9. Economy—OECD Report and PerformanceGRANT ROBERTSON (Labour—Wellington Central) to the Minister of FinanceEconomy—OECD Report and PerformanceGRANT ROBERTSON (Labour—Wellington Central): I seek leave for question No. 9 to be held over until the Minister of Finance is here. Mr SPEAKER: Leave is sought for that course of action. Is there any objection? There is objection. 9. GRANT ROBERTSON (Labour—Wellington Central) to the Minister of Finance: Does he agree with the OECD report on New Zealand that labour productivity is well below leading OECD countries restraining living standards and well-being?Hon SIMON BRIDGES (Associate Minister of Finance) on behalf of the Minister of Finance: Improving productivity is a longstanding challenge for New Zealand which the OECD report notes. The report goes on to say New Zealand recently halted its productivity decline relative to other countries and the challenge now is to make up lost ground. The Government is tackling this productivity issue with large investments in R & D and skills in recent Budgets. We are seeing big increases in business R & D through our growth grants and we are now producing a record number of ICT and engineering graduates. Finally data last week showed we now have the highest level of business investment in plant and machinery in almost 7 years. Grant Robertson: What responsibility does he take for the OECD further going on to say that income inequality is above the OECD average" that our child poverty rate is "more than double the rate in the best performing OECD countries." and that "Living standards and economic growth … vary considerably ethnically and geographically."? Hon SIMON BRIDGES: We rightly and proudly take responsibility for the economic performance of New Zealand for the fact that it is growing really strongly and for the fact that we have the second-highest employment in the OECD figures and some of the very lowest unemployment. Grant Robertson: But that's actually not what I asked you about. Hon SIMON BRIDGES: And Mr Robertson what that means is more people in jobs and over time better results for all New Zealanders—inclusive growth. Grant Robertson: Why has he overseen an economy where the export sector is in recession with exports of goods and services having fallen in real terms for the last three quarters and where per capita growth has declined for the last two quarters? Hon SIMON BRIDGES: I simply do not accept that. Actually if you look at what is happening we have a strongly diversifying export sector where for example technology has gone from very small to very large—our third-biggest export. In our other sectors high-value food is coming up very strongly. I think in light of the global financial crisis this is a country that is going incredibly well with growth with strong employment with lowering unemployment and with exports diversifying and going up the value chain quite well. Grant Robertson: Why under his watch are so many New Zealanders working more and more hours but feel like they are not getting ahead and can he not see that relying on population growth and an overheated housing market is not actually an economic plan? Hon SIMON BRIDGES: In fact if you look at what is happening in wage growth it is going up. Actually it has been higher since 2015 than in the likes of the United States and the EU. We have got a way to go but actually it is growing in a low-inflationary environment and I think New Zealanders would be pretty pleased by that. Actually in addition to that if you think about what we have done through the Budget as we have got the ability to do that we have had the Family Incomes Package and so on which again help the New Zealanders who need it most."