King Annette: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
King Annette: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
[Volume:666;Page:13347] 
4. 
Hon ANNETTE KING (Deputy Leader—Labour) 
 to the  
Minister for Social Development and Employment 
: When she said last week that “this is a great week for New Zealand with two pieces of legislation encouraging job opportunities and removing the barriers to work” how many jobs does she expect to be created from these changes? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH (Deputy Prime Minister)  
on behalf of the  
Minister for Social Development and Employment 
: The Minister was referring to the Future Focus legislation and the 90-day legislation both of which create more opportunities for jobs. In respect of how many jobs are to be created the member will know that legislation does not create jobs; what creates jobs is businesses making investments and making decisions to hire people. The Government is relentlessly focused on encouraging them to make those positive decisions. 
Hon Annette King 
: In light of that answer if she has no idea how many jobs will be created from her “great week” why should New Zealanders have any confidence in a Government that has no plan for jobs is poll-driven and uses gimmicks rather than substance as an excuse for policy? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: They should have confidence because the Government is executing a wide-ranging plan to manage the economy to achieve two objectives: one objective is to undo the damage done by the previous Government and the second is to get the economy on a path to recovery and the early signs of that are promising. 
Hon Annette King 
: Did her “great week” include help for nearly 40000 people who have had to apply to the Government for assistance to pay for their children’s school uniforms stationery and fees; if so has she factored in the GST increase in 37 days’ time which will further put up the costs faced by those struggling families? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: The Minister is doing a much better job than that member’s Government did. 
Hon Annette King 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. My question was not about the previous Government. It was a clear question about 40000 people who have had to go to the Government for help. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I cannot help but come back to my fundamental point. If the honourable member really wanted to ask a question rather than make a political statement she would ask a simple straightforward question. The idea of that question was very clearly to make a political statement. The member should not then appeal to me as Speaker if she does not like the political statement made in return. Question time is meant to be a time to ask tough questions and I am very supportive of that. Members have seen me be very hard on Ministers who dodge straight tough questions. But as for political statements do not appeal to me when the Minister does not answer in the way the member would like. 
Hon Annette King 
: I seek leave to table a press report from the  
New Zealand Herald  
showing that 40000 people had to apply to the Government for help with the cost of school uniforms fees and stationery. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Members are not going to seek leave to table press reports. 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: When GST goes up on 1 October beneficiaries will be compensated immediately. Under that member’s Government in 2008 inflation was 5 percent and beneficiaries went for a whole year before they received an adjustment. We are giving them one straight away on a 2.5 percent increase in GST. 
Hon Annette King 
: Did her “great week” extend to places like Wanganui which has seen a number of businesses close recently and what is in the Government’s plans that will see those businesses reopen new ones started and the almost 500 people in that town who went on the unemployment benefit back in jobs? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: The Opposition should get behind the Government’s programme because it is aimed at rebalancing this economy to increase exports savings after-tax incomes and investment. What the Government’s programme will not do is fool people into thinking that jobs based on massive borrowing and Government spending blowouts are real jobs. That is what Labour tried to tell the people of Wanganui. It has turned out they were misled. 
Hon Annette King 
: Did budget advice services tell her that they agree that recent Government policies gave New Zealanders a “great week” or have the services told her what we have heard—that thousands of families are facing severe hardship struggling to pay their mortgage rent and phone and power bills—and how will driving down wages increasing GST and policy gimmicks help them? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: First of all the Minister regularly communicates with all of the services that support New Zealanders in the community and does so very effectively. Secondly the Labour Party might want to ignore one fact but it will undermine its credibility if it does so: all of those families will get a tax cut on 1 October and the average household will be— 
Hon Annette King 
: No they don’t. 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: So members of the Opposition say that there is no tax cut on 1 October? Well they are wrong. The average household will be $25 a week better off after paying the extra GST.