Robertson Grant: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeRobertson Grant: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 23 July 2015. Volume:707;Page:5278. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]6.GRANT ROBERTSON (Labour—Wellington Central) to the Minister of Finance: Does he agree with the Reserve Bank Governor’s statement that “the growth outlook is now softer than at the time of the June Statement. Rebuild activity in Canterbury appears to have peaked and the world price for New Zealand’s dairy exports has fallen sharply”?Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance): Generally although not with exactly every word that the Reserve Bank Governor says. But I also agree with what the governor said when he said that the economy is currently growing at an annual rate of around 2.5 percent which is stronger than the OECD average of 2 percent. Although expectations of growth may be coming back a bit from recent forecasts we are on track for moderate sustainable growth as the Government has been saying pretty much all year.Grant Robertson: Is Westpac’s analysis correct that the Canterbury rebuild has already peaked and will not add materially to economic growth over the remainder of this year or the next and from 2017 will reduce economic growth by almost two-thirds of a percent?Hon BILL ENGLISH: I have not seen any of the detail of that analysis. There have been a lot of forecasts that the Christchurch activity has peaked and it just keeps on peaking. So for instance while the residential rebuild is well through the public sector rebuild which is quite substantial is only about 10 or 15 percent complete and there are still billions of dollars to spend. I think we have yet to see whether Christchurch activity has peaked.Grant Robertson: Is ANZ senior economist Sharon Zollner correct when she says: “Commodity woes are far from specific to dairy. It is a sea of red across the entire commodity complex.”?Hon Steven Joyce: No she’s wrong actually.Hon BILL ENGLISH: To quote my colleague she may well be wrong on that one.Grant Robertson: Everyone’s wrong.Hon BILL ENGLISH: Well the member likes to quote bank economists when he thinks they are negative and he will not quote them when he thinks they are positive. Actually in respect of prices for exports some export prices are down and some are certainly up.Grant Robertson: Does he agree with the chief executive of the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand Colleen Milne that house prices in Auckland will continue to rise after today’s rate cut and with predictions that the median Auckland house price will break the $1 million mark before the end of next year?Hon BILL ENGLISH: All I can say is you do not have to be a real estate agent or even the Opposition spokesman on finance to predict that Auckland house prices might rise.Grant Robertson: Is it not the case that with the Canterbury rebuild peaking and commodity prices across the board tumbling the only thing left in his master plan for the economy is the Auckland housing bubble—that is it?Hon BILL ENGLISH: No and just to orientate the member as the Reserve Bank has said today the outlook is a bit softer but the economy is expected to grow between 2 and 3 percent over the next 12 months. That might not suit the member. It might be easier for him to talk the economy down than try to understand what is happening. But that is what New Zealanders are doing each day. They are out there investing another dollar there is job growth there is income growth and there is innovation. This economy has good prospects.Grant Robertson: Is his new plan for the economy the further sale of State assets given that he told the competition and regulation conference today that “State assets are relics of a bygone era.”?Hon BILL ENGLISH: There is no change in the Government policy about the sale of State assets but—Grant Robertson: Why did you say it then?Hon BILL ENGLISH: Well if the member wants to talk about where the economy is headed and he does not know that the post office is losing the competition with the internet then the Labour Party is in very serious trouble.Grant Robertson: Can he confirm to the House that today at the competition and regulation conference he described State assets as a class of assets as relicts of a bygone era?Hon BILL ENGLISH: Well if the member thinks that—[Interruption] I can confirm that I made a statement like that with reference to companies like New Zealand Post. I mean if the member thinks that the postal service is the cutting edge of innovation and growth in the New Zealand economy that is like thinking the Labour Party is the cutting edge of politics in the New Zealand economy.