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: 27 September 2012. Volume:684;Page:5751. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
7. 
Hon DAVID PARKER (Labour) 
 to the  
Minister of Finance 
: Does he stand by his statement “the Government is doing everything it can to give businesses the confidence to invest grow and create new jobs”; if so what was the net change in filled jobs in the private sector from December 2008 to December 2011 according to Statistics New Zealand’s Quarterly Employment Survey? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Associate Minister of Finance) 
 on behalf of the Minister of Finance: Yes the Minister does stand by that statement. The official measure of employment and unemployment which is the household labour force survey shows that 57000 more New Zealanders are in a job now than 2 years ago. In contrast the quarterly employment survey which the member raises has a number of gaps. It does not include agriculture for example which is reasonably significant in the New Zealand context or the self-employed which is also significant and it excludes around half a million jobs in the economy. With that in mind over the period the member has selected that survey reports that the number of filled jobs fell by 30000 but it is also important to note that that loss happened in just one single quarter at the height of the recession and then there was the global financial crisis. 
Hon David Parker 
: Why does he prefer the measure of the household labour force survey when just about everyone other than him knows that it counts someone who has three jobs each of which could be just an hour long as three more people employed in New Zealand? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: Actually the member’s changing choice of documents is quite amusing. It is interesting to note though that the reason we choose it is that it is the official measure but do not take our word for it. Between 1999 and 2008 the number of press releases issued by the previous Government that mentioned the household labour force survey was 78. The number that mentioned the quarterly employment survey which the member refers to today was two. So I think the previous Government was in favour of the household labour force survey as well. 
Hon David Parker 
: Given his preference for the household labour force survey and given that it now shows there are 162000 people unemployed as of June 2012 does it concern him that on that measure there are more unemployed New Zealanders now than at any other point under this Government? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: I am not sure about the veracity of the last statement that the member made in that question but what I can say to him is obviously— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. A member is not allowed to question another member’s veracity. The member made a statement in this House. He can say he does not agree with it but he cannot question his veracity. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: To disagree with “the veracity of it” I think is getting too precious altogether. I have never known the honourable member himself to be quite so precious to be fair. 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: As I said I am not sure about that last statement that the member has raised but I can say that of course the Government is very keen to have more New Zealanders employed. We are actually doing pretty well relative to the rest of the world. I appreciate that we are not doing well compared with “Planet Labour” but we have had of course the global financial crisis we have had the Canterbury earthquakes and actually we are making good progress. And I note that in the business confidence survey released today something like 26 percent of businesses were expecting an increase in activity over the next 12 months and that is very encouraging for jobs in this country. 
Hon David Parker 
: I seek leave to table a document prepared by the Parliamentary Library showing that according to the household labour force survey unemployment is now 162000 and that it is the highest it has been under this Government. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is no objection. 









Document by leave laid on the Table of the House. 
Paul Goldsmith 
: Could the Minister please remind the House what is the official measure of unemployment? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The question actually should be I guess “What is the official measure of unemployment?”. What the member said was not actually a question. I invite him to actually pose it as a question. 
Paul Goldsmith 
: What is the official measure of unemployment? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: The official measure of unemployment and employment is the household labour force survey which shows some 57000 more New Zealanders are in a job now than there were 2 years ago. That is a good-news story for New Zealand. As I said to the House before the further good news is that business confidence in terms of own expectations is growing very significantly. Actually we are coming out of the global financial crisis which I know did not occur on “Planet Labour” very well. 
Hon David Parker 
: If he came to this House prepared to say that the official measure of employment and unemployment is the household labour force survey why could he not answer my question which asked him directly whether it was now showing unemployment at 162000 and confirm that that is the highest it has been under his Government? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: The point is that I acknowledged in the answer that it is higher than we all would like—I think everybody in this House—but the Government is working very hard to improve the confidence of New Zealand businesses. As I say the business confidence survey that came out today is another indicator that that is occurring. It is a very difficult time for the world but in New Zealand we have had a GDP growth rate of 0.6 percent in the last quarter which is one of the best in the world and is equivalent to that of Australia. In the first quarter we had a very good GDP growth figure as well. So yes it is tough but we are growing and that is positive. 
Hon David Parker 
: Does he still stand by the promise made during the 2011 election campaign to create 170000 more jobs? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: Yes. I would note that we are actually making some pretty good progress with 57000 new jobs over the last couple of years. 
Hon David Parker 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. My question was whether he stood by the promise at the election to create 170000 more jobs— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! The Minister said yes he did.