Ngaro Alfred: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeNgaro Alfred: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 05 May 2016. Volume:713;Page:10826. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]2.ALFRED NGARO (National) to the Minister of Finance: What steps has the Government taken to deliver Better Public Services to support New Zealand families?Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Acting Minister of Finance): The Prime Minister set 10 challenging targets for Better Public Services in 2012 and since then we have made some very good progress. Benefit dependency for example continues to fall. We have made significant progress on crime: we currently have the lowest crime rate in New Zealand since 1978. We have reduced the number of children and young people experiencing physical abuse. And immunisation rates continue to grow with almost 94 percent of 8-month-olds fully vaccinated. This is a Government that measures success by the results we achieve not necessarily by the amount of money that we have spent.Alfred Ngaro: What progress has been made against Result 1 Reducing Long-term Welfare Dependence?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: The number of benefit recipients has decreased by 7245 over the last year largely driven by decreases in sole parent support and in jobseeker support numbers. This is good news on two levels because sole parents in particular are getting into the workforce and becoming more independent. In the last year we have reduced the long-term cost of benefit dependence by around $2.4 billion through welfare reform and better support for people on benefits to get back into work. It is also helped by strong growth in the labour market with over 200000 additional jobs created in the last 3 years and an employment rate in New Zealand that is in the top three of the OECD.Alfred Ngaro: What progress is the Government making in achieving better results from the health system?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: The health sector is a very key priority for this Government. Since 2008-09 annual funding for health has increased by around $4 billion—from $11.8 billion to $15.9 billion over 7 years. This has resulted in the number of patients receiving elective surgery increasing from around 118000 in 2007-08 to 167000 in 2014-15—that is around 50000 more surgeries a year over the last 7 years. We have seen major improvements in rheumatic fever and yesterday the health Minister announced additional funding for Pharmac which will take its annual budget to a record $850 million—Hon David Parker: Point of order Mr Speaker.Mr SPEAKER: Order! I am sorry to interrupt the member.Hon David Parker: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Mr Speaker you often remind us that it is for the Speaker to determine the length of an answer and that is correct. But it brings disorder when the Opposition feels that a different standard is applied to Ministers answering questions than to Opposition members including Mr Peters asking them.Mr SPEAKER: The member was right with his first point; it is for me to determine. The answer I hope is now concluded because it was certainly a very long answer.Alfred Ngaro: How are improvements in results in the education sector supporting our young people?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: Again a fulsome answer because education is improving under this Government. Spending has increased by $1.8 billion which has contributed to the outstanding success of Result 5 of Better Public Services targets increasing the proportion of 18-year-olds with National Certificate of Educational Achievement level 2. That has jumped by nearly 10 percent since 2011. We have also introduced a range of other initiatives to boost student achievement including trades academies the Youth Guarantee scheme and Māori—Hon David Parker: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I make the same point of order. There are so many—Mr SPEAKER: Order! No. [Interruption] Order! Both members will resume their seats. To continue to raise points of order like that is in itself creating disorder Mr Parker.Hon David Parker: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Answers are meant to be concise. When the Minister fills them full of irrelevant superlatives—things that are not facts but are his assertions of how grand he and his Government is—Mr SPEAKER: Order! No I do not want any further assistance from either members if both members want to stay for the balance of question time. I will determine when the answer has gone on for too long. If the Opposition does not like a particular answer and starts to make a lot of noise that is not in itself a reason for me curtailing the length of the answer.Hon David Parker: Point of order Mr Speaker.Mr SPEAKER: I just need to make it very clear—[Interruption] Order! The member will just resume his seat. We have discussed the matter as to the length of answers and me determining that I will determine them. If the member now wants to raise a point of order that does not in any way address the matters we have just determined I will certainly consider it. But if the member is going to continue to relitigate the decision that I have already made I will then be asking the member to leave.Hon David Parker: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Your answer addressed the length of questions. My second point of order is that they are full of irrelevancies in the answers that do not meet the prescription—Mr SPEAKER: Order! [Interruption] Order! I covered that point as well by saying just because an Opposition member does not like the answer does not mean that I will necessarily curtail it. [Interruption] Order!Hon Ruth Dyson: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. During three of the four points of order raised by the Hon David Parker and during your ruling the Minister continued to interject and that is outside the Standing Orders and he should be reprimanded—Mr SPEAKER: That is certainly not within the Standing Orders. If there is a point of order being heard it will be heard in silence. I did not notice the interjection; I was concentrating very much on what the member was saying. Is there a further point of order? [Interruption] I hope it is relevant to the House and not in any way just relitigating the territory we have just covered otherwise I will be asking that member to leave the Chamber. So I am just being very clear.Richard Prosser: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. No Mr Speaker. My point of order is that if the Minister was quoting from an official document—and it certainly appeared that he was quoting from an official document because he appeared to be reading his answer—Mr SPEAKER: Easily resolved. [Interruption] Order! Was the Minister quoting from an official document? [Interruption] No he was not. Question number—[Interruption] Order! I know it is Thursday afternoon but we are still going to get through question time.