4. Question No. 4—FinanceHon PAUL GOLDSMITH (National) to the Minister of FinanceQuestion No. 4—FinanceSPEAKER: Before I call question No. 4 I just want to indicate that the Minister of Finance's office indicated to my office that this may be a longer answer than normal. I also want to indicate to him that I thought his answers to question No. 1 and both supplementaries were excessively long; and that will be taken into account when I cut him off—if I cut him off.4. Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH (National) to the Minister of Finance: What responsibility if any does he take for what the Reserve Bank described as a sharp decline in GDP growth in the second half of 2018" and what is the Government's plan to grow the economy?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): The member needs to read just a little bit further in the May Monetary Policy Statement that he takes that quote from to where the Reserve Bank says "fiscal policy continues to support growth"—and I certainly will take responsibility for that. In answer to the second part of the question we have a significant programme of work to support our plan for a modern economy that is productive sustainable and inclusive. The core objectives of that plan as outlined by the Prime Minister last year are to grow and share New Zealand's prosperity more fairly; support thriving and sustainable regions; govern responsibly and develop broader measures of success; and transition to a clean green carbon-neutral New Zealand. I have a couple more pages but I think I might be testing the patience of the Speaker.SPEAKER: The member's right.Hon Paul Goldsmith: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. If the question that's been asked is "What is the Government's plan?" listing the objectives of a plan doesn't seem to me to be answering the question.SPEAKER: Well I think many of us could spend all day—and I'm sure we wouldn't want to—listening to the Minister of Finance on that subject. I think he did answer the question.Hon Paul Goldsmith: What are the Government's plans to meet the objectives outlined in his plan?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I thank the member very much for his question.SPEAKER: I don't!Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Specifically the plan includes improving New Zealand's productivity through investment in research and development beginning with the $1 billion research and development tax incentive that will lift New Zealand's R & D investment towards our ambitious target of 2 percent. In terms of growing and supporting thriving and sustainable regions the core element of our plan is the Provincial Growth Fund where we're investing over the term $3 billion in infrastructure and productive businesses in the regions to unlock our growth potential. We're working with our partners in the Future of Work Tripartite Forum and the Business Advisory Council to build more productive businesses and workplaces. A key element of our plan in that area is improving the skills of workers through initiatives such as the fees-free scheme the reform of vocational education the establishment of the micro-credentials system Mana in Mahi He Poutama Rangatahi and a number of other initiatives. On moving to a more sustainable economy we have initiatives such as Green Investment Finance Ltd the establishment of the new national energy development centre in Taranaki as well as a new science research fund for cutting edge technology. In terms of making the economy more inclusive we are doing this by ensuring that all New Zealanders get a fair share of economic success. Some examples of our plan here include—Hon Maggie Barry: Speech. Speech.Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: It is a speech but I was invited to do it Ms Barry so I'm going to keep going. We raised the minimum wage to $17.70 on 1 April and we'll gradually increase it to $20 by 2021. And—SPEAKER: OK. That's enough. [Interruption] Notwithstanding the warning the member did ask for it.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Does he share the Governor of the Reserve Bank's view that low levels of business confidence have contributed to the sharp decline in growth in the New Zealand economy?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: There's no doubt that we would like to see the levels of business investment higher. We did get a report today from the OECD that indicates that they believe that they will be higher over the coming year. In terms of business sentiment surveys I leave that to others to divine exactly what lies behind that but certainly the international environment has had a significant impact on New Zealand businesses.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Why does he blame international headwinds for the sharp decline in growth when our terms of trade—the prices that we receive for our exports—are at historically very high levels?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: One of the reasons is a little further down page 8 of the Monetary Policy Statement from which the quote in the member's primary question comes where the Reserve Bank Governor says "International factors have also contributed to the recent decline of GDP growth".Hon Paul Goldsmith: To the nearest billion dollars what is an additional 1 percent GDP growth worth to New Zealand?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I believe it's about $800 million.Hon Paul Goldsmith: $800 million?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: About that.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Does he think that the people of New Zealand would expect their Minister of Finance to know that 1 percent of GDP is about $3 billion and that's the amount of money that we've missed out on given the sharp decline in growth in the past year?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: That's not what the member initially asked. What I would say is that on this side of the House we are very confident in the growth rates that we are seeing. We know that they're not as high as they have been in the past—there are many reasons for that—but this Government remains confident about those growth rates."