1. Prime Minister—Doctors' Fees Bail Legislation Irrigation and Partnership SchoolsHon SIMON BRIDGES (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime MinisterORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSPrime Minister—Doctors' Fees Bail Legislation Irrigation and Partnership Schools1. Hon SIMON BRIDGES (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all of her Government's policies?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): Yes.Hon Simon Bridges: From 1 July will it be $10 cheaper for New Zealanders to visit their GP?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I can confirm that we will be making GP visits cheaper over the course of our term particularly given that under—[Interruption] SPEAKER: Order! Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: —that under the last Government—[Interruption] SPEAKER: Order!Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: —that under the last Government GP costs increased by 44—[Interruption] SPEAKER: No. I'm going to interrupt. I'm going to give the Prime Minister a chance to answer that in silence after David Bennett has apologised for interjecting straight after I called for order.Hon David Bennett: I apologise.SPEAKER: I do want to remind members that to interject after a call for order is in itself disorderly and will be treated as such.Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: As I said the reason that we're addressing the cost of GP visits is because they went up under the last Government by 44 percent. Hon Simon Bridges: When will there be a $10 decrease in the cost of visiting GPs for New Zealand families?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: You'll of course have to wait for our announcements on Budget day to see what we're doing to make sure that primary healthcare is more accessible than it was under that Government. What I can guarantee is that New Zealanders will be better off not only for their doctors visits under this Government but in general with the health system which was run down by National.Hon Ruth Dyson: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Sorry to interrupt the flow of questions but during that last answer the Hon Nick Smith made a remark that is unparliamentary and I ask you to ask him to withdraw and apologise. SPEAKER: Did the Hon Dr Nick Smith make an unparliamentary comment?Hon Dr Nick Smith: I certainly referred to the broken promise of the Labour Party.SPEAKER: And I am seeking from the Hon Dr Nick Smith—and I will listen to the tapes as I do in these cases—an assurance that he did not make an unparliamentary remark.Hon Dr Nick Smith: I'm happy to withdraw and apologise so the House can get on with its business.SPEAKER: Order! The member will resume his seat. He will stand withdraw and apologise for making an unparliamentary comment and add nothing to it.Hon Dr Nick Smith: I withdraw and apologise.Hon Simon Bridges: Is one of the reasons for the doubt about the $10 reduction because the Government has chosen to prioritise a whole host of other things including $2.8 billion in students' free fees that don't deliver any more students?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: No. What we have had to do is make sure that we can address the fact that district health boards (DHBs) have had a sixfold increase in their deficit from September to date—over $190 million deficit. We've got hospitals that are not fit for purpose and we've got health workers working in unsafe environments. This is a Government that has a plan to address all of it and we're committed to doing that over three years. Hon Simon Bridges: Can the Prime Minister confirm that in the last couple of months Government coffers are half a billion up and why doesn't she use that to do the $10 cheaper fees reduction?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: As I just outlined we've had a sixfold increase in the DHBs' deficit. Creative accounting from the National Party has demonstrated that while things were bad when we came in we didn't realise they would be as bad as what we have found. Middlemore was just the tip of the iceberg.Hon Simon Bridges: Will serious crime which under present law would warrant a prison sentence reduce if bail laws were to be loosened?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: What we're trying to address at the moment is the last Government's solution to what was a static crime rate—a static crime rate—which was to build prisons every three to five years. No one in New Zealand thinks that's a good answer.Hon Simon Bridges: Does she believe substantial irrigation can be undertaken in an environmentally sustainable manner?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: If they're environmentally sustainable and stand on their own commercial two feet then they can find their own way to be implemented.Hon Simon Bridges: Why does her Government consider public-private partnership - type funding acceptable for some Crown investments but not all of them?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: For the ones that we have ruled out there have been blatant examples of failure. Do I need to mention Serco and Mt Eden?Rt Hon Winston Peters: Can the Prime Minister tell us how much extra she needed to find for the four-lane highway promised between Pūhoi and Whangarei by the previous Government?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I could speak to many such examples but obviously that last Government was not interested in funding the investment required for transport because the Leader of the Opposition's first significant speech was all about what he wouldn't do and not what he would do to solve New Zealand's problems.David Seymour: Why is the Government honouring existing irrigation contracts? Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Because it was in the agreement and they're contracts. David Seymour: Why is that different with partnership schools? Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: We've given partnership schools an option and the majority of them look to be taking it up. Hon Simon Bridges: Is this her kind of Government that breaks promises to New Zealand families in relation to doctors' fees? Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: The member is yet to see what we're actually doing for doctors' fees yet and will see what we've got planned on 17 May. But I can also add that New Zealanders already know based on our mini-Budget that 380000 families will be $75 a week better off from 1 July. That's more than they saw from that Government in their entire nine years combined.