1. Question No. 1—FinanceHon AMY ADAMS (National—Selwyn) to the Minister of FinanceORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSQuestion No. 1—Finance1. Hon AMY ADAMS (National—Selwyn) to the Minister of Finance: Is the Government still committed to reducing net debt to 20 percent of GDP" as outlined in the Speech from the Throne?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): Yes and I thank the member for the opportunity to reaffirm my announcement I made earlier today that we will meet this target and the other Budget responsibility rules in Budget 2019 as we did in Budget 2018.Hon Amy Adams: Why has he changed his original commitment which was to maintain that debt target for five years under this Government but instead announced today that from next year's Budget the debt under his Government could actually be considerably higher?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: That's not correct.Hon Amy Adams: It is correct.Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: That is not correct. The commitment of this Government is that we would reduce net core Crown debt to 20 percent of GDP within five years of taking office. We are absolutely meeting that commitment.Hon Amy Adams: Does he stand by the Prime Minister's statement last August that—and I quote—"These rules are not … nice to have[s]. … Some people have called for us to relax our borrowing rules or simply spend more. We won't."?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Absolutely I stand by that comment. As I said the member will be pleased to see that in Budget 2019 we are meeting our Budget responsibility rules around debt in particular. So I think the member needs to reflect a little bit on the performance of her Government and actually might want to consider that the target that the previous Government set of 20 percent net debt was never ever met—not once—and they left us with 22.8 percent net debt. Hon Amy Adams: Is the real reason he's broken his debt limitation promise to the people of New Zealand that he's realised—SPEAKER: Order!Hon Amy Adams: —that this Government has overpromised and can't deliver? Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Mr Speaker—you are calling me? Yep. SPEAKER: Yes. I was contemplating but if the member really wants to answer it he can. Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: That question from the member is completely and totally untrue. The member will see when the Budget is released that we are meeting our net debt target and that it will be 20 percent of GDP five years after taking office and actually the member will see it will be below 20 percent in the sixth year and the seventh year and actually on the projections out to 2032. Rt Hon Winston Peters: Can I ask the Foreign Minister is he saying—Hon Amy Adams: "Foreign Minister"?Rt Hon Winston Peters: Oh sorry. Can I ask the finance Minister—[Interruption]SPEAKER: Right. Now come on come on. It's not part of the 10-year plan. Rt Hon Winston Peters: Can I ask the finance Minister—after consultation with the Foreign Minister—that despite all this necessary infrastructure and social spending being so neglected the debt ratios are going to be inside the targets way before the time he originally said? Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Absolutely. This Government has struck the right balance between increasing the amount of money that we're investing in fixing schools and hospitals and transport and housing and all of the critical public services we have and we have balanced that with meeting our debt target. The member opposite is simply wrong in what she is saying today. Hon Amy Adams: Isn't the real reason he's now being forced to rewrite his debt commitment because the economy has slowed under his watch his revenues are falling and he now cannot meet his spending commitments to New Zealand? Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The member is completely wrong. Our debt target stands and we're meeting it in this Budget as we met it in the last Budget and the fiscal projections that the member will see on Budget day show that not only are we meeting it now but we're meeting it out to 2032. If the member's logic is to be followed she's now endorsing a Government over here that will last until 2032. I'm not sure if I'll be there all the way through that but I'll do my best to stick around. Hon Amy Adams: Does he think it's responsible to burden future generations of New Zealanders with extra debt simply because the Government can't manage the books and is wasting billions of dollars on failed policies like the fees-free policy and KiwiBuild? Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The member is continuing in each of her questions to represent a complete falsehood—a complete falsehood. The Budget responsibility rule debt target has been met. Hon Amy Adams: You're rewriting it. Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Ha ha! The Budget debt responsibility target has been met. What we announced today was that after the end of the five-year Budget responsibility rule period we were moving to a range. I can assure the member today that she probably should be grateful for that given that her Government never actually made the 20 percent debt target and would have needed the range to be able to claim success. Hon Amy Adams: Hasn't he today really just revealed the Government's real economic strategy which is to tax more spend more and borrow more? Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: No no and I really do encourage the member to read what's in the speech today and to read what's in the Budget. What I have announced today is that this is a Government that has managed to keep to our Budget responsibility rules and balance that against investing in all of the issues that were let go by the previous Government to fix our schools and to fix our hospitals. Ms Adams you need to read the document. It says we're going to meet the 20 percent target and when you see the Budget you'll see that we're meeting that target out to 2032 and the way they're going over there we will definitely be here in 2032. Rt Hon Winston Peters: Can I ask the—Hon Amy Adams: The Foreign Minister again? Rt Hon Winston Peters: —finance Minister and not the Foreign Minister again—he was the Treasurer at one time—has he read Liam Dann's comments about his speech today that said "But the Government has the upper-hand as it has just spent the past year and a half focused on bedding down its conservative credentials …"—with respect to the Opposition—"It's a classic Hollywood trope."?SPEAKER: Order! Order! The—Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The first part? SPEAKER: The first part only yes because that's what he's got responsibility for. Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I have read the column by Liam Dann. I also noticed that it had been read by the Leader of the Opposition who re-tweeted it and then quickly deleted the tweet when he saw what it said."