Whaitiri MekaHon MEKA WHAITIRI (Minister of Customs): Madam Assistant Speaker tēnā koe. Ngā mema o te Whare nei tēnā koutou katoa. E ngā tamariki mokopuna kua tae mai i runga te whare tēnā koutou nau mai haramai.[Thank you Madam Assistant Speaker. Greetings to the members of this House. To the children and grandchildren who have arrived into this House tēnā koutou nau mai haramai.]You would have thought after Scott Simpson the last speaker that it was all doom and gloom for this country. I want to say that I am really proud first and foremost to be the member of Parliament for my beloved electorate of Ikaroa-Rāwhiti. I am very proud to belong to the coalition Government that took the concerns of every constituent throughout my electorate seriously in 2017. We walked up and down the electorate listening to the concerns of our people that I represent. And what were their concerns? Housing health education and neglect in the regions. That's what they said. Budget 2018 delivers for those people and I am proud to stand in this House. I want to acknowledge the Minister of Finance the Hon Grant Robertson and I want to also acknowledge our fierce and strong leader the Prime Minister the Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern for their leadership. Yes we are celebrating Budget 2018 in this debate but for me it started back in December in the 100-day plan. The families the whānau the individuals throughout Ikaroa-Rāwhiti got their first glimpse of this coalition Government when the Prime Minister announced the 100-day plan. Why was that significant? It was because we arrested the tax cuts for the rich and we reinvested into those communities and those individuals who were being neglected by the last lot. That's the 100-day plan. We were in office for two months—two months—and that's how hard-working this side of the House is and we are still doing it. It is the last day of a four-week sitting term and I know the heavy lifters on this side of the House are looking forward to a recess and maybe that side can take two weeks' break to learn how to be an effective Opposition. As I said I am proud to also be a Minister in this coalition Government and I'm proud to say as the Minister of Customs that we received an extra $58.1 million of new money in this year's Budget—Hon Aupito William Sio: How much? Hon MEKA WHAITIRI: —$58.1 million extra funding under this Government. As for every customs officer up and down the country this is an acknowledgment of the contribution these hard-working customs officers give in the fight against illicit drugs. My colleague the Minister of Police Stuart Nash talked about the epidemic of meth in our communities. This $58.1 million going to customs will help deliver 127 more officers—127 more customs officers—at the border. Customs has three key roles. One we try and disrupt the movement of illicit drugs at the border; secondly we collect revenue on behalf of the Crown; and thirdly we actually help exporters get their goods to market in a seamless manner. I'm proud of the work that customs does in their fight to keep the illicit drugs particularly P out of our community because it is wreaking havoc as my colleague mentioned up and down my electorate of Ikaroa-Rāwhiti. But like I said what's in this Budget for the people I represent? I want to turn just quickly to health because health is the biggest winner in this Budget with $3.2 billion going into a neglected health system created by that lot—$3.2 billion. How's it going to help people that I represent? Well let's look at the health budget. Everyone under the age of 14—and I'm glad that we've got young people up in the public gallery. For every young person in New Zealand under the age of 14 it's now free to go to doctors. It's free to go to doctors for under-14s under this Government. We are also going to ensure under the investment in health that we are going to put more money into community midwives. Now some in this House may say that there might be some conflict of interest with midwives seeing a certain individual in this House may be going off to have a baby but community midwives do a fantastic job throughout Aotearoa New Zealand and community midwives are going to get a boost under this investment in our health system. We are also obviously going to look at boosting up $83 million into air ambulances. Now the previous speaker just said What's in it for Coromandel?" I know that in rural communities the quickest way to get help when help's needed when it's in the backblocks or on farms is actually through an air ambulance and under this Government we are putting $83 million into air ambulances which will go a long way for the rural communities that I represent and that many in this House represent. Also under health we are going to talk about extending the nurses in schools programme and the pilot programme for the mental health of our young adults and that's something that we should celebrate. About 600000 low-income earners are actually going to get between $20 and $30 off their visits to doctors—$20 to $30 cheaper to go to doctors. So this investment like the Budget speech said is setting the foundation for the future. It's addressing the infrastructural under-investment that we've seen this country suffer from for the last nine years. But we are here and this coalition Government is keen to take on the challenge of ensuring that no young person and no young child wherever they are born in this country is denied the right to basic healthcare high-quality education services and a roof over their head. That's what the coalition Government stands for and it's one that I'm really really proud to be involved in. Can I quickly turn to the economic and regional economic opportunities under this Budget and I want to talk briefly about the billion-dollar tree programme. It's something very special to my heart because in the last two weeks I've just received another delegation which is Associate Minister of Forestry and I am working very very closely with the Hon Shane Jones to plant a billion trees in—Hon Kris Faafoi: How many?Hon MEKA WHAITIRI: —a billion trees; a billion trees Mr Faafoi—10 years. I can tell the House that planting a billion trees over 10 years is not only going to create jobs in the regions; it's going to actually tick our environmental commitments in terms of being zero carbon by 2050 and up on the Coast where I come from it's going to actually address the erosion problems. So there are huge benefits for the country in the one billion trees and I'm excited to be working alongside Mr Jones to achieve that. But there's also the Provincial Growth Fund and we hear people over on that side calling it a slush fund. Can I tell you as I travel around the country there is the engagement with councils all up and down the country that are realising that at last we have a coalition Government that's going to listen to their needs and that is going to work alongside the councils to grow those opportunities which have been neglected for nine long years under that lot. I am really proud of the Provincial Growth Fund. I'm proud of the billion trees. Of course the other area for my electorate is working in land development targeting underutilised Māori land. It's a passion that I stood for in this House when I was on that side of the House—to maintain Māori land in the hands of Māori owners. Now as the Associate Minister of Agriculture responsible for Māori agribusiness I can say to people in this House that there is a plan coming that's going to unlock the potential of Māori land and grow opportunity for those owners right throughout the value chain. I'm excited to work with my colleague the Minister of Agriculture Damien O'Connor to realise that we have potential in this country for Māori land that is untapped and that is opening for business and this coalition Government is keen to knock on that door and enter into partnership with iwi and Māori land owners. What's good for the Māori land owner is good for this nation. It's an opportunity for us to lead and in this coalition Government on this side that's exactly what you're getting. It's a coalition Government of action. It's a coalition Government of compassion. It's a coalition Government that is about delivering to all New Zealanders for now and in the future. Nō reira e te iwi o ngā mema o te Whare nei huri noa tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā tātou katoa.[Finally to the people of the members of the House right around the House tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā tātou katoa.]"