Goff Phil: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Goff Phil: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:665;Page:13107] 
1. 
Hon PHIL GOFF (Leader of the Opposition) 
 to the  
Prime Minister 
: Does he stand by his statement that by March 2010 New Zealand will be coming out of the recession “reasonably aggressively”? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH (Deputy Prime Minister) 
 on behalf of the  
Prime Minister 
: Yes he stands by his full quote from March 2009. The statement made in March 2009 was borne out by the fact that in the latter half of 2009 and early 2010 the economy went from a 1.5 percent contraction to 1.5 percent growth which is quite a considerable turn-round. 
Hon Phil Goff 
: Is it reflective of his aggressive recovery that when the Mount Roskill New World supermarket which opened today advertised 150 low-paid jobs over the last couple of weeks it got 2700 applicants? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: That number of applicants is reflective of the sharp recession that the New Zealand economy went through. The recession was caused by two things: the global financial crisis and the mismanagement of the previous Government. 
Hon Phil Goff 
: If the New Zealand economy was aggressively coming out of recession why did nearly 20000 additional New Zealanders join the dole queue over the last 3 months? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: The member might reflect on that himself because here is a quote about strong economic growth: “The world economy will grow at around 3.9 percent this year. So New Zealand can also expect strong growth”. That statement came from Phil Goff Labour leader in January this year. He was predicting strong growth. 
Hon Phil Goff 
: In order to help young New Zealanders to come aggressively out of the recession how many additional training opportunities has his Government created to deal with the 65 percent increase in youth unemployment and the 68000 young people who are currently not in work education or training? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: The Government as part of its overall economic policy has created both the Community Max and the Job Ops schemes which offer thousands of jobs to young people. It has an infrastructure investment programme that is supporting tens of thousands of people in jobs. The member can talk to the construction— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The House is very boisterous. I did not intervene when the Minister answered the previous question but this question was pretty straightforward. If I recollect the question correctly it asked how many training opportunities had been created following a certain time. The Minister may not have that information given the primary question but the answer should at least attempt to answer the question. 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: Write faster Steven; write faster. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I am trying to deal with a Minister who I believe has not adequately answered a question and that is not assisted by interjections from the Opposition. If Opposition members want to hear an answer they will show some respect. I expect to hear a better answer to that question. 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: As I said in my earlier answer the Government has created the Community Max scheme and the Job Ops scheme which provide thousands of on-the-job training places. We have a multibillion-dollar infrastructure programme that is providing hundreds of on-the-job training opportunities. We have with the existing money expanded the number of tertiary education places. We are taking widespread action to help young New Zealanders to maintain their connection to the workforce. What we are not doing is cranking up Government spending and encouraging people to borrow— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: When I get to my feet the Minister will resume his seat immediately. It seems that the Minister does not have that information. 
Chris Tremain 
: What other excellent initiatives is the Government implementing to lift New Zealand’s economic growth? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: Our most urgent task has been to undo the damage done by the previous Government which blew out Government spending collapsed the tradable sector and left us with record external debt to foreigners. As part of our plan to fix that damage we have reformed the taxation system we have put Government debt under control we have reprioritised $4 billion of low-quality public spending into front-line services we have introduced national standards and the Youth Guarantee we have cut red tape in a whole range of areas we have injected hundreds of millions of dollars into innovation research and development we are investing billions of dollars in infrastructure such as roads the electricity grid— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Answers are meant to be of a reasonable length. There was nothing wrong with the answer but it just went on and on. 
Hon Gerry Brownlee 
: Point of order—[ 
Interruption 
] 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Both members will resume their seat immediately—immediately—both members. The House will come to a little order. It is totally unacceptable the discourtesy to this place that is being shown. This is question time and previously when the Minister did not want to answer a question that he was asked about how many jobs he may not have had that information but the member who asked the question deserved a decent attempt to answer it. When the Minister was then asked a following question by his own member to just go on and on is again not reasonable treatment of this House. The Minister made a number of points and did not need to carry on. If the members have a point of order they wish to raise with me they are welcome to do so. 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The continuous applause throughout that answer encouraged me to keep going. I think that if you are going to set a standard of reasonable treatment in the House then I will continue to give as extensive an answer as I can while I am getting such encouragement from Opposition members through their continuous applause. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Mr Speaker— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I do not think there is really a matter of order that needs to be addressed. I will hear the honourable member briefly. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I think I could get into trouble if I made the comment that if Government members want to clap in that way— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: There is no need to take this matter any further. I accept the point that the Hon Bill English is making that where there is a lot of interjection Ministers naturally will feel provoked to carry on. I accept that so I am not blaming anyone in particular. I ask both sides of the House to just be a little more reasonable. I realise this is the first day back after an adjournment but a little bit more reasonableness would be helpful to the House. 
Hon Phil Goff 
: How does his broken promise not to increase GST help the economic recovery when retailers across the country are saying this is the worst period for them in living memory because over half the workers have had no wage increases whereas prices are due to go up by his own reckoning by 5.9 percent? 
