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 stand by his statement that every day of the week we look to see what savings and reprioritisations we can make"; if so what specific savings or reprioritisations has he identified this week?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): I stand by my full statement that "The Prime Minister issues quite a few instructions and I have in front of me here the Budget 2021 savings initiatives and the Budget 2022 savings initiatives. We take very seriously our job as responsible fiscal managers and every day of the week we look to see what savings and reprioritisations we can make." As we work towards Budget 2023 I can confirm we are doing this. Just today the Budget Policy Statement has identified how about $3 billion of appropriations marked and forecast for COVID spending have been returned to the centre over the past two years.Nicola Willis: Does he think that part of the Government's problem is that the Prime Minister issues so many different instructions from one headline to the next that her Ministers have been unable to properly prioritise spending and focus on getting the basics right?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Oh no I think the Prime Minister's pretty focused in the instructions that she gives us—savings is one of those areas. The member could probably save us all a bit of time by rolling Chris Luxon now rather than later.Nicola Willis: Why did the Prime Minister make such a point of asking Ministers to review—[Interruption]SPEAKER: What's the rule? Silence.Nicola Willis: Why did the Prime Minister make such a point of asking Ministers to review their spending priorities over summer if this is as the Minister of Finance asserts business as usual from his Government?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I believe the Prime Minister made the point in a series of interviews—I'm sure if you look back over time you'll see that both her and I have been seeking throughout our time in Government to make sure we get value for money and that we reprioritise. As I did say to the member yesterday I'm more than happy to table for her the savings from Budget 2021 and the savings from Budget 2022—I can't because they're in the public domain but they're there for her to read.Nicola Willis: So are New Zealanders meant to believe that despite this being the biggest spending Government ever with a finance Minister that's broken every operating allowance he's ever set this time—this time—it will be different because the Prime Minister's read the focus group report and knows she's got to get the spending under control?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: A few people might have read the focus group report in this House and that's why I answered the way I did in my earlier question.Nicola Willis: Will he commit today to account for all the money from taxpayers that has been spent to date on the TVNZ-RNZ merger the development of his jobs tax and any other wasteful projects that the Prime Minister decides to put on the scrap heap after her summer break?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The Prime Minister's already answered questions today about what she's asked Ministers to do over summer. In answer to the first part of the member's question there's a process we have for accounting for the expenditure of the Government; it's called the Budget.Hon Stuart Nash: Does the Minister ask his Ministers to review their spending ambitions as part of every Budget process?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Yes I do with particular focus on the work of the Minister for Economic and Regional Development."