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: Does he stand by all of the Government's decisions statements and actions in relation to his portfolio?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): Yes in the context in which they were made and undertaken.Hon Amy Adams: Does he stand by his statement that We are going to transition away from an economy based on population growth" when ANZ has said this morning that today's GDP numbers show population growth is in fact very clearly the driver of our economic growth?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Absolutely yes because nine years of neglect takes more than 18 months to turn around but we've made a pretty good start.Hon Amy Adams: Why has growth per person halved under his watch from an average of 1.6 percent a year to now just 0.8 percent a year making us the sixth worst in the OECD for growth per person last year?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The Statistics New Zealand release is actually 0.9 percent not 0.8 percent. But in addition to that what I would say is that when you look at a more reasonable period of comparison you would see the GDP per capita is forecast to be just a little bit below the five-year average and just a little bit above the 10-year average over the forecast period.Hon Amy Adams: Is he aware of comments from Westpac this morning that today's GDP figures were "flattered by a 9.6 percent jump in mining that was led by a bout of exploration activity which has now been abandoned"?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The mining numbers within GDP do move around a lot but what I do note in terms of what Westpac said is that they said that growth to date has been steady in the face of mounting global risks which is precisely what this Government has been saying and why our underlying economic fundamentals being strong is so important.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Can I ask the Minister of Finance how can population growth be fuelling the economic growth as is being claimed here when in terms of thousands it's gone from the 70s under the previous administration to the 50s now? Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Well indeed and that is true that in the latter part of last year net migration numbers settled around the 50000 level. We've had some changes to the way that's measured but actually what this Government is doing is moving towards more sustainable patterns of growth. That will take some time. But actually investing in the economy in skills and infrastructure and in research and development is what we need to do to have a more productive economy. It's just a pity it didn't happen in the decade that that Government was in office. Hon Amy Adams: Doesn't he think he should show more concern for the underlying health of our economy when in the last quarter the services sector—which makes up 70 percent of the economy—grew an insipid 0.2 percent? Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: It really is a testament around people's half-glass full or half-glass empty approach. Today we could be celebrating that the construction sector expanded by 3.7 percent in this quarter—people with the confidence to build. But unfortunately there are some on the other side of the House determined to be pessimistic and to talk down the economy. It's almost like they need to fly someone in to make them cheerful. Hon Amy Adams: Does he really think that him blaming international circumstances and refusing to take any responsibility or even acknowledge the weaknesses in our economy is going to be of any comfort to the real New Zealanders in the four sectors of our economy including agriculture and retail that went backwards over the last quarter?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: As I said in my answer to an earlier question it is important to look at these figures on an annual basis. There always is movement within particular sectors on a quarter by quarter basis but what I do know is that on this side of the House we actually have a plan to grow a productive sustainable and inclusive economy and we're very proud of that plan."