Woodhouse Michael: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Woodhouse Michael: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:671;Page:18183] 
2. 
MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National) 
 to the  
Minister of Finance 
: How will the Budget next month progress the Government’s programme to build faster economic growth based on savings exports and productive investment? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Associate Minister of Finance) 
on behalf of the  
Minister of Finance 
: The Budget next month will be about pressing on with the Government’s extensive economic programme to build a platform for faster sustained growth. It will have two main themes: focus on increasing savings and investment and on the rebuilding of Christchurch. It will be a balanced and responsible Budget for the times. The two Canterbury earthquakes and a number of other setbacks such as finance company failures are significant and expensive but they do not materially change the Government’s wide-ranging economic programme which will build long-term growth by having a tax system that rewards hard work an infrastructure programme that removes economic bottlenecks a regulatory framework that helps businesses grow reforms to improve front-line services in the public sector an education and skills system that deliver real results and encouragement of business to trade and innovate. 
Michael Woodhouse 
: How will the Government incorporate the costs of the Canterbury earthquakes into the Budget and into its wider economic programme? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: First of all although the earthquakes were very large events we need to keep their economic effects in perspective and it is important that we do not overreact. Events like the earthquake and support for AMI Insurance policyholders and finance company failures certainly come at a significant cost to New Zealand. But they are one-off events. They will amount to several billion dollars over the next 4 or 5 years whereas the Government currently spends about $70 billion a year and New Zealand’s annual GDP is around $200 billion. The Government will meet its share of these costs by initially borrowing a bit more in the next year or two and carefully look to its spending priorities so we can get back to surplus and start repaying our debts. 
Michael Woodhouse 
: Why should New Zealanders be optimistic about the economic outlook for the next few years? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: There are very many reasons for New Zealanders to be optimistic and here are a few. Export prices are at record levels—up 30 percent in the past year according to the ANZ commodity price index—New Zealand’s merchandise trade jumped 10 percent from 2010 interest rates are at 45-year lows underlying inflation remains low at around 2 percent real after-tax wages have increased by 10 percent since September 2008 we have very competitive tax rates and forecasters expect economic growth to push above 4 percent next year. Finally the main reason for New Zealanders to be optimistic is that they have a Government that rejects the crazy idea that the answer to every economic problem is outrageous spending promises that we cannot afford. 
Hon David Cunliffe 
: How can the Government claim to be building on its programme for growth when GDP per capita has gone backwards nearly every quarter since it took office? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: I think the answer to that is reasonably easy. We had incredibly poor economic management through the first 9 years of the 21st century and the Government is now turning that round. I remind the member that this country was in recession before the global financial crisis. 
Hon David Cunliffe 
: If the Minister is so confident about his handling of major economic decisions why has he chosen to release hundreds of documents on South Canterbury Finance on the afternoon of the last sitting day before an adjournment including Treasury email No. 2044105 dated 13 September which indicates that the Minister faced a potential conflict of interest over the sale of South Canterbury Finance’s dairy holdings interests? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: I think the member will find that those papers were released by Treasury this afternoon.