3. Question No. 3—FinanceHon AMY ADAMS (National—Selwyn) to the Minister of FinanceQuestion No. 3—Finance3. Hon AMY ADAMS (National—Selwyn) to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by all of his statements and actions?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): Yes in the context in which they were made and undertaken. Hon Amy Adams: Does he stand by his statement last week that The fees-free programme is an excellent investment … It is removing barriers … where there are people who wouldn't have considered going on to tertiary education until they were able to access it in this way." despite the Government having so far spent $236 million to deliver 2400 fewer students in tertiary education? Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: In answer to the first part of the question yes. Hon Amy Adams: How does he reconcile his statement that this is a good investment with the president of the Careers and Transition Education Association Warwick Foy—who is the one meeting and talking with those most directly affected by the policy—who says it has little influence on the decision of school leavers and didn't seem to be convincing students from poorer backgrounds to enrol?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I've got great admiration for the work that Warwick Foy's done in getting alongside young people in the Taranaki area in particular on this particular matter. I believe that we've got to give this scheme its full time to run its course and at the end of 2019 and 2020 we will have seen an impact that I believe is greater than the one that we saw in the first year. Hon Amy Adams: How can he justify this $2.8 billion policy as good value for taxpayers when Otahuhu College principal Neil Watson has described the policy as being "a large amount of money spread over students who are probably going to go to university anyhow" and universities and polytechs are reporting that they're not seeing any change in enrolment patterns? Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I believe that this policy is one that is dedicated to sending the message to New Zealanders that in the future of work everybody needs to keep training and retraining. We don't care what background someone's from; we want them all to achieve to their potential.Hon Amy Adams: How does he reconcile his statement that "This Government's approach is to ensure that expenditure is undertaken wisely and for the benefit of taxpayers" with the decision to use taxpayers' money to make a $10 million loan to a private dairy company on terms that the company have admitted are more favourable than they could have gotten elsewhere?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is about making sure that there are opportunities all over New Zealand for people to have good fulfilling jobs. Unlike the other side of the House we believe that wherever you live in New Zealand you deserve a decent shot at a decent life and the PGF is a good part of helping that happen.Hon Amy Adams: Is it also using expenditure wisely and for the benefit of New Zealand taxpayers to make another $10 million loan to a commercial garnet-mining operation which is 100 percent American-owned?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: It's quite clear that members on the other side of the House don't want the West Coast economy to thrive. Well actually on this side of the House we think it's time that the Government got alongside that community and the communities of Gisborne the Far North and Manawatū-Whanganui. So by all means the National Party can trash the regions of New Zealand—go ahead."