1. Budget 2018—PrioritiesHon SIMON BRIDGES (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime MinisterTUESDAY 22 MAY 2018The Speaker took the Chair at 2 p.m.Prayers.ORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSBudget 2018—Priorities1. Hon SIMON BRIDGES (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all her Government's policies and actions?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): Yes. That was a firm yes.Hon Simon Bridges: What extra funding did the Budget provide to fulfil her promise to pay early childhood education (ECE) centres more for employing 100 percent qualified staff?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: As the member will know Budget 2018 included a 45 percent increase in education funding. The fact that we could put 45 percent more into education—new funding—and still have additional needs that we need to meet demonstrates just how bad things were for the education sector.Hon Michael Woodhouse: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The question was very specific about ECE funding and the answer related to Vote Education overall. I don't see how that could have been addressed.SPEAKER: Well it was very clearly addressing the question. The member well knows that when a general primary is set down there is considerable latitude and less expectation of specific responses on supplementaries. If members want Ministers to come prepared with specific details then they'll ask specific questions.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Speaking to that point—SPEAKER: I hope the member's not going to relitigate that.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Not at all Mr Speaker.SPEAKER: I'll be seriously concerned if he does.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Accepting that point we are reaching something of a conundrum because a very specific question today where the Minister would have been expected to answer it at question No. 7 has been transferred to another Minister.SPEAKER: The member will resume his seat.Hon Simon Bridges: Is the answer that there is no funding for ECE centres to employ 100 percent qualified staff?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I take this to mean that that side of the House now agrees with our policy on funding 100 percent qualified staff. Budget 2018 delivers the first universal cost adjustment for early learning centres since Labour was last in Government. We have made sure there's also an additional 62.5 million early learning hours over the next four years. Early learning services had a huge number of priorities. We gave them the boost they waited 10 years for and we have three Budgets of course to deliver on things like qualified staff which I take this to mean the National Party now supports because you didn't fund it before.Hon Simon Bridges: How many schools will be ending school donation requests to parents next year as a result of last week's Budget?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Again I do come back to the point that if you spend an additional—[Interruption]SPEAKER: Order!Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: An additional 45 percent increase in education's funding demonstrates how much catch-up we had to do after the under-investment of that last Government including an increase in operational funding for the compulsory sector 1500 new teachers and new capital investment. It shows how much we have to do over the next three years.Hon Simon Bridges: Is the answer None. There's no new funding to end school donations."?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: There's 45 percent more new funding in education and we will over the term of our time in office also ease the costs of education on parents.Hon Simon Bridges: Is there funding in the Budget to double the refugee quota?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: You'll see in the Budget that we've increased the funding to support additional support for refugees through the migrant centres and it is explicitly in the Budget.Hon Simon Bridges: Why did she reject the recent comparison to President Trump responding "We are a party who at the same time were campaigning to double our refugee quota." and how is that campaign going given that last week's Budget had nothing on the refugee quota?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: That is actually incorrect. First of all you don't put refugee quotas into a Budget; you do make sure that you've got money in a Budget to make sure you can house them and reintegrate them and that was in the Budget.Hon Simon Bridges: When she told me the day before the Budget that there would be 1800 sworn police officers over three years delivered has the Budget borne that out?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Yes; we've said that over three years we would be delivering on that. We've put $300 million into Police and over 900 new police officers as a result and we've got another two years to finish it off.Hon Simon Bridges: Does the Budget in fact show far fewer than 1800 sworn police officers delivered over a much longer time frame than three years?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: As I just said we have set ourselves a goal over three years to reach 1800 police officers. We get roughly half out of our first Budget and we've got two more to go. In fact at this rate I'd wager that we've got about nine more to go.Hon Simon Bridges: Does she still maintain that DHBs are in a "crisis" and that "it's worse than I thought because coming in there was no suggestion that they were quite so underfunded"; if so why is her Government putting only $2.9 billion of new operating money into health compared to Budget 2017—SPEAKER: Order! [Interruption] Order! The question's finished.Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Again we're putting $3.2 billion into health. We're putting $2.2 billion into DHBs; it's one of the largest investments they've seen in a decade. The only thing I would add to the comments that the member has quoted me on is that at first I said we didn't quite see the extent of the issues the DHBs were facing; well actually the moment the mould and poo arrived we all saw what the DHBs were facing—every single New Zealander.Hon Simon Bridges: Is her Government putting less in operating funding into health this year than we did last year?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: No. What the member continues to include is the $1.5 billion from memory for home care workers. Home care workers yes were something we all supported but it is absolutely misleading to say that was general funding for health which is why the investment we've put in outstrips anything that's happened in the last 10 years on capital funding: $750 million; that last Government: $150 million.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Is it a fact that in the last Budget health education police defence infrastructure and the environment to name just a few got massive injections of much-needed money?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: That is absolutely correct and it gives me the opportunity to also clarify—the members on the other side of the House seem to have a grievance with the fact—that we're counting the investment for midwives in that as well. I am happy to acknowledge that yes we put an 8.9 percent increase for fees for midwives because that was neglected by that last Government and we're proud of it.Hon Simon Bridges: Why did her Budget take $100 million out of mental health and put only $10 million back in?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I'm happy to clarify that the $100 million that the member is speaking about was actually not allocated to any specific project. It was a list of pilots some of which didn't happen. What we have funded is a project to enable under-25s to access free mental health care. We've extended nurses in schools for young people to decile 4. We've already funded mental health support in Canterbury and Kaikōura and amongst the $750 million in capital for health it includes upgrades for mental health facilities.Hon Simon Bridges: Why is $900 million for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade more important than $100 million for mental health?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I'm surprised that that member no longer supports New Zealand upholding its international obligations and I take this as now being on record that under National there would be a cut in overseas aid and development. I look forward to that member joining the Minister of Foreign Affairs and me on our next Pacific mission because they might have something to say to you."