1. Question No. 1—FinanceMARAMA DAVIDSON (Co-Leader—Green) to the Minister of FinanceORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSQuestion No. 1—Finance1. MARAMA DAVIDSON (Co-Leader—Green) to the Minister of Finance: Does he agree with the Salvation Army's State of the Nation Report which said that despite some significant progress much more needs to be done to ensure the growing prosperity of our economy is shared more fairly"Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): I agree with the Salvation Army report when it says—and I quote—"This report points to significant progress including an increase in average incomes a much needed extra spend on welfare and hardship support for beneficiaries a decline in offending and imprisonment rates an increase in the number of social houses [and] new house builds at a 45-year high." I do acknowledge that there is more that we can do and this Government remains committed to ensuring that all New Zealanders get their fair share of the benefits of economic growth.Marama Davidson: Does he agree with the Salvation Army report that this Government has taken "the first steps towards the society-wide change that is needed" and if so what are the next steps to share Aotearoa's prosperity more fairly?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Yes. The Government is committed to improving the living standards and wellbeing of all New Zealanders. In this year's Wellbeing Budget we saw significant investments to make sure that New Zealanders see their fair share of prosperity and I point to just a couple of those including the indexation of main benefits to wages and lifts in the abatement rate. In this year's Budget there will be five priorities all of which will support that including the Just Transition future of work work particularly around lifting Māori and Pacific incomes skills and opportunities and reducing child poverty and child wellbeing. We are making significant investments in all these areas and we must continue to do so.Marama Davidson: Can people struggling in our communities be confident that this Government recognises the need to urgently increase incomes and that he's listening to the evidence presented by experts like the Welfare Expert Advisory Group (WEAG) and the Salvation Army report about ways to achieve this?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: In answer to the second part of that question absolutely and I have a great deal of respect for both the Salvation Army for their work in this area and indeed the WEAG report. We are at a time where incomes are growing. We see wage growth at its highest level. We see the minimum wage rising. We see settlements across the public sector the State sector that are supporting those on middle and low incomes as well. So we are committed to seeing wages rise in New Zealand and incomes across the board rise and I believe we are seeing evidence of that.Marama Davidson: As finance Minister will he be looking to use Budget 2020 to deliver on the Welfare Expert Advisory Group's recommendation to raise core benefit levels?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: As the member knows we don't comment on the Budget outcomes until they are completed but it does give me the opportunity to say to the House today that the Budget will be delivered on Thursday 14 May.Marama Davidson: Does the Minister understand that some people had hoped to see more action from the Government to reduce income inequality given unemployment is at a record low and the Crown's accounts are in good shape yet too many families are still doing it tough?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: It's always my expectation that the public will have high expectations of the Government but I am extremely proud of the record of this Government in delivering to low- and middle-income New Zealanders and I can't think of anything better to evidence that than the Families Package where we turned around a set of tax cuts that would have disproportionately benefited the highest income earners in New Zealand to ensure that we delivered to low- and middle-income earners."