this Government: they don't care about the outcomes; they just want the press release the announcement the news.And then we've got the delays. You've got the Cambridge-Piarere cancelled road—just cancelled. Mill Road—who on earth knows what's happening at Mill Road? The Minister of Transport's doing another review to see if they can come up with a different solution which is more about carbon reduction. Well I tell you what: when you've got thousands of cars stuck in traffic all they're doing is sitting there emitting carbon. If they had a road they might be able to move a bit faster and emit a little bit less. But that doesn't matter. Congestion's just beautiful under this Government. They love congestion and they have forced New Zealanders to have no choice when it comes to transport. Cancelling the Tauranga Northern Link—cancelled it twice. I mean you don't just cancel a road once under this Government; you cancel it twice. And then they re-announce it but only build half of it. The Melling Interchange: how much has Chris Bishop had to fight for the Melling Interchange to get done?Maureen Pugh: Years.SIMEON BROWN: Years and years and years. And it's on the books to hopefully start next year if we see. Penlink up in Mark Mitchell's place—I mean these guys promised it six years ago. What on earth has happened? Construction sometime in 2022? We don't know. They don't know.Hon Mark Mitchell: Shovel-ready.SIMEON BROWN: It's meant to be shovel-ready help New Zealand through this COVID-19 pandemic. Shovels aren't even in the road. I don't even know what Michael Wood's been doing other than standing next to red zeros which constantly remind New Zealanders how little he has done. Whether it's light rail Let's Get Wellington Moving or cycle bridges which get cancelled. that big red zero tells New Zealanders everything that New Zealanders need to know about the realities of the Minister of Transport and his ambition for New Zealand.And then you've got all the projects which we did start. This is about all he's got to do is he goes around cutting ribbons on projects that National started. I just thought it was amazing watching him at Transmission Gully talking about how amazing it was that that road was going to transform the lower North Island. And it is an amazing road constructed by the National Government which he cut the ribbon on. So he's happy to do that. Peka Peka to Ōtaki—well we're waiting for that one but he's looking forward to that. The Hamilton Bypass Pūhoi to Warkworth—the only things this Government can point to in terms of progress in transport in New Zealand is things the National Government started and the legacy of the National Government.But other than that you have a big red zero because there's nothing coming in behind it to actually keep the construction sector busy to make sure that there are jobs to make sure that New Zealand has progress that we can actually get things done that we have better regional connections that our freight can get to the ports so we can export the things that we sell to the world to make New Zealand a wealthy country which is what the National Party wants to see happen because we know it's not just about dishing out the cash—because that's what the Labour Party is very good at dishing out the cash—it's actually about growing the economy it's about productivity getting our goods to market selling it to the rest of the world making a living so that we can have better quality public services in New Zealand. But all they're good at is the spin. And you saw that at the New Zealand Transport Agency where they've gone from 32 spin doctors now they've got 88 spin doctors. They aren't building a darn thing but they've got 88 spin doctors to tell New Zealanders how little they're doing. It's absolutely shocking and it goes right through the Public Service where we're seeing tens of thousands of additional bureaucrats but worse outcomes and that is incredibly sad.Well the reality is: Michael Wood is the backwards Minister in the backwards Government with the backwards Budget. He wants to take New Zealand backwards to the 1970s where we all drove in trams. He wants to take us back to the 1970s where we all had our carless days and we had to go around and choose which day we weren't allowed to drive. Well for him it'll be every day if he had his chance. He wants to take New Zealand backwards to the 1970s where the unions had control in the workplace where they set the terms of agreement between their staff and the employers. This is a backwards Government led by a backwards Prime Minister and the Minister of Transport is one of the most backwards of them all because every single idea that he has is all about looking backwards.I think New Zealand is ready for a forward-looking Government which wants to make a difference which wants to grow our economy which wants to let New Zealanders keep more of what they earn so they can make their own choices and be aspirational for our country. And I tell you what: all of these people on the other side in the backbench are jibber-jabbering—they'll be gone and in 18 months there'll be a new National Government to take New Zealand forward."