Last week I was proud to stand by our Minister of Finance, Bill English as he delivered National’s sixth Budget. Importantly Budget 2014 shows New Zealand is heading in the right direction.

Financial, the Government’s books show we’re doing better, and confidence surveys show we’re feeling better, too.

We’ll record a small surplus next year and larger surpluses in the coming years. This means we will be able to spend a little extra, in a careful and responsible way in the future.

We’re working on making houses more affordable and we’re going to lift the standard of teaching to help pupils perform better and, longer term, to help New Zealand lift its performance in the world.

We’re also putting the well-being of young families and children at the heart of our new spending with a comprehensive $500 million package to help families.

We’re making GP visits free for under-13-year olds, we’re extending paid parental leave and the parental tax credit, and we’re investing more in vulnerable children and early childhood education.

On top of these policy’s, for the first time spending on health hits $15 billion a year. And spending on early childhood, primary, and secondary education will reach $10 billion with an additional $3 billion on tertiary education.

Each of these commitments will help all New Zealanders in practical ways at times of need and support a growing economy.

We’re in a great position compared with many other countries in the world, even our neighbours across the ditch.

As country, we’ve had some tough years but now things are looking up.

This Budget shows we are Government that is going in the right direction and is producing results that all Kiwis can benefit from.