Wood MichaelMICHAEL WOOD (Labour—Mt Roskill): I'm delighted to stand up to speak in this debate and I'm here to give that previous member Matt Doocey a Wood-end bypass" of his own. I want to refer back—please think charitably on that comment.DEPUTY SPEAKER: I don't know that that's very parliamentary!MICHAEL WOOD: I want to refer back to the comments of the right honourable Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern when she spoke after the Budget was read in this Chamber. One quote that really stuck out for me was her comment that this Budget isn't just about this year it's not just about this parliamentary term; it's actually about future generations. Those are the terms in which we are thinking about this Budget and in my comments this evening I want to focus on some of the long-term investments that this Government is putting forward that are going to pay off in terms of New Zealanders' health well-being and happiness in the years to come.Before I get to those I just do need to reflect a little bit on some of the comments that have been made in the debate this evening. The first one I want to reflect back on—and it came through a number of National Party speeches; it had obviously been produced from the research unit and different National Party MPs were trying to use it in a slightly different way—came out in the form of an accusation that this Government was some kind of three-headed monster or as Sarah Dowie put it a three-headed Hydra. Well what I just want to explain briefly for those members of the House who didn't study classical studies while they were at school is that the thing about Hydras is that they're immortal and every time you attack them they just come back stronger. That is going to be the case with this Government.In fact I want to thank members on the opposite side of the House for drawing attention to the fact that this coalition is proudly—is proudly—a coalition of three parties: three real parties with real leaders and real MPs. I've got to say it's good to have friends in this Chamber. The Labour Party wants to acknowledge New Zealand First and the Greens for being real parties in this coalition and for making a real contribution to this Budget.I want to talk specifically about a couple of those measures: first a couple of measures that the New Zealand First Party has particularly advocated for in this Budget. The first one is the Provincial Growth Fund. I've got to say that after nine years of the provinces feeling neglected they finally have a Government that is prepared to stump up and do what the previous Government would not and put in the investment to partner up to link arms with local councils local communities and local businesses in our provinces to make sure that there are sustainable work and good opportunities for the people of our provinces. It is a tragedy that young people every single year have to leave their home towns in rural and regional New Zealand. There should be opportunities for them there and this Government is going to work with those communities to make sure that that happens. I want to commend the Provincial Growth Fund to this House and I think that many of those members who are chipping away opposite aren't going to be so bold about opposing the measures that are funded by that Provincial Growth Fund in the years to come that create jobs and opportunities in the regions that they represent.There's one other smaller measure that came through in the Budget that hasn't been spoken about that much in the House. Well it's small in dollar cost but it's going to be big in terms of the impact. It again was an initiative that was driven by our partners in the New Zealand First Party—and I want to specifically acknowledge the Hon Tracey Martin—and that was the additional allowance that was provided for in the Budget for grandparents and carers who are looking after their grandchildren. Just a small acknowledgment of the amazing work that those people do by way of a clothing allowance—those people who go out of their way often picking up the shards of broken families to look after kids to nurture them and to give them a good home. They haven't had much support over the years and this Budget through the advocacy of the Hon Tracey Martin and the collective work of the Government is doing something about that.Turning to our friends in the Green Party there are a lot of major initiatives championed by the Green Party that I want to acknowledge in my comments tonight. The first one is the $100 million Green Investment Fund and what a great initiative. This Budget's actually about being positive. It's about saying "What are the opportunities out there for New Zealanders and the communities that they live in?" And that's the thing: often when we talk about environmental issues in this House it's always talked about like a cost but actually there are enormous opportunities for communities to grow and thrive if we put the funding in to support good initiatives at the local level. Good initiatives around renewable energy good initiatives around energy efficiency—these things will actually help New Zealand's economy and give New Zealanders good sustainable jobs in the years to come. I commend that initiative to the House.Of course also a major win—acknowledging the Hon Eugenie Sage here—is in terms of rebuilding the Department of Conservation after years of funding cuts. I have spoken to rangers people who have dedicated their lives to looking after the flora and fauna the forests and the birds of this country who walked away in the last nine years because they were abandoned by that Government in amongst the savage funding cuts and the commercialisation of that department. We are putting that right building the foundations of a Department of Conservation