12. Finance and Economic Development Ministers—ConfidenceFLETCHER TABUTEAU (NZ First) to the Prime MinisterFinance and Economic Development Ministers—Confidence12. FLETCHER TABUTEAU (NZ First) to the Prime Minister: Does he have confidence in the Minister of Finance and the Minister for Economic Development; if so how?Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH (Prime Minister): Yes because they have developed policies and initiatives that are supporting one of the stronger-growing economies in the developed world which have been particularly successful in the regions. I know that for New Zealand First that is frustrating because it did a tour of the regions and could not find nearly as many complaints as it would have liked. I sympathise with its political difficulty.Fletcher Tabuteau: What confidence can taxpayers have in his Government when Mr Joyce rejected New Zealand First's warning which I gave last December over Fuji Xerox—[Interruption] listen up listen up—saying that he had no issues with the claim that the member has raised" despite it subsequently blowing up into $500 million worth of fraud?Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: New Zealand First often warns us of things and less often than that do they actually happen.Hon Simon Bridges: Even a broken clock's right twice a day Fletcher.Fletcher Tabuteau: What confidence can anyone have in Mr Bridges given the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment has refused to suspend all-of-Government contracts with Fuji Xerox until the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) completes its work despite the SFO completely missing the fact that we all know now to be $500 million worth of fraud?Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: If the member is interested in those particular matters then he should put a question down directly to the Minister. I would not expect either the Minister for Economic Development or the Minister of Finance to be conducting fraud investigations. It is important that those investigations are carried out by the appropriate authorities.Fletcher Tabuteau: Does this mean Prime Minister that the National Party is happy to continue dealing with Fuji Xerox New Zealand a company of questionable commercial integrity and its current managing director who designed this disastrous Ponzi scheme in the first place which forced the Japanese parent company's chairman and directors to resign?Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is no prime ministerial responsibility for the National Party. That question is out of order.Grant Robertson: In light of his primary answer how can he have confidence in a Minister of Finance who has overseen a fall of 1.3 percent in GDP per hour worked in the last year and GDP per capita falling for the last two quarters in a row and what is the point of economic growth if it cannot deliver to New Zealanders a decent health housing or education system?Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: Knowing how difficult it is to find a negative number in any of our economic statistics I am surprised that member did that much work—that he actually got past page 3 and might have found one.Hon Damien O'Connor: What effect on regional economic development does he think the discovery of Mycoplasma bovis by his own Government department—as confirmed on Saturday night—will have; if so what action has he or his Ministers taken to inform dairy farmers around New Zealand since that discovery on Saturday night?Mr SPEAKER: Again there are two supplementary questions there. The Prime Minister can address one.Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: Unlike the other questions that is a serious question that deserves to be treated seriously. The Minister for Primary Industries and the Ministry for Primary Industries certainly take the discovery of the disease seriously. It has not been in New Zealand before and they are taking concerted action to ensure that they can minimise the spread investigate what other measures can be taken to contain it and inform farmers of both the need to look out for it and the risks of it spreading further."