Parker David; Mallard TrevorHon DAVID PARKER (Minister for the Environment): Thank you Mr Speaker. I was on a television programme recently with the Hon Paula Bennett and yet again we had these trite phrases divorced from reality trotted out and she made the assertion that we often hear from the National Party that they are the better managers of the economy.Hon Tim Macindoe: That's right.Hon DAVID PARKER: That's right." we hear from the Opposition again. Sadly the truth is otherwise. Since World War II average growth rates under Labour administrations have been higher than under National administrations—really. Similarly the contribution that we just heard from Chris Bishop claimed that there is a decrease in State highway funding; that's not correct. The three-year State highway funding package has more money going to State highways more money going to State highway maintenance as well as more money going to public transport.I want to refer more particularly to economic performance under this Government. It's true that New Zealand has some productivity challenges. These go back many generations and interestingly they're reported on by the latest IMF report which really says that we in the Labour Government are tackling the long-term challenges facing our economy in relation to those productivity issues. I quote from them—they say "The Government's … policy agenda [is appropriately focused] on reducing infrastructure gaps increasing human capital and lifting productivity while seeking to make growth more inclusive". In respect of the long-term productivity growth issue they say that important steps have been taken including "the introduction of a new R & D tax credit regime … the creation of the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission to help in closing infrastructure gaps and the reform of the vocational education and training sector".They also refer in their report to holding up consumption and trying to get growth benefits more inclusively spread in the economy through lifting the minimum wage. They could also have listed the fact that we've pushed against speculative classes of investment through ring-fencing losses through extending the brightline test from two to five years from as Minister Nash just said making deductible what was previously black hole expenditure that you couldn't get a deduction for in respect of feasibility studies and of course the support for the venture capital part of the capital markets from whence new businesses come. Now is it working? It most certainly is because we've got growth rates in New Zealand that are higher than in Australia Japan the European Union Great Britain the United States Japan. We're doing very well relatively despite some of the challenges that there are out there being experienced in the global market place.What's happening to exports? Up 4.7 percent merchandise exports in the year to August. Some real increases to countries like Japan where our fruit exports were up $180 million on the back of proved access under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. Canada and Japan overall have got increases of over 6 percent in exports because we've improved trade access into those countries. The other measures of success are referred to in a release that Grant Robertson put out today where Moody's say that New Zealand's economic strength is "very high" and growth remains robust. It expects that growth in the forthcoming years will be 2.5 to 3 percent per annum and expects our growth potential is higher than many of the other triple A - rated countries. They think our fiscal strength is very high. The IMF compliments us on reducing Government debt whilst also running some stimulatory Government programmes to hold up consumption in this time when international growth rates are lowering.Under this Government net Government debt has gone down from about 23 percent of GDP to 20 percent of GDP. Under the last Government they took it from 0 percent of GDP when Labour last left Government with New Zealand First—that's including financial assets like the Superannuation Fund—and they took it up to 23 percent of GDP. Now in truth some of that was the global financial crisis some of it was Christchurch but to suggest on the basis of those historical facts that it's us that are fiscally irresponsible is just untrue. In fact New Zealand hasn't had a fiscally irresponsible Government since Muldoon left power in the 1980s leaving New Zealand's books in a terrible state. We're getting on; we're sorting these long-term issues whether it's labour force export encouragement—SPEAKER: Order! The member's time has expired."