5. Budget 2018—Funding AnnouncementsHon STEVEN JOYCE (National) to the Minister of FinanceBudget 2018—Funding Announcements5. Hon STEVEN JOYCE (National) to the Minister of Finance: What funds has the Government publicly announced in the last week that have been allocated from between-budget contingencies or from pre-commitments against Budget 2018's operating and capital allowances broken down by description and amounts?SPEAKER: I should warn the House that I have been pre-warned that this may be an answer that's longer than usual.Hon Dr DAVID CLARK (Acting Minister of Finance): Improving mental health services for children in Canterbury and Kaikōura—this is to provide additional mental health support services in earthquake-affected schools from the contingency identified for mental health enabling an announcement of the Government's mental health response in Canterbury on 22 February 2018. This was for an amount of $28 million. Funding for Tai Poutini Polytechnic ahead of wide sector change—$8.5 million will go to the troubled Tai Poutini Polytechnic so it can continue to operate over the coming year. Funding for a four-member ministerial advisory group to investigate the establishment of a public media funding commission—$1.381 million. On Friday the Minister for Regional Economic Development also made a number of funding announcements. The proportion of new funding allocation versus spending from existing moneys is Budget-sensitive and the member will have to wait and see—only 77 sleeps to go.Hon Steven Joyce: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. In relation to the last part of the Minister's answer the question was very clear about the amounts of money that had been allocated. It's hard to see how that amount is Budget-sensitive when it was announced by the Minister for Regional Economic Development last Friday. Perhaps the Minister can revise his answer.SPEAKER: I think if the member had listened really carefully to the answer he would have heard that the answer did quite properly indicate that some of it had come from arrangements to which the member referred and others are coming from new money. But he's not declared which because that's Budget-sensitive. And that's absolutely right.Hon Steven Joyce: It can't be Budget-sensitive if it has been announced publicly. I know the Minister's probably embarrassed about—SPEAKER: Order! The member will resume his seat.Hon Steven Joyce: Supplementary Mr Speaker.SPEAKER: No. The member has lost his chance.Hon Steven Joyce: I said supplementary.SPEAKER: Oh supplementary. Fair enough.Hon Steven Joyce: Can the Minister please tell the House how much of the $61.7 million in provincial growth funding announced last Friday was new money under Budget 2018?Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: No.Hon Steven Joyce: How can the Minister explain that the Government announced with great fanfare that $61.7 million in new funding would be made available for the first projects from the Provincial Growth Fund and then the Minister of Finance is too embarrassed to admit how much new funding actually exists in this House a few days later?Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: The only one who needs to be embarrassed about provincial growth and the lack of investment is the member opposite who previously held the portfolio. But I can assure the member that the lion's share of the projects announced to date are in fact new money.Hon Steven Joyce: Then can the Minister confirm the content of paragraph 75 of the Cabinet paper released last Friday that said and I quote The funds that are to count against the Fund have existing decision making arrangements that reflect the particular nature of [their] funds." and can he confirm therefore that actually no new money was set aside in the announcement last Friday because of the comments made in paragraph 75?Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: I can't confirm that for the member."