5. Question No. 5—Public ServiceFRANCISCO HERNANDEZ (Green) to the Minister for the Public ServiceQuestion No. 5—Public Service5. FRANCISCO HERNANDEZ (Green) to the Minister for the Public Service: Does she agree with the comments made by the Prime Minister yesterday that central government focuses on must-haves not nice-to-haves"; if so were the more than 6500 and counting public servants whose jobs have been cut simply "nice-to-haves"?Hon NICOLA WILLIS (Minister for the Public Service): I agree with the Prime Minister's full quote from his speech to Local Government New Zealand which was "For ratepayers it's simple. The central government focuses on must-haves not nice-to-haves and we expect local government to do the same." To the second part of the member's question I would dispute the member's number and I would not use that characterisation nor would the Prime Minister. In fact I find the inference that any member of this House would refer to a human being as "nice to have" as objectionable. [Interruption]DEPUTY SPEAKER: The question will be heard in quiet.Francisco Hernandez: Is staffing the Ministry for Regulation a must-have but staffing the Police the Environmental Protection Authority and Oranga Tamariki nice-to-haves?Hon NICOLA WILLIS: Again I reject the characterisations in the question. For one thing this is a Government that is increasing the front-line police officers by 500 and for another I would put to the member that while his party may be of the view that there's never a piece of red tape that the Government shouldn't say yes to we on this side of the House are pro-growth pro-development and anti - red tape and that's the approach we're taking to regulation.Francisco Hernandez: Is the fact that she only found out about the average salaries of the Ministry for Regulation yesterday a sign that she's happy to justify cutting thousands of jobs while being ignorant of what happens in her coalition partners' pet ministries?Hon NICOLA WILLIS: Well if the member is asking me to assess average salaries by cohort I could share with him that I've had some work done in my office and apparently the average salary of a Green MP is a little over $180000 although I would note that that number excludes the salary of Darleen Tana.Ricardo Menéndez March: Point of order?DEPUTY SPEAKER: I know what the point of order is going to be. I would make note that the last comment that the Minister used was unnecessary in the context of the question that that—Ricardo Menéndez March: Excluding the final comment the Minister did not even get close to addressing the question and launched on a political attack. I think the bare minimum we should expect is at least addressing the question before she launches on political attacks.DEPUTY SPEAKER: OK. Well I've expressed my ruling about the member's comment. In terms of answering the question there is a difference of opinion between the two groups and the members might not like the Minister's answer but the Minister did give an answer. Rt Hon Winston Peters—is this a point of order or a supplementary question?Rt Hon Winston Peters: No it's a supplementary question. By the way finance Minister is it a fact that those $180000 salaries are the highest salaries they have ever earned in their lives or will ever earn in their lives?DEPUTY SPEAKER: No. The Minister does not need to answer that question. That question will create chaos.Francisco Hernandez: Supplementary? DEPUTY SPEAKER: Francisco Hernandez—[Interruption] Quiet please. We have a question.Francisco Hernandez: How can she justify finding out about the eye-wateringly high average salaries at the Ministry for Regulation yesterday when her Government has justified cutting thousands of jobs as wasteful spending?Hon NICOLA WILLIS: Well Madam Speaker as I have said in answer to other questions in question time today our Government has been on a mission to drive more value from Government spending and as part of that we have delivered $23 billion worth of reprioritisation over the next four years in our Budget. That included a significant exercise to reduce the baseline costs of Government agencies. We view it as our responsibility to do that so that we can deliver better outcomes and more responsible economic management.Francisco Hernandez: Does she agree with ACT Party leader David Seymour that "Ministers can be so focused on their pet projects that they lose sight of whether they will improve New Zealanders' lives." and if so how will she as Minister for the Public Service ensure that hard-working public servants are not sacrificed in the name of pet projects like the Ministry for Regulation?Hon NICOLA WILLIS: Well I think that David Seymour makes a good point and we have only to think about the energy crisis we are now experiencing to understand what can happen when Ministers have pet projects at the expense of good decision-making."