McAnulty KieranHon KIERAN McANULTY (Minister for Emergency Management): Thank you very much Mr Speaker. I do enjoy a Budget debate because I think it tells the general public quite a bit about what parties stand for. I particularly enjoy a Budget debate in election year and today's contributions from the Opposition have been quite telling. None of them have talked about what they would do. None of them have talked about their priorities. They've just whinged—they've just whinged and complained.This Budget is an incredibly balanced Budget that delivers relief from the cost of living and that the Reserve Bank themselves have said has assisted them in their job to bring down inflation. It outlines quite clearly that unemployment remains at record lows that wage growth is expected to go beyond inflation over the forecast period that inflation is forecast to come down to the target range next year. It shows that the GDP growth in this country is still admirable and comparable to those from overseas.If the shoe was on the other foot that crowd would be crowing absolutely crowing but it's not and they know it and they hate it. That's why they whinge. We didn't hear anything about their policy to bring back prescription charges. We didn't hear anything about their policy not to confirm the Police budget until after the election. We didn't hear anything about ACT's policy to increase taxes to our lowest paid and most vulnerable workers. We heard nothing about the ACT Party's policy of getting rid of Working for Families and getting rid of the winter energy payment—all the things that are supported in this Budget all the things that help people through the cost of living crisis. All we hear about is their complaints about what we're doing to help people.We do not hear a thing from the National Party about their proposed tax cuts which will help the highest earners and do almost nothing for the average worker. Two bucks a week—two bucks a week which will be swallowed up as soon as they bring up prescription charges. Nothing to talk about their cuts in real terms to health and education which will have to happen if they cut taxes. They like to lecture the Government and New Zealanders about inflation and about the cost of living but won't front up to the fact that if we cut taxes now like they propose it would make inflation worse.This Budget is about as balanced as you get. When you've got the Reserve Bank saying that it is assisting them to bring down inflation you know that Grant Robertson got it right.Andrew Bayly: That was a change of heart wasn't it? Hon KIERAN McANULTY: And you know when Andrew Bayly doesn't need a microphone and starts piping up that we've hit a nerve.Andrew Bayly: Only three weeks ago they were saying the opposite.Hon KIERAN McANULTY: Only to prove my point he carries on. But what I challenge Mr Bayly to do is if he gets a speech in this debate tell New Zealand what they would do. Tell New Zealand how cutting taxes now and making inflation worse and cutting in real terms to education and to health and putting prescription charges back on—how is that going to help New Zealand when they've already got a $1.5 billion hole in their costings? They can't even afford to do the tax cuts that they've said. They've identified $400 million that's put aside for consultants; they've already spent about four times that to pay for God knows how many promises they've made. They are sleepwalking into another Budget deficit coming into the election just like last time. That was what made Paul Goldsmith's reputation never recover because the first rule in politics is: learn how to count. They didn't learn that last election and they're going to make the same mistake again.We've seen it time and time again. We saw it this week with the issue of bilingual signs where they think they can say one thing to one group and pretend it didn't matter. They always get caught out and they're going to get caught out again because their numbers don't add up. They cannot go round the country promising to spend more promising to tax less and promising to pay off debt. It doesn't add up.And the ACT Party can't go around saying that their alternative is better for everyday New Zealanders when they're going to increase the tax rate for the lowest earners. They're going to cut tax rates for the highest earners and they're going to raise tax rates for the lowest earners. That is backwards. It doesn't make sense and it actually doesn't add up.The fact is that this Budget builds on the success of the last five years of this Government where we have seen wages increase where we have seen conditions improve and we've actually seen record investment in infrastructure and public services—the things that actually matter to New Zealanders.