Goodhew Jo: Budget Debate 
Goodhew Jo: Budget Debate 
[Volume:654;Page:4161] 
JO GOODHEW (National—Rangitata) 
: 
 I begin by saying that if there has been any very sad lesson that National has learnt in the first 6 months of being on this side of the House it is that we do not have as much time as I thought we might to clean up the mess that was left behind when Labour was chucked out on 8 November. The Opposition may wish we were wobbling but I can tell those members that back in my home patch of Rangitata I am renewed in my vigour to achieve that. 
Every day New Zealanders understand more what is happening and that Budget 2009 is a prudent Budget. I have been quoted in the  
Timaru Herald 
 as calling it exactly that. They understand that there are some tough decisions to be made. They understand that because they are making them daily in their own lives. Far from the previous Government’s approach of spending at will promising at will and never funding the promises New Zealanders want to see a prudent Government that lives up to its promises where it is able to fund them. The Opposition forgets that all of the promises need to be able to be funded. It may be that all the scaremongering from the Opposition is for one reason and one reason alone: the Opposition is very keen for New Zealanders not to notice what is happening on its front bench. There is a huge struggle going on on its front bench. There are problems when the Leader of the Opposition is looking quite shambolic compared to some of those further along the benches who would clearly like to get the nod and have the numbers to become the Leader of the Opposition. All of this scaremongering— 
Chris Tremain 
: Get the bus started. 
JO GOODHEW 
: Yes I wonder about that bus going up the hill. What about the wheels on the bus going round and round? Well maybe the wheels of Labour’s Opposition leaders will be going round and round and I wonder how many Opposition leaders we will see. 
Budget 2009 is a Budget that lacks many of the aspect of the last 9 years of Budgets. Budget 2009 lacks the pretence of the last 9 years the jargon of the last 9 years the smoke and mirrors of the last 9 years and the empty and unfunded promises that were a hallmark of the Clark-Cullen years. Budget 2009 is a Budget that tells it as it is. We can do that on this side of the House; I know the other side of the House is incapable of it. When newspaper headlines every day speak of rising unemployment global uncertainty in financial markets the likes of General Motors going into bankruptcy and New Zealanders expressing uncertainty about their future employment security what do we have from the Opposition benches? Borrow borrow and spend spend. On this side of the House the Minister of Finance set about giving New Zealanders a level of security that is as realistic as is possible right now. There is no pretence no smoke and mirrors and no unfunded promises. New Zealanders did not wake up the day after the Budget looking forward to grand promises that were empty. This Budget tells it as it is. The future is grim but it is doable. 
The National-led Government is prepared to back New Zealanders to prepare to climb out of the recession and it is preparing the way so that New Zealanders recognise the road out of the recession and to recovery. It is such a shame that one of the largest tasks facing this Government is to wind back the ill-disciplined State spending of the previous Government. In times of surplus New Zealand was shockingly mediocre in its growth achievements when we were capable of so much more. 
There are two areas I wish to discuss further in my address during the Budget debate today: the Community Response Fund and older New Zealanders. The Community Response Fund is a short-term fund to support community-based critical social services providing support directly to families children young people and older people. Therefore that fund is very important in this time of financial uncertainty. Those services must be experiencing severe negative impacts from the economic downturn. 
The fund has two objectives. The first is about financial crisis funding for providers of critical social services experiencing severe financial difficulties and those who are unable to maintain their services as a result of the impact of the economic downturn on their non-government funding. In my own patch there are service providers such as the food bank the Salvation Army and budget advisory services that are certainly seeing an increase in the number of people passing through at the moment. 
The second objective of this fund is demand funding for providers of critical social services with significantly increased demand for their services from families children young people or older people as a result of the downturn. We are talking about $40 million in the first year and up to $64 million in the second year. It is not a small amount of money and it will go out to those non-governmental organisations. The maximum amount of funding per application is $50000. Again it is not a small amount of funding. In exceptional cases it could be up to $100000. Those funds would be made available for 12 months. Any not-for-profit organisation that provides community-based critical social services for families children young people or older people can apply for that money. 
It is not about smoke and mirrors; it is about us understanding that it is tough out there. Therefore we are making this funding available. The providers of these services will be dealing with child abuse and neglect family violence budget services sexual violence services and early intervention for vulnerable and at-risk children and families families under stress and vulnerable and at-risk young people and older people. 
That leads me to the next part of my address. National has delivered on its election promise to give $90 million over 4 years to the aged-care sector. There will be improvements in respite care. There will be up to $18 million per year for wages for registered nurses in rest homes. The aged-care sector now has certainty that the increase to its funders—the district health boards called the Future Funding Track—will be passed on. Lo and behold my old union the New Zealand Nurses Organisation greeted that with open arms congratulating the National Government on making the tough call to cancel tax cuts that were planned for next year. But giving money— 
Moana Mackey 
: You should never have promised them! 
JO GOODHEW 
: Oh now we should never have announced them! Well now that is an about-face. But did not the Opposition say that it also would be providing tax cuts? National has made good on its promise to aged care and it has been well received by HealthCare Providers New Zealand. They said they were watching the Government very closely to see if it would deliver on its pre-election promises and those commitments have been met. But wait; there is more good news for superannuitants. Unlike Labour which only funded superannuation payments to 65 percent of the average after-tax wage we have guaranteed 66 percent. It is locked in and it is here to stay at 66 percent of the average after-tax wage. That was not done by the Labour Government at the time. 
Sue Moroney 
: Yes it was! 
JO GOODHEW 
: I tell that member to go and have another look. Labour did not fund it; it was another unfunded promise. But $18.127 million more is there for New Zealand superannuitants and that money is locked in. We have the great Superannuation Fund scaremongering. The Labour Opposition is unprincipled. Those members rant about the Cullen fund and they are scaring the living daylights out of older people. When will we draw down on this fund? Will it be next year the following year or in 10 years? Come on those members need to get it right. The fund will not be drawn down on until 2031 at the earliest. We have time to grow out of this recession to put money that is surplus into the fund and to recover. Labour cannot bear the thought that National will lead New Zealand to recovery but Budget 2009 gets us off to an extraordinarily good start.