3. Question No. 3—FinanceHon AMY ADAMS (National—Selwyn) to the Minister of FinanceQuestion No. 3—Finance3. Hon AMY ADAMS (National—Selwyn) to the Minister of Finance: What is the most recent advice he has received from the Treasury on the likely impact of COVID-19 on the New Zealand economy over the period to 30 June 2021 and what impact does he think this will have on New Zealand households?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): The latest advice I've received from the Treasury is reflected in the statement made by the Secretary to the Treasury to the Finance and Expenditure Committee yesterday. In that advice the Treasury says its outlook has changed since the Budget because of three developments: firstly that we've moved to level 1 sooner than expected increasing economic activity with people getting back to work; secondly June quarter activity looks to have held up better than expected; and thirdly in less positive news the global outlook is weaker. On balance Treasury suggests that this indicates near-term improvement on their Budget forecast and a longer slower recovery in the long term due to the global outlook. In answer to the second part of the question the impact on specific households will be different for each but the measures the Government has put in place will cushion the blow of the impact of this one-in-100-year global pandemic.Hon Amy Adams: How many New Zealanders does the Minister think will struggle to pay their bills as a result of the level of economic decline outlined by Treasury the Reserve Bank and a range of others when today's GDP fall already represents an average drop of $13000 for every household?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Far fewer than would be struggling if it weren't for the measures that the Government took in terms of the wage subsidy scheme the support for small businesses and the support for sectors like tourism.Hon Amy Adams: Does the Minister think that the people now queuing up for food parcels—the number has increased by 400 percent—really believe that this Government's actions are supporting them through this crisis?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: What I know that many of those people will be grateful for is the fact that the Government on 17 March increased main benefits by $25 per week doubled the winter energy payment made sure that there were services available through the civil defence and emergency management arrangements to ensure people did get food parcels and did get what they needed funded Whānau Ora for over $100 million to make sure that people actually got what they needed—a range of measures which the National Opposition in large part opposed.Hon Amy Adams: How many more New Zealanders are out of work today compared to at the start of the year when you include those who don't qualify for jobseeker support?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: In terms of the numbers around jobseeker support it's approximately 45000 since the period of COVID anyway coming into being. And in addition to that I'd need to get back to the member on the exact information on those who've got the COVID income relief payment which will include those who weren't eligible.Hon Amy Adams: Well how many jobs could have been saved if the construction sector who were the biggest contributor to today's GDP decline hadn't been fully shut down by the Minister?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The member is incorrect in terms of the impact on different sectors that is noted in today's GDP. What I can say to the member is that—[Interruption]SPEAKER: Order! Order! I accept that there's a certain amount of provocation in the question but I want to hear the answer and colleagues right from the usual suspects down to the normally quieter ones are making too much noise.Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: As I was saying the construction sector—yes it did see a drop. There were other sectors affected by things such as border closures that suffered a larger drop so in that respect the member's question is incorrect. In terms of where we are today New Zealand's economy is operating at a higher level than most other countries in the world because we went hard and early and because we said we would do this once and do it right. That allows us now to have an economy that is operating ahead of most other countries.Hon Amy Adams: How can New Zealand have any confidence in this Government's economic management of the biggest economic crisis in a generation when the Minister can't answer straight questions about job losses so far and in the first three months of this crisis New Zealand has already experienced five times more economic damage than Australia?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The member's question I actually think does a disservice to the 5 million New Zealanders who actually endorsed the Government's strategy—up to about 90 percent I think—to go hard to go early to do this once and to do it right. Yes there is an impact in the March quarter data. Yes there will be an impact in the June quarter data. But New Zealanders have backed this Government because we have a plan to deal with COVID-19.Kieran McAnulty: Has he seen reports of any groups calling for at the same time more spending less debt open borders closed borders and open industry?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Yes I have. I've seen one particular group of people in an utter state of confusion about those matters and in the case of some members on the other side they've managed to do—SPEAKER: Order!