5. Question No. 5—Deputy Prime MinisterANDREW BAYLY (National—Port Waikato) to the Deputy Prime MinisterQuestion No. 5—Deputy Prime Minister5. ANDREW BAYLY (National—Port Waikato) to the Deputy Prime Minister: Which critical initiatives will the implementation unit that he will lead be tasked with monitoring and why is it only being established more than 42 months after this Government was formed?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Deputy Prime Minister): I do note for the member that this Government was sworn in on 6 November 2020 some six months ago. The focus of the unit will be on programmes and projects funded out of the COVID Response and Recovery Fund infrastructure and other key Government priorities. The final list of programmes will be finalised after discussion with the head of the unit who will shortly be appointed. To the second part of the question we have set up the implementation unit because of our large investment in the COVID recovery the number of multi-agency programmes in our response and because it is international best practice to do so.Andrew Bayly: Will the implementation unit have the authority to tell the CEO of a Government entity what to do?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The implementation unit changes nothing about the Public Finance Act or the Public Service Act.Andrew Bayly: Where will ultimate responsibility for the delivery of key Government projects lie: with the responsible portfolio Minister or with the Minister responsible for the implementation unit?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: As I said in my last answer nothing changes in terms of the Public Service Act the Public Finance Act or indeed the Cabinet Manual. Ministers remain responsible for their portfolios; chief executives remain responsible for their agency.David Seymour: Who will have responsibility for implementing the list of projects on which the implementation project will work?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I'm sure that the member will be delighted to learn that the implementation unit's programme of work will be subject to the Official Information Act (OIA) and will be released. I find it interesting that the members opposite have such an aversion to the implementation of Government programmes but we learnt that by what they did in the nine years they were in office when they failed to implement across a range of portfolios.David Seymour: Can the Minister reassure this House and New Zealanders that if we were to make such Official Information Act requests we would not discover that this implementation unit had had a baby and spawned an implementation unit within an implementation unit?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The member will be able to OIA to his heart's content. He also might like to look around the world and see one of the Leader of the Opposition's favourite politicians Boris Johnson working very closely on a very very similar idea right now—international best practice.Andrew Bayly: Why does the Government need an implementation unit when 10000 more bureaucrats have been employed since it came to office in 2017?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: As I said in my primary answer the $50 billion that was put in through the COVID Response and Recovery Fund is the largest investment that we have seen in the provision of services to the New Zealand public. It includes a wide range of programmes where we have multiple agencies outside bodies involved. All of those things represent a significant shift in the way the Government is working and this unit will support the delivery of those programmes.Andrew Bayly: Would an implementation unit have led to the Government actually delivering on its promises like KiwiBuild or the light rail project?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I'm very proud of the record which today in the House was talked about where unemployment finds its way to 4.7 percent where we've delivered a wage subsidy scheme where we've supported small businesses. I am extremely proud of the delivery of this Government.David Seymour: Point of order. The question was clearly about light rail and KiwiBuild; they weren't addressed at all by the Minister.SPEAKER: That's a very fair point of order. I'll invite the Deputy Prime Minister to have another go.Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I am extremely proud of the Government's delivery and the record that we have. I have already said what the projects will be that we'll focus on. We are looking forwards.