English Bill: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
English Bill: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:646;Page:14995] 
Hon BILL ENGLISH (Deputy Leader—National) 
: 
 It is part of the New Zealand way of life that when New Zealanders face economic uncertainty they look to their Government not necessarily to take that uncertainty away but to show a path through it. New Zealanders know that we have a small open economy and that making a living in the world is difficult at times. But what did they find out today? They found out today that in the face of growing uncertainty in the world economy and in our own economy this Government has no idea what it is doing—no idea what it is doing. 
Dr Cullen should be here to tell us who is right. Was Dr Cullen right when he said there could be a recession given the drought the international financial turmoil the credit squeeze the housing market coming off its peak and of course the squeeze on New Zealanders’ incomes? He said he would not rule out a recession. That is Dr Cullen’s assessment. He is not basing that on some kind of secret advice; he is basing it on what he sees in the media. I hope Dr Cullen is wrong actually; I hope we do not have a recession. At the moment although New Zealanders are facing uncertainty about a whole lot of things and although their household budgets are under severe pressure they do have job security. But a further downturn in the economy would undermine that job security push up unemployment and create real problems for households already under pressure. But it is Dr Cullen’s assessment that there could be a recession. 
Helen Clark’s assessment is completely different from that. She says there is no problem and she does not expect there will be negative growth saying: “The Treasury advice we are getting is that the economy will continue to grow …”. So which is it? Does the Government have a view about where the economy is going? Well it does; it has two views. The Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance have quite divergent views about where the economy is going. That means that we cannot expect the Government to put together the kind of Budget that will be suitable for the times and that New Zealanders cannot expect this Labour Government to show a path through these times of growing economic uncertainty. Dr Cullen says one thing; Helen Clark says another. Well we know for sure that Helen Clark says another thing because she is just out of touch. She is completely out of touch with the pressures that New Zealanders are facing every day in their household budgets from high interest rates high inflation dropping house values and growing uncertainty about their economic prospects. 
Dr Cullen looks at the environment and today he lost his apple. Instead of showing New Zealanders that he had a plan and a pathway to get through this economic uncertainty he has just given up. He has just said that there will be a recession. Now Labour’s tactic is to blame everybody else and to say that this is all to do with the world and with other things that are going on—that it is nothing to do with the Government. Well I want to say this to Labour: after a Government has spent 8 years claiming credit for every fraction of economic growth the public will not buy the argument that that Government has absolutely no responsibility when the situation turns on us. Having claimed credit for every single new job Labour will have to take the hit for every single job that is lost. Having claimed the credit for every dollar that has been put into people’s pockets Labour will have to take the blame for every dollar that interest rates are taking out of them. 
Hon David Carter 
: That’s right. 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: Absolutely. That is where the New Zealand people are: if the Government took the credit it has to take the blame. I would say to Labour members that they often lacked modesty. They often claimed credit for where the economy was going when that had absolutely nothing to do with them. 
The chickens have come home to roost the day of reckoning is at hand and the Government is all over the place. Helen Clark has never understood the economy; she does not understand what is happening to New Zealand households. Dr Cullen does understand it but he has given up and shown no sense of direction gravitas or seriousness about getting us through this situation.