2. Question No. 2—FinanceSTUART SMITH (National—Kaikōura) to the Minister of FinanceQuestion No. 2—Finance2. STUART SMITH (National—Kaikōura) to the Minister of Finance: What recent announcements has she made about the Budget?Hon NICOLA WILLIS (Minister of Finance): Yesterday I joined the Prime Minister to outline further details of the Budget 2024 savings programme. In the same way that households have adjusted their budgets and their spending as a Government we have had to do the same. Ministers have gone line by line through the funding they are responsible for to evaluate whether it represents the best use of precious taxpayer dollars. As I said yesterday this line-by-line process has uncovered more than 240 individual saving initiatives for inclusion in Budget 2024. Stuart Smith: What will the savings be used for?Hon NICOLA WILLIS: The savings will be used for two things—the members opposite laugh at the New Zealanders who are paying higher rates of tax than they have in 14 years because it's their view that they can always spend it better than New Zealanders can in their own families. But on this side of the House we are making savings so that they can be both used to provide long overdue tax relief for hard-working New Zealanders and also be used to invest in Government priorities including front-line services. On Thursday members will see examples of—careful reprioritisation in almost every area of Government freeing up cash to go towards things—Hon Willow-Jean Prime: And all the children in Oranga Tamariki?Hon NICOLA WILLIS: —like training additional teachers—well if the member opposite wants to talk about children let's talk about the young people who will benefit from the Gumboot Friday mental health counselling session that her side of the House seems to oppose—and additional funding for surf lifesavers. We are making active choices to stop some areas of spending so that we can redeploy those funds to better uses.Stuart Smith: Where have savings been made?Hon NICOLA WILLIS: That will be announced in the Budget and I can tell the member that the Government has already announced decisions to stop some lower-value spending. This includes finding $442 million in savings at Corrections so we can reinvest in our prisons and front-line corrections officers; finding $99 million from within the New Zealand Defence Force to reinvest in defence personnel and equipment; stopping work on the income insurance scheme another name for a job tax; stopping work on so-called industry transformation plans; stopping work on Lake Onslow; repealing the Clean Car Discount; exiting the Crown's contribution to Let's Get Wellington Moving otherwise known as Let's Slow Wellington Down"; and continuing the school lunch programme left unfunded by the outgoing Government and delivering it in a way that saves taxpayers approximately $107 million a year.Stuart Smith: What announcements has she made about the impact Budget 2024 will have on the job losses in the Public Service?Hon NICOLA WILLIS: The increase over the past six years in the number of back-office Public Service roles was unaffordable and needed to be reined back. According to the most recent advice I have received the Government's baseline savings exercise will remove around 2250 roles from Government departments as well as closing around 1150 vacancies. Further savings initiatives additional to our baseline exercise will remove a little over 500 roles. The number is subject to change and will remain so after Budget day. My heart goes out to anyone losing their job but Budget 2024 has required us to carefully reprioritise taxpayers' dollars. The members on the opposite side of the House seem to think there's a magic money tree at the end of the garden—or at least if it's not at the end of the garden that magic money tree is New Zealand taxpayers whose pockets they never give up on fleecing. But we on this side of the House have reprioritised funding to support more workers on the front line including nurses doctors police teachers and corrections officers. The list goes on and I'll have more to say on Thursday.Hon David Seymour: Will the Government stop trying to save New Zealanders money after this Thursday's Budget or will it continue looking for ways to find efficiencies and do more with less for the benefit of hard-working Kiwis every day from the Budget onwards?Hon NICOLA WILLIS: What an excellent question from the Minister because this is the new normal. We are a Government that every day every week every Budget will strive to make the most impact out of every taxpayer dollar. That's what New Zealanders do in their own household budgets that's what small businesses do in their own businesses and that's what a good Government should do too."