Coates BarryBARRY COATES (Green): Tēnā koe e Te Māngai. Tēnā koutou e ngā mema o Te Whare Pāremata. I am replying to the Prime Minister's speech; this is after all a state of the nation response. To paraphrase Mr English's speech: GDP is rising; we don't need to do anything new; trust us. Well I do not and the New Zealand people do not. So I have got some questions for Mr English on the economy. For those members here from the other side of the Chamber please pass on the questions.First question: is the economy really doing so well? What we are told is that GDP is increasing by 2.8 percent for example but actually most of it is due to population growth. That is not the right way to measure economic growth. That is alternative truth. Actually if you look at per capita GDP which is a measure that we should be looking at it is around half of 1 percent. That is anaemic. That is worse than most of the OECD. And if you look over 5 years it is around 1 percent per annum over 5 years.Furthermore the economy is in a bubble. There are three drivers of the economy. At the moment it is tourism without investing in infrastructure; it is international education with the kind of regulation that exploits students and migrant workers; and it is house price speculation which is shutting young people out of opportunities of homeownership. So it is no wonder that this economy is failing the Government's own target for increasing exports to 40 percent of GDP. In fact exports have been going down. We are 21st out of 30 in the OECD in terms of income and it is falling. We have a bubble of an economy and it is unsustainable.Secondly who is responsible? Every time we hear good economic news apparently Bill English and his Ministers are responsible. But actually the successful business people whom I talk to say that they are the ones out there doing the hard work. They are the ones who are building their businesses. And actually often the Government is more of a hindrance than a help. The Government is not setting the right framework for our businesses. If we look at the business of government done by Government officials the officials are trying hard but politicians keep on getting in the way. And the All Blacks is not the best rugby team in the world because John Key photobombs their photos. Bill English and the Government and the politicians are harming rather than helping the economy.The third question is: who is benefiting from all of this? The rules on the economy are rigged to help the rich. We have had Skycity—recently we heard about Peter Thiel a US billionaire who got given millions of dollars for supporting a New Zealand company. We have had business lobbyists successfully managing to forestall regulation on cartels money-laundering. Yesterday we saw weak legislation on tax havens. We have seen the lack of progress on alcohol regulation and sugary drinks. Meanwhile we have got 210000 children in poverty. We have got young people who cannot buy a home. We have got families who are struggling in multiple jobs working long hours and trying to pay the bills. And we have got senior citizens squeezed by rising costs of living and falling healthcare and beneficiaries who are being punished rather than supported.The Greens would support a fair and sustainable economy for all. We would tax speculation and pollution not hard-working New Zealanders. We would support sustainable business to succeed and build our international reputation as a clean green economy. We would invest in education skills and jobs for all. Our rivers and beaches would become places where our children could swim. And it is about being responsible. It is about being responsible to our planet to our people and to the future generation rather than loading them with student debt Government debt and climate debt.Roll on 23 September. The Green Party will create a better future for all New Zealanders to look forward to.