Woodhouse MichaelHon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National): Thank you Mr Speaker. I want to join with the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister for COVID-19 Response in applauding our essential workers. I think that's only appropriate.But I think what we've found out over the last couple of weeks is that some essential workers are more essential than others and frankly I've also learnt quite a bit about the Delta variant of this COVID virus. Apparently it's a very discerning virus that it knows not to transmit from one person to another amongst 15 to 20 people in the Beehive theatrette but is so smart that it can transmit across this vast Chamber when there are only 10 people in it—a remarkable feat of epidemiology I might suggest. And according to certain commentators the fact that the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister travelled out of Auckland before the lockdown but when the virus was spreading is less dangerous than the Leader of the Opposition hunkering down for 13 days in a row and then coming here to hold this Government to account. Well that seems to be a bit inconsistent to me—and the Greens are nodding. Apparently in their hyperbolic nonsense yesterday we were being reckless and putting lives at risk but today it's OK. That's the inconsistency that I find outstanding. I just cannot understand it.Now Minister Nash is going to lose a crate of wine at the end of the year because he told everybody that he would bet—and I'll take that bet—that we were going to be at 90 percent of vaccine rates. Well I don't have a Minister's salary so my bet is only for one bottle of wine and here it is: I bet one bottle of wine that this time next week we are going to be in the House debating a second imprest supply bill where the Government is asking for more money. And the reason is quite simple: they have emptied the COVID tin in large part on things that aren't related to COVID. The Deputy Prime Minister the Minister of Finance talks about selflessness and selfishness. Well I think it's selfish for the Government to dip its hand deeply into the pockets of the New Zealand taxpayers—Kiwis who themselves are struggling to get by in these times—and taking more money out of those pockets to pay for goodness knows what particular fancy the Government will have. Now my count is at least $12 billion of COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund money has been spent on projects that frankly I cannot connect with COVID-19.Let's go through a few of them. Three waters—so we're now meant to believe that three waters according to the answer to my question from Grant Robertson was a form of stimulus that they were stimulating the economy by investing $710 million in what some people have called sweeteners for councils rather than actual infrastructure projects related to that. Flood protection in the Far North—well it was something that needed to happen. Why was it that it had to come out of the COVID fund? Cameras on fishing boats we've been talking about them for years; $52.5 million for horse racing; public interest journalism; transformative energy projects whatever that means; climate resilience projects as if climate change suddenly came along since 26 March last year. The list goes on and on and on—wallaby protection.The Minister talks about the arts funding and it is true that areas like arts have been hit through COVID and it may well be appropriate but if that's the case put it through the normal Budget process because Mr Robertson has basically thrown out the window any kind of fiscal discipline or the idea of keeping spending within approved Budget allowances. He made a big thing of the fact that his Ministers had found $926 million in May that they didn't need to spend out of the COVID fund. One would imagine that then gets left unspent. No they find plenty more to spend the money on and too much of it has been on non-COVID.So my bottle of wine is on us being back here next Wednesday and Thursday finishing the Budget debate and then introducing a second imprest supply bill that will be topping up the COVID fund. As Mr Robertson says this is the rainy day we have been planning for. Well if it's a rainy day fix the roof buy the umbrella; don't go out and purchase a swimming pool.