Robertson Grant: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeRobertson Grant: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 11 May 2016. Volume:713;Page:10969. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]5.GRANT ROBERTSON (Labour—Wellington Central) to the Minister of Finance: Will his expectation stated in Budget 2015 that unemployment would drop below 5 percent in 2016 be met; if not why not?Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance): We do not know yet because we will not know until February next year when the fourth quarter of the household labour force survey is reported but given that we have seen more than 50000 additional jobs in the last 6 months it is still possible.Grant Robertson: Why has the number of young people not in employment education or training continued to climb after 8 years of a National Government with the latest increase in the rate for young men being the greatest since records began in 2004?Hon BILL ENGLISH: The member does himself a disservice. The “neet” rate has recently been as low as it has ever been. In the last quarter it has jumped. We do not know why. We know that the quarterly numbers jump around but what we do know is that between trades academies Māori and Pacific trade training strong expansion of the apprenticeship system the youth services and the vocational pathways we are getting close to a time when we can tell whether each single young New Zealander is on a path to work or welfare.Grant Robertson: How can it be with all of those programmes and plans that he has just listed that the number of young people not in employment education or training continues to grow now reaching 82000 people or are they just pretty damned hopeless?Hon BILL ENGLISH: We just dispute the member’s assertion. The best general statistical description of what has been happening in the last few years is that it has continued to shrink until recently. In this last quarter it has jumped. It could be just a statistical artefact actually. We will know in the next quarter and the quarter after that. In the meantime we will continue to focus on ensuring that our programmes show the feedback loops that indicate success in keeping young people on a path to work.Grant Robertson: Do the latest household labour force survey figures show that the number of young people not in employment education or training has reached 82000—26000 more than when he took office?Hon BILL ENGLISH: What it shows is a jump in the numbers this quarter compared with what has been a consistent decrease in the previous quarters. We would like to know why it has jumped. In the meantime we are getting on with the job which is spending literally hundreds of millions of dollars on much-improved systems to keep these young people on track.Grant Robertson: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I asked a very specific question about the increase in the latest—Mr SPEAKER: And I listened very carefully to the answer. It was without doubt addressed—maybe not to the member’s satisfaction but it was clearly addressed.Grant Robertson: Is it correct that in the latest household labour force survey the number of young people not in employment education or training is now 82000—26000 more than when National took office?Hon BILL ENGLISH: Actually you cannot necessarily agree with that. What we have is one quarter of a long-running survey in which quarterly numbers often jump around. So in time we will find out whether it has actually increased or not but even if it has the Government’s programmes which we have broadly in place show that we are spending hundreds of millions in much more effective ways than in the past to get young people on a path to work not to welfare.Grant Robertson: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. You encourage us to ask specific factual questions without any political innuendo. I asked that question twice about the specific household labour force data that the Minister himself has referred to in the House and twice in a row he has not addressed that question.Mr SPEAKER: In the first question raised I am absolutely sure that it was addressed in the way that it was asked. The second question asked was subtly different and you started with the words “Is it correct”. As I recall the Minister’s answer he effectively said no it is not correct. The member might not agree with that statement but that is the way that the Minister chose to answer it.Grant Robertson: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I am concerned to get some clarification from you about what happens when a Minister needs—or a Prime Minister needs—to correct an answer that they have given but you have ejected them from the House. I know that if someone has given an incorrect answer they need to come back to the House and correct that as soon as they are able to—Mr SPEAKER: Can I have the point of order please.Grant Robertson: What are the circumstances when someone has been ejected as to when that occasion—Mr SPEAKER: As soon as the particular member who has been asked to leave is then allowed back and I determine that. And then it is over to the member who has been ejected as to whether he feels that it is needed to correct any answer.