Parker David: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Parker David: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
[Sitting date: 14 August 2012. Volume:682;Page:4303. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
4. 
Hon DAVID PARKER (Labour) 
 to the  
Minister for Tertiary Education Skills and Employment 
: How many people were employed in the manufacturing sector when he took office in 2008 and how many people are employed in the manufacturing sector now according to the most recent data produced by Statistics New Zealand? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister for Tertiary Education Skills and Employment) 
: 
 There were 272000 people employed in the manufacturing sector in the September 2008 quarter out of a total New Zealand employment of 2194000. The most recent data shows 247000 people employed in manufacturing out of a total employment of 2227000. It is interesting though that it was in decline in 2008 and was growing in 2010 and 2011. The unique aspect of 2008 of course is that we had already been in a recession that had been domestically generated in 2008 by the previous Government and the manufacturing sector grew in 2010 and 2011. 
Hon David Parker 
: Are job losses in manufacturing contributed to by the high New Zealand dollar—[ 
Interruption 
] Mr Speaker— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! 
Hon David Parker 
: Are the job losses in manufacturing contributed to by the high New Zealand dollar; if so what is his Government going to do about it? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: Job losses in manufacturing are caused by a range of things. It is important to note that while jobs have been declining in the manufacturing sector they have been increasing in sectors such as transport primary industries education and health care over the same period. It is also important to note that they declined as I said for some significant period in the latter half of the time of the previous Government. I think the challenge is how to grow the high-value manufacturing sector and this Government is very focused on a range of initiatives in doing that— 
Andrew Little 
: So what are you doing about it? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: —including the Advanced Technology Institute. I am happy to give you some information about that Mr Little. The Advanced Technology Institute has been announced by the Government. It will be assisting firms by providing opportunities to research and increase their innovation and help grow the value of their goods and products and help them export. 
Hon David Parker 
: Was Steve Rowntree the head of products at Flotech right when he said that a significant reason that his company was closing with the loss of 61 jobs was the strength of the New Zealand dollar? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: I cannot make any particular comment about Mr Rowntree’s comments. Obviously he is in a better position to judge his business than anybody else is. But it is important to note that there have been very significant opportunities for growth in New Zealand over the same period. In fact as late as last week I noticed that IBM and Unitech have announced plans for 400 new jobs at Unitech in terms of the information and communications technology sector on the Unitech campus. I would also note that as late as yesterday the stronger Canterbury rebuild alliance announced that it will need a thousand more— 
Grant Robertson 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. That was a very direct question about a specific— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I think the member makes a reasonable point that it was quite a direct question and in all the answer given actually the Minister did not mention anything to do with the dollar at all. But the answer I think had gone on quite long enough. 
Hon David Parker 
: Does he agree with the Prime Minister that current monetary policy is “working well” given that under the current policy the high dollar is causing exporters to shut up shop and lay off workers or was Ian Hunter the co-owner of Canterbury Leather International wrong when he said that the high currency meant his business was not competitive any more prompting a loss of 55 jobs or was Damian Camp the Chief Executive of Pacific Aerospace wrong when he said that the high kiwi dollar had caused the laying off of 27 of his highly skilled staff? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: In answer to the first part of the member’s question I think monetary policy is challenging for some employers at the moment and particularly for people who sell in US dollars. But if they sell in Australian dollars—and of course many of our manufacturers and employers do—it is actually at one of the most competitive rates it has been for many a year. There is no doubt about it: the world economies have been changing dramatically. What I am saying is that there are opportunities for some and difficulties for others. If you look at some of the opportunities—[ 
Interruption 
] Well I will give you some of the examples that are there. Methanex of course has just created about 500 jobs—weirdly enough in Taranaki as it upgrades its operations there. We also have Tait Communications in Christchurch which has just won some contracts in the US. It has increased its staff to the extent that it now has 900 employees.