4. Question No. 4—FinanceHon PAUL GOLDSMITH (National) to the Minister of FinanceQuestion No. 4—FinanceHon PAUL GOLDSMITH (National): To the Minister of Finance does he accept that major Government spending decisions—[Interruption]SPEAKER: Order! Both of you—the Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition will both keep their mouths shut. Mr Goldsmith start again.4. Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH (National) to the Minister of Finance: Does he accept that major Government spending decisions should always be subject to a high level of scrutiny and analysis?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): Yes and they are.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Why has Cabinet suspended regulatory impact analysis at a time when the Government is undertaking some of the most significant and consequential spending decisions in living memory?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I think the Treasury secretary informed the member at the Finance and Expenditure Committee last week that this is an unprecedented situation. Things are moving at great speed. We had to strike a balance between timely advice and making sure we went through all of the processes. I hasten to add for the member that that particular change applies only to emergency regulations related to COVID-19.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Why are independent analysts and economists being prevented from attending the Budget lock-up next Thursday?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I know I can't bring you—SPEAKER: Order! That is not an area for this Minister's responsibility. Just to make it absolutely clear to the member that entry to the building at the moment is something which I control.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Mr Speaker it's perfectly within the remit of Treasury to have a lock-up elsewhere outside of this building.SPEAKER: Oh away you go—yep fair point.Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Oh do you want me to answer the question?SPEAKER: Sorry I apologise. When the member said the Budget lock-up I thought he meant the one that was here.Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Mr Speaker and without drawing you into the debate the traditional Budget lock-up held in the building is a matter for the Speaker who is in control of who enters the building. It is a matter for Treasury to decide what rules they would apply in terms of people entering their building.Hon Paul Goldsmith: But the question was why the independent analysts and economists have been prevented from attending a Budget lock-up.Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The reasoning for Parliament and the reasoning for Treasury is around the alert levels that we find ourselves in the requirements that are there for physical distancing and the health and safety rules under which the Treasury secretary acts as the employer of Treasury staff.Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern: Can he confirm that the Government has received no advice to date from the Ministry of Health and the Director-General of Health as to when New Zealand should move out of the current alert level system making Budget day planning very very difficult?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I can most definitely confirm that this is a situation where putting both the Budget together and the mechanics of Budget day are among the most challenging that any Government would have faced. We will continue as the member asking the supplementary question before knows to have an Opposition lock-up here inside Parliament. We will continue to have a Budget lock-up and there will be plenty of opportunities for scrutiny among all parts of society on the Budget.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Would he seriously contemplate or even think it's halfway wise to do as was just suggested in this House by an Opposition member and postpone the Budget?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Absolutely not. It is important for New Zealanders that they see a Government that is able to carry on through this crisis just as New Zealanders are doing. The Budget will be put before this House it will be the subject of scrutiny by this House and all members will have an opportunity to be a part of that.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Why does he continue to refuse to release Treasury advice given during the COVID crisis?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I reject the premise of that question.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Don't the extraordinary times and the extraordinary sums being spent by his Government demand greater transparency and scrutiny not less?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The decisions that the Government is making are underneath the scrutiny of both Cabinet Ministers and also Treasury. The spending decisions that Treasury is putting forward and is scrutinising are going through the Cabinet as they are. The member and himself are standing here day after day asking questions which we are answering. That's not happening in a lot of other countries around the world. There is an Epidemic Response Committee that has called Ministers and chief executives in a way that we haven't seen before. There is a high level of scrutiny of what is going on in New Zealand at the moment as there should be.Hon Chris Hipkins: Would delaying the Budget as the Opposition have suggested increase or decrease the transparency around it?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Quite clearly it would decrease it. Again if we look across the Tasman not only is their Budget being delayed; their Parliament is not sitting. So on this side of the Tasman we have scrutiny of what we are doing. That is welcomed on this side of the House.Hon Paul Goldsmith: How can he possibly deny there is less opportunity for scrutiny of his spending when he has refused to release Treasury advice he has stopped regulatory impact statements being made and Treasury has excluded analysts from the Budget lock-up?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The member is wrong.