1. Question No. 1—FinanceDr DUNCAN WEBB (Labour—Christchurch Central) to the Minister of FinanceORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSQuestion No. 1—Finance1. Dr DUNCAN WEBB (Labour—Christchurch Central) to the Minister of Finance: What recent reports has he seen on the New Zealand economy in the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): Thank you very much Mr Speaker. This morning Stats New Zealand released the latest labour market statistics for the June quarter showing that the labour market is weathering the immediate impacts of COVID-19 better than expected. Stats New Zealand said that New Zealand's unemployment rate in the June quarter which includes the period that the economy was in lockdown was 4 percent down from 4.2 percent in March. This compares to Treasury's Budget forecast for the unemployment rate to hit 8.3 percent in June. This is a good result but we have to be aware that the full impact of COVID-19 is yet to be felt. The increase in the underutilisation rate and the number of people indicating they had stopped looking for work due to COVID-19 are both signs of the impact. But the good news was that the number of people in employment fell by only 0.5 percent during the quarter and was up 1.2 percent from a year ago. While we've always been clear that things will be more difficult in the face of a one-in-100-year shock in the September quarter today's data shows that the Government's plan to protect jobs and cushion the blow for businesses and households has protected the labour market from the worst effects of COVID-19.Dr Duncan Webb: What did Statistics New Zealand say about New Zealand's labour market data compared with international counterparts?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: According to Statistics New Zealand New Zealand's unemployment rate ranks at seventh in the OECD above the OECD average of 8.4 percent and well ahead of Australia at 7 percent and the US and Canada both at 13 percent. In addition our employment rate of 76.8 percent is currently fifth in the OECD well above the average of 68.6 percent. This shows that unlike what we are seeing in many countries the Government's decision to go hard and early and put the wage subsidy in place quickly while getting on top of the virus was the right approach. The best economic approach was always going to be a strong public health approach and this is bearing out in terms of our comparison with the rest of the world.Dr Duncan Webb: What is the Government doing to support employment in the New Zealand economy in the face of the global COVID-19 pandemic?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Treasury expects unemployment to rise further and peak in the September quarter as the impacts of the global recession caused by COVID19 feed through to the domestic economy. Many countries are now experiencing second waves which will lead to a deeper global recession. As part of the economic plan announced at Budget 2020 the Government is making significant investments to support New Zealanders into jobs including free trades training to help New Zealanders get into work; providing businesses with up to $16000 to help cover the costs of an apprentice's first two years; boosts to He Poutama Rangatahi Mana in Mahi trades academies careers advice and the new Māori apprenticeships fund; significant new infrastructure investment including for 8000 new State houses and regional infrastructure projects; and support for small to medium sized enterprises to receive up to $5000 for business advice and support them to shift into e-commerce. The Government has a comprehensive economic plan to see Kiwi workers and businesses through the crisis and we have made the critical investments to back that up.