8. Question No. 8—FinanceNICOLA WILLIS (Deputy Leader—National) to the Minister of FinanceQuestion No. 8—Finance8. NICOLA WILLIS (Deputy Leader—National) to the Minister of Finance: Does he agree with the Reserve Bank that worker shortages are holding the economy back and increasing inflation" and what steps if any will the Government now take to lessen the risk of economic recession next year as outlined in the Reserve Bank's November Monetary Policy Statement?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): In answer to the first part of the question with more New Zealanders in work now than ever before and the highest participation rate on record I do agree that global worker shortages are contributing to worker shortages here as businesses look to hire more employees due to strong profits and the resilient economy. That's why under the immigration rebalance Immigration New Zealand has given approval for 90000 positions under the accredited employer work visa as well as more than 39000 working holidaymakers. In answer to the second part of the question I'm sure the member will be aware that immigration on its own is not the only answer to growing the economy. The Government continues to take steps to invest in our infrastructure provide targeted support to New Zealanders on low and middle incomes and continue to invest in quality public services.Nicola Willis: Does he agree with economist Brad Olsen that the Reserve Bank is "quite clearly saying … that the Government is contributing to inflation or certainly not helping the case to get it under control" and does he take any responsibility for the worsening cost of living crisis?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Well when the Reserve Bank spoke last week at the release of their Monetary Policy Statement they among other things indicated as I have in this House before that the overall direction of Government spending continues to track down and in fact the fiscal impulse is contractionary over the forecast period.Nicola Willis: Does he stand by his commitment to starting a more comprehensive evaluation of the economic response to COVID-19 and how will the royal commission do that when its terms of reference do not include any assessment of the impact economic decision-making has had on today's cost of living crisis?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I'm not 100 percent sure how that relates to the primary question but in answer to that the member has already heard from the Prime Minister quoting the part of the terms of reference that includes fiscal and monetary policy responses and the overall economic policy response. The purpose is to learn the lessons of this pandemic and be able to apply them to any future one; that absolutely includes fiscal and monetary policy responses.Nicola Willis: Why was he unable to name a single example of where he has reined in Government spending on Newshub Nation last weekend despite being asked multiple times and would he like to use this opportunity to give one specific example?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: It's interesting because the question actually related to whether or not I agreed with all of the knee-jerk responses that the National Party had put in place. Because if as a Government we were being irresponsible and we hadn't planned for the fact that there would be a global economic slowdown the member might have a point. I invite the member to think about what would have happened to the New Zealand economy had we taken her advice and her leader's advice and done tax cuts in the May Budget. If we'd done that the New Zealand economy would be in a far far worse position than it is now.Nicola Willis: How can New Zealanders have any hope for the future when his Government has totally failed to get the cost of living crisis under control and they are now staring down a recession next year?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I've got enormous hope for the future of New Zealand because I see New Zealanders every single day working hard lifting their skills innovating exporting. The member really just does need to look at how hard New Zealanders have worked have a bit of faith in them. On this side of the House we do and we know New Zealanders know they've got a Government that backs them."