5. Question No. 5—FinanceHon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National) to the Minister of FinanceQuestion No. 5—Finance5. Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National) to the Minister of Finance: Is he satisfied that the Government's investment of taxpayer funds reflects its priorities?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): Yes the Government's policy priorities for the three-year term are continuing to keep New Zealanders safe from COVID19 accelerating the recovery and rebuild from the impacts of COVID-19 and laying the foundations for the future—including addressing key issues such as climate change housing affordability and child poverty. The investments we are making are focused on addressing these priorities; at the risk of testing the Speaker's patience I'll run through just a few examples. We're continuing to keep New Zealanders safe from COVID-19 through the nationwide vaccination programme with nearly 2 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine being administered to New Zealanders while our investments in the managed isolation facilities continue to keep New Zealanders safe from the virus and our economy able to operate with fewer restrictions than nearly any other country. We're accelerating the recovery through our record investments in infrastructure training record numbers of apprentices—SPEAKER: Order! Order! The member's answered the question.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Is funding $2.75 million for a meth programme run by a Mongrel Mob member a higher priority than giving money to a successful mental health programme?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The member knows that the programme he's referring to is about getting people off methamphetamine. The most important thing we can do in that space in this House is undertake programmes that work. It is not about funding a gang; it is about funding getting people off meth.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Does he consider spending of up to $15 billion on light rail in Auckland a higher priority than the plethora of New Zealand upgrade roading projects now delayed or cancelled?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I think that light rail in Auckland is a very important investment in making sure that we have transport moving around our city. But the member doesn't need to see this as a zero-sum game. There's about $6.8 billion of funding there—Hon Member: But the people of Mill Road do.SPEAKER: Order! Order!Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: —in that programme plus another $2 billion that have been added. We are able to do both of those things Mr Woodhouse.SPEAKER: I just want to say that the member doesn't have a gentle voice—the Minister answering the question—but the volume of interjection has got too much. I think I've told members that I have received in the last sitting block quite a lot of correspondence about noise that's come from one party in particular that has meant that people who are at home have trouble hearing the response. [Interruption] It's good to have all the premature pleas of not guilty.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Is $486 million on a new health bureaucracy a higher priority than spending $486 million on front-line services to clear the waiting list backlog?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I'm pleased to say that the Government's investing significant resources in both of those things. The first of those is about making sure that we've got a health system that is actually fit for purpose. It's about creating a Māori health authority that will deliver—for the first time probably in New Zealand's health system's history—outcomes that will be more positive for Māori. It's about making sure that wherever you live you get the services that you deserve and also we can deliver on front-line services. The member needs to understand that these are not zero-sum games.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Do his comments regarding the proposed Northern Pathway this morning indicate he has had a cycleway to Damascus experience and that the priority of that project over other harbour crossings is now being reconsidered?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: No. What it means is that this Government is getting on with the job of making sure that the second harbour crossing is under way. Around $50 million is dedicated to that—including completing the business case.David Seymour: So is the Government backpedalling on the bike bridge? Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: No.