Willis NicolaHon NICOLA WILLIS (Minister of Finance): Well I'm sure that the mortgage payers of Mana would be disappointed to hear that their representative seems to want the interest rates to stay higher for longer which is what I took from that statement. As a humble member I don't take responsibility for everything that has occurred. Nine months may be enough time to grow a baby but it's not enough time to completely change the course of a Government but we are making good progress.There are a few things that members on Hon Barbara Edmonds' side of the Chamber said would happen. They said that if we delivered tax reduction it would not be fiscally neutral. Well we proved that wrong. Then they said that delivering tax reduction would increase inflation and instead we've seen inflation come down faster than had been forecast. Then they said that tax reduction would lead to either increases in interest rates or interest rates staying higher for longer. Instead what we've seen is the official cash rate come down sooner than had been predicted. So against that backdrop I defend our economic decision making.The member has asked a very good question and it is one that this House should be focused on I believe every day and that is: how do we enhance the productivity of this economy. Because that productivity directly relates to how much value New Zealanders are able to create with an hour that they work. For my part I want New Zealanders to face better choices better opportunities and for this to be a wealthier nation that has more funds to invest in the things that matter to all of us. Now as the member knows enhancing productivity is not as simple as giving Callaghan Innovation a bigger grant because if that would have worked we would have seen a big enhancement of productivity over the past few years as the last Government threw more money at just about every Government agency it could find. Instead what enhancing productivity requires is deliberate action across a number of fronts.I put to the member that one of the most important areas is education and skills because our most important capital is human capital. We cannot expect to have a more productive economy if our school leavers can't read write and do maths. The legacy we inherit from the previous Government is one of declining educational achievements across those basics which are the precursors for going on to be innovative scientists AI engineers road workers and the like. So we are actually stabilising the base of productivity by ensuring that we're getting our skills back to basics.I then put to the member that actually having an infrastructure pipeline that works is critical for productivity. The OECD and others have said that our infrastructure deficit and the inadequate way in which we plan and deliver infrastructure as a nation has directly reduced our productivity. And so I'm hoping that soon Minister Bishop will make a contribution about the many things we are doing to improve the infrastructure pipeline in this country.We also need to be an outward-looking country that builds on our trade relationships and invites foreign capital in. We have low rates of capital intensity and we need to make sure that we're getting more of that into our economy. And yes regulation does actually matter. If you look at what the OECD have said they say that one of the issues for New Zealand is that this economy has not got the levels of competition it needs in major sectors because of its small size and we therefore need to be particularly careful to make sure our regulation ensures that our markets operate properly. And you will have seen that the Government is responding for example to the Commerce Commission's banking inquiry. We will take very seriously the next report on the grocery reforms that have occurred ensuring competition and ensuring sensible regulation as part of our recipe for productivity.Finally Madam Chair I would put to you that if you want a more productive economy one of the things you need to reward is initiative and hard work. And one of the ways you do that is have a Government that says When you earn a dollar it's not always the Government's job to take more of it. In fact we'll give some back.""