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: 24 November 2009. Volume:659;Page:8209. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
6.  
Hon DAVID PARKER (Labour) 
 to the  
Minister of Finance 
: Does he stand by his statement that “In order for that recovery to be sustainable we need improved competitiveness among our exporters and continued recovery in household savings”? 
Hon TONY RYALL (Minister of Health) 
 on behalf of the  
Minister of Finance 
: Yes. 
Hon David Parker 
: How can the Minister of Finance insist that New Zealand has the best monetary policy in the world when currency volatility makes exporting tougher for businesses than it should be? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: There is no doubt that currency volatility is a challenge for many exporters. Export volumes have been stagnating for some time but the real issue in respect of monetary policy and the effect on the currency is very much a reflection of the legacy that this Government inherited from a Government that made such waste of taxpayers’ money during its years on the Treasury benches. Its spending in a 5-year period increased by over 45 percent and New Zealanders wondered what they got for it. 
Hon David Parker 
: How can the Minister of Finance pretend that he is leading an export-led recovery when he is happy to sit on his hands as our exporters struggle against a volatile dollar and interest rates driven by debt-fuelled consumption in the non-tradable sector? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: This Government is not sitting on its hands; this Government is dealing with the issues that really matter to the New Zealand economy. Primary amongst those issues is dealing with the 10 years of economic mismanagement by the previous Government when it wasted some of the best years of New Zealand’s economic performance. 
Hon David Parker 
: How can the Minister of Finance maintain that New Zealand has the best monetary policy in the world when despite our economy being small we are one of the top 10 or 11 most traded currencies in the world? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: I think the Minister of Finance would be quite clear that many challenges face the New Zealand economy but those challenges are made more difficult by the fact that during the 10 years of good economic times— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The Minister has been devoting a fair part of his answers to attacking the previous Government when the member’s questions have not been particularly provocative. He has been asking about the issue of a volatile currency which is not attacking the Government; it is raising an issue of relevance. My concern about that last answer was that it did not really answer the member’s question at all. I invite the Hon David Parker to ask his question again just in case there was confusion. 
Hon David Parker 
: How can the Minister of Finance maintain that New Zealand has the best monetary policy in the world when despite our being a small economy we are one of the top 10 or 11 most traded currencies in the world? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: I think the Minister can maintain that position extremely well. He can maintain that position because this Government recognises that it has an important role to play in providing balanced economic policy and ensuring that the Government’s contribution to maintaining stability is a priority.