1. Prime Minister—Government Actions and PoliciesHon SIMON BRIDGES (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime MinisterORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSPrime Minister—Government Actions and Policies1. Hon SIMON BRIDGES (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all of her Government's policies and actions?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): Yes.Hon Simon Bridges: On what date did she conclude that things were going so badly for the Government that the only option was to manufacture a crisis that standards of public service delivery really don't reflect?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Actually that was before the election when the last Government was in and I saw the deficits they were leaving.Hon Simon Bridges: When will she stop blaming the former Government and use the healthy finances that she—SPEAKER: Order! Order!Hon Simon Bridges: —has been left to get on with delivering the many promises that she campaigned on?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: When I stop learning about issues like Middlemore Hospital and Dunedin Hospital where they periodically cancel surgeries because there's water in the operating theatres. We did anticipate this issue; we absolutely did. We knew there was a deficit in health spending and district health boards are now confirming that it could be to the tune of $200 million. That is why we said no to the tax cuts. That is why we put aside an operating allowance of $2.6 billion when the last Government put away $1.7 billion and we're putting more away for capital. We knew that problems existed and we have a plan for them.Hon Simon Bridges: How can her Government justify no new money for nurses when amongst other things she's thrown $2.8 billion at a fees freeze for students?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I reject the premise of that question. That's a negotiation that's currently under way. The idea that there's no new money for that negotiation is just a fallacy.SPEAKER: And I possibly should have ruled it out because there was an assertion in the question which I've certainly not seen the evidence for.Hon Simon Bridges: How will her Government pay for the tram down Dominion Road when the focus groups start telling her that hitting regional New Zealand with higher fuel taxes isn't an acceptable way of funding it?SPEAKER: Order! I'm going to ask the Leader of the Opposition to rephrase the question. The Prime Minister does not have responsibility for those groups.Hon Simon Bridges: How will her Government pay for a tram down Dominion Road when it's quite clear that regional New Zealand rejects having to pay for it with higher fuel taxes?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: That is why we are not asking regional New Zealand to pay for it; we've asked Aucklanders to pay for it. We were very explicit before the election that Auckland's transport issues were significant. They suffered from neglect. We did make the decision around a regional fuel tax to reinvest and there's acceptance from Aucklanders that that is what's required. When it comes to the regions I think they'll be pleased to see that instead of spending 25 percent of that fund on roads they don't use we'll be doubling the money going into regional roads and increasing the number into local roads.Hon Simon Bridges: When she gets back from her friendly town hall meeting with Justin Trudeau in London next week—SPEAKER: Order! The member will resume his seat. The member will start his question with a question and will not have any irony in it or he will start losing them.Hon Simon Bridges: Will she front to the people of Levin and tell them why they probably won't get their expressway when she gets back from her town hall meeting with Justin Trudeau in London next week?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Is the member willing to attend the meeting with me because the circumstances under which Ōtaki is being considered are the same today as they were before. The New Zealand Transport Agency is still making route selection. It's then up to them to consult on that with the public and so it's still ongoing. Yes there is a new Government policy statement in place but all we're asking them to consider is cost-benefit analysis and who could argue with that?Hon Simon Bridges: How's Phil Twyford getting on with building all those new houses?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Much better than the last Government.Hon Simon Bridges: How will it work to have an acting Prime Minister when the actual Prime Minister is still in the country?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: There is precedent for this; it's not new. If anyone has an illness or needs for any purpose to have an acting Prime Minister in place then there is Cabinet guidance to deal with that.Hon Simon Bridges: Is she concerned that the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research's (NZIER) quarterly survey of business opinion released yesterday has found that business confidence dropped sharply in the wake of the new Labour-led Government taking office"?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: The member will well know that the most important indicator is business confidence in activity for themselves because that is what then tells us the way that growth is going and the member will well know֫ that on average we're looking at a healthy 3 percent. We will continue to work on boosting business confidence but in terms of economic indicators they're all healthy.SPEAKER: Order! The Deputy Leader of the Opposition made two out of order interjections during that reply. She will withdraw and apologise.Hon Paula Bennett: I withdraw and apologise.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Does the Prime Minister intend to adopt a local council's ruling this morning that all dangerous dogs will be muzzled?SPEAKER: I'm accepting the Deputy Prime Minister's word that there was such a ruling made this morning. If there was like all of these other matters it is a responsibility of the Prime Minister.Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: On the basis that that decision was made by Christchurch Council I recommend the Leader of the Opposition doesn't go there.SPEAKER: Order! The Prime Minister will now stand withdraw and apologise.Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I withdraw and apologise.Hon Simon Bridges: What's the Prime Minister's response to Liam Dann's commentary today that poor business confidence is partly due to "lingering dissatisfaction with the election result and policies of the new government" and ANZ which highlighted an "uncertain policy environment" as a real cause for concern?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: The uncertainty I would argue is created unfortunately more often by the Opposition than anything else. [Interruption]SPEAKER: Order!Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I absolutely acknowledge that in the past we've had similar situations. The last time I've seen this kind of pattern—Hon David Bennett: Yeah last time Labour was in.Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: It was indeed when Labour produced the strongest continuous economic growth since World War II some of the lowest unemployment in the OECD and got net core Crown debt near to zero. So if those are indications of a healthy economy then that's where we should all be aspiring to be.Hon Simon Bridges: What then is her response to—SPEAKER: Order! Start again.Hon Simon Bridges: What is her response to the NZIER which yesterday said "Employment law changes announced by the new Government including the abolition of the 90-day trial period for new employees are likely to have contributed to all the pessimism."?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Of course I would reject that. Everyone will have their own perspective on those policies but ultimately what we reached collaboratively was a compromise across our three parties when it came to 90 days one which took into account the view of small businesses but ultimately my expectation is that as we continue to see growth improve wages increase and a healthy economy we'll see that optimism increase."