6. Question No. 6—FinanceHon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National) to the Minister of FinanceQuestion No. 6—Finance6. Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National) to the Minister of Finance: By what percentage has annual core Government services expenses increased since he became Minister of Finance?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): Core Government services expenses as outlined in table 5.8 of the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update represent less than 6 percent of overall core Crown expenses. In the 2017-18 year core Government services expenses were $4.67 billion or 5.8 percent of core Crown expenses. In the 2019-20 year which is the latest for which we have audited accounts core Government services expenses were $6.063 billion or 5.6 percent of core Crown expenses. So while the core Government services expenses have increased $1.39 billion or 30 percent they now represent a smaller proportion of core Crown expenses than in the 2017-18 year.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Does he believe that increasing core Public Service costs by nearly $2 billion since he became Minister is appropriate at a time when families and businesses are having to tighten their belts?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Two answers to that question. The first of those is as I said that as a percentage of the Government's overall expenses they've actually gone down. Secondly during this period of time the Government has come in having to deal with the mess left by the previous Government which required significant investment across a range of Public Service entities. I also note for the member that this class within the Budget includes overseas development assistance which has also increased significantly given the need in our region—in the Pacific particularly.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Does cleaning up that mess as the Minister says require more than 1240 bureaucrats to be earning over $200000 a year and 19 Government departments now with average salaries exceeding $100000 a year?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: To start with I welcome the member's acknowledgment of the importance of cleaning up the mess that his Government left at the start of his answer. What I would say is that under this Government we have made very clear our expectations as part of public sector pay rounds that we will focus on lifting the pay of the lowest-income earners. That is not something we saw in the previous nine years.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Does he accept that the increases now mean that core Public Service salary costs have grown over 35 percent since he became the Minister?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I would need to check those figures because not unlike perhaps the arrival of a homeless man in a hotel we always have to check these things out.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Why are there now more than 10000 more people employed in the core Public Service than when Labour took office?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The reason why we have public servants working is because we believe that providing strong public services to New Zealand matters. We saw the damage done when public services like health and education were undermined by underfunding. That was the record of that Government. We're investing in public services to support New Zealanders.Hon Chris Hipkins: Can the Minister of Finance confirm that amongst the education front-line public servants that have been employed are a number of additional specialist staff that support some of our children with the most special needs and that they are counted in the core Public Service numbers?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Yes I can confirm that and I can say that across the board across public services in New Zealand we saw nine years of neglect. Investing in those public services now is part of making sure that we provide New Zealanders with security and opportunity.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Can he name any steps that he's taken to ensure core public services don't continue to escalate at such unprecedented rates given the eye-watering levels of debt he's currently taking on on behalf of the New Zealand taxpayers?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I refer the member to my primary answer. The percentage of core Government services that expenses make up has gone down Mr Woodhouse under this Government. The economy is growing. We're supporting strong public services.