Brash Don: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Brash Don: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:625;Page:20656] 
1. Dr DON BRASH (Leader of the Opposition) 
 to the  
Prime Minister 
: Does she stand by her statement that her Government has a “goal of economic transformation and a return to the top half of the OECD ratings by 2011.”; if not why not? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK (Prime Minister) 
: 
 That statement was raised by a previous Leader of the Opposition more than 2 years ago at which time it was made clear that that target date was not Government policy. 
Dr Don Brash 
: Did she see the graph in the  
Sunday Star-Times  
last Sunday showing that growth in average after-tax weekly earnings in Australia has outstripped its GDP growth by over 10 percent in the last 5 years whereas in New Zealand the difference was a miserable half of 1 percent and what is her reaction to that statistic? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: I am advised that GDP growth per capita is up over 12 percent under this Government and I am confident that now we have monetary policy that does not crush growth every time the economy gets some steam up we are doing a lot better. 
Rodney Hide 
: Has the Prime Minister got a date for when she intends to put this country in the top half of the OECD or is that another one of those goals on the never-never and could she explain to this House just how monetary policy has changed under the new Governor of the Reserve Bank given that the policy has not? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: Firstly obviously the policy targets agreement has changed. Secondly we have a Governor of the Reserve Bank who accepts right now that the economy is capable of growing at about a sustainable 3.7 percent which is significantly above what was accepted before and thirdly I will be very happy to re-evaluate a target in 2011 as Prime Minister. 
Dr Don Brash 
: Did she see the speech of the current Governor of the Reserve Bank Dr Alan Bollard in January this year in which he noted that at present levels of productivity growth GDP growth would average only 2.8 percent over the next decade and how does she expect New Zealand to reach the top half of the OECD at that rate of growth? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: A quick calculation suggests that such a figure may be about twice the OECD growth average. 
Dr Don Brash 
: Is she alarmed at the figure of 600 New Zealanders leaving New Zealand for Australia every week—equivalent to the population of Gisborne every year—and what does she intend to do to bring those people back so they can take part in her so-called economic transformation? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: It is not a matter of what one expects to do. What one’s Government is doing is driving an economy that is capable of paying higher wages but as the member obviously wants results on wages now why does he not just come out in favour of the bus drivers’ claim the medical technologists’ claim and every other claim that is around at the moment? 
Dr Don Brash 
: Has the Prime Minister seen the OECD statistics that show that 24 percent of all tertiary-qualified New Zealanders currently live overseas and what does she intend to do about that statistic? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: I am aware that that figure is very much the same as the figure for Ireland which has an economy that is doing particularly well. The member may reflect on the fact that small countries often cannot offer the range of opportunities that larger ones can.