Mallard Trevor: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Mallard Trevor: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:656;Page:5371] 
8.  
Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Labour—Hutt South) 
 to the  
Minister of Finance 
: What progress has he made on line by line reviews and what are his priorities for the next 12 months? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance) 
: 
 As I said in the Budget departmental reviews have freed up $2 billion over the next 4 years. This money is being put back into Government priorities such as boosting front-line services by training more doctors and nurses and employing more police and probation officers. Over the next 12 months we will continue to focus on ensuring that front-line services are improved and that resources are shifted from back-office functions to front-line services. 
Hon Maryan Street 
: Did the cut to adult and community education target the lowest-value expenditure; if not will the Minister give an example of lower-value expenditure? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: The departmental chief executives sat alongside brand new Ministers and worked through the processes that were required for the Budget. The reviews are largely driven by the judgment of those who are much closer to front-line services and reflect clearly expressed Government priorities. 
Hon Sir Roger Douglas 
: Why has the Minister of Finance made line by line reviews his top priority when surely the more important question is whether agencies such as the Families Commission the Charities Commission the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the Ministry of Youth Affairs should even exist; if they should exist which of their functions should continue—for example $3 million on racing sponsorship $13 million on the Contestable Waste Minimisation Fund and $9 million on strengthening relationships with Maori on brokerage—and if those functions should continue can we deliver the service more efficiently through competition? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: Those are all very good questions that I hope the departments are asking themselves. But the Government is not focusing on small agencies; we are focusing on large ones like the Accident Compensation Corporation. The liability to the taxpayer and the levy payer has got completely out of control because of the reckless management of the previous Government; it now amounts to almost $24 billion. Getting that under control will have more impact than a discussion on the Ministry of Youth Affairs. 
Lynne Pillay 
: Did the cuts to physiotherapy for the most disabled children in our schools target the lowest-value expenditure; if not will the Minister give an example of lower-value expenditure? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: I covered in answers to an earlier question the issue of special education. The Government made it clear that it felt that special education was a high priority; that is why it allocated an additional $51 million so that another 1000 young people with challenges would be able to get the support they need. 
Carmel Sepuloni 
: Did the cut to the training incentive allowance which was designed to assist beneficiaries in gaining skills and employment target the lowest-value expenditure; if not will the Minister give an example of lower-value expenditure? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: I will repeat the answer I gave earlier: the departmental chief executives and Ministers—particularly the chief executives and departmental officials who are familiar with the wasteful ways of the last Government—decided what was low-priority expenditure.