Key John: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Key John: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:634;Page:5701] 
2.  
JOHN KEY (National—Helensville) 
 to the  
Minister of Finance 
: What is the Crown’s actual operating balance for 2005-06 as reported in the last line of table 3 of the Financial Statements of the Government of New Zealand released yesterday? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN (Minister of Finance) 
: 
 The figure is $11473 million of which approximately $2.8 billion is accounting and revaluation changes and $2.9 billion is investments and returns on the New Zealand Superannuation Fund. 
John Key 
: Has he seen page 21 of the Financial Statements of the Government of New Zealand which indicates that in the year 2000 tax revenue as a percentage of GDP was 28.8 percent and that it has now risen in 2006 to 33.1 percent at a time when GDP has clearly been growing; and how can he justify taking an even larger slice of the cake? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: In that time we have done a number of things. We have for example restored the level of New Zealand superannuation which was cut by the previous National Government. We have removed the policy of very large increases in student fees every year. We have established interest-free student loans. We have massively increased the Working for Families payments which count as expenditure as opposed to tax reductions in terms of the accounting principles. According to a report I have recently seen New Zealanders are 88 percent satisfied with their quality of life in New Zealand. I suspect that that figure would be matched in very few countries in the world. 
Hon Mark Gosche 
: Has he received any reports on the consequences of large-scale tax cuts in an economic environment with inflationary and current account imbalances? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: I have seen reports of Australia’s experience of introducing large-scale tax cuts earlier this year. The result was higher interest rates and higher mortgage repayments leading to a slump in consumer sentiment. 
John Key 
: Is the reason that the Minister of Finance raised more revenue than could arguably be required that the Labour Party—as we now find out in the very recently received report from the Controller and Auditor-General—had spent $768000 of taxpayers’ money and will he be decent enough to pay the money back? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: The member yesterday was terribly excited about an $11.5 billion surplus. The proportion of that figure that $750000 represents is not even within the daily forecasting error by Treasury. 
John Key 
: Is the Prime Minister not in the House because she is embarrassed as the Labour Party is that Labour owes $768000? 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Would the member please be seated! When I stand members sit. That question is outside the scope of the primary question. Does the member have another supplementary question? 
Hon Phil Goff 
: He’s too excited to be leader really. 
John Key 
: I am too embarrassed to be in that member’s party—that is for sure. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Would the member please withdraw that comment. 
John Key 
: He interjected on me. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Would members on the Government side of the House also stop their interjections that are likely to provoke other interjections. Right from the outset let us remember what the rules are. 
John Key 
: When the Government increased its tax revenue last year to a whopping 33.1 percent of GDP was it because the Government knew that it needed $768000 of taxpayers’ money and is that the reason the Prime Minister is not here today to defend that—because she is deeply embarrassed about the situation—or had she seen the report already? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: The expenditure referred to represents approximately 0.001 percent of total Government revenue for the year. What I would like the member to do is to explain what the National Party spent its leader’s budget on as no invoices are available and the Auditor-General could not examine what it spent the money on. 
John Key 
: If the $768000 of taxpayers’ money that the Labour Party inappropriately spent is so insignificant at 0.001 percent of GDP why does the Labour Party not have the courage to pay the money back? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: I have no parliamentary responsibility for that question as Minister of Finance or as acting Prime Minister. The Prime Minister will respond when she has had a chance to read the reports. 
John Key 
: Has the Minister seen page 19 of the Financial Statements of the Government of New Zealand and if he has seen it could he explain why yesterday he told the House: “The fact is that the largest operating surplus as a percentage of GDP particularly excluding accounting changes occurred when Sir William Birch was the Minister of Finance.”—if he has read page 19 he will know that in fact the graph shows that the highest level under Sir William Birch was 3 percent of GDP yet yesterday the surplus was 7.3 percent of GDP—and yesterday when he tacked on his pithy little answer: “The member just makes it up as he goes along.” was he the member he was talking about? 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Before members go any further I draw their attention to Standing Order 371 to which reference was made yesterday. If members would like to consider that. They should ask their questions straight without other comment and the answers should be given in like way. 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: I assume Madam Speaker that when the question has not been asked in that way the answer can follow likewise. Of course the member is so upset because he got the pith taken out of him yesterday.