5. Question No. 5—FinanceNICOLA WILLIS (Deputy Leader—National) to the Minister of FinanceQuestion No. 5—Finance5. NICOLA WILLIS (Deputy Leader—National) to the Minister of Finance: Does he think his job in the short term is to limit growth in spending especially when inflation is high?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): Point of order. That is not the question that was lodged. The question that was lodged with me and that we have given answer to is significantly longer and different than that.SPEAKER: Did you read it off this?Nicola Willis: I did read it off the sheet. The Minister is correct; I lodged a different question. It was longer and substantially different. However the clerks informed me they had changed the question to that which is on the sheet which is why I've read that. But I'm happy to revert to my original question which I far preferred.Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: So do I. So why don't you do that?SPEAKER: No the question is the one written on the—Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Point of order Mr Speaker. I will answer the question as it is on the sheet because that is the process we have in the House but I think we need to reflect—and perhaps we can go away and talk about it afterwards. Just after 1 p.m. today I was advised that the member wished to change the wording of the question that had been lodged and we had begun working on since it was lodged. My understanding was that the question wasn't going to be changed but it's on the sheet; I'll answer it as it is.SPEAKER: There were actually two changes.Chris Bishop: Point of order. I think the Minister of Finance has laid out what happened. You're exactly right. I think you just said—that's the point I was going to make—that the question was changed after it was lodged quite substantially and then there was an attempt to slightly alter the wording around 1 o'clock but that did not happen. And the question is as it is on the yellow question sheet. So it hasn't changed.Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: That advice came after 1 o'clock Chris. But I said I'll answer it.Chris Bishop: No one's acting in bad faith here.SPEAKER: It's not substantially different from my understanding.Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: It's very different.Nicola Willis: Mr Speaker I'm very happy to revert to the original question that the Minister is prepared for.SPEAKER: No we'll have question No. 5 as written on the yellow piece of paper.Nicola Willis: To the Minister of Finance: does he think his job in the short term is to limit growth in spending especially when inflation is high?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: As Minister of Finance I have many jobs one of those is to make sure that spending that is undertaken matches what is set down in the Budget also to make sure that it is responsible. The latest set of Treasury forecasts show that over the forecast period we are limiting growth in spending. Indeed Government expenses are set to fall from 35 percent of GDP in the 2021-22 year which was obviously marked by the responses to Omicron and Delta down to 29.8 percent of GDP in 2025-26.Nicola Willis: Has he read reports of the $28 million Australian Budget repair package that unwinds wasteful or unnecessary Government spending redirecting it towards higher-quality investments and priorities and will he take a similar approach in New Zealand?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I've had a good read actually of the Budget that Dr Chalmers laid down last night. It contains a number of interesting things. I look forward to the member endorsing the wellbeing approach of the Government there getting up to a 45 cent top tax rate investing in fair pay agreement - type work all of which is in that legislation. What I do note is that obviously the Australian Government will make decisions appropriate for Australia but in the Budget itself actual expenses across the forecast period in fact increase as a percentage of GDP in the Australian Budget.Nicola Willis: Why is the Government prioritising a $370 million merger of TVNZ and RNZ $35 million subsidising people to buy Teslas and $60 million to design a jobs tax when New Zealand is in the midst of a cost of living crisis?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: As the member is well aware we have taken a number of significant steps to address the cost of living pressures that New Zealanders are feeling. We also at the same time think it's kind of important to address an issue like climate change and actually make sure that we decarbonise our transport fleet. The member obviously can't walk and chew gum at the same time; we can.Nicola Willis: How does subsidising New Zealand's wealthiest people to buy Teslas help with climate change?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Making sure that we have fewer internal combustion engine vehicles on the road and more electric vehicles on the road is a good thing. I know that the National Party's approach on climate change is to deny and delay and defer; not us.Nicola Willis: How does the Minister think the woman who has switched her diet to shakes to cut her grocery bill would feel about him getting up in this House to defend the wealthiest New Zealanders getting subsidies to buy Teslas as his response to climate change?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I'm thrilled the member's raised the topic of the wealthiest New Zealanders. I wonder what the woman in that article would think about a political party who thinks the highest priority right now is to cut the tax of the wealthiest New Zealanders because that's the National Party's policy. It's the member who should be ashamed and apologising to that woman.Hon Michael Wood: Can the Minister confirm that over the last year the average emissions of new vehicles coming into New Zealand has declined by 19 percent under the Clean Car Discount policy?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I absolutely can confirm that and I can confirm this Government's commitment to decarbonising our transport fleet. On this side of the House we believe that it is perfectly possible to support New Zealanders through a cost of living crisis while at the same time getting on with dealing to an existential threat to our planet. The National Party has never wanted to take action on climate change and nothing has changed.Nicola Willis: Why are New Zealanders' real wages lower today than when Labour came to office and isn't it the case that just as the Australian Labor Party has shown in the last day a responsible Government can rein in wasteful spending deliver tax relief and repair the country's finances?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: This Government has a plan to get New Zealand into surplus quicker than the National Party did after the global financial crisis. We're keeping our levels of debt low. Our unemployment is one of the lowest in the OECD. Here in New Zealand our Government knows that it is about striking a balance. That member thinks it's about giving tax cuts to the wealthiest New Zealanders; we think it's about supporting all New Zealanders.