5. Question No. 5—FinanceHon PAUL GOLDSMITH (National) to the Minister of FinanceQuestion No. 5—Finance5. Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH (National) to the Minister of Finance: What responsibility if any does he take for the slowdown in the New Zealand economy since his Government took office? Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): I take responsibility for the New Zealand economy growing stronger than Australia the UK the US Canada Japan the EU and the OECD average. I also take responsibility for an economy where wages are rising at their fastest rate in a decade and we have jobs growth even while the economy is close to full employment. I take responsibility for an economy where 81000 jobs have been created. I take responsibility for the increase in wages in the economy. I reject the premise in the member's question. GDP is growing slower than it previously has but it is growing and it's forecast to grow. Jobs are being created wages are rising and the economy's in good shape. The member needs to cheer up. Hon Paul Goldsmith: Why does he think growth fell from an annual rate of 3.2 percent in the June 2018 quarter to 2.1 percent in the latest quarter? Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: As we've traversed many times in this House the global economy has been slowing down. When the Mood of the Boardroom survey was undertaken where the member joined me on the stage most of the top concerns of those CEOs were international issues. What we do know is that growth rates in New Zealand continue to outstrip those of our trading partners. Hon Paul Goldsmith: So why does he blame international headwinds when as the governor says export prices have been robust"? Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Export prices have been good. There are a number of factors that weigh upon that including things like swine fever and so on in terms of what's improved our prices overseas. But the overall global environment is affecting confidence—there is absolutely no doubt about that. That is something that is happening across the world but what the member should do is focus on the positives in the New Zealand economy. We have debt at low levels we have unemployment at historically low levels we have exports going well we have house prices moderating and we have consents going up. This is an economy that's doing well. The member needs to look at the full glass. Hon Paul Goldsmith: If New Zealand's doing so well compared with the rest of the world why has the net outflow of New Zealand citizens tripled since 2017 under his Government and is that not one of the simplest measures of confidence in this Government's economic performance? Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I would note that actually it was in 2016 under the policies of the last Government that net permanent and long-term migration of New Zealand citizens started to rise again. Yes we have seen I believe it is around 13000 New Zealand citizens moving away from New Zealand in the year to September but I would note that under the previous Government that figure averaged 19000 a year. Rt Hon Winston Peters: Could I ask the Minister of Finance is not the real test that against comparative economies this country is growing faster than others as opposed to growing slower than others with the administration that we inherited? Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Absolutely. As I've said consistently over previous quarters in the last year we've been growing stronger than Australia the UK the US Canada Japan the EU and the OECD average. There is a global slowdown under way but New Zealand is well positioned to deal with this. The economy is in good shape. Clayton Mitchell: Cheer up. SPEAKER: Order! Order! No before the member—I probably should have stopped Grant Robertson at the end of his primary answer and certainly the interjections that I've had immediately from my right and one from the back far corner telling me to have a different mood are out of order and will cease. Hon Paul Goldsmith: Which of those countries that he's just listed are growing faster than New Zealand on a per person basis? Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: As we've discussed many times in this House there are a number of ways of measuring per capita growth. What I do know is that on some measures we inherited I think us being in about thirtieth place and we've improved from there. I want to be absolutely clear that I would never Mr Speaker seek to judge the mood of you but I do believe the member opposite needs to cheer up. Kieran McAnulty: Yeah the member should cheer up. Hon Paul Goldsmith: Does it surprise him that—SPEAKER: Order! Order! No the member will sit down. That's the end of the gratuitous insults to either of us. Hon Paul Goldsmith: Does it surprise him that household spending has been soft as the governor has indicated when his Government has cancelled National's tax cuts driven up fuel taxes and—SPEAKER: Order! Order! The member needs to learn that he's allowed two legs to a supplementary. Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The most recent consumer confidence surveys indicate that that's increasing and certainly this Government's extremely proud of the fact that we've put into the pockets of low and middle income New Zealanders $75 per week on average. That's where we needed to go with that not untargeted tax cuts. Hon Gerry Brownlee: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. You've been in recent times very strict on there being only two legs to a question. I appreciate that's in the Standing Orders. Why doesn't that apply to Ministers when they're replying? Why do we have Ministers standing up and listing off what they perceive to be their long list of achievements often quite unrelated to the question? SPEAKER: Well I would say the long list of things that are quite unrelated to the questions which have become a habit of Ministers are a result of the very very broad primary questions which are now being asked by many members of the Opposition which allow an extensive list to be given in answer because there's nothing specific about the questions. I think the member knows from his experience in the House that the rules for answers are different from the rules for questions."