5. Question No. 5—FinanceHon PAUL GOLDSMITH (National) to the Minister of FinanceQuestion No. 5—Finance5. Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH (National) to the Minister of Finance: What steps if any has he taken to ensure the integrity of ministerial decisions in the major spending programmes announced in the previous two Budgets?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): With regard to ministerial decisions that I am responsible for in terms of the major spending programmes announced in the previous two Budgets I took steps to ensure the integrity of them in line with the regular Budget decision-making process similar to the previous Ministers of Finance like Bill English or Steven Joyce. That process—and I hope not to make the answer too long but I'll go through it—is that Budget initiatives are submitted by Ministers in most cases prior to Christmas. Individual initiatives are assessed by the Treasury in some instances and by secretariats of officials from other agencies in other instances. Budget initiatives are assessed according to a range of factors including their alignment with Budget priorities their wellbeing impacts the robustness of their costings their implementation readiness and their value for money. These assessments are pulled together to give advice to Ministers on a package of initiatives that could be funded through the Budget. Ministers meet and take decisions on a package to be considered by Cabinet. Cabinet then considers it and makes final decisions on a final Budget package and Parliament passes the Budget. After that point there are parliamentary and other processes in place to further ensure the integrity of any spending.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Has anything he has seen in the past three days caused him to question or doubt the integrity of ministerial decision-making about major spending projects has been maintained?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: No.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Has he been following the news since Monday?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I absolutely have been and once again the Government has been making announcements that benefit the New Zealand economy across the board. We've got a situation just today where we've seen our interest rates held and the Reserve Bank Governor or the monetary policy committee reflecting on the importance of the role that the Government's fiscal investment is playing in making sure that the economy is going well. In the matters for which I am responsible I keep a close eye on the news.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Has he considered reviewing major spending decisions involving New Zealand First Ministers while matters raised by the Electoral Commission and referred to the Serious Fraud Office are resolved?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Well I'd have to bow to the member's superior knowledge of the Serious Fraud Office in its inquiry work. But from my perspective I will await the outcomes of that inquiry like every other member. Otherwise the Government gets on with its normal order of business.Rt Hon Winston Peters: With respect to four matters which are sub judice but nevertheless may have a connection with respect to Government spending has there been any connection between those four sub judice cases put before the Serious Fraud Office to trial already or any Government Minister?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: There is no connection in those. I mean obviously various political parties at times will have matters that are referred to the Serious Fraud Office. There are avenues available to parliamentarians if they have concerns about Government spending. We've seen that in the past. I think of the Saudi sheep deal as being an excellent example of where parliamentarians if they have concerns about matters know what to do.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Have you spoken directly to the Deputy Prime Minister in the past three days about ways to reassure New Zealanders about the integrity of ministerial decision-making?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I've spoken directly to the Deputy Prime Minister on a number of occasions over the last three days but I certainly haven't felt the need to do it on that particular topic.Hon Paul Goldsmith: So is he telling the House that notwithstanding the Electoral Commission's statement it's just business as usual for ministerial decision-making around large scale investments?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I think the member's making a huge logical leap in his question there. We are getting on with the business of Government. We are positive about the future of New Zealand and we're focused on the issues that matter to New Zealanders.