Robertson Grant: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeRobertson Grant: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 15 October 2015. Volume:709;Page:7282. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]1.GRANT ROBERTSON (Labour—Wellington Central) to the Minister of Finance: Does he agree with the Prime Minister with respect to achieving surplus “Yeah for a few hundred million we could go and slash you know fundamentally health education and welfare. They’re the only big areas where you could take money. I think most New Zealanders would say that’s a bit short-sighted”?Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance): Yes I do agree with that statement by the Prime Minister. Not only has the Government moderately increased spending in those areas it has focused on getting much better results particularly for the most vulnerable New Zealanders. We have taken a considered approach to understanding the drivers of spending not just the spending.Grant Robertson: Why was $444 million of funding for earthquake claims reassessed as a negative insurance expense in the Crown accounts yesterday?Hon BILL ENGLISH: You would have to address that question directly to the accountants and the Auditor-General who signed off the accounts. If you go through the accounts you will find any number of accrual accounting adjustments all of which add up fortunately on top of the Government’s good managing of spending to a surplus of $400 million.Grant Robertson: Is the Minister of Finance telling the House that he does not know why $444 million dollars’ worth of funding for earthquake claims was reassessed as a negative insurance expense especially given that that amount is larger than the surplus that he announced yesterday?Hon BILL ENGLISH: Yes I am telling the House that. Across a $70 billion Budget there are an enormous number of adjustments; each one of them is checked by the Auditor-General. These are the audited accounts of the New Zealand Government. If the member is suggesting that there is something dodgy about those accounts he should take it up with the Auditor-General.Jami-Lee Ross: In successfully meeting its target of returning to surplus in 2014-15 what has been the Government’s overall approach to managing its finances?Hon BILL ENGLISH: The Government’s overall approach has been to manage our finances by doing a better job—that is a better job of new capital investment a better job of managing our existing $250 billion of assets and a better job of providing services to 4 million New Zealanders. We have found that what works for the community works for the Government’s books.Grant Robertson: Is he really comfortable with cutting $444 million out of the Budget for Earthquake Commission repairs given that Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment audits have revealed that thousands of Canterbury houses have dodgy repairs that will need to be redone and work on increased flooding risk claims has barely begun?Hon BILL ENGLISH: The member may be surprised to know that accounting adjustments are not a matter of political pushing and shoving. It is possible they were under the previous Labour Government but actually under this Government any accounting adjustment has to meet the criteria laid out in the rules and overseen by the Auditor-General. And whatever that adjustment is I can be almost absolutely sure that it meets the criteria because the accounts have been signed off by the Auditor-General.Jami-Lee Ross: How does the achievement of surplus in the latest year compare with the fiscal situation inherited by the National-led Government in 2008?Hon BILL ENGLISH: The fiscal situation in 2008 was driven mainly by a very rapid increase in public expenditure of around 50 percent in the 5 years leading up to 2008-09 and then the global financial crisis and the earthquakes exacerbated the problem with drops in revenue. So the Government has slowed considerably the growth of Government spending its tax reforms have helped underpin an increase in revenue along with a growing economy and that is how we have got to surplus.Grant Robertson: Does the removal of more than $400 million from the Earthquake Commission claims budget mean that insurance repairs in Christchurch are finished?Hon BILL ENGLISH: I would not want to speculate on the connection between that adjustment in the accounts and the services provided in Christchurch but people to whom the Earthquake Commission is liable to pay insurance and ensure that their repairs are done will get the service that the Earthquake Commission is obliged to provide to them.Grant Robertson: When John Key was giving him a high-five for achieving a $414 million surplus did he tell him that it would not have happened if he had not cut $444 million from the projection for Canterbury Earthquake Commission payouts?Hon BILL ENGLISH: No because the member is just wrong. I mean he can go on an Easter egg hunt where he finds every accounting adjustment that exists that is around $400 million but it will just make him look like a little bunny.Grant Robertson: Does he think the people of Canterbury will be wanting to give him a high-five when they hear that he got his surplus by cutting money from the already inadequate budget for Earthquake Commission earthquake repairs?Hon BILL ENGLISH: I think they probably intuitively grasp the way the Government’s finances work a bit better than the member does. Actually people all over Christchurch high-five the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery because he is overseeing 400000 insurance claims the rebuilding of thousands of new homes and the planning and the revival of the central business district. Many people in Christchurch are pretty pleased with the Government’s $15 billion contribution to the rebuilding of their city.