1. Question No. 1—FinanceMILES ANDERSON (National—Waitaki) to the Minister of FinanceORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSQuestion No. 1—Finance1. MILES ANDERSON (National—Waitaki) to the Minister of Finance: What recent announcements has she made about the Budget operating allowance? Hon NICOLA WILLIS (Minister of Finance): In the Budget Policy Statement (BPS) yesterday I announced that the operating allowance in Budget 2024 would be less than $3.5 billion. The operating allowance is the amount of money allocated in the Budget to fund new spending and revenue initiatives. To put this amount in perspective the operating allowance on average across the past four Budgets was around $4.5 billion. In Budget 2022 the allowance was around $6 billion and in Budget 2023 it was $4.8 billion. So the Budget we will release 30 May will be significantly tighter than those in the immediate past and it will also contain personal income tax relief for hard-working New Zealanders. Miles Anderson: When will she announce the operating allowances for future Budgets? Hon NICOLA WILLIS: As I said in the Budget Policy Statement the operating allowances for Budgets 2025 to 2027 will be set out in the Fiscal Strategy Report which is one of the Budget documents. Operating allowances for future years are planning assumptions that improve the accuracy of fiscal forecasts. They are often amended and revised over time. To give the House one historical example the operating allowance for the most recent Budget in 2023 was announced as being $2.6 billion in Budget 2020 but as the years went by it was raised to $2.7 billion then to $4 billion then to $4.5 billion and then to $4.8 billion—some $2.2 billion more than indicated three years earlier. That is why I take any comments about future allowances with a large grain of salt when those comments come from the Labour Party. Miles Anderson: What reaction has she had to the Budget Policy Statement? Hon NICOLA WILLIS: Well I've seen many positive comments on the Budget Policy Statement. However someone did accuse me yesterday of refusing to provide a concrete Budget allowance in the BPS and said Oh it's highly embarrassing for a finance Minister to be unable to do what has been required of every finance Minister since the introduction of the Public Finance Act." That assertion is wrong. The Public Finance Act does not require anything from the finance Minister with regard to Budget allowances and in fact it makes no mention of Budget allowances whatsoever. What is highly embarrassing is for someone to publicly accuse a Minister of breaching an Act of Parliament while getting basic facts wrong and I am disappointed in the Opposition spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. Hon Dr Megan Woods: Supplementary. SPEAKER: The Hon Megan Woods. Hon Dr Megan Woods: Sorry? SPEAKER: The Hon Megan Woods—you know yourself yeah. Hon Dr Megan Woods: Thank you Mr Speaker. Is it correct that the reason that she has broken the convention of providing an operating allowance in the Budget Policy Statement is because coalition Budget negotiations have broken down or coalition partners can't agree? Hon NICOLA WILLIS: No that's another one from the Labour Party fantasy file—the same file they get their idea that a new tax will somehow make New Zealand more prosperous. In fact what we have here is a party that had a very strong convention. The Labour Party's convention was every time they said they'd stick to a spending limit the next opportunity they had they broke it. Well this Government is going to break that convention. Miles Anderson: What other feedback has she seen? Hon NICOLA WILLIS: I did have another quite different reaction to the BPS yesterday. I received a lovely email from someone whose name I will protect for her privacy but I do think the House would benefit from hearing this as it represents a point of view that is often missing in the media commentary. This is what the email said: "I thank you the National Party and the coalition Government for promising to honour the tax cut. It is a way to help the squeezed middle and especially mature singles who are often forgotten. I am one of them with a mortgage on one average income to spread across many bills. It is difficult out there for people like us. For once I feel like the unseen can get some relief whatever the amount—really appreciated." and yet the members opposite would take it from her."