3. Question No. 3—FinanceHon AMY ADAMS (National—Selwyn) to the Minister of FinanceQuestion No. 3—Finance3. Hon AMY ADAMS (National—Selwyn) to the Minister of Finance: Does he agree with the Prime Minister's statement on Tuesday that the economy is performing above expectations"?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): Yes and let's just run through a few comparisons with the member's favourite document the Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update (PREFU). The unemployment rate has fallen to 4.3 percent from 4.7 percent at the election and in the pre-election update it was not expected to reach 4.3 percent until 2020 under the previous Government's economic settings—above expectations. The size of the economy at 30 September 2018—the latest numbers we have—was $291 billion against the PREFU forecast of $285 billion—above expectations. The PREFU forecast net core Crown debt would be 22 percent of GDP at the end of the 2017-18 year. We got it to 20 percent due to strong growth and healthier surpluses—above expectations. The latest monthly Crown accounts show a larger than expected operating balance before gains and losses surplus because employment and consumption growth has been greater than Treasury expected not only at PREFU but also at the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update 2018—above expectations. To sum up the economy is stronger under the coalition Government than Treasury had expected at the election when the previous Government's settings were in place.Hon Amy Adams: Is it a sign of an economy performing above expectations that the last quarter's and the last year's economic growth have been the lowest rates in five years and yet the ANZ is still predicting future growth to and I quote "disappoint further"?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The growth rates—in fact let's take the Reserve Bank's Monetary Policy Statement—are expected to be 3.1 percent for 2018 and then staying close to 3 percent through 2019 2020 and 2021. If the member was listening to my earlier answer globally growth amongst advanced economies is expected to be around 2 percent. New Zealand will be outperforming that.Hon Amy Adams: Well does he regard it as a sign of an economy performing above expectations that the number of people receiving jobseeker benefits has gone up 11000 in the last year and there's now 26000 more NEETs than when he took office?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: In respect of the last part of that question I'd encourage the member to look at the statement that Statistics New Zealand made about the reliability of the NEETs data in the latest forecast. What I can say though is that on this side of the House we're actually going to be investing and are investing in programmes that will get young people into work. We've got Mana in Mahi. We've got He Poutama Rangatahi. We have a range of programmes that are doing that because on this side of the House we believe in investing in young people instead of writing them off as lazy and hopeless as the previous Government did.Hon Amy Adams: Is it a sign of an economy performing above expectations that job creation has fallen from 10000 new jobs a month when that Minister took office to just 650 a month in the last quarter?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Over the last year I believe the figure is around 60000 new jobs in the economy. That is a good result. We are at the point now—when unemployment is at its lowest level in a decade—that it becomes harder and harder to create the next job but businesses in New Zealand are doing that.Hon Amy Adams: Is it above his expectations to see investor confidence falling again and farmer confidence at the lowest level since the global financial crisis?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: This highlights the member's difficulty because those investor confidence numbers zeroed in on concerns around global sharemarkets and global equities. The member might like to think that the New Zealand economy operates completely separately from the rest of the world. But I have to say I'd much rather prefer the endorsement of organisations like Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings that have come out in recent times and said that the New Zealand economy is strong and resilient and able to face up to these international headwinds.Rt Hon Winston Peters: With respect to the economy performing above expectation is it or is it not a fact that we are building more houses now in New Zealand than back to 1978—that is for 41 years?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Indeed that is in fact true and what members on the other side of the House when it comes to the place of house building in the New Zealand economy need to remember is that this is a Government that came in and said we will stop the sell-off of State houses because it's not just not building enough of them; it's that that lot were selling them off. For the first time in a very long time we have a Government committed to building affordable homes for first-home buyers.Hon Amy Adams: Doesn't he think that New Zealand deserves a finance Minister who has higher expectations—[Interruption]SPEAKER: Order! Start again please.Hon Amy Adams: Thank you. Doesn't the Minister think New Zealand deserves a finance Minister who has higher expectations for this country than slowing growth rapidly rising rents fewer new jobs and more people on benefits which is the legacy of his tenure so far?SPEAKER: Well I'm tempted to rule it out for irony but I will give the Minister the opportunity to answer it with a wide brief.Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Far be it from someone as modest as myself to speak about what kind of finance Minister we have today. What I can say is that I'm extremely proud of a coalition Government that has made sure that the New Zealand economy continues to be managed carefully. But on this side of the House we don't believe that you can crow about a growth rate of 3.5 percent when child poverty's growing when homelessness is growing and when our health and education systems are underfunded. That member over there wants to take a good square look in the mirror and say "What is the point of a growth rate like that if New Zealanders don't see the benefits of it?" On this side of the House we're making sure that happens."