9. Question No. 9—Government Digital ServicesMELISSA LEE (National) to the Minister of Government Digital ServicesQuestion No. 9—Government Digital Services9. MELISSA LEE (National) to the Minister of Government Digital Services: Does she stand by all of the Government's actions in regards to the appointment of a Chief Technology Officer; if not why not?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS (Minister of Government Digital Services): Yes in the context in which they were undertaken.Melissa Lee: How does she justify a half a million dollar budget for a small committee of digital experts to replace the scrapped Chief Technology Officer position when the total expenditure of the Digital Economy and Digital Inclusion Ministerial Advisory Group (DEDIMAG) made up of 13 people that met formally seven times this year was estimated at just over $200000?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: I think the member is getting ahead of herself. The letter that we sent to stakeholders yesterday was around the fact that we have come to the conclusion that in terms of the strategic leadership role in technology for New Zealand there is more than one person required and that policy work will be carried out and a full Cabinet paper will be taken to Cabinet in March. I'd like to remind the member that actually the Government she was part of had nine years in Government and did nothing about putting this leadership in place until the last three months in which they were in Government.Melissa Lee: Does she stand by her commitment in October that the Digital Economy and Digital Inclusion Ministerial Advisory Group will continue to exist?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: I have met several times with that group since I have taken over this portfolio and I discussed as recently as this week with that group around what their role in the future will be and what an important role they had to play. When the Prime Minister asked me to take on this portfolio she asked me to consider that role in conjunction with Callaghan Innovation. She asked me to consider that role in conjunction with other parts of the Government like the Government Chief Digital Officer and I will continue to work through that with the ministerial advisory group.Melissa Lee: Why is she establishing yet another ministerial advisory group when she has a digital economy team at the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE); DEDIMAG which is Digital Economy and Digital Inclusion Ministerial Advisory Group of 13 people; a digital stakeholder network of roughly 300 people; a Government Chief Data Steward; a Government Chief Digital Officer; and a Chief Technology Officer let alone countless other public servants private sector stakeholders and her own advisers who can already support her for no further cost to the taxpayer?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: I think it would have been useful if the member had listened to my previous answer: the policy work is still being done on that. But I would like to draw the member's attention to where the previous Government got to in the three months they did work over nine years. The conclusions they came to—and I advise those members to listen carefully—were a working group of MBIE the Department of Internal Affairs the State Services Commission the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and Treasury staff working on developed options and the solution comprising a group with an attached secretariat structure was proposed to the former Minister.Melissa Lee: Why doesn't the Minister just admit this whole process has been an absolute shambles from start to finish costing the taxpayers hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: What I will admit is this is a Government committed to putting in place the leadership around digital technology that that party failed to do in Government over nine years.