English Bill: General Debate 
English Bill: General Debate 
[Volume:646;Page:15055] 
Hon BILL ENGLISH (Deputy Leader—National) 
: 
 One wonders how much more detail the Minister of Foreign Affairs needs to establish that China is a low-wage country. We will see. Yesterday the Prime Minister made a remark that I think most New Zealanders would regard as one of the least informed most offhand and most out-of-touch comments a Prime Minister could make in the current economic environment. She airily tossed off this comment to the journalists: “Mortgage rates are not going through the roof.” Well there has not been a time when that comment could be more wrong. That is how we know that Helen Clark is completely out of touch with what is happening to New Zealanders who own homes have mortgages have credit card debt and run overdrafts. For all of those people interest rates are going through the roof. 
I will give the Prime Minister some of the figures. These are the Reserve Bank’s figures. In December 2006 the average 2-year fixed rate was 8.18 percent. In December 2007 which is just 4 months ago the average 2-year fixed rate was 9.5 percent. The best advice that we have from bankers and economists is that the 2-year fixed rate which a lot of New Zealanders are on is heading to over 10 percent. One has only to look at the information published on financial websites all over the world about what banks are paying for the funding that they are obtaining in the market to see that interest rates are going through the roof. In fact there has not been a time when mortgage interest rates have been going up faster and there has never before been a Prime Minister who knew less about it has cared less about it or has said less about it. 
How much difference do interest rates make to an average New Zealander with a mortgage? I will tell members how much difference they make to average New Zealanders; a difference that they do not make to Helen Clark. According to the Reserve Bank the average floating rate in December 1999 was 7.04 percent and it was actually about the same in 2005. The floating rate just 3 months ago was 10.4 percent. 
How much difference does it make if one’s floating mortgage rate goes from 7 percent to 10.4 percent? [ 
Interruption 
] Well Labour does not care either. All Labour is worried about is wasting the money that comes from the pockets of taxpayers who have a mortgage of $250000. Do members know how much difference the rate increase makes? We need to tell Helen Clark because she does not know and we need to tell her that she should care. The difference it makes is $133 a week on a mortgage of $250000. According to Helen Clark that does not matter—it does not matter if the cost of servicing the mortgage went up by 25 percent. It is by far the single biggest outgoing in any household budget of any homeowner who has a mortgage and it has gone up by 25 percent in that period. And Helen Clark says that mortgage interest rates are not going through the roof! 
But why should we be surprised when the Minister of Finance is saying that we are to have a recession and Helen Clark does not seem to know that the economy is slowing down. She says that everything is fine. Well I would invite Helen Clark to talk to a few average ordinary New Zealanders. 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: She wouldn’t do that. 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: No she would not do that because she might find out the legacy of this Labour Government. What do members think people are talking about over the morning tea table now? They are talking about the price of butter cheese petrol and milk. For the benefit of Labour members it is not a discussion about those prices going down; it is a discussion about those prices going up. Guess who is paying those prices? It is people whose mortgage interest rates are going through the roof.