3. CRAIG FOSS (National—Tukituki) Link to this
to the Minister of Finance
What measures has the Government put in place to obtain better value for public expenditure in preparation for the Budget 2009?
Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance) Link to this
The Government has taken a number of measures to obtain better value for public expenditure. First, we have made clear that the priority is fulfilling the promises of the incoming Government. Secondly, we have made it clear to departments that we will fund only bids for emergency pressures, not just any new programme. Thirdly, we have charged Ministers and chief executives with reprioritising the commitments of the previous Government, and we have employed purchase advisers to assist with the task.
The use of purchase advisers has been very cost-effective. Almost all of them worked—[ Interruption]—this is the bit those members do not want people to hear—in senior roles for the previous Government. They have been able to assist the Government in scrutinising $60 billion of public spending. The total cap on the cost of purchase advisers is around $400,000.
Chris HipkinsWhy will the Minister not simply admit that the Government instructed departments to appoint his hand-picked political hacks because they were trying to hide the fact that the number of Beehive staff has massively increased under this National Government, at a time when its members are asking everybody else to stomach cuts?
Mr SPEAKER
Hon Darren Hughes Link to this
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I doubt very much the Minister of Finance could have heard that question, because I am sitting next to the member who asked it and I could not hear him. I ask you to allow him to put it again. There was a wall of noise—[ Interruption] I am on a point of order. When Labour members take points of order, will they be heard in silence?
Hon Darren Hughes Link to this
I could not hear the member, and my colleagues could not hear, because of the wall of noise. I think it is only fair that he gets to restate his question.
The dilemma, of course, is that the question was very politically loaded. I invite the member to repeat his question, but if it is exactly the same, I imagine there will be a similar reaction.
Why will the Minister not simply admit that the Government instructed departments to appoint his hand-picked political hacks because it was trying to hide the fact that spending on Beehive staff has massively increased under this National Government, at a time when its members are asking everybody else to stomach cuts?
That member, along with a number of other new Labour members, would know what a hand-picked political hack was! I could not find any words that better described that member’s role in the previous Government, and that is why public expenditure got out of control.
What would the result have been had better purchase advice been made available in previous Budget rounds?
In previous Budget rounds the Labour Government depended on hand-picked political hacks instead of well-informed and experienced people with years of public service behind them. The effect of that was that Crown expenditure grew by $20 billion, or 50 percent, in the last 5 years, and there are not many new public services to show for it.
Unfortunately, the previous Government decided to rely on hand-picked political hacks, but, actually, purchase advice has been available to every Government. I understand that the previous Government either used hand-picked political hacks or installed Treasury officers in this role, spread throughout the Beehive. This Government does not do what it is told by Treasury; that Government did.