Kaye Nikki: Annual Review Debate — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeKaye Nikki: Annual Review Debate — In Committee[Sitting date: 28 April 2015. Volume:704;Page:2942. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon NIKKI KAYE (Minister for ACC):I am very pleased to speak in this debate. I want to do three things. The first is to give just a little bit of context because we cannot be talking in this debate if we do not actually understand what has been happening in the last couple of years from a fiscal perspective. We were left with never-ending deficits. We were left with a situation where we were looking at significant debt—I think the figure was 60 percent—and we have halved that. For anyone listening to this debate you need to stand here and understand that with both the Canterbury earthquakes and the projections that were given to us as a Government we have halved those projections.What we also need to do in this debate is talk about some of the decisions that the Government has made that have meant that the economy is heading in the right direction. We have just heard from the previous speaker Meka Whaitiri that it is all about milk and it is all about mineral exploration. We know that is what Labour members do. They go around the country saying that. What about the $326 million spent on National Science Challenges much of which was in train in the last financial year? That is about investing in the future of our nation. I have got a Bachelor of Science in genetics and I can say that that is going to do more for the future of this country and more for the future of businesses in New Zealand than anything. That is one of the key decisions that the Government has made that is about future growth and innovation.Secondly I want to talk about my portfolio—ACC. We were handed a $4.8 billion hole by the last Labour Government and we have to talk about some of the decisions that have been made in the last couple of years around that up until 30 June. We get lectures from that side of the Chamber about ACC levies when actually we have delivered—and these decisions were in train to 30 June—$1.5 billion of levy reductions after we had a $4.8 billion hole. Some of that is around the work account but it is also around the motor vehicle account. What that means is small businesses are better off under National. We had a horrific situation under the last Government but now there are significant levy reductions.The other thing that I want to comment on in terms of good fiscal management is ACC generally. If you look at the investments team of ACC what we know is that there have been some very very significant results. We know that for 19 consecutive years it has outperformed benchmarks. It has done that again over the last couple of years. We need to acknowledge that team of people.We also need to understand that this is a Government that has invested significantly in infrastructure over the last couple of years and that is really really important if we want to support those regions and support those small businesses. In fact the figure I have in front of me is that there has been over $16 billion of infrastructure investment. Some of that includes significant transport projects. I know that in Auckland alone obviously via the Minister of Transport—and some of the Budget figures will show this—we have seen projects that have been in train including projects like the Victoria Park Tunnel and the Waterview Connection. All of these projects are incredibly important for a city like Auckland and they are important for growth.This is a very busy Government that has done the almost impossible and has taken a country that was staring down the barrel of a decade of deficits and has halved what the projections were around debt. We are one of the fastest-growing economies in the developed world at 3.5 percent. So when we hear the doom and gloom from the other side of the Chamber we need to put it in perspective and we need to understand that this is a Government that has invested in science and innovation. This is a Government that has invested in infrastructure. This is a Government that is reducing levies. This is a Government that is focused on employment law reform. This is a Government that has actually raised the minimum wage while we have been doing all of those things.We are heading in the right direction. I hope that all of those people who are watching the House today can see that there are a number of initiatives that have happened in the last year that are absolutely focused on building a stronger nation and a stronger economy. Small businesses and the many workers of New Zealand will be far better off as a result.