Grant Robertson responds to Budget cover family who moved to Australia - 'I think it will bring them back'

Grant Robertson responded directly today to the Kiwi mum and daughter whose stock photo appeared on the cover of yesterday's Budget, after it was revealed the two have left for Australia due to the cost of living here. 

The Finance Minister said he hopes the family, and others who have left the country for better prospects overseas, will be brought back by yesterday's funding announcements

"I think it will bring them back, and it’s because we've actually prioritised things like mental health, child wellbeing," he told TVNZ1's Breakfast today. "We’re making sure that actually there’s a host of services available for those children who are at risk."

But in a separate appearance on Breakfast today, Opposition Leader Simon Bridges rubbished the idea. 

"I think things are worse," he told host John Campbell, arguing that the latest Budget provides "nothing for middle New Zealand".

Mr Robertson said he also hopes the Budget will bring mental health into the forefront. 

"I think for decades, New Zealand hasn't taken mental health seriously – it's sat on the periphery of the health system," he said. "What we're doing is the beginning process of actually bringing it right into the centre of all of our wellbeing."

He said the Budget "is going to mean that if you know that you’re experiencing mental unwellness or someone in your family is, there will be somebody that you can get to quickly, in your community, free of charge, to be able to get the help that you need."

But the service "takes time to build up", he adding, cautioning not to expect too much at once. 

"We don't actually have the workforce at the moment to be able to provide that service," he said. "But we're putting the resources and the money in, so… I hope that this Budget's going to save lives and in the end, that's the best thing I think we can do."

The Government has already put other steps in place to make New Zealand more attractive to families, he said. 

"We've already lifted the minimum wage and it goes up to $20 an hour over the next couple of years, so they’ll be feeling the difference in the increase in their pay packet there," he said. "If it’s low-income New Zealanders, we've got the families package that we started last year and - by the time it fully rolls out in a couple of years' time – it's worth 75 bucks a week more for the people who get that.

"This Budget builds on what we did there and I do believe it will transform and change lives through the investment in mental health, through the investment in kids. It is true to say that we are making up for underinvestment. We had a decade of that. This is our second Budget and we’re making really good progress on that, but it doesn’t happen overnight."

Mr Bridges, however, said none of the long-term goals will be achieved without a stronger emphasis on the economy. 

"When you talk a big game on wellbeing...what you've got to have is a strong economy and a plan of growth of that economy,” he said. "Otherwise, you can’t, over the long-term, do the stuff that New Zealanders expect and deserve, and so I think that’s the issue there.

"There was nothing there that said these guys know what they're doing on the economy."

Mr Bridges rejected as "nonsense" criticism that National left the health system in disarray during the party's time in power, leading to the Labour-led Government to "play catch-up".

"There are two things that health needs, right, and I’ll give them to you straight," he said. "One is money, and it needs a lot of it. In a situation in the world now where you’ve got more technology, where there’s wonder drugs and so on, it’s significant. But the other thing you need to drive performance is you need actual targets and measures.

"These guys have scrapped them. They literally don't know what’s happening in the hospitals, and so in addition to the fact there’s no plan to grow the economy which pays for health, actually, the health system and the management of it – coming from David Clark, ultimately Jacinda Ardern – is not up to it."