Henare Tau: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Henare Tau: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
[Sitting date: 26 September 2012. Volume:684;Page:5648. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
2. 
Hon TAU HENARE (National) 
 to the  
Minister of Finance 
: What progress is the Government making to ensure New Zealand’s economic growth is sustainable and supports jobs and higher incomes? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Associate Minister of Finance) 
 on behalf of the Minister of Finance: I can report that the Government is making good progress. Since 2008 we have been working hard through our broad-based economic programme to support business competitiveness in areas such as the tax system exporting skills innovation infrastructure capital markets and resources. We are seeing good results. The economy is now growing moderately well compared with the rest of the world. A net 57000 more New Zealanders now have jobs than 2 years ago. Household saving is positive for the first time in more than a decade and total goods and services exported have increased 15 percent over the last 2 years. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: How is the New Zealand economy performing according to the latest official gross domestic product statistics? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: Statistics New Zealand last week of course reported the gross domestic product data for the June quarter 2012. They showed that the New Zealand economy grew 0.6 percent in the 3 months to 30 June and growth for the first 6 months of the year was 1.6 percent. The quarterly growth was reasonably broad-based including agriculture up 4.7 percent construction up 3.3 percent transport postal and warehousing up 2.7 percent and manufacturing up 0.8 percent. New Zealand’s annual growth rate of 2.6 percent to June 2012 was the highest growth rate since 2007 before the domestic recession the Canterbury earthquakes and the global financial crisis. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: How does current progress in building a more productive and competitive economy compare with the situation in late 2008? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: New Zealanders can be reassured that New Zealand’s current economic situation is much healthier than it was in late 2008. Annual economic growth is up to 2.6 percent compared with negative 1.7 percent in December 2008. The number of people on the unemployment benefit has declined from a peak of 93000 at the height of the global financial crisis to 58000 in July of this year. The household savings rate is now in positive territory compared with negative 3 percent in 2008. The cost of living is flat with CPI inflation only 1 percent in the year to June 2012 compared with 5.1 percent in 2008. The New Zealand sharemarket is at a 4-year high and the average floating mortgage interest rate is 5.7 percent compared with almost 11 percent in 2008. This all shows that New Zealand is in pretty good shape compared with most other developed countries. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: What reports has he seen on new projects that would create further investment and jobs? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: The Minister sees reports every day and just yesterday he has seen a report on a project in regard to the Bathurst Resources escarpment mines project near Westport. This project would apparently immediately create 225 new jobs and incomes for workers and families on the West Coast. Unfortunately it is being held up by ongoing litigation. Yesterday the Minister saw a report calling for objectors to the mine to withdraw their appeals and consider the economic future of the West Coast. It prevailed upon various groups to join the call. As yet the Minister has seen no reports that the Labour Party the local Labour MP the Amalgamated Engineering Printing and Manufacturing Union or the Greens will support— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! I think the answer has gone on quite long enough. 
Hon David Parker 
: Given the 8 percent decline in exports in the year to August announced by Statistics New Zealand just today and Treasury’s prediction that our external deficit will get even worse when will he accept that his plan is deficient costing exports and jobs and what is sustainable about that? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: I would point out to the member that New Zealand’s exports have grown substantially since his Government left office and I would point out that the balance of payments deficit the external deficit is considerably lower than when his Government left office. But I suppose it is all relative. We know that this Government is a better economic manager. 
Hon David Parker 
: When exports are declining local businesses are closing and thousands of Kiwis are losing their jobs and heading to Australia why does he sit on his hands and pretend there is nothing he can do about our inflated currency? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: I think I hear the printing presses cranking up on the Labour Party side but I would point out to the member that he is incorrect. The decline in manufacturing jobs in New Zealand occurred under the previous Government and through the global financial crisis. Over the last 2 years the number of manufacturing jobs has actually grown.