A confident Budget for a confident country

Yesterday I sat in the House as a member of Parliament and listened to Finance Minister Bill English present his sixth Budget – his first to deliver a surplus. I’m proud to be part of a government that has worked hard under John Key’s leadership, to end this parliamentary term in surplus and to ensure the economy grows in a sustainable manner.

Standout features of this term for me have been the Government’s investment in our young people through increased spending and a redirection of effort in the education, welfare and health sectors. We see more jobs being created, more people in work and many more of our young people staying in school or going on to tertiary study.

Budget 2014 is about looking ahead, and building on the hard work that’s been done by New Zealand households and businesses. We have moved from managing our way out of a recession to managing a growing economy. It’s a confident Budget for a confident country.

Budget 2014 sets out the next steps in the Government’s programme to build on the economic momentum we’ve seen over the past year or so. It’s a Budget that’s about thoughtful, targeted spending – it’s not a big pre- election spend- up.

Our economy is growing steadily and creating more jobs. Average wages are rising faster than inflation. That’s happening now and Budget forecasts show it continuing, with 170,000 more people in work by mid- 2018 and unemployment projected to fall to 4.4 per cent.

Responsible management over the past five years has allowed for some new spending this year, and our first priority is families.

We’ve put children and families at the heart of our new spending.

We’re investing $ 500 million in a package of practical support for Kiwi families, which includes free GP visits and free prescriptions for children under 13 years. We will extend paid parental leave from 14 to 18 weeks, and expand eligibility; and we’ll increase the parental tax credit from $ 150 to $ 220 a week and extend the payment period from eight to 10 weeks.

We’re also going to invest $ 156m over four years to help early childhood centres remain accessible and affordable. In addition there’s a $ 33m package of measures to help our most vulnerable children. Lifting the quality of teaching is another priority. It’ll help children now, and help New Zealand’s performance in the longer term.

I am proud to be part of a government that knows what its doing, and that has delivered a Budget for a country that knows where it’s going.