Woodhouse Michael; Robertson GrantHon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National): Thank you Mr Chair. I think the deputy chair's summation of the Finance and Expenditure Committee's examination was a very good one—and I don't want to sound pedantic—but with one exception and that is the Superannuation Fund contributions are actually the third-largest appropriation in this Vote not the second-largest with the first one I think being debt servicing and the second one being the indemnity for the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. But I am being a bit pedantic.One of the things I think she did highlight but which isn't the whole story is the fact that debt-servicing costs are extremely low when we look across international comparisons but debt isn't and what the Treasury also said in another report is that we are heading for an unsustainable spending and debt trap. So my questions for today will be around the transparency probity and value of the spending that's going on that's going to incur the debt the costs of which are in Vote Finance. I want to just quote the Minister's own words back actually because as he said in his answer to Louise Upston in question time these are unprecedented times and they are calling for unprecedented levels of spending but what I take issue with is that fact that it's spending for spending's sake. Why do I say that? Well in early May when the Minister managed to find $926 million of savings down the back of the couch rather than not spend that money he found other ways to spend it and even in the Wellbeing Budget document on page 41 he said The 2021 operating allowance and allowances across the forecast period have been increased from what was signalled in the Budget Policy Statement 2021 (because of the improved economic outlook and stronger fiscal position. The four-year capital allowance has also been increased". What I would have liked to have seen him say was "The fiscal position has increased so we do not have to spend as much or borrow as much." Now we've had a bit of a tête-à-tête about imprest supply and appropriations more generally so I'm going to start on that. I think it's really important that we clarify when we talk about authorisation to spend appropriation and nominal allocation of money out of funds we get the language right so my first questions are around this. So firstly can the Minister confirm that it's the Government's intention to introduce a second imprest supply bill tomorrow when we start the third reading? If that's the case is he prepared to table that bill so that we can at least examine it and prepare for that debate or either discuss it now or prepare for it tomorrow and if not can he at least give the committee a sense of how much extra spending he seeks Parliament's authorisation for?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): Yes I can confirm for the member that there will be a second imprest supply bill as there has been in every single year since the Public Finance Act passed in 1989. This is a feature of our system. It is—as the member has noted—effectively the cash-flow supply between appropriation bills passing in the House. The first imprest supply bill in each year is generally put in place because by the time we pass the appropriation Act there's normally at least three months gone by in the financial year and one needs to be able to account for that. The second imprest supply bill—the one that will be introduced tomorrow to the House—effectively deals with changes to appropriations after the main Estimates were finalised in April but also provides an authority for in-principle transfers that have taken place expenditure under things like the between-Budget contingency and also for a buffer for unexpected expenses.That brings me to the second of the member's questions which is the scale of that. I'm not going to be introducing a bill today. It will be introduced tomorrow just as it has been every other time an imprest supply bill has been put forward. But yes it will be significantly larger than any of us would have expected before there was COVID-19. The member will be aware because he was in the House that from 2020 through into 2021 it has been necessary for us to have significantly more buffer put in place because of unexpected circumstances. I've stood in this House as we passed an imprest supply bill going into COVID the first time when none of us had any idea how long we were going to be in forms of lockdown and so we had a very large imprest supply bill at that point. We still face the uncertainties of COVID and so therefore cash flow is important. What I do think is worth clearing up yet again is that all expenditure must be appropriated by Parliament—by this House—and that happens through the appropriation bill. From time to time it is necessary to do expenditure before that occurs. That has happened in every single year since 1989."