1. Question No. 1—FinanceDr DUNCAN WEBB (Labour—Christchurch Central) to the Minister of FinanceORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSQuestion No. 1—Finance1. Dr DUNCAN WEBB (Labour—Christchurch Central) to the Minister of Finance: On what date will Budget 2022 be delivered and what will its priorities be?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): I'm pleased to inform the House that Budget 2022 will be delivered on Thursday 19 May. We will continue to progress the goals the Government set at the start of this parliamentary term to keep New Zealanders safe from COVID-19 accelerate the recovery and rebuild from the impacts of COVID-19 and lay the foundations for the future including addressing key issues such as our climate change response housing affordability and child poverty. Our investments in Budget 2022 will be guided by the enduring objectives that were set at the first Wellbeing Budget and are based on evidence advice data and science as to the areas that New Zealand needs to focus on to meet the long-term opportunities and challenges that we have. The Budget will include a particular focus this year on the Government's health reforms and investing to meet our climate change goals.Dr Duncan Webb: How will health be addressed through Budget 2022?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: COVID-19 has highlighted how vital a joined-up and prepared health system is for protecting New Zealanders. There is also longstanding evidence that our health system has not delivered equitable outcomes particularly for Māori. Budget 2022 will make significant investments in establishing the new entities on a sustainable basis that will replace district health boards and begin delivery of the health system shifts envisaged through reform. Managing rising healthcare costs will be a major challenge in the coming decades and we need to ensure that the new 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 we will move to three-year funding in line with New Zealand's first health plan. This approach is essential to give certainty to the sector and to tackle our long-term health challenges.Dr Duncan Webb: How will climate change be addressed in Budget 2022?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: We're also investing in initiatives to reduce emissions and meet our climate goals. As we announced at the Budget Policy Statement on 15 December last year the Climate Emergency Response Fund will hypothecate or recycle the revenue generated from the emissions trading scheme (ETS) into emissions reduction projects from 2022 on. This fund has been established with $4.5 billion from the ETS based on forecast proceeds over the next four years. This will ensure an enduring multi-year funding mechanism to support our transition to a low-emission climate-resilient economy in a way that protects vulnerable families.Dr Duncan Webb: What is the economic environment in which Budget 2022 will be delivered?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The economic conditions that we face are constantly evolving as a result of the Omicron outbreak and global supply constraints and other conditions. We face Omicron in a strong fiscal position and we will continue to protect the lives and livelihoods of New Zealanders and address long-term challenges. The Government's books are forecast to return to surplus in 2023-24 three years earlier than forecast at the Budget in May. Our balanced approach has seen net debt forecast to peak at 40.1 percent of GDP compared to 48 percent at Budget 2021. We will continue to take a balanced approach that prioritises important projects that need to be done along with the ongoing need for fiscal sustainability.