Appropriation (2022/23 Supplementary Estimates) Bill
Members, we now come to clause 6, including the debate on the amendments proposed to Schedule 1. The question is that clause 6 stand part.
Andrew Bayly: Well, that’s a very timely—
CHAIRPERSON (Hon Poto Williams): Are you seeking the call?
Yeah—Madam Chair. Very timely, considering our last conversation. So the $500 million that’s been set aside for “North Island Severe Weather Events—Crown Payments to Local Authorities and Other Eligible Stakeholders”—because when I went through the documents, I could find $500 million in the Budget documents. So what I’m trying to understand is: is this an additional amount or is this that amount?
Mr Bayly will need to tell me where in the documents he found $500 million. I’m not at all surprised in the greater Estimates that he found that number, because it’s a number and there are a lot of numbers in here. But the point that we’re making is this Supplementary Order Paper means that we amend Vote Finance in the Supplementary Estimates. It is $500 million that was not in the Supplementary Estimates until today. And the reason for that is the reason I gave earlier in my opening remarks that the decision about this came after we closed off the Estimates, just as has had to be done in the past with other matters like the Canterbury earthquakes and so on. So it is simply updating Vote Finance for that number.
So does this cover the Auckland wider area, the Coromandel, Northland, and Gisborne? So it covers all those events?
Yes.
Right, and does the Minister expect that this will be the final amount that will be allocated to these types of arrangements, or is this again just for the next couple of months or so?
It’s the best estimate that we can do for appropriations, as was stated a number of times in the earlier debate. Appropriations are not targets; they’re limits. There is a lot of work to do on both category 3 and category 2 properties, and so this is the amount that is the Estimate for the purposes of the appropriation, but, obviously, more work is required.
Clause 6 agreed to.
Clauses 7 and 8 and Schedules 1 to 3
agreed to.
Clause 7
agreed to.
Clause 8