Wagner Nicky: General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeWagner Nicky: General Debate[Sitting date: 07 May 2014. Volume:698;Page:17580. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon NICKY WAGNER (Minister of Customs): I have a really good feeling about the Budget. I have got a good feeling about the Budget because it is absolutely focused on the things that matter most to New Zealanders and their families. It is about opportunity it is about economic well-being and it is about providing a good quality of life for everyone.Firstly and so importantly we are moving back into surplus. It is not a huge surplus but we are on the way to ongoing surpluses and the opportunity to strengthen our economy by paying down debt so that we can keep our interest rates down as low as possible and put something aside for the next rainy day. It is so good to see our economy growing. Now we have to lock down that growth so that everyone—our families our households and our businesses—can benefit. Yes we have all worked pretty long and pretty hard and pretty smart to get here and we have managed to survive really tough global economic times and survive them well but now we have to manage that economic growth equally as intelligently so that we can continue to benefit into the future. We want more jobs and we want better incomes and the only way to get those is by sticking to our very successful economic management plan and focusing on our Business Growth Agenda.Canterbury and the Christchurch rebuild are a key focus of this Government and a significant amount of the new Budget money is targeted at supporting our community—firstly supporting our very resilient but by now pretty tired and stressed families. The Minister for Social Development Paula Bennett has announced $13.5 million in operational funding over the next 4 years to continue the Earthquake Support Coordination Service. It is a great service. It includes counselling and the Canterbury 0800 support phone line. I know of dozens of people who have benefited from the free counselling and hundreds maybe thousands who have got support on that phone line. This money will provide ongoing earthquake coordination to support 5000 households and about 250 new people every month to go through counselling services. It is estimated that the 0800 number will handle nearly 13000 calls in the next year. International research tells us that the third year after a major disaster is often the worst. It is very stressful for our families so we really need and appreciate this support.I am always very pleased to see the $20 million allocated for 6000 new apprenticeships and the incentives for beneficiaries to come to Christchurch to take up pre-arranged jobs. I am really pleased because in the past adjournment I have had several businesses talking to me about desperately needing more workers. I have spoken to construction companies that have thanked us for the apprenticeship reboot scheme and they say that it has been a real breakthrough for them and has increased the number of apprenticeships that they can take up and that is great for our young people.Carol Beaumont: Where are they going to live Nicky?NICKY WAGNER: Also to the interest of Carol Beaumont who questioned earlier I recently visited the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology women’s trade training course and I met a fabulous group of women—about 60 of them—who are working hard and just itching to get out and work on that rebuild. Although we are getting through the repairs we are only about 10 percent through the construction phase so there is plenty of work for them once they have graduated.Other businesses that I visited are also very short of staff. I met one that was short of 40 full-time semi-skilled workers. It wants to continue to expand and this is what is stopping it. It pays well it is family friendly and it is flexible but it still cannot get enough employees. There was also a smaller company that was short of only a couple of workers but for that size of company it is crucial if they want to continue to grow.There is work in Christchurch—all types of work—and I welcome people who are keen to come to our city and add to the rebuild and our city’s prosperity.