Auchinvole Chris: Budget DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeAuchinvole Chris: Budget Debate[Sitting date: 21 May 2014. Volume:699;Page:18198. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]CHRIS AUCHINVOLE (National): Mr Assistant Speaker I will seek your indulgence and perhaps get a bell at 4 minutes?The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch): Yes.CHRIS AUCHINVOLE: Thank you. It is my great pleasure to speak in the Budget debate 2014. We all listened very keenly to the Budget speech given by the Hon Bill English. We have read Budget 2014 at a glance and the numerous very positive media reports about this ambitious robust yet quietly confident Budget carrying the stamp of integrity of a Southland farmer. But to be an effective politician it is not enough to simply listen to the sound of one’s own voice or indeed the voice of one’s leaders to read the good publicity and to pat ourselves on the back. No we leave that to the members on the other side who stay in their own silos not wishing and not being quite brave enough yet to venture out of their little coffee clutches.What we did over on this side of the House is we went and asked the West Coast community and the West Coast - Tasman area what they had taken from Budget 2014 and what was important to them. I spent last weekend going to places like Blackball and going to the more remote parts of the West Coast electorate and this is what they said. They said that the Budget was: “Steady as we go—a reliable set of hands on the economy.” “Ready to head into the next cycle of economic growth with an emphasis on health education law and order.” and “Good for young people and great to have such a commitment to broadband.” My colleagues in the same corridor as me Paul Goldsmith and Paul Foster-Bell would have varied ways of expressing the same thingwith a different degree perhaps of eloquence of vocabulary but basically the fundamental truths are there.Let us look at some of those items as they have particular relevance to the Coast such as the recent redevelopment of Grey Base Hospital. Two weeks ago Minister Ryall announced the business case for the new $67 million hospital bed facility in Greymouth. It is currently in the final design phase where virtually the whole hospital will be new. This is the biggest investment per head—the biggest investment per head—of population in New Zealand’s history in health and the Government is committed tofutureproofing the health services on the West Coast. Let us look at some of the facilities that are going to be made available. There will be a bigger maternity unit than currently exists a new emergency department a new intensive care unit three state-of-the-art operating theatres and an integrated family health centre on the Greymouth Public Hospital site and we know how well those integrated family healthcare facilities are working because of our experience up in Golden Bay. This is the highest health spend ever per head of population and it includes a boost for cancer services and elective surgery.The Budget contains many other things that are popular with the Coast people. The social housing boost is also specifically good for the Tasman region. There is $30 million to help the community housing sector to provide more homes for high-needs families. It is a family-friendly Budget.Paid parental leave is under discussion and is going to be lifted. I recognise that my colleagues on the other side—because we discussed this at considerable length at the select committee—wished to go further. My question to them now is which bits of this package would Labour not want to do or would want to cut out. Would Labour want to cut out the free doctors visits for children up to the age of 13? Would it want to cut the paid parental leave extension that we are providing? Would it want to reduce any of the many aspects of this Budget that are doing so much to help families? I think not—I think not. What we are doing is what Labour would normally do if it were being true to its own measures.This is a powerful Budget. I described it initially as having the drive and thrust of an effective farmer. Over the past 9 years we have had droughts financial deficits and natural and industrial disasters. But with strategic choices just as much pruning as was bearable and targeted policies—