5. Question No. 5—FinanceNICOLA WILLIS (Deputy Leader—National) to the Minister of FinanceQuestion No. 5—Finance5. NICOLA WILLIS (Deputy Leader—National) to the Minister of Finance: Have the Government's actions contributed to the New Zealand economy being in recession with an ongoing cost of living crisis?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): Most economic commentators would reject the member's assertion that the country is currently in recession although we will not get the updated data for the second quarter of 2023 until next month. With regard to the longer-term pressure on the cost of living that the country has been facing I think the Government's actions have contributed to softening the impact particularly on low and middle income households. While this has been a challenging time for many households we have also managed to maintain historically low levels of unemployment and record-high levels of labour force participation during this period. More recently we've also seen wages keeping track with inflation which put more households in a stronger position to manage the current economic headwinds. Every country in the world has had to fight hard to protect their people from rising inflation. Our targeted measures—such as free and half-price public transport the removal of prescription co-payments and making 20 hours' free early childhood education available for two-year-olds—do make an important difference to household budgets and I note they would be at risk under a change of Government.Nicola Willis: Does he think he has been a good steward of taxpayers' money when Government spending is up 80 percent but hospitals are in crisis educational achievement is in decline and many New Zealanders feel worse off?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: It doesn't matter what I think about it; it matters what people like Fitch Ratings and Moody's Analytics think about it—and they think that the Government has been responsible.Nicola Willis: Is it his position that it matters more what Fitch Ratings think than it does whether New Zealanders feel financially secure or is he that blissfully unaware of how bad the cost of living crisis is?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: No. The member asked me what I thought and I told her what those two independent rating agencies think. What I also think is that a lot of New Zealand households have been doing it tough over the last little while—and that's exactly why we've stepped in to support them by lifting main benefits by lifting the family tax credit by lifting childcare assistance by seeing the minimum wage go up. This has been a tough time but as indicated in today's ANZ New Zealand Business Outlook confidence is rising spring is coming—the member should cheer up.Nicola Willis: Why is it that whenever a Labour Government is given long enough in office they wreck the economy mess up the books and leave the country going backwards?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The history of New Zealand is in fact that when Labour is in Government we come in clean up the mess of the National Party grow jobs build houses and support New Zealanders through tough times. We also when we're in Government make sure that what we're promising we can pay for—and that what we promise adds up. The member might like to reflect on CoreLogic head of research Nick Goodall's comments about what would happen with the foreign buyer policy that the member is promoting which says that actually it would affect the broader market" and it would mean that there would be a reduction in the "overall supply of housing for locals" and this would "flow through to higher prices for all properties." It's the member's policy that will make things worse for New Zealanders.Nicola Willis: Will he—once the dust is cleared and the election campaign is over—join me as the founding members of the "Johnsonville Amateur Dramatic Society" with a successful local performance of the 1998 young adult novel Holes?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Well I would be interested in working with the member on both of us—[Looks through papers] you'll just have to give me a minute—honing our dramatic skills. I would like to be paid for mine; I don't want to be in an amateur dramatic society. [Holds up printout of cartoon] But I do think we could certainly re-enact this moment from Sharon Murdoch in the Dominion Post yesterday.Nicola Willis: Is this really the lasting impression that this Minister of Finance wishes to give—that in the end he had to resort to putting up cartoons and calling people names because he had left the economy in such a mess?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: No. I look forward to being back here facing my eighth National Party finance spokesperson delivering from here more of the professional dramatic performances."