3. Question No. 3—FinanceHon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National) to the Minister of FinanceQuestion No. 3—Finance3. Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National) to the Minister of Finance: How much of the $56.5 billion authorised by the Imprest Supply (Second for 2020/21) Act 2020 was appropriated in the Supplementary Estimates of Appropriations 2020/21 and what sum is being sought by the Government through the Imprest Supply (Second for 2021/22) Bill?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): I thank the member again for his examination of matters of the Public Finance Act. I'm advised that around 36 percent of the $56.5 billion authorised by the Imprest Supply 2021 Act was charged against the financial authority for that Act. This equates to approximately $20.5 billion. The vast bulk of that will appear in the Supplementary Estimates although any fiscally neutral transfers between existing appropriations will not of course do that. The Government is seeking a maximum authority of $41 billion for the Imprest Supply (Second for 2021/22) Bill. The second imprest supply bill has always been used to provide authority for Government expenditure decisions made after the Estimates were finalised in April. It is an authority to spend not a target for spending.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Was the $710 million funding for three waters only a COVID recovery initiative and if not why did it not go through the normal Budget process? Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Well as with a number of decisions and I'm sure the member will recall this from his time as a Minister a number of decisions need to be taken outside of the normal Budget process. That is not unusual. It has happened every year since the Public Finance Act has been in place.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Why was it necessary for the several million dollars for strengthening the Family Court part of supplementary appropriations from the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund when the funding was based on a recommendation made more than seven years ago?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Well I think the member needs to be a little bit careful about talking about why that work hadn't been undertaken given who the Minister of Justice was at the time at which that report was put in place. But along with a number of other initiatives funded through the fund this is about supporting the recovery overall of the New Zealand economy and New Zealand society to allow a number of different parts of Government to work in a way that supports New Zealanders as we recover from COVID-19.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Point of order Mr Speaker. It may have been a fulsome answer but it didn't explain at all or address why the funding did not go through the normal Budget process when it was based on recommendations several years old?SPEAKER: Taken in context with the previous answers I think it's certainly been addressed and actually probably answered.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Is the Government instituting a new practice where it uses imprest supply to start spending on all the pet projects it wants but couldn't justify in the main Budget?SPEAKER: Order! I just want to consider whether that's—I'm going to ask the member to rephrase the question taking out the irony.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Is the Government instituting a new practice where it uses imprest supply to start spending on the projects that go through that supply but that they couldn't justify in the main Budget?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: No. The imprest supply is being used in exactly the same way that it has been since 1989 to deal with—in this particular bill—matters that have taken the attention of the Government after the time at which the Estimates close off and through until the next Budget. It is not unusual. What is unusual relative to previous years is the scale of investment authority required. That is because of COVID-19. The member has already heard today in the answer to his primary question and in the House yesterday the fact that the authority that is given is not necessarily the amount that is spent. This is Government accounting. This is making sure we have authority to spend and then it comes back through the House through other means.Hon Michael Woodhouse: So will he commit to New Zealand taxpayers that the second imprest supply will not be used to fund projects that could have gone through the normal appropriations process but didn't?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I will commit to New Zealand that we will use the imprest supply bill for the reasons that are set out that includes expenditure that is unexpected including in response to COVID-19.