7. Auckland—CommentaryGRANT ROBERTSON (Labour—Wellington Central) to the Minister of FinanceAuckland—Commentary7. GRANT ROBERTSON (Labour—Wellington Central) to the Minister of Finance: Does he agree with the Dominion Post editorial that his Government has singularly failed to answer the pressures of Auckland"; if not why does he think they would write this?Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister of Finance): No I do not agree with the Dominion Post's take on the Government's pre-Budget announcement. I would also disagree with its take on the Government's commitment to infrastructure over the last 9 years. The former Minister of Finance and current Prime Minister invested heavily in infrastructure over that period. I also note that the editorial writer was having a bad day because they confused net debt with gross debt in their criticism of the Government's debt targets and had to change the editorial after they had finished. As to the motives for why they would write these things I can only assume that perhaps they did not have enough cups of coffee before they started writing.Grant Robertson: Can he now answer the question posed in the editorial as to why the Government stalled for years over a critical rail line—the City Rail Link (CRL)? Hon STEVEN JOYCE: Actually the Government did not stall for years; the Government has made billions—Grant Robertson: Oh—delayed. Hon STEVEN JOYCE: Well actually it brought it forward. When we came into Government that CRL was going to happen much later than it is happening even now. So that is weird. Also we were probably busy electrifying the whole commuter rail network in Auckland at the time. We were possibly busy organising a whole bunch of new electric trains. We completely modernised the fleet by funding Auckland Council to do so. And we were probably busy finishing off the double tracking of the Western Line in Auckland which the previous Government left undone when it left office.Grant Robertson: When the editorial points out that his Government "failed to act on the … smouldering housing crisis" what responsibility does he take for there being a shortage of 40000 houses in Auckland which has grown year on year on his Government's watch?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: Well I have got to say that there is something slightly strange about a Wellingtonian reading a Wellington newspaper to describe to an Aucklander what is actually going on in Auckland. I suspect that Mr Robertson should get up to Auckland and go and have a look at all the construction that is going on in the roading network in the rail network and in the housing area—with record levels of construction—and then get some new talking points and come back to the House. Grant Robertson: Does he think his answers today go to prove the editorial's comment that Mr Joyce is "full of bluster" about the country's economic strength and the further points that productivity and wealth are still mired far below those of other countries that were once our peers; and could it be that because we have got the fourth-lowest productivity in the world GDP per capita has hovered around 1 percent for years and he is still in denial about that? Hon STEVEN JOYCE: So said the "Chief Blusterer of the Opposition". Mr Robertson is known for his bluster; the rest of us are known for getting the work done. This Government is overseeing one of the fastest economic growth rates of the OECD right now. We were the fifth fastest-growing economy in the OECD last year. I would just say to the member that before he starts treating the Dominion Post editorial as gospel he should go back and look at the printed version and look at the errors they made about comparing net debt and gross debt and then go and find another source for his knowledge of Auckland.Grant Robertson: Can he understand why editorial writers might write this kind of piece because he is trying to take credit for solving a problem that he has created by re-announcing infrastructure funding to address his own infrastructure deficit? Hon STEVEN JOYCE: The member is simply wrong. In terms of infrastructure spend what was announced last week is the largest addition to the New Zealand Government's capital stock possibly ever—certainly for a long time. When the member's party was last in Government which I know was a long time ago it would spend a few hundred million on new capital each year. This Government has committed to $11 billion over the next four Budgets. The New Zealand public knows that this is the infrastructure Government."