Hon Rodney Hide 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. At the risk of interrupting I think it is an unacceptable procedure to load a question in that way by saying there was a “broken promise”. That is an accusation from across the House. One could argue that it is for the Minister to respond that there were no promises broken but actually that would be the question then. I just ask you to rule on these sorts of epithets that get thrown around. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The Hon Rodney Hide is absolutely correct that that kind of question is out of order. It is to me disappointing that having supported the honourable Leader of the Opposition to try to obtain information from the Government he then asked a question that strictly was out of order. I did not rule it out because I thought there was licence now for the Minister to have a real flick back and I do not like to stop Ministers. I would rather see Ministers use those opportunities to attack back where members are foolish enough to make that kind of accusation in a question but then members should not seek my help if they do not like the answer that they get. I do not like inserting myself too much into question time. However the member asked that question and I will not give him the luxury of asking a further question. I invite the Hon Bill English to answer it. 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: On 1 October this year GST will increase by 2.5 percent not 15 percent as the Labour Party alleges and New Zealanders will receive extensive tax cuts. So the average family on 1 October will be $25 per week better off after paying their increased GST. We are advising families not to be misled by Labour which seems to be unable to calculate what 15 percent GST is in the pamphlets it has published. 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Just as the ACT leader was concerned about questions being loaded—having loaded a few bullets himself today—the answer talked about a party misleading— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I have heard sufficient. As I warned members if they ask a question like that which accuses a Government of breaking a promise they should not seek my protection if the answer is not attractive to the side that asked the question. I ask members to be a bit more thoughtful when asking questions. 
Hon Phil Goff 
: Did the Prime Minister ever forewarn New Zealanders that National would increase GST or did he explicitly say “National will not be increasing GST.”? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: This Government ran the most open pre-Budget policy process that the country has ever seen with a 15-month national discussion about the changes that were required in the taxation system in order to undo the damage done by the previous Government to our economy. Many New Zealanders have welcomed the Government’s changes to the taxation system because they will help to undo the damage done by that previous Government and will lift our growth prospects for the future. 
Hon Phil Goff 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The question was quite explicit: did the Prime Minister ever forewarn or did he explicitly say that National would not be increasing GST? I did not hear the answer to that question. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: Yes you did. 
Hon Phil Goff 
: No I didn’t. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: A point of order is being considered. I say to the House that it would be helpful if Ministers actually did listen to questions that are asked. On this occasion there was no insertion of an accusation into the question; it was a fair question. I think that the Leader of the Opposition has a legitimate gripe that not much of an attempt was made to answer that question. I accept that there is a dispute over what I believe took place. I invite the Hon Leader of the Opposition to repeat his question. We will all listen very carefully to the question and the answer. 
Hon Phil Goff 
: Did the Prime Minister actually assure New Zealanders explicitly: “National will not be increasing GST.”? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: That was not exactly the question that I heard. 
Hon Phil Goff 
: Did the Prime Minister forewarn the country that National would be increasing GST or did he say explicitly “National will not be increasing GST.”? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: As I said in my earlier answer the country was forewarned. This Government ran the most open pre-Budget policy process that the country has ever seen running from about March 2009 right through to the 2010 Budget. At the time that the announcement was made everyone knew that it would happen. 
Chris Tremain 
: What reports has the Minister seen on real wage growth over the past decade? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: I have seen a report that was so incredible that it was hard to believe. It stated that in the 9 years that Labour was in power real after-tax wages rose by 3 percent in 9 years. I found that number incredible and we are going to check it. But the best advice I have is that in the 9 years that Labour was in power real after-tax incomes grew by 3 percent. There were a couple of reasons for that: firstly inflation was consistently high and secondly the Government’s taxation system— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! 
Hon Phil Goff 
: Has the Prime Minister— 
Hon Paula Bennett 
: 3 percent. 
Hon Phil Goff 
: That is about what she is worth yeah. That is about the— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I say again to both sides of the House that interjections like that will lead to disorder especially today with the House being quite prickly. I ask members to be reasonable. 
Hon Phil Goff 
: Has the Prime Minister ever assured the country that he was opposed to compulsory savings schemes and is he now considering one? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: The Prime Minister has made a number of statements on that matter over the last couple of days. 
Chris Tremain 
: Does the Minister have any view on why real wage growth was only 3 percent over the past decade? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: I do have a view and it is that the policies that meant that households had only 3 percent growth in their after-tax real incomes were the same policies that blew out Government spending. But worst of all they left New Zealand owing foreign lenders $170 billion and we have a huge job to turn that round. 
David Garrett 
: How does the Government’s management of the economy since November 2008 compare with New Zealand’s economic performance prior to November 2008? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: The Government has faced a very big challenge from 2008. To give Parliament some measure of it in the 4 years to March 2010 the Australian economy grew by 11.6 percent and the New Zealand economy grew by a total of 2 percent. Turning that round will be a massive decade-long job. We are only now realising how much damage the previous Labour Government did to this economy. 
Hon Phil Goff 
: What are the milestones that Gerry Brownlee said the National Government had to measure its progress in closing the wage gap with Australia? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: Our milestone is to close that gap by 2025 and there are any number of publicly available economic indicators for the public to assess our progress by.