2. Question No. 2—Prime MinisterHon GERRY BROWNLEE (Deputy Leader—National) to the Prime MinisterQuestion No. 2—Prime Minister2. Hon GERRY BROWNLEE (Deputy Leader—National) to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by her reaction to job losses at The Warehouse I'm angry"; if so is she also angry that more than 65000 other New Zealanders have lost their jobs since March?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Deputy Prime Minister) on behalf of the Prime Minister: In regards to the first part of the question most definitely yes. We regard any loss of livelihood a personal tragedy for the individual involved and for their families and their loved ones. In regards to the second part of the question the member is incorrect. According to the Stats New Zealand filled jobs measure for which there are charts total job numbers are up 38000 on the same time last year. I have the data for 2019 and 2020 right here and the member's welcome to see it. Budget 2020 forecasts our investments will save 140000 jobs over the next two years and support the creation of 370000 jobs over the next four years.Hon Gerry Brownlee: Can she name one policy that she has implemented beyond anger that's aimed at creating new jobs or new businesses for the 210000 New Zealanders currently on Jobseeker Support or the many others who are on wage support or those who've lost income or those who've lost part-time work so that they can get back into the workforce?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: On behalf of the Prime Minister the very suggestion that she can't name one when she can name countless numbers of projects all around this country growing all over the place—Chris Bishop: Away you go.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Well 13000 in the Provincial Growth Fund for a start—yes that's the long-range forecast. When for example the biggest mussel farm in the world and the border get going and we put pharmaceuticals around that I can see burgeoning industries all over this country because this party and this Government have got commitment and a vision a real vision of where we're going into the future—not spend and hope.Hon Gerry Brownlee: Is the Prime Minister then aware that quite often pestilence and other atrocities for humans occur when there is too much emphasis placed on long-range forecasts?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: On behalf of the Prime Minister yes—I'm looking at one.Hon Gerry Brownlee: Does she think that her Government's policies such as lifting the minimum wage during the middle of a lockdown have contributed to the closure of more than 70 retail outlets this year and the associated job losses?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: On behalf of the Prime Minister against the growth of great economies like the Nordic economies; like for example Singapore; and dare I say others—they were all predicated on the need for higher wages to drive productivity and changes. We understand that. We don't subscribe to the neoliberal philosophy that the few and very few should get the privilege of being in the economy and the rest pay the price for it.Hon Grant Robertson: In light of that last supplementary question does the Prime Minister believe that the presence of a virus and its resulting one-in-100-year economic shock may have a greater influence on job loss than any other factor the members opposite might raise?Hon Gerry Brownlee: Well not according to him.DEPUTY SPEAKER: I don't think the question was asked of you.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: On behalf of the Prime Minister I am a woman not a "him". Answering for the Prime Minister it is clear as daylight that this tragic visitation of a plague from offshore which the rest of the world is wrestling with and which we've been privileged by careful management to be possibly the most successful country in the world at or one of the most successful ones is something that has rapidly beset wealth in business and dare I say it employment. We're very much focused on that but had we failed the circumstance would be so much worse and the prospect of recovery almost hopeless.Hon Gerry Brownlee: What employment effect will there be from 32000 returning New Zealand residents to date who have been through the managed isolation system and how does that compare to the employment effect of 32000 migrants coming here for the first time?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: On behalf of the Prime Minister I get the first part of that equation. The second part seeing as the immigration figures are the lowest since 1959 seems to have been plucked out of mid-air with no factual base whatsoever.Hon Gerry Brownlee: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. That wasn't the question that I asked. May I repeat it?DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes. I'm not sure that it was answered yep—that it was addressed; I beg your pardon.Hon Gerry Brownlee: Thank you. What employment effect will there be from the 32000 returning New Zealand citizens and residents who have been through the managed isolation process so far and how does that employment effect compare to that of 32000 migrants coming here for the first time?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Again on behalf of the Prime Minister the first part of the equation is a fact. The second part by which we are meant to make the comparison does not given that we are in the lowest immigration statistics since 1959 even resemble the facts. Where are these 32000 migrants that you say are coming?Hon Gerry Brownlee: No it's what's the economic effect? That was the first part.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: On behalf of the Prime Minister come down with your mind organised to ask questions.Hon Gerry Brownlee: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. The question asks about the effect of the people coming in on employment.DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes I understand that but—Hon Gerry Brownlee: If it was the same number coming through immigration would it be the same effect?DEPUTY SPEAKER: I understand that but the—Rt Hon Winston Peters: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker.DEPUTY SPEAKER: No I don't need any help because—Rt Hon Winston Peters: Yes you do Madam Speaker.DEPUTY SPEAKER: No I don't need any help. What I'm saying is I think that the question was addressed by the member actually disputing the figures that were used in the second part of the question.Hon Gerry Brownlee: Well I'll perhaps ask it a different way: what is the employment effect that 32000 returning New Zealanders or residents who've been through managed isolation up to this point will have compared to a similar number had they come in as immigrants?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: On behalf of the Prime Minister these are the actual employment figures: the 32500 actuals who are also coming back are people who have been facilitated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade who moved 80000 people back to this country. The offshore number in total movements—150000 without impairing our economy. But as for this abstract 32500 replacing actual New Zealanders and being immigrants we have no idea what the member's talking about because it's not a fact.Hon Gerry Brownlee: Does the Prime Minister think that perhaps because she doesn't know what ordinary New Zealanders are thinking about it's time she did get in touch with the thousands who are out of work and losing jobs on a daily basis?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: On behalf of the Prime Minister these are the facts not wanton misrepresentation cast in terms of parliamentary questions by somebody who should know a whole lot better."