3. Economy—Business Confidence and Government PoliciesHon AMY ADAMS (National—Selwyn) to the Minister of FinanceEconomy—Business Confidence and Government Policies3. Hon AMY ADAMS (National—Selwyn) to the Minister of Finance: Does he have confidence in the Government's management of the New Zealand economy?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): Yes I do.Hon Amy Adams: Does he take it as a signal of confidence in the Government's economic management that New Zealand has fallen from having the second-highest level of business confidence in the OECD in 2016 to having the second-lowest under this Government?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The OECD report the member refers to shows that New Zealand's business confidence is 0.46 of 1 percent below the long-run average at a score of 99.54 percent. So the Opposition is now bemoaning the fact that 0.46 of 1 percent off the long-run average is somehow a major disaster. I would point the member to consumer confidence which is strong; employee confidence which is strong; and unemployment which is going down.Hon Amy Adams: Well does he take it as a signal of confidence in the Government's economic management that today's ANZ business confidence survey showed business confidence has today fallen even further to negative 45 percent and own activity—which he quotes so often—has fallen again to its lowest level since 2009?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: There is a range of factors that affect business confidence including international conditions which a commentator I heard in the weekend opining at great length about the importance—Hon Dr Megan Woods: Who was that?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The chair of the ANZ Bank the person who got the most publicity out of the National Party conference. He said international conditions were the issue. Rt Hon Winston Peters: Who was this resident expert from the ANZ Bank and what is his past political record? Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The person was Sir John Key and I note that he also made the comment when he spoke that the previous unsustainable drivers of growth—namely housing speculation and immigration—were waning and that it was a question of what replaces those factors. It's a pity he didn't ask that question over the last nine years but this Government is getting on with making the changes to be more productive and more sustainable in our economic growth. Hon Amy Adams: Well does he take it as a signal of confidence in the Government's economic management that the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment's national construction pipeline released yesterday showed infrastructure investment projections are dramatically down on last year? Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The infrastructure pipeline methodology has changed as the report authors noted themselves. This Government has a pipeline of infrastructure projects—$28 billion worth of transport projects—coming down the line. Building consents today are 8 percent up on the same month last year. There is plenty of good activity going on. Of course there are some concerns among the business community about access to skilled staff and international conditions. We'll keep working with them. But on this side of the House we have a big job to do to shift away from an economy that was based on housing speculation and population growth. The member should listen to John Key. Hon Amy Adams: Does he take it as a signal of confidence in the Government's economic management that the level of capital raised from initial public offerings on the New Zealand stock exchange has fallen from $480 million in the previous period to just $20 million in the first half of this year? Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I don't have those numbers in front of me but I do note that the New Zealand stock exchange has been at record highs in recent times. So while the member can stand on the sidelines trying to talk the economy down the message that businesses around New Zealand are giving me is that they have a lot of activity. They're looking for more skilled staff and we're getting on with making sure that we provide those skilled staff to them unlike in the last nine years of under-investment. Rt Hon Winston Peters: If any of those stats being quoted at the Minister were correct how come New Zealand has the lowest recent record unemployment? Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Well that's an interesting question. What I do note is that the priority that this Government is giving to investing in the regions of New Zealand through the Provincial Growth Fund through R & D and through lifting the skills of New Zealanders is going to make a big difference as we get down to our goal of 4 percent unemployment. Hon Amy Adams: Well in light of all the evidence showing that even with our current strong trade conditions the domestic economy has begun to stall under this Government what is he actually going to do to promote economic growth? Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Well what we're doing is transitioning away from an economy that was based on population growth and housing speculation. That member might think that that's a sustainable growth path; it's not. We have to actually invest in the future of our regions through the Provincial Growth Fund through our research and development tax incentive through the Green Investment Fund and through lifting the skills of New Zealanders. On this side of the House we're getting on with the job of making that transition.