Williams Andrew: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeWilliams Andrew: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 21 May 2014. Volume:699;Page:18173. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]12.ANDREW WILLIAMS (NZ First) to theMinister of Finance: How much have departmental output expenses been cut in Budget 2014 for the 2014/15 financial year compared with the 2013/14 financial year?Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Associate Minister of Finance) on behalf of theMinister of Finance: They have not been cut. Departmental output expenses have increased slightly from $12.99 billion in 2013-14 to $13.015 billion in 2014-15. But actually rather than focusing on the amount we spend the focus has to be on the results we get from public services because of course as the member may be aware money does not grow on trees. The Better Public Services programme sets 10 challenging targets for delivery. We are making good progress and the focus is very much on value for money as well as on the overall amount.Andrew Williams: I seek leave to table a document prepared by the Parliamentary Library that shows that departmental output expenses have been reduced by—Mr SPEAKER: Order! The document has been well described. It is a report prepared by the Parliamentary Library for the member himself I am assuming. Is there any objection to that being tabled? There is none. It can be tabled.Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.Andrew Williams: What was the reaction from heads of departments in response to the significant cuts to departmental output expenses across four ministries in his Budget?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: I am sorry but the member is simply wrong and I am trying to divine why he is running this line of questions because that is certainly not the advice from the Budget. As I said if anything the departmental expenses have gone up very slightly. To be of assistance to the House I wonder whether the member is confusing the change of expenses from just single category to multiple category appropriations under the new law which may look like a change in some tables but in actual fact is exactly the same.Andrew Williams: Does he believe additional police officers will be able to be recruited into the police force given the fact that he has cut a whopping $42 million from the police output expenses budget?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: On the particular matter that the member raises my advice is that that was simply a one-off amount that had been placed in the 2013-14 year. It was never expected to continue in the 2014-15 year and it is not having any impact on police numbers.Andrew Williams: How well does he think that the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment is set to manage health and safety given the increase in workplace deaths and accidents in forestry and in mining and given the fact that the Minister has cut $30 million from the labour department section of the ministry’s budget?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: I think it is important for the member to understand that there is a change there in the setting up of the Crown agencyWorkSafe New Zealand where some previously departmental money has been moved into theWorkSafe New Zealand budget and there is actually a big and significant increase in the investment in health and safety through that adjustment. I think again it is important to note also the work that is being done in that area. Although it is very early days we are seeing fortunately some reduction in the casualty rate in the industries that the member raises.Andrew Williams: Does he believe that rural and provincial New Zealand will still have good access to courts and will not face further court closures given that he has cut $22 million from the Department of Courts budget which has seen courts closed in the likes of Dargaville Feilding Upper Hutt and Warkworth?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: Well I do not agree with the member’s negative analysis. In fact one of the key reasons we are needing less court time than we did previously is that crime has dropped so dramatically under this Government which is why I make the point that actually it is not just about the amount of money spent; it is the quality of that expenditure. The member may not know this but as I said before money just does not grow on trees. No matter how much you water the trees you do not get more money.Andrew Williams: Having cut police courts labour and at least 30 other departmental output budgets by over $284 million how much additional funding has the Prime Minister’s Diplomatic Protection Squad been allocated in the Budget 2014 given the last 4 consequent years of million-dollar blowouts for protecting the Prime Minister?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: And there I was feeling slightly guilty about that arboreal comment before—but no longer because actually I think that the member’s question is ridiculous. The simple fact of the matter is—as I pointed out to him at the very first question he raised—that it has gone up slightly and that this Government is focused on getting results for the investment we make. Actually one of the successes of all the Ministers in this Government—and I think for the Minister of Finance it makes it easier for him to do his job—is that we are actually continuing to get better results from our public services all the time without putting buckets of extra money in.Andrew Williams: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I did not hear any response to the Diplomatic Protection—Mr SPEAKER: Order! The answer addressed the question that was raised by the member.