6. Question No. 6—FinanceHon BARBARA EDMONDS (Labour—Mana) to the Minister of FinanceQuestion No. 6—Finance6. Hon BARBARA EDMONDS (Labour—Mana) to the Minister of Finance: Does she stand by all her statements and actions?Hon NICOLA WILLIS (Minister of Finance): Yes in the context in which they were given. I particularly stand by my statement earlier today that in Budget 2024 this Government's spending will be targeted effective and within our means.Hon Barbara Edmonds: Did she confirm to reporters yesterday that Cabinet had approved additional funding for Whaikaha until the end of the financial year; if so how much money was pre-committed against Budget 2024 for that purpose?Hon NICOLA WILLIS: Yes and that figure is Budget-sensitive so I won't be releasing it.Hon Barbara Edmonds: Does she stand by her statement that Whaikaha will get vast orders of magnitude more in additional funding for front-line services"; if so why was the additional funding allocated not enough to reverse the significant eligibility changes that her Government made without any warning or consultation?Hon NICOLA WILLIS: I've repeatedly confirmed in this House and elsewhere that in our Budget more funding to provide front-line support to people with disabilities will be a priority. That member is now asking me to comment on issues that are a matter for the Minister for Disability Issues and that are matters that that member should put on notice. Hon Shane Jones: Kia kaha for Whaikaha. Kia kaha.Hon Barbara Edmonds: Will the—SPEAKER: Hang on wait on. [Interruption] Yeah quite right. I don't know who it was either.Hon Barbara Edmonds: Thank you Mr Speaker. Will the "vast orders of magnitude more" funding she has promised be sufficient to reinstate funding for respite care; if so why is she making carers wait until 1 July when she has already committed to more funding?Hon NICOLA WILLIS: I have made myself clear already and so I'll make it even simpler. We will be increasing funding for disability services in our Budget because we view it as a priority front-line service. If the member has detailed questions about ministerial decisions relating to that service she should put those questions to the Minister responsible.Hon Barbara Edmonds: Why won't she finalise her commitment to provide "vast orders of magnitude more in additional funding" now and end the significant distress her Government's changes have caused or are Budget pre-commitments only prioritized for residential property investors?Hon NICOLA WILLIS: Well there's a couple of problems with that statement from the member which actually are similar to her last supplementary question yesterday where she also paraphrased things quite inaccurately. Actually what I said in relation to vast orders of magnitude was that the additional funding going in would be vast orders of magnitude more than the savings that were being asked for. The second part of her question made another false assertion. Just this week the Government announced significant new money hundreds of millions of dollars to ensure that low and middle income families with young children get more money in their bank accounts with our FamilyBoost childcare policy. That's a priority for us. This is Government that understands working people have done it tough for too long with the prolonged cost of living crisis that Government presided over. Our Budget will make sure they get relief in their bank accounts and back pockets that we target additional spending carefully to the services they rely on and that we won't waste it like the people opposite did."