Parker David: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Parker David: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Sitting date: 13 February 2013. Volume:687;Page:7786. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
6. 
Hon DAVID PARKER (Labour) 
 to the  
Minister of Finance 
: Does he stand by his Budget 2012 statement “We are moving towards growth that is driven by savings exports and productive investment in the parts of the economy that trade with the rest of the world”? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance) 
: 
 Yes. 
Hon David Parker 
: With dropping exports a current account deficit that is projected to be second-worst in the developed world this year— 
Hon Steven Joyce 
: Oh still complaining about a current account deficit that is half what you had. 
Hon David Parker 
: No I am complaining about the fact— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! Would the member please ask his supplementary question. 
Hon David Parker 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Are you ruling that if we face interjections that are inane— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: No I am not. [ 
Interruption 
] No I am definitely not. I am asking the member to ask his question. 
Hon David Parker 
: With dropping exports and a current account deficit that is projected to be second-worst in the developed world this year and to remain very high for the rest of the forecast period when will the Minister concede that he has failed in his objective to rebalance the economy? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: I do not accept the member’s contention. Exports over the last 2 or 3 years have continued to rise in value and volume. There has been I think one number in a recent quarter where it has been down but the longer-term trend is pretty clear. Of course we would like it to be moving faster and in respect of the current account deficit that member’s party oversaw 3 years of an 8 percent current account deficit—the worst performance ever. It is currently around 4 percent so that is why we are not complaining about it. 
Hon David Parker 
: Will he support any of the top three ideas consistently proposed by exporting manufacturers which they say will make them more competitive and help them grow exports and jobs—namely broadening the mandate of the Reserve Bank or removing the capital income exemption through a capital gains tax or universal KiwiSaver—if not why not? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: We are always open to looking at those sorts of ideas although the Government has said it does not agree with bringing in a comprehensive capital gains tax. Changing the mandate of the Reserve Bank is something reasonable people can argue about but is unlikely to yield the results that manufacturers expect. We are working with manufacturers and other businesses every day on the Government’s business growth programme and we are open to any suggestions including some that we might disagree with such as those to help support their businesses. 
Hon David Parker 
: Given that the Minister for Economic Development claims that greater foreign direct investment is the best way to grow jobs what recent and significant foreign direct investment has there been in the New Zealand economy outside the primary sector? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: I think as the Minister has pointed out himself what he said was that foreign direct investment is part of the recipe for growing jobs because to have jobs you need investment and New Zealand has not for many decades had sufficient savings to fund all of its own investment. I welcome the Opposition’s new enthusiasm for foreign investment because up until today they have been mostly opposed to it. 
Hon David Parker 
: Is it not correct that outside the primary sector foreign direct investment is shrinking with job losses and disinvestment by manufacturing exporters from the south to the north of New Zealand pointing to uncompetitive economic settings that need to be changed? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: I would not want to take that view and I think we would need to check just which figures the member is referring to if he is saying that there is a contraction in foreign investment outside of the primary sector. Actually our biggest foreign investors are the owners of our banks. There is no sign of them contracting. They are outside the primary production sector. In the mineral resources and oil sector there is so much enthusiasm from offshore investors that Opposition parties are trying to stop them investing and thereby stop them from creating the jobs that many New Zealanders would like to see.