7. Government Financial Position—Tax Cuts and Budget 2017GRANT ROBERTSON (Labour—Wellington Central) to the Minister of FinanceGovernment Financial Position—Tax Cuts and Budget 20177. GRANT ROBERTSON (Labour—Wellington Central) to the Minister of Finance: Is the Prime Minister correct with respect to tax cuts that The options are: either include it in Budget 2017 or we campaign on that as part of Election 2017. Those are the two most likely options taking into consideration we have a responsibility to take into account two things which are the fiscal and economic conditions and how well we are doing in terms of addressing the reduction in debt"?Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance): Yes the Prime Minister is correct and in my experience he is correct a lot more often than the member is. And as he pointed out lowering taxes is Government policy; so is investing in infrastructure and better public services. We have always made it clear that tax cuts are dependent on supportive fiscal and economic conditions.Grant Robertson: In light of that answer why are tax cuts still the most likely option when he has failed to meet one of the core tests reducing net debt which he admitted yesterday had not decreased in dollar terms at all on his watch?Hon BILL ENGLISH: The member is trying to talk about the Government fiscal objectives in a way that is simply incorrect. For instance in respect of net debt the target has been to reduce it to 20 percent of GDP. That has been the target for a number of years. It is now starting to decrease at the same time as the Government is managing increased spending on infrastructure reinforcement of core public services and an overhaul of much of the Government machinery so it is more customer friendly. All of these things can be achieved as well as reducing taxes if fiscal conditions are good enough.Grant Robertson: Are his officials working on a tax cut plan for Budget 2017?Hon BILL ENGLISH: No but they will certainly be working on the longer-term fiscal outlook. In fact I think Treasury is going to publish the long-term fiscal outlook shortly and we would expect in the run-up to Budget 2017 to look at all the options. The member should not be surprised about that but he is probably quite concerned at the range of choices the Government has because with good fiscal management over the last 6 or 8 years including rebuilding Christchurch we are one of the few developed countries that have rising surpluses and therefore choices which this Government intends to make wisely.Grant Robertson: What does he consider to be a meaningful tax cut for the average wage earner in dollar terms per week?Hon BILL ENGLISH: I have not been considering that matter but the member can be reassured that the Government will look as it does each Budget at the whole range of options. I know that it concerns him greatly that this Government is making a lot of progress on dealing with New Zealand's most intractable social problems for instance. We will be applying more funding for instance to caring for our most vulnerable children but doing it in a way that is focused on results unlike the Labour Party which is stuck in the best thinking—Mr SPEAKER: Order! We do not need to go there with the answer.Grant Robertson: Which is a higher priority for him: restarting contributions to the Superannuation Fund or tax cuts?Hon BILL ENGLISH: The member will just have to wait and see but I know he is concerned at the range of choices the Government has. I think that New Zealand is one of only three developed countries in the situation we are in with growth around 3 percent—Grant Robertson: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The Minister did not address the question and even if you argue that he did by saying I have to wait he has now moved into utterly irrelevant material. [Interruption] Mr SPEAKER: Order! He certainly did not answer the question to the satisfaction of the member but when I consider the question it was never going to be answered to the satisfaction of the member."