Boscawen John: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
Boscawen John: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
[Volume:653;Page:2786] 
11.  
JOHN BOSCAWEN (ACT) 
 to the  
Minister of Finance 
: Will he be reversing the cycle of ever-higher Government spending an ever-rising tax burden and mounting inflationary pressures which occurred in the 9 years while the Hon Dr Michael Cullen was finance Minister and which put so much pressure on household finances in New Zealand; if so when? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance) 
: 
 The member is right to point out problems that existed in the New Zealand economy well before the global recession took hold. Those pressures are fairly embedded in the economy because of almost a decade of misdirected policy from the previous Government. Yes we will set out to reverse that cycle starting with the Budget to be delivered on 28 May. 
John Boscawen 
: Will the Minister attempt to fix the Working for Families scheme which properly reduces the burden on families but which—like much else Labour was responsible for—is incompetently designed leading to effective marginal tax rates for households of 53 to 59 percent and therefore— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Do I need to make it clear what the point of order is or will you act? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Yes I would appreciate it if the member could. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: The Standing Orders and Speakers’ rulings make it clear that questions should be succinct and not contain unnecessary controversial matter; this does. 
Hon Rodney Hide 
: The simple requirement is that oral questions be factual. I think that everyone accepts it as a factual statement that Working for Families which was designed by Labour was incompetent— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: That goes beyond the point of order. The point of order made by the Hon Trevor Mallard is a perfectly valid point of order. However if I were to enforce that in every supplementary question I would be intervening on well over half of them. I invite the honourable member to continue his question but he should be a little careful about making assertions about other parties’ policies. 
John Boscawen 
: I will try to be succinct and I will summarise it by saying this. Is the Minister of Finance prepared to rework the Working for Families scheme so the high effective marginal tax rates of 53 percent to 59 percent which currently destroy any incentive to get ahead financially are reduced? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: The Government has made it clear in recent months that we intend to leave entitlements such as Working for Families in place because we believe that people need a sense of security in the middle of a tough recession. 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: Can he confirm that from 1999 to 2008 gross Government debt was reduced from 36 percent of GDP to almost 17 percent of GDP that for the first time in New Zealand’s history the Government accounts reached a net positive asset position and that the unemployment rate dropped to 3.4 percent the lowest rate in 21 years? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: I can confirm that the previous Government squandered the opportunity of a generation. New Zealand will— 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I asked a specific question as to whether he can confirm factual statistics—that those statistics are correct. I did not ask him about anything else. I asked whether he can confirm for instance that debt went down and unemployment went down. Those are very specific points but he started waffling on about something else. 
Hon Rodney Hide 
: The Hon Clayton Cosgrove has been here long enough I believe— 
Hon Member 
: Too long. 
Hon Rodney Hide 
: —perhaps too long—to know that he cannot expect a yes or a no as an answer. He can put a question and the Minister is entitled to answer it. 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: No I have heard quite enough on this. When the member asks a question as to whether the Minister can confirm something he invites the Minister to confirm a range of things that he may not have expected. If the member wanted information on those specific issues he should have asked the Minister exactly what was the outcome on those specific issues. I would have made sure he got a specific answer. But when he seeks an opinion it is standard practice that the Speaker cannot be responsible for the nature of that opinion. 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: I can confirm that the previous Government squandered the best 10 years that the New Zealand economy will see in a generation. 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: Does he agree with Moody’s one of the credit rating agencies that assess New Zealand’s sovereign credit rating that looking at gross debt is “too simplistic” and that a much more sound approach “requires an examination of the whole of the government’s balance sheet and therefore of the government’s net worth.”? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: I can confirm that. If the member reads the Budget carefully he will see that the Government is moving in the direction of a much more sophisticated assessment of the Crown’s liabilities. 
John Boscawen 
: Does the Minister realise that the effective tax rates that flow from the Working for Families scheme mean that the after-tax real return is now zero and worse still negative and that at a time when households are desperately trying to rebuild their financial position should this not be addressed as a matter of urgency? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: I cannot confirm those details. With any kind of system like Working for Families there is inevitably the result that people face high marginal tax rates. Unfortunately the only way to fix that is to take some money from them and the Government is not planning to do that in the bottom of a recession.