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KiwiRail’s 10-year Turnaround Plan to make its freight business commercially viable continues, with $198 million being invested from the Future Investment Fund.

This brings total Crown capital investment in the Plan to $1.04 billion.

Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee says KiwiRail will use the new money to invest primarily in:

Mr Speaker,

I move that the Appropriation (2014/15 Estimates) Bill be now read a second time.

It’s a privilege to deliver the National-led Government’s sixth Budget.

It’s a particular privilege because this is the first Budget in six years to focus on managing a growing economy rather than recovering from a domestic recession and then the global financial crisis.

A growing economy supports employment and higher wages. It provides opportunities for families. And it pays for public services that New Zealanders rely on.

Budget 2014 provides $375 million of new capital funding for the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) to accelerate $815 million worth of Auckland transport projects, Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee says.

The projects will address congestion in our largest city, capitalise on the benefits of major roading projects already under way, such as the Western Ring Route, and improve access to Auckland International Airport.

“No Government has invested so heavily in transport infrastructure across all transport modes,” Mr Brownlee says.

The success of the Government’s share offer programme provides a further $1 billion of new capital investment in Budget 2014 without the need to borrow more from overseas lenders, Finance Minister Bill English says.

“The share sale proceeds saw $4.7 billion go to the Future Investment Fund and we said we would spend $1 billion of that on schools, and a further $1 billion on health,” he says.

Housing initiatives in Budget 2014 will lower the cost of housing, improve access to social housing for vulnerable families, and support the growing economy, Finance Minister Bill English says.

The Budget’s housing package temporarily removes tariffs and duties on building materials covering 90 per cent of a new home’s construction, provides new funding to increase the community housing sector, and increases administrative support for social housing tenants.

The Government has confirmed it will stick to its $1 billion new operating allowance in Budget 2014 and the allowance will increase to $1.5 billion in Budget 2015, Finance Minister Bill English says.

The allowance will then increase by 2 per cent each Budget.

“These modest increases in spending meet the Government’s objective of reducing net debt to 20 per cent of GDP by 2020, and will not materially affect interest rates,” Mr English says.

Investing almost $500 million more in the well-being of New Zealand’s children and families is at the heart of new spending in Budget 2014, Finance Minister Bill English says.

“Families will benefit from a growing economy offering more jobs and higher wages, and it is also appropriate that they are among the first to benefit from extra government spending as the economy picks up,” he says.

Balanced and responsible management of the New Zealand economy continues, allowing more investment in families and public assets (All figures for four years to 2017/18 unless otherwise stated).

Looking ahead to the results of responsible economic management

Budget 2014 focuses on managing New Zealand’s growing economy by returning the Government’s books to surplus next year and making important investments in families and public assets, Finance Minister Bill English says.

“The Government has moved from managing our way out of recession to managing a growing economy,” he says. “We’ve made significant progress in recent years that is delivering more jobs and higher incomes.

A $500 million support package for families and children, dividends from a growing economy, and a track to surplus next year are all features of Budget 2014, Prime Minister John Key says.

“The Budget shows the economy is continuing to build momentum and provides further evidence that the Government’s programme is on the right track,” he says.

“Forecasts show a $372 million surplus next year, increasing surpluses in subsequent years, and the economy growing by between 2 per cent and 4 per cent annually over the next four years.

Budget 2014 will allocate $132 million to Inland Revenue over the next five years to bolster its tax compliance activities and for chasing up unfiled returns, Revenue Minister Todd McClay says.

Of this, $48.6 million is cash for Inland Revenue to undertake these activities. The remaining $84 million is to cover tax being written off where this is unlikely to be paid, he says.

“It is estimated that the new funding in Budget 2014 will generate a gross increase in Crown revenue of $297.5 million over the next five years.”

The Government is continuing to invest in psychosocial services and support for temporary accommodation services in Canterbury, Social Development Minister Paula Bennett says.

“Canterbury people have been incredibly resilient, but the pressures associated with the rebuild and temporary accommodation arrangements continue to be major stresses for many,” she says.

