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Non-dairy export industries can expect a significant boost in returns in the wake of the fall in the value of the New Zealand dollar over the past year, Finance Minister Bill English says.

“New Zealand has notched up eleven consecutive quarters of employment growth, with 69,000 more jobs created in the past year of which over 24,500 were in manufacturing,” Mr English said at the New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association conference in Christchurch.

Thank you for coming along today.

It’s a pleasure to be here in Christchurch, for the launch of the Thirty Year New Zealand Infrastructure Plan.

Meeting New Zealand’s infrastructure challenges over the next 30 years will require coordination across central government, local government and the private sector.

So I would like to recognise our partners for the progress we’ve made together, their engagement in developing this Plan, and their commitment to meet New Zealand’s infrastructure needs over the next 30 years.

The Thirty Year New Zealand Infrastructure Plan 2015 sets out New Zealand’s response to the infrastructure challenges we will face over the next three decades, Finance Minister Bill English says.

“Infrastructure supports people’s daily lives, even if they don’t think about it all that often – unless something goes wrong,” Mr English says.

“We have a good national infrastructure base, bolstered by investment in recent years. But over the next 30 years we face some big challenges:

Placing Solid Energy into temporary voluntary administration gives the best chance to secure an ongoing future for the different parts of the business, Finance Minister Bill English and State Owned Enterprises Minister Todd McClay say.

New Zealand will gain significant economic and social benefits from the formation of the New Zealand Data Futures Partnership, Finance Minister Bill English and Statistics Minister Craig Foss say.

The Partnership — an independent group made up of members from the private, NGO, academic and public sectors — will champion the safe collection, use and sharing of government and business data.

“The volume of data held by the public and private sectors is growing exponentially,” Mr English says.

The number of KiwiSaver enrolments continues to rise in the over-18 year old target population, with an additional 11,656 members in the month of June, Finance Minister Bill English and Revenue Minister Todd McClay say.

“Removing the taxpayer-funded kick-start incentive in Budget 2015 was not expected to affect the number of working-age people joining a KiwiSaver scheme,” Mr English says.

Acting Minister of Finance Steven Joyce has congratulated Labour Party Leader Andrew Little on finally announcing his first “new” policy after eight months in the job, although unfortunately for Labour it’s a cut and paste of a previous Government announcement.

Finance Minister Bill English is undertaking a long-planned visit to China this week, focusing on the economic developments taking place in China’s inland regions and what this means for New Zealand. 

This development is supported by the ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative, announced by President Xi Jinping in 2013, which seeks to create a ‘new silk road’ to improve trade links with Asia, Europe and the Pacific.

The latest Crown accounts reinforce the benefits of the Government’s careful stewardship of its finances, Finance Minister Bill English says.

The Treasury reports that the Government recorded an OBEGAL surplus of $1.2 billion in the first eleven months of the financial year that ended last week. That compares with a $1.1 billion deficit in the corresponding period last year.

The 11-month result is nearly $1 billion better than forecast in the Budget.

Minister Responsible for the Earthquake Commission (EQC), Gerry Brownlee, and Associate Minister of Finance, Steven Joyce, say the Government has developed a number of proposals to reform the EQC Act, which are being released for public discussion today. 

New Zealand has formally become a founding member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank at a signing ceremony in Beijing today, Finance Minister Bill English says.

The Bank is a China-led initiative which is being established to address a gap in new infrastructure across Asia.

“New Zealand actively participated early in the negotiations. Our aim was to push for a well-run, transparent and broad-based multilateral institution. The 50 countries who signed today is testament to the final result,” Mr English says.

Thank you for inviting me tonight.

It’s a pleasure to be here in Australia.

What happens over here, and what people are thinking, affects New Zealand profoundly.

That’s why I try to visit here regularly and talk to as many people as I can.

I want to acknowledge the warm relationship shared between our respective Governments – and the constructive engagements we have with Prime Minister Abbott and Joe Hockey in particular.

New Zealand recorded another quarter of continued economic growth, confirming that the Government’s sensible economic programme is taking New Zealand in the right direction, Finance Minister Bill English says.

“A reduction in dairy production contributed to quarterly growth of 0.2 per cent coming in at the lower end of market expectations, but still resulted in annual growth of 2.6 per cent,” he said. “A strong economy provides Kiwi families with new jobs, higher incomes and opportunities to get ahead.

The Government welcomes the Productivity Commission’s draft report on using land for housing, Finance Minister Bill English says.

“In September last year, the Government asked the Productivity Commission to investigate ways to improve land use regulation and infrastructure provision for housing by local authorities,” Mr English says.

This draft paper follows the 2012 Productivity Commission report which highlighted that the most important thing for housing affordability is to increase the supply of houses.

New Zealand has agreed to become a founding member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which is being established to invest in new infrastructure across Asia, Finance Minister Bill English and Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully say.

The Bank is a China-led initiative aimed at addressing a significant gap in infrastructure investment in the Asian region.

“Increased infrastructure investment will enhance the Asian region’s growth and that will be good for New Zealand,” Mr English says.

The Government’s $448 million OBEGAL surplus in the 10 months to 30 April – around $1 billion better than the $555 million deficit forecast in the Budget – highlights the inherent volatility in monthly fiscal results, Finance Minister Bill English says.

New Zealand’s first social bond will aim to empower people with mental illness and support their families, Finance Minister Bill English and Health Minister Jonathan Coleman say.

Social bonds, in which the return for investors will be partially determined by whether or not agreed social targets have been achieved, will become another tool in the Government’s social investment approach that is aiming to improve the lives and prospects of the most vulnerable New Zealanders.

People enrolling in KiwiSaver from 2pm today will no longer receive a $1,000 kick-start payment, Finance Minister Bill English says. The change does not affect existing KiwiSaver members.

“KiwiSaver has been successful in attracting members, with 2.5 million New Zealanders having a KiwiSaver account and together receiving $2.5 billion in kick-start payments since the scheme started in 2007,” Mr English says.

Proceeds from the Government’s share offer programme provide a further $939 million of new capital investment in Budget 2015 without the need to borrow more from overseas lenders, Finance Minister Bill English says.

“The share sale proceeds provided $4.7 billion to the Future Investment Fund for spending on new public assets without having to borrow,” Mr English says.

The Crown’s books are in good shape and on track to surplus as the Government maintains its careful and responsible management of public spending, Finance Minister Bill English says.

“We’re making good progress on the Government’s fiscal priorities and the outlook is positive,” Mr English says.

The Treasury is predicting solid growth, growing employment and real wage increases. However, lower inflation means tax revenue is not rising as quickly as expected.

Budget 2015 delivers careful management of public spending, hand in hand with investment in public services.

(All figures for four years to 2018/19 unless otherwise stated).

Mr Speaker,

I move that the Appropriation (2015/16 Estimates) Bill be now read a second time.

It’s a privilege to present the National-led Government’s seventh Budget.

New Zealand has come through significant challenges and is now a more confident and resilient country than it was seven years ago.

Successive Budgets have sought to put New Zealand on a track to surplus and debt reduction, and as a result the Government’s books are in good shape.

A package of measures aimed at reducing hardship among children in New Zealand’s lowest-income households is at the heart of new spending announced in the Budget today, Finance Minister Bill English says.

The package, costing $790 million over four years, includes increased work obligations for sole parents on a benefit, more childcare support for low-income families, a $25 a week increase in benefit rates for families with children, and an increase in Working for Families payments to low-income families not on a benefit.

Budget 2015 includes a $790 million package to reduce hardship among children in New Zealand’s poorest families, as the next step in the Government’s commitment to address the long-term drivers of deprivation.

The package includes increased work obligations for sole parents on a benefit, more childcare support for low-income families, a $25 a week increase in benefit rates for families with children, and an increase in Working for Families payments to low-income families not on a benefit, Finance Minister Bill English and Social Development Minister Anne Tolley say.