Little Andrew: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeLittle Andrew: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 20 May 2015. Volume:705;Page:3443. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]1.ANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by his statement in his Budget speech last year “we are in surplus”?Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister):Yes because the Treasury forecasts then showed a small surplus for 2014-15.Andrew Little: Why has he persisted in making that promise or that undertaking to New Zealanders including after the election when he knew he could not keep it?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: I do not believe that that statement is at all accurate.Andrew Little: Why does he or other Ministers in his Government persist in making excuses about milk prices and inflation when he knows that dairy prices began falling last February and inflation has been stagnant since 2013?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: The member may have such a lack of grasp of economics that he does not realise the impact that inflation has on the Government’s books. We know that Grant Robertson has got his training wheels on so he does not know what $15 billion worth of less expenditure means. By the way during the entire election campaign Labour got up and said that the Government should take no credit for higher dairy prices because that is just a function of something else. But apparently with the—Mr SPEAKER: Order! I have heard enough.Andrew Little: Now that he is set to be the first Prime Minister since Robert Muldoon to deliver seven straight deficits why should the public believe him when the Government promises a surplus next year?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: What the New Zealand public have done year after year after yearis judge this Government on its economic performance. They have seen the mess we inherited from Labour when it came to ACC the massive build-up in expenditure the failure to have a competitive tax system and the fact that it left the books in such a shocking state and they have actually seen us get that down get debt down and get growth up. That is why business confidence is high. That is why New Zealanders in droves have voted for National. Maybe the member needs to look in the mirror and ask himself why his messages are not getting through. Here is an idea: he does not have any messages. He has not—Mr SPEAKER: Order!Tim Macindoe: What reports has the Prime Minister received on getting back to surplus based on the Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update forecasts before the election last year?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: I have seen one report from last year’s election campaign on the 2014-15 surplus: “Oh look absolutely stand by the numbers calculated and checked on the same basis as the Government’s own numbers and absolutely verified all banked all paid for. We are still running a surplus every year. It is absolutely fantastic and people can have every confidence in it.” That was David Cunliffe claiming that Labour was running a surplus even from Opposition.Andrew Little: What other promises for Budget 2015 are now also under threat and will the Budget show we are on track for the 150000 extra jobs by 2016 and a $7000 average wage rise by 2017 as promised in his open letter after last year’s election?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: The member will have to wait—only one more sleep actually—until the Budget tomorrow. I am sure he will be able to do that. What he will see tomorrow in the Budget though are good growth numbers. He will see surpluses out in the years in front. He will see debt levels that are the envy of the Western World. That is why I can be absolutely sure that when New Zealanders look at this Government and its economic leadership they do not have buyers’ remorse; they are very happy that they dispatched Labour to Opposition for 3 more long years.Tim Macindoe: How much can the fiscal numbers move around between Budget forecasts and the Government’s annual accounts being published the following year?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: According to that economic powerhouse Grant Robertson not at all. But actually history shows that fiscal forecasts and out-turns move around quite substantially. For example in Budget 2008 the then finance Minister was forecasting a $1.3 billion operating balance before gains and losses surplus in 2008-09. As it actually turned out he left the Government’s books in deficit by $3.9 billion that year. I say just this one thing: why in this country do we have the Public Finance Act? I know—because Labour rorted the books so much that they could no longer be trusted. That is why.Andrew Little: In light of that answer and returning to reality what happened to his promise to act on child poverty and make it the centrepiece of his third term?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: One more sleep.Andrew Little: Is not the truth of it that this is a Government with a surplus of empty promises and a deficit of ideas a Government that took credit for a short patch of economic golden days on the back on high dairy prices and the Canterbury rebuild but has no plan now that the storm clouds are gathering? Is that not the truth of this Government?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: Here is the truth of this Government. Unlike the countries that we actually compare ourselves with we have got on top of deficits despite the Christchurch earthquakes. We have got employment rates that are rising. Of the OECD countries of which there are 36 only four have higher levels of employment than us and 31 have lower levels of employment. We have low inflation and we have strong job creation. We have low levels of public sector debt and we have high levels of consumer confidence. The record actually speaks for itself. It happens to be a record I am very proud of.