that can do the work that we all want it to through this Budget.This Budget is about the generational span of time. It is about long-term initiatives. Let me list a few others of those. One that I don't think has been spoken about much in this House but I'm incredibly proud of is the fact that this Government has through this Budget—and it will in future Budgets—once again put money into the New Zealand Superannuation Fund. This Government says that every single New Zealander not just the New Zealanders who are retired today but people of my generation and people of future generations deserve to have the security of knowing that New Zealand superannuation will always be there for them. That is a bedrock of a stable and a decent society—that people in the evening of their years know that they will not have to live in poverty that there will be a basic income to support them. So I'm really proud of that. It's a long-term policy. There's no pay-off for anyone in this Budget today but in 20 years' time 30 years' time that means that we will be able to afford New Zealand superannuation for the men and women of this country. I'm incredibly proud of that.Let's also add the winter heating payment in there. We're not going to see our pensioners shivering through the winter this year being too afraid to turn the heater on as many of them are because they're stuck on low incomes and the cost of power is too high. We are doing something about that. So the beneficiaries and the pensioners of New Zealand on 1 July will be getting that payment because of this Budget. It's not a huge amount but it's going to make it possible for them to flick that switch on and stay warm and healthy through the winter. I'm very surprised that the members opposite might choose that as a measure to try and make political capital out of. I challenge them in fact as I think Ministers on this side of the House have challenged them over the fees-free policy. It's all very well to criticise it but please front up and tell us that you'll take that measure away.I want to talk about the research and development tax credit delivered through this Budget and acknowledge the Hon Megan Woods. That is about the long term. It is about turning around New Zealand's sluggish productivity performance. It's about supporting businesses who invest in innovation and research and development so that we can drive a high-wage high-skill economy and provide the jobs and the quality of experience that we need to retain people in New Zealand and really and truly build shared prosperity for all New Zealanders. Our private sector research and development lags behind pretty much every other country in the developed world. This Government in this Budget has said that we will do something about it and that is going to be a $300 million investment most years into research and development and into a more dynamic economy with good jobs for our people.I want to speak about primary healthcare and the steps that have been taken to rebuild the foundations there: the fact that 500000 of our Kiwi families are going to find it $20 or $30 a visit cheaper to go and visit the family doctor. That is going to make a huge difference. That's going to make a huge difference for those families when someone's sick in the household but it's also again about the long term because if we actually support people at the primary healthcare level in the community we make sure that that cold or flu doesn't turn into pneumonia and that person doesn't end up in the tertiary health system. This is about investing in people—Barbara Kuriger: What about rural health?MICHAEL WOOD: —and communities and the long-term health of our people. And the member asks "What about rural health?" Well I can very happily tell that member that every single person in her constituency will also benefit from these measures as well as well as the 13-year-olds incidentally—thank you for reminding me—who are also going to be eligible for free doctors visits under this Budget as well. I'm sure the member welcomes that as well. And again I welcome the member to stand up and tell us if she would reverse those measures as well and bring in the tax cuts that that party proposed in their place.Finally I want to talk about the best long-term investment of all and that is education. I'm very happy because my local secondary school Mount Roskill Grammar School an awesome diverse decile 4 school that does amazing work in our community is now going to be funded for a school nurse through this Budget—a school nurse who's going to be able to help support the health and well-being and the mental health needs of the students who go to that school. That's a real win. There's huge wins across the education sector: 1500 new teachers; hundreds of new school classrooms that are going to be built as a result of this Budget.I do need to speak briefly to the confusion on the other side of the House. We heard the Hon Nicky Wagner earlier on telling us that every sector has been short-changed in this Budget—in other words they should be getting more money. Yet we heard the Hon Simon Bridges earlier telling us that this is a tax and spend Budget—we are spending too much. So which one is it? I know that Opposition is hard. Along with my colleagues on this side of the House we spent a while there. But my message to those members is: get real and get positive and come up with a positive vision because that is what people will actually respond to. That is what this Government is getting on and doing. Through this Budget we are building the foundations of a positive future for all New Zealanders. I as a Labour member of this three-headed coalition this immortal Hydra am very proud to commend it to the House. Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker."