Ross Jami-Lee: Appropriation (2014/15 Supplementary Estimates) Bill Imprest Supply (First for 2015/16) Bill — Second ReadingsText is subject to correctionRoss Jami-Lee: Appropriation (2014/15 Supplementary Estimates) Bill Imprest Supply (First for 2015/16) Bill — Second Readings[Sitting date: 17 June 2015. Volume:706;Page:4516. Text is subject to correction.]JAMI-LEE ROSS (National—Botany):It is always a bit interesting when I get to follow on from Fletcher Tabuteau. I got to do that yesterday in the House actually. We like to call him the professor after his great revelation during the Budget debate that he was an economics professor but the problem is that if he calls himself an economics professor we on this side would like to think that he could actually support policies that would help to grow the economy grow more jobs or be beneficial for New Zealand. Last night New Zealand First was the anti-jobs party along with the Greens when those members were opposing greater growth and greater job creation through the Korean free-trade agreement. Today we hear that they are opposed to much of what the Government is doing in the finance situation as well.Unashamedly I say to Mr Tabuteau that we do say that this is a plan that is working because it is seeing New Zealanders benefit from our plan. It is a plan that is working because 150000 people are expected to get a job from the policy programme we are putting in place. We know the plan is working because in the last 4 years 194000 people gained a job under the economic settings this Government has put in place. For Mr Tabuteau’s benefit I can say again that the plan is working because we are one of the fastest-growing economies in the OECD. Average growth is projected to go up to 2.8 percent over the period of the Government’s Budget and that is a growth rate that many countries envy. So I say to Fletcher Tabuteau that our plan is working.I want to also respond to Grant Robertson. He was a bit unhappy at the Finance and Expenditure Committee meeting this morning. He asked his questions and then he had to depart. I asked the Minister of Finance for the benefit of Mr Robertson who did do a lot to try to talk down the New Zealand economy how we are tracking compared with other countries in the OECD the countries we compare ourselves with on a regular basis—for example the UK the eurozone the US Australia and Japan. I asked how we are tracking. Compared with every single country we are doing better when it comes to debt and our surplus target that we are aiming towards is better than those countries as well.We must remember that 4 years ago the Government had to post because of the difficult economic circumstances an $18 billion deficit. There has been a huge change round that we have seen in the past 4 years. Now we are just about to reach a surplus. I know that the guys and girls on the other side like to complain about the Government not being able to quite reach the surplus we were projecting last year and yes it is their job to hold us to account but they should just remember that 4 years ago there was an $18 billion deficit. Now we are just about to hit surplus. I think that when New Zealanders wake up in the morning they do not ask themselves: “Oh is the Government is going to reach surplus this year?”. They do not ask themselves whether the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement has progressed much further. They do not ask themselves whether or not the Government Communications Security Bureau is doing certain work.The Attorney-General made an interesting point. When Fletcher Tabuteau referred to the counter-terrorism bill earlier in this Parliament Mr Finlayson said that New Zealand First and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) are probably the only parties in the world that opposed that bill.Hon Christopher Finlayson: And the Greens.JAMI-LEE ROSS: Oh the Greens as well. But it is a plan that is working. It is a plan that is being implemented.When I was reading through the Appropriation (2014/15 Supplementary Estimates) Bill I found a few points that I would just like to touch on. There is provision in the bill for work around the deposit subsidy scheme through the KiwiSaver HomeStart scheme which this Government is implementing. I want to highlight this for the House because I think it is a fantastic scheme that is leading to more young New Zealanders more first-home buyers getting the opportunity to purchase their first home. Housing is an issue that many New Zealanders do care a lot about and this Government is putting in place plans and taking steps to tackle housing affordability. We know that under Labour house prices doubled when it was in office. So Labour members cannot get up on their hind legs in the House and claim to be holier than thou and claim they did everything to solve housing issues because they did not. This Government is working hard to ensure that we build more houses particularly for those in Auckland who need more houses and we are assisting them into their first home through the KiwiSaver HomeStart scheme.I was pleased to see in this bill that there is additional funding for that scheme. Over the next 5 years it is expected that 90000 New Zealanders will benefit from that scheme. We have doubled the amount of the subsidy for those purchasing their first home and purchasing a brand new home. For those who are interested in taking up the scheme there is up to a $20000 grant available. That is a huge amount for young New Zealanders and if we couple that with their own KiwiSaver deposits which they have had in stock for some time—5 years would enable them to maximise the deposit subsidy that they get from the Government—that is a huge amount of support we are putting in there.If you put that alongside the extra homes that are being created through the special housing areas and put that alongside the work that Dr Nick Smith is doing to try to build housing on Crown land that is available to be built on I think this side is happy to stand up be proud and support that policy. If Labour Party members were actually serious about the 100000 homes they wanted to build when they went to the election last year they should actually be telling us where they were expecting to build those homes. They are quite quick to say: “We would have built 100000 homes. We had the solution for housing. We knew what we were going to do around housing.” despite the fact that prices doubled under their watch. If they really thought they could build all those homes where were they going to do it? Where were they going to do it? They would be going through exactly the same process that we are going through identifying tracts of land that are available and tracts of land that New Zealanders can build on. So they should not stand up in the House at question time and they should not stand up in the House during these types of debates and give Nick Smith a difficult time as they have been doing because he is actually fronting up with policy. He is actually fronting up to get more housing built in Auckland. I am happy to support the work he is doing in that area.I also want to touch on the fact that the Opposition parties are quick to try to criticise the Government when it comes to children and when it comes to families. If those members were serious about trying to help families then they should have come over to this side of the House and supported the Budget and the plans we are putting in place around those who need assistance. The $790 million child hardship package is something that 160000 families around the country will benefit from and they saw that this Government is willing to front up and support families. There is $790 million that will be supporting those children living in hardship. It is something that this Parliament probably should have done a long time ago. The economic circumstances have now improved so we can invest in that area in a much greater way than we have been able to in the past. But $25 a week in the pockets of those who are living in the most difficult circumstances will actually go a long way. When it comes to those living in difficult housing situations the answer to helping them to ensure they can heat their homes is through the schemes we have in place to insulate homes but it is also about trying to get more money into their pockets so they can afford the heating.Let us not talk about schemes that will probably put people out on the street. A warrant of fitness scheme which the Labour Party and the Green Party are proposing that would see houses actually being taken off the market and see New Zealanders ending up on the street is not the way to help those who want to have a warmer home. The way to help those people is to have an insulation scheme in place. It is also to have in place a scheme that sees those families able to afford the heating costs for those families and afford the cost of putting food on the table. The best way to do that is to help them through the benefit scheme or more important to help them get a job. This is a plan that is working. More people are getting jobs under this plan. Higher wages are seen under this plan. Less unemployment is seen under this plan. We are proud of this plan and all that it is achieving for New Zealanders.