3. Economy—Construction IndustryHon STEVEN JOYCE (National) to the Minister of FinanceEconomy—Construction Industry3. Hon STEVEN JOYCE (National) to the Minister of Finance: Does he agree with the analysis from Infometrics showing economic growth will slow to 2.6 percent in 2019 and that the reason for this includes labour capacity constraints in the residential construction sector" and "changes in central government's infrastructure priorities"?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): No.Hon Steven Joyce: Does he agree with the Reserve Bank's forecast in last week's Monetary Policy Statement and I quote "Residential investment is assumed to increase"—SPEAKER: No. [Interruption] Order! Order! The member will resume his seat. It's very important that the member realises that supplementaries must flow from an answer. The member asked about a very specific report and he got a very specific answer and the start of his question is not close to the primary question or does not flow from the answer. So the member has lost one supplementary.Hon Steven Joyce: Thank you Mr Speaker.SPEAKER: I mean he's used it.Hon Steven Joyce: Given that answer does he have any concern along the lines expressed by Infometrics that the infrastructure sector is slowing down as indicated by a number of concerns about different organisations in the construction industry?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I have heard some concerns from those in the construction industry but I can reassure them and the member that this Government is ambitious to make sure that we invest in infrastructure through programmes like KiwiBuild through investing in regional roads and rail and in making sure we make up for the underinvestment of the previous Government.Hon Steven Joyce: Thank you Mr Speaker. Given his reference to KiwiBuild is he aware that last week's Monetary Policy Statement by the Reserve Bank indicated that they didn't expect to see any benefit out of KiwiBuild policies until late 2019 and even then that would possibly displace private sector investment and that the Reserve Bank expects residential investment to increase more slowly over the next couple of years than in previous years?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: This material was covered in the House yesterday in a question to Mr Twyford. The Government is confident that we will see the impact of KiwiBuild starting in this term: $5.4 billion of additional investment in the residential building sector over and above the normal investment by the private sector. We are taking an active role in making sure that we have a decent affordable housing stock unlike the previous Government.Hon Steven Joyce: Has the Minister had any meetings or been part of any meeting with representatives of the construction industry or the contracting industry where they've raised concerns about the effects of Government building and infrastructure policies on the industry that may lead to difficulties and a reduction in staff?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: As I informed the member in the select committee this morning in fact in a public forum issues were raised by members of the infrastructure community seeking an assurance that this Government was committed to investing in infrastructure. I made that commitment because I believe in the policies that we have to ensure we do invest in housing we do invest in roads we do invest in rail. That's what a good Government does. It's just a pity the previous Government didn't do it.Hon Steven Joyce: Does he appreciate the concerns of the construction industry are right now that they had a long-term pipeline of work that is now being stopped by this incoming Government they have no idea what will happen next and they are very concerned for the future of their workforces over the next couple of years?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I reject the premise in the member's question. We have a pipeline of work coming through. It seems that the former Minister seems to believe that one specific project that was going to cost $327 million per kilometre the most expensive road in the world somehow was the be-all and end-all of infrastructure and investment. We have a much wider ambition than that.Hon Steven Joyce: Does the Minister perhaps appreciate that it's not me but it's the construction sector it's Infometrics and it's the Reserve Bank that are raising these flags and will he take any steps beyond just talking as Minister of Finance to do anything about the looming slow-down in the construction and infrastructure sector?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: We have as I've said before an ambitious programme of investment in infrastructure that the construction sector will be a part of. The member needs to stop talking down the New Zealand economy and realise that there are great and ambitious plans on this side of the House."