2. Economy—Crown Debt Tax Increases and Business ConfidenceHon AMY ADAMS (National—Selwyn) to the Minister of FinanceEconomy—Crown Debt Tax Increases and Business Confidence2. Hon AMY ADAMS (National—Selwyn) to the Minister of Finance: What effect will additional borrowing and the proposed increase in petrol tax and levies have on the New Zealand economy?SPEAKER: Order! Before I call the member can I just ask the senior members who are having an exchange across in front of me to cease. Thank you.Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): The Government is committed using the favoured measure of the previous Government to reducing net core Crown debt as a percentage of GDP to 20 percent within five years of taking office. The Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows nominal GDP growing faster than core Crown net debt in the years 2017 to 2022 and importantly shows that core Crown finance costs fall both as a percentage of GDP and in nominal terms over the period. In response to the second part of the member's question I draw her attention to the evidence we have from when the previous Government increased petrol levies by 40 percent over their nine years in office—the sky didn't fall and she needs to cheer up about the New Zealand economy.Hon Amy Adams: Does he accept that increases to petrol tax the new regional fuel tax the five-year brightline test tax and the new Amazon tax" add up to Kiwis paying around $2.27 billion more tax over the next four years?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I can't confirm the member's figures but what I can say in answer to the question about the so-called "Amazon tax" is we're very grateful for the work of Judith Collins in developing that.Hon Amy Adams: Well can he confirm that the Government's plan to borrow around $10 billion more over the coming years will result in more than $1.1 billion in additional debt-servicing costs over the next four years or $650 for every household?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I can't confirm all of those numbers from the member but what I can confirm is that core Crown finance costs according to the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update will fall from 1.3 percent of GDP in 2017 to 0.96 percent of GDP in 2022. I can also confirm that in nominal terms core Crown finance costs are proposed to fall from $3.5 billion to $3.3 billion.Hon James Shaw: Can the Minister confirm that the money that the Hon Amy Adams is talking about will lead to a reduction in child poverty and better protection of the environment?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I can confirm that because the evidence is that tens of thousands of New Zealand children will be lifted out of poverty by the Families Package. On this side of the House we are prepared to borrow and invest and make sure that we're building roads and houses rather than waiting for the benefits to trickle on down.SPEAKER: Order! Before I call the member I am going to remind her that when the Minister is answering she is of course allowed to interject but she is not allowed to bring me in—I think she did it at least four times.Hon Amy Adams: My apologies. Why is the Government imposing additional taxes on Kiwi families and additional debt-servicing costs all during good economic times which is driving an increase to the Australia - New Zealand wage gap for the first time in a decade?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I reject the premise of that question. What we're doing is doing exactly what the previous Government did when it comes to the fuel excise duties. In terms of what we're doing in the other tax changes—they're actually about getting some fairness into the tax system. I really do encourage the member to talk to her neighbouring member Judith Collins about why those moves are important.Hon Amy Adams: Well has he seen today's Staples Rodway business survey results which found that more than half of the respondents believe that their Government's performance around the economy to date has been poor; if so why is he continuing to dismiss survey after survey showing low business confidence in his Government?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: As the Prime Minister has already said the thing that correlates to GDP growth is businesses' confidence in their own activity. That is still strong. We have a Budget on Thursday that will show that we're going to build both a productive and sustainable economy and manage the Government's finances well.Hon Amy Adams: Well does he agree with the 88 percent of businesses surveyed who say that it's important for the Government to avoid taking on further debt; if not how does he justify taking on $10 billion more debt when the Government's tax revenue is already forecast to grow by nearly $20 billion over the next four years?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: It's interesting isn't it because the previous Government managed to borrow an additional $49 billion during their term in Government—$49 billion. I'd also add that our revenue is forecast to grow by around 29 percent but that compares to a 37 percent increase in that revenue by the previous Government. This side of the House is prepared to invest in New Zealand's future. We're borrowing at exactly the right time Mrs Adams because actually we need to build some houses and fix up the mistakes of the previous Government."