Faafoi KrisHon KRIS FAAFOI (Minister of Broadcasting Communications and Digital Media): It is a pleasure to speak in this Budget debate. It's always tempting to rebut nearly all of what Dr Nick Smith has to say but let me start with the point that he made finally about the person on the cover of the Budget. That person was a Green Party supporter actually who left just months after the election because of the struggles that she had for the five years that she lived in Auckland. She left New Zealand because of the time that she struggled to pay her bills under the previous Government.Hon Members: That's right!Hon KRIS FAAFOI: That's right. And I bet that if some of the initiatives that we have introduced in this Budget this year had been around in her time she could have stayed but no the previous Government was in power then and there was no hope for that young lady and her family. Just months after the general election she'd had enough because of the five years of struggle of trying to live with rising house prices and rising rents under the previous Government. So let's just look at the reasons why she was actually a perfect example of what was going wrong with the previous Government and of the initiatives that we are taking within this Wellbeing Budget to make sure that that kind of stuff doesn't happen again—to make sure that young mums with children have hope in New Zealand and can say to their children Yes we can pay the rent." "We can make sure we can pay the bills." and "This is a great place to live." And that's what this Wellbeing Budget is about.This time last week I was in the Tararua and the Central Hawke's Bay with my colleagues Deborah Russell and Kieran McAnulty—not necessarily heartland Labour territory but at the meetings that we went to on that day which were post-Budget meetings let me tell you how many people cared about the way in which the Opposition was carrying on in the days before the Budget was delivered: zero nil zilch nada none not one sausage because they actually care about the things that matter to them and their families—like whether their families are healthy whether they can pay the rent or afford a house whether or not their families and their children have a classroom to learn in. They are the things that I am extremely proud to stand here and say that while we are dealing with business-as-usual infrastructure issues we have also tackled some large issues which went unanswered by the previous Government for many years which we have taken seriously in this Budget. It has had almost universal positive outcomes in the community.I want to go back to our trip to Central Hawke's Bay and Tararua and I want to talk about the announcement of $1.9 billion of funding for mental health. When we were there in rural areas they were very thankful to the Government for finally taking seriously an issue that isn't just an urban issue that isn't just a city issue but that has been a rural issue for many many years. As we know there have been large mental health issues in rural areas and under the previous Government I think people who were supportive of that Government were crying out for some action—the likes of Rural Support Trust who we met this time last week who was saying "We need mental health services delivered in a way that will effectively make a difference to our communities." And I think that they see in the $1.9 billion investment in mental health some real hope for their communities.They did have some questions which I think are fair and valid questions about making sure that that funding is meaningful to them and their rural communities—that they can access it and that it is accessible given the distances that some of these farmers and people in rural communities have to go to access primary healthcare in their communities. I think they are valid issues but what I think we saw last Thursday was some real hope that finally a Government was taking mental health seriously. I am extremely proud to stand in this House to say that I think that is going to be a policy and an investment in health that will make a generational change here in New Zealand because I think whether you're in central Auckland or whether you're in Waipukurau or whether you're in Pāuatahanui in my electorate access to those basic mental health services will be there and I'm extremely proud of that investment.The Chamber of Commerce in Dannevirke also asked us about training opportunities for young people. They are struggling to make sure that their small businesses can get the likes of apprentices. We were more than happy to tell them about the investment in Mana in Mahi making sure we can get young people into apprenticeships and helping those small businesses who are struggling to pay the bills to afford an apprentice to get help from further investment from taking the Mana in Mahi approach from just 150 places to 2000 paces with an eye on making sure those numbers go up to 4000 at some stage. I know that I've got builders in my electorate in Porirua who have been crying out for something like this for some time because they've struggled to get staff. They have struggled to pay for apprentices. They liked the look of Mana in Mahi when it was announced in Porirua last year but 150 places they thought wasn't enough. Well I've got good news for them because in this Budget we're going to extend those 150 places out to 2000 places nationwide. I think that will give hope not just to those businesses who want to take on young people and train them but also to those young people who are looking for an opportunity to get skills in a trade.Now before they get there they have to learn in a classroom and it's fair to say that the previous Government didn't see this demand coming and underinvested in capital to make sure that there were enough classrooms in our schools. So I'm extremely thankful for the $1.2 billion investment over 10 years by the Minister of Education Chris Hipkins to make sure quite simply that there are enough classrooms for our children to learn in.You would think that would be something that a responsible Government would do but when we came to power after nine years of the previous Government there was serious under-investment not only in training teachers but in ensuring we had enough teachers and classrooms to make sure that when more children come into our classrooms we have got the infrastructure to deal with it. So I'm proud to say that not only are we going to train more teachers we'll have classrooms for them to teach in which is going to be extremely good for them. In my ministerial portfolio areas in commerce I'm glad to say there's more funding for the Commerce Commission to do more enforcement and advocacy work and around the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act as we take action against the likes of loan sharks and make sure that we protect vulnerable consumers. In the area of civil defence is an investment to establish a new national emergency management agency to make sure that central government and central civil defence functions are beefed up to assist our civil defence groups around the country. I also want to point towards something that Megan Woods my colleague from Wigram pointed out too—the way that we are helping parents of schoolchildren. She talked about school donations but also I think before the election the Minister of Education Chris Hipkins was talking about some relief that we will give to students around fees for NCEA exams which I'm sure those people across the hall will scoff at. But sometimes it's the little things that mean a lot to a family that is struggling to make ends meet. That is certainly the case when it comes to my electorate around NCEA fees. Soon after that announcement came out I got a letter from our local Society of St Vincent de Paul—St Vinnie's; I'm sure most of us have got those in our communities. Greg O'Connor: Good Catholic organisation.Hon KRIS FAAFOI: Good Catholic organisation thank you Mr O'Connor. It was addressed to me and if I can to finish off my speech—as many people will be hoping—I would just like to read from it. "Dear Mr Faafoi—as the branch of the Society of St Vincent de Paul based at St Theresa's Church in Plimmerton we are writing to say that we applaud your Government's decision to scrap exam fees for students at secondary schools in the upcoming round of NCEA exams." They go on to say: "We deal all the time with families who are struggling in the Porirua basin and know that this will be one area which will make a big difference to both pupils and parents. Could you please convey our thoughts to your colleagues. Yours sincerely Margaret Baker." It's those kinds of stories—the small ones and also the big ones when we invest $1.9 billion in mental health—which makes me extremely proud to say that I'm here to stand and support this Wellbeing Budget. It will make sure that people who have struggled mentally will have the help available to them. It sounds like a simple thing but we are doing it."