2. Question No. 2—FinanceBARBARA EDMONDS (Labour—Mana) to the Minister of FinanceQuestion No. 2—Finance2. BARBARA EDMONDS (Labour—Mana) to the Minister of Finance: Fa'afetai lava Mr Speaker. What are the objectives and priorities for Budget 2022?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): Budget 2022 will be based on the enduring objectives that were set at the first Wellbeing Budget and these themselves are based on evidence and advice and data as to where New Zealand needs to focus to meet our long-term challenges and take opportunities that we have. The priorities outlined in the Speech from the Throne will guide the Budget and they include a focus on the Government's health reforms. COVID-19 has highlighted how critical a prepared health system is to protect New Zealanders and support their wellbeing. Budget 2022 will make significant investments in establishing the new entities that will replace district health boards. Managing rising costs will be a major challenge in health in coming decades but we will ensure that these entities have a solid base for tackling that challenge. The Budget will also begin a multi-year approach to funding the health sector. Initially this will be a two-year funding path and then from 2024 will move to a three-year funding plan in line with New Zealand's first health plan.Barbara Edmonds: What other objectives and priorities is the Government focusing on?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Budget 2022 will also focus on investing in initiatives to reduce emissions and meet our climate goals. Climate change is one of the most pressing long-term challenges facing New Zealand and to respond to it effectively we need to make significant investment across multiple Budgets. A new climate emergency response fund will invest the proceeds of our emissions trading scheme (ETS) to combat climate change and support the transition to a more resilient economy with investments that will create jobs and boost productivity. The fund has been established with $4.5 billion from the ETS based on the forecasted proceeds over the next four years.Barbara Edmonds: What is the economic environment in which Budget 2022 will be delivered?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Well the Treasury today released its latest economic and fiscal forecast in the 2021 Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update. While Treasury is forecasting a decline in GDP in the September quarter due to the Delta outbreak it predicts a bounce-back in the December quarter of 3.7 percent and annual growth is forecast to average about 3 percent a year from 2023 to 2026. Unemployment is forecast to fall further to 3.1 percent in the March quarter next year while wages are forecast to grow 4.4 percent a year on average across the forecast period. The strength of the New Zealand economy means that the books will be back in surplus earlier than expected in 2023-2024; net debt will peak at 40.1 percent of GDP lower than the 48 percent that was forecast at the Budget; and core Crown expenses will drop from their current level of 35.3 percent to 30.5 percent next year and track at a similar level across the forecast period.Jan Logie: Does he agree that COVID support made available to big businesses has not trickled down as wealthy asset owners are nearly $1 trillion richer since COVID began and if so how will the next Budget prioritise workers and whānau?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The problem with that particular description is that it puts into the category of the very rich or wealthy all of the small-business owners and sole traders who dominate those who have got the economic support from the Government. It is also the case that that economic support in the case particularly of the wage subsidy scheme has kept people in work. I stand proudly behind that.