The Government is providing further support for the Canterbury rebuild with $3.5 million of new operating funding for 2014/15 in Budget 2014 to assist beneficiaries to take up work in Christchurch.

“We’re offering up to 1,000 beneficiaries a one-off payment of $3,000 each if they have a full-time job offer in Canterbury and are ready and willing to move there,” Social Development Minister Paula Bennett says.

Continuing high demand for the Apprenticeship Reboot means the Government has decided to spend up to $20 million in Budget 2014 for an extra 6,000 places as part of its Business Growth Agenda, Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce says.

The Apprenticeship Reboot was announced in January 2013 by Prime Minister John Key alongside an overhaul of the apprenticeship scheme to get more apprentices qualified, especially in construction trades.

Good afternoon, it’s great to be here today.

I would like to thank Business New Zealand and Fujitsu for hosting this event.

Today I want to talk about the Budget that Finance Minister Bill English will deliver next week.

I will also announce two important initiatives that will be of interest to this audience.

But first I want to set the scene as Budget 2014 approaches.

This will be the National-led Government’s sixth Budget, and can I say Bill English is doing an excellent job.

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett today announced new operating funding of $22 million over four years for non-government organisations delivering community budgeting services to families.

“Budgeting services are providing critical help to thousands of Kiwis who are able to make a real difference in their lives with new money management skills,” Mrs Bennett says.

“This new investment sees baseline funding rise by 61 per cent from $9 million a year to $15 million a year by 2015/16 and will ensure the services are able to keep up with demand.

The Government has announced new funding of $16 million over four years to support the repair and rebuild of rural housing, the improvement of housing on the Chatham Islands and the development of Māori social housing providers.

“New Zealanders living in remote rural areas face a number of unique and often difficult challenges, including the cost and availability of decent housing,” Associate Housing Minister Tariana Turia says.

The Government has today announced free drop-in sore-throat clinics will be expanded to target a further 90,000 children and young people who are at risk of getting rheumatic fever.

“Budget 2014 will invest an extra $20 million over the next four years to combat New Zealand’s high rate of rheumatic fever – bringing the Government’s total investment to more than $65.3 million over six years,” Health Minister Tony Ryall says.

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett and Associate Health Minister Jo Goodhew have today announced $10.4 million in new operating funding to support sexual violence services over the next two years.

“This funding boost in Budget 2014 will provide immediate stability for the specialist services providing vital support for New Zealanders and their families impacted by sexual violence,” Mrs Bennett says.

Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman says the Government is committed to strengthening the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF), and will be investing $100.9 million of operating funding in 2014/2015.

“This significant investment in our Defence Force, combined with the savings and reinvestment achieved through recent reforms, means the Government is addressing the long term funding gap which we inherited,” Dr Coleman says.

Health Minister Tony Ryall has announced children with profound hearing loss will now receive two funded cochlear implants, and children under six with only one implant will be offered the opportunity to have a second funded implant.

“Budget 2014 is providing an extra $6.3 million over four years for a bilateral cochlear implants programme for children,” says Mr Ryall.

Good afternoon. It’s a pleasure to be with you again today.

I would like to thank John and Raewyn and their team at the Wellington Employers’ Chamber of Commerce for inviting me to speak to you again this year.

I also want to acknowledge the Chamber’s work in promoting the Wellington business community and in grappling with issues affecting businesses in the capital city.

It’s great to see measures of business confidence in Wellington rising.

Today I want to talk about the Budget, which will come out on 15 May.

This will be the National-led Government’s sixth budget.

Some of those budgets have felt at times like an exercise in crisis management.

So I take my hat off to Bill English, who has done a great job of steering the country through the recession, the global financial crisis and the aftermath of a very destructive and expensive natural disaster.

Everyone’s circumstances are of course different and some people are still finding it hard.

Finance Minister Bill English will deliver Budget 2014 on Thursday, 15 May, he announced today.

“This will be the National-led Government’s sixth Budget and it will remain focused on delivering sensible policies that support a more competitive and faster-growing economy, more jobs, higher incomes and opportunities for New Zealand families,” he says.

“The Government’s programme is delivering results, but achieving our potential will require consistent and positive change for several years to come.