Cunliffe David: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Cunliffe David: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
[Sitting date: 14 November 2012. Volume:685;Page:6580. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
7. 
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE (Labour—New Lynn) 
 to the  
Minister for Economic Development 
: Is he satisfied that the policy initiatives undertaken by his Ministry are adequately tackling the problem of unemployment; if not why not? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister for Economic Development) 
: 
 I think actually Mr Cunliffe was doing a bit of last-minute lobbying for the weekend. The Government— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! I think Ministers when answering primary questions should avoid that kind of unnecessary gratuitous comment. 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: I was just trying to— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: No order! 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: OK. Yes. The Government is undertaking a comprehensive Business Growth Agenda to help New Zealand businesses become more internationally competitive and have access to the six key ingredients they need to grow create jobs and be successful. To this end we are ensuring we are building better access to export markets we are investing to encourage innovation we are improving skills and safety within the workforce we are building the infrastructure that businesses need to thrive we are encouraging sustainable use of our national resources— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! The Minister should have noticed that the question asked “if not why not?” not “if so why?”. The Minister had answered the question—[ 
Interruption 
] Order! It was a primary question and it asked whether the Minister was satisfied. The Minister indicated that he was. Therefore there is no further answer required because the question goes on to say “if not why not?”. 
Hon David Cunliffe 
: Which of the following does he consider to be the greater concern for the New Zealand economy: inflation at 0.8 percent below the 1 to 3 percent target range or unemployment at 7.3 percent the highest in 13 years—in fact since the last time Bill English was Minister of Finance? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: Actually I think the bigger challenge for the New Zealand economy is the lack of understanding from some people as to the importance of giving businesses the opportunity to invest and grow their businesses in New Zealand not adding costs to those businesses and actually giving opportunities in areas such as oil and gas such as convention centres— 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Casinos. 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: —absolutely Mr Peters absolutely—a range of things that we need to have to encourage businesses to grow. I think that is the biggest limitation and it dominates the other side of the House. 
Hon David Cunliffe 
: Which does the Minister consider is the more significant reason for the decline in New Zealand manufacturing from 26 percent of GDP in the 1970s to 14 percent in 2009 and 12 percent in 2011: could it be the high New Zealand dollar or policy settings that deliberately reinforce the interests of agriculture and finance at the expense of manufacturing innovation and export-led growth? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: I think the member is simply wrong in his analysis of what is happening in the New Zealand economy. In actual fact since this Government has been in office we have seen the long-term decline in manufacturing that he refers to halt and actually we have seen growth in the amount of exports from manufacturing—[ 
Interruption 
]—it is true; members should go and read their numbers—and growth in manufacturing over time. The simple fact of the matter is that the member’s—I have to say—adolescent picking of industries that should be promoted ahead of other industries is actually one of the causes of problems in New Zealand. We spend way too much time focusing on which single industry will save us. We actually need to encourage positive investment opportunities across the country and that is what we are doing. 
Hon Bill English 
: Has the Minister seen any reports of any special meetings to discuss jobs? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: I have received the report of a special meeting last night to discuss one particular leadership job. Reports are that there was a meeting of about a dozen people to discuss jobs it followed on from discussions with an expensive New York - based consultant and it was convened by one David Cunliffe MP. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Supplementary question the Hon David Cunliffe. [ 
Interruption 
] Order! Order! Order! The National benches will show a little discipline please. I want to hear the Hon David Cunliffe. 
Hon David Cunliffe 
: If the Minister’s mathematical abilities— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! Come on now the member is going to have further interjections if he carries on like that. 
Hon David Cunliffe 
: What policies are in place to help New Zealanders aged between 18 and 34 whose real incomes have decreased by 8 percent since this Government has been in power or who currently make up close to half of the unemployed and around 40 percent of those leaving for Australia; and if he really believes that the manufacturing decline has been reversed why does he not say that to the people of Southland or to the Minister of Finance or any Government MP who has stood up the debate on the future of the Tiwai Pointsmelter to be held in early December? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: Well I think there were about six legs to that question but I will focus on the youth question because it is a fair question to ask. Actually the Government is very very focused on creating opportunities for young people and I just beg the House’s— 
Hon Member 
: Not actually doing it. 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: No it is doing a huge amount actually. We have created a thing called the Youth Guarantee scheme which supplies fees-free training for young people aged 16 and 17 and in fact there are now 7500 places from nothing a couple of years ago. We have also created 2800 fees-free places in 44 trades and service academies and next year we are rolling out 5500 fees-free levels 1 and 2 places for foundation learners of all ages. The good news is that if you look at 15 to 19 year olds fully 78 percent of all of them are now in education 12 percent of them are in employment and 4 percent are unemployed and not in any form of education with another 5 percent right outside the workforce. Those figures are actually a very significant improvement through the global financial crisis.