Mark Ron: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeMark Ron: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 15 March 2016. Volume:712;Page:9656. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]7.RON MARK (Deputy Leader—NZ First) to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by all his statements; if so why?Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance): Yes.Ron Mark: Why did he say on Q+A that he was “not overly concerned” that the banks have not passed on the official cash rate cut when these banks are creaming almost 9 percent interest?Hon BILL ENGLISH: I do not know what the member’s second statement means but in respect of the first the threat of competition—of customers shopping around and of other banks cutting rates—will be the ultimate determinant of where the banks go.Ron Mark: Does he find it acceptable and in the best interests of the rural sector that a foreign bank can reject a rescue package sell up a farmer and send all the unsecured small business owners through the floor when all that bank had to do was shave its extortionate 8.7 percent interest rate?Hon BILL ENGLISH: The member may well be making that up. I mean there is no reference to any particular case—Ron Mark: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I take offence at that. I seek your protection. We can table documents if we want—Mr SPEAKER: Order! It is a debating chamber. There is nothing there that I think can be taken offence at. The member just said that he disagreed with the figures effectively. He could have said it another way but it is hardly offensive.Rt Hon Winston Peters: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I happen to know something of this case but here is the point: when you make a statement like that as your opening gambit it is an allegation of dishonesty.Mr SPEAKER: Order! No the member will resume his seat. He may well know something about the case but that is not a point of order. I will ask the Minister of Finance whether he wishes to continue his answer.Hon BILL ENGLISH: We have been saying for a while that it is in the best interests of both the banks and the dairy industry to stick together. We would expect that banks will take losses on behalf of farmers they are linked to who may not be able to service their debt completely or pay it all back and we would expect that farmers will respond to the need to reduce their debt and reduce their production costs in part so that they can meet their obligations to the banks from which they borrow.Ron Mark: Has that Minister forgotten that when the banks foreclose on a farmer it is the unsecured creditors—the small businesses like the fencing contractors the engineering workshops the irrigation engineers the vets and their employees—who will take the hit and with that in mind why will his Government not act? And in particular why will it not—Mr SPEAKER: Order! Bring the question to a conclusion.Ron Mark: —support New Zealand First’s farm debt mediation bill?Hon BILL ENGLISH: No we are fully aware of the consequences which is why for instance the Reserve Bank which oversees the banking system has been warning the dairy industry about the size of its debt for some time because the debt has been entered into freely by farmers borrowing and those who have worked for those farmers have been well aware that that is the way the industry was working—that is that a lot of the growth was financed by debt. We would fully sympathise with any farmer who finds themselves in that situation but all the indications are that the banks understand what would work in their best interests—that is the stable and orderly restructuring of some debt where farmers are under pressure—and that farmers are doing their best to adjust their spending and their debt levels so they can remain sustainable.Rt Hon John Key: Can the Minister of Finance confirm that China is New Zealand’s largest export market when it comes to dairy products and can the Minister confirm that without China as a market to be able to sell into it would be much harder for New Zealand dairy farmers? And can he confirm—Mr SPEAKER: Order! [Interruption]Order!There are three parts to that question. The first two the Minister can address.Hon BILL ENGLISH: I can confirm that and I can also confirm that one way to support the long-term outlook for the dairy industry would be for political parties to support the Trans-Pacific Partnership. I can also confirm that New Zealand First seems to want to support the—Mr SPEAKER: Order! [Interruption] Order! No.Rt Hon Winston Peters: I seek leave to table all the evidence you need that the Government is currently renegotiating the China agreement because it was a dumb deal in the first place.Mr SPEAKER: I am not prepared to put that leave because I am not sure that it was.Hon Gerry Brownlee: I seek leave to table a document showing that the Rt Hon Winston Peters was Minister of Foreign Affairs when the “dumb deal” was done.Mr SPEAKER: And I am not prepared to put that leave either.Rt Hon Winston Peters: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker.Mr SPEAKER: If it is a serious point of order I will have it but if it is another jocular one it is not going to happen.Rt Hon Winston Peters: It is a serious point of order because—Mr SPEAKER: I will look forward to it.Rt Hon Winston Peters: The point is that it needs clarity and for me to table some documents. He does not know how Cabinet is structured. That is why he—Mr SPEAKER: Order! No no no. You can have your general debate tomorrow.