Turei Metiria: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Turei Metiria: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:655;Page:4498] 
4.  
METIRIA TUREI (Co-Leader—Green) 
 to the  
Prime Minister 
: How many jobs were saved or created by the Job Summit and how many jobs have been lost since the Job Summit was held on 27 February? 
Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister) 
: 
 The member will know that jobs are created and lost in the economy all the time. I am aware of a study showing that between 2002 and 2007 each year about 250000 jobs were created in New Zealand and about 200000 jobs were lost. The Government does not routinely collect this information however so it is not possible to say how many jobs have been lost since 27 February. Even if we had that information it would be near to impossible to identify separately the number of jobs saved by the Job Summit. For one thing many Job Summit proposals related to the fundamentals of the economy like infrastructure spending improving regulations and the like. These are good proposals but it is hard to put a specific number of jobs against each of them. 
Metiria Turei 
: What plans does the Prime Minister have to create 28000 full-time real jobs across the economy by utilising out-of-work qualified builders to tackle the waiting list for State houses and provide warm dry homes for the 10000 families in need? 
Hon JOHN KEY 
: The Government is building albeit a very modest number of new State houses. But the member will be aware because her party worked on this that the Government is spending $343 million over the next 4 years on creating jobs to also insulate and warm those homes. The member’s former co-leader was on a platform with me in Christchurch to celebrate that fact last Thursday and I welcome Jeanette Fitzsimons’ expertise in that area. 
Metiria Turei 
: What plans does the Prime Minister have to create 40 percent more jobs for the same money that is to be spent by diverting funds from new motorways into bus and train services walking and cycling infrastructure and road maintenance as laid out in the Green Party’s Green New Deal stimulus package? 
Hon JOHN KEY 
: We do not have plans to do that. We have plans to spend a billion dollars a year on new State highways. We are spending more money I might add in some of those other areas: public transport and cycling. But we are spending a billion dollars on State highways. The previous Government was spending $650 million—or to put it another way the equivalent of 5 years of spending on the entire road infrastructure in this country would have been spent on the tunnel in Mount Albert if Labour had built it. The reason we are doing this is that it will create jobs because it will make New Zealand more productive. By the way I tell the member that roads are a form of public transport. Buses drive on them all the time. 
Metiria Turei 
: What plans does the Prime Minister have to create 4500 jobs by fencing and planting waterways restoring water quality and protecting New Zealand’s clean green reputation as laid out in the Green Party’s Green New Deal stimulus package? 
Hon JOHN KEY 
: The Government is always spending money on trying to make sure we improve the quality of our environment because that is very important. We have seen and will continue to see expenditure in that area. We support the member’s view that New Zealand’s reputation as a clean green environment is one of the foundation stones on which our tourism industry is built. 
Metiria Turei 
: If the Prime Minister has no such plans as it appears and as is widely understood for dealing with rising unemployment—1000 people a week are going on to the dole—and with both the current crises of climate change and the recession by creating jobs and a sustainable economy will he then borrow some more solutions from the Green Party and our Green New Deal stimulus package solutions that will be just as successful as our home insulation package which he has already adopted? 
Hon JOHN KEY 
: Firstly I utterly reject the proposition that there is no plan. For a start let us understand why the chart looks like this. It shows consumer confidence as being at pretty much an all-time high and business confidence as being at an all-time high despite the fact that we have a 1930s-style recession. Why? Because this Government avoided a downgrade; it had an upgrade. The Opposition members when Labour was in Government wanted to send us into debt and deficit for a lifetime. This Government is out there reforming things like the Resource Management Act so that our country can get going; Labour had 9 years in Government and did nothing about that. This Government has spent hundreds of millions of dollars more than was being spent on a small to medium sized enterprise package; Labour while in Government landed costs endlessly on that sector. This Government has come up with 20 initiatives. They are on our website and I am happy to table them. They go on and on. This Government has produced one of the lowest unemployment rates in some of the worst conditions that we have had. I am proud of my record in these difficult economic times and it looks as though we have the support of almost everybody other than the Labour Opposition.