1. Question No. 1—FinanceDAVID MacLEOD (National—New Plymouth) to the Minister of FinanceORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSQuestion No. 1—Finance1. DAVID MacLEOD (National—New Plymouth) to the Minister of Finance: What plans does the Government have for supporting the Reserve Bank to achieve low and stable inflation?Hon NICOLA WILLIS (Minister of Finance): Inflation has been out of the Reserve Bank's target range now for 2½ long years and New Zealanders are doing it tough in a cost of living crisis. The public knows that this Government's commitment to beating inflation is rock-solid which is why later this evening the Government will introduce legislation returning the Reserve Bank to a single focus on inflation. After 30 years of an extremely successful inflation-targeting regime where the Reserve Bank largely managed to control inflation the previous Government muddied the waters by introducing a secondary objective to focus on employment as well as inflation. Now as the Reserve Bank wrestles with trying to bring inflation back under control our Government will clarify the bank's objectives and support public confidence that inflation can and will be returned below 3 percent.David MacLeod: What support has she had from the Reserve Bank in returning the bank to a single focus on inflation?Hon NICOLA WILLIS: I wrote to the Reserve Bank outlining proposed changes to the monetary policy remit last week and the governor wrote back offering the Reserve Bank's support for the changes noting that Giving the inflation objective priority will assist the credibility of the inflation target." I want to thank the Reserve Bank for their support in recent days as we move back to a single focus on inflation. I know the Government and the bank are in lockstep in our shared goal of getting inflation back under control.David MacLeod: What other plans does the Government have for achieving low and stable inflation?Hon NICOLA WILLIS: Amending the Reserve Bank Act is an important step but just one step in our plan to beat inflation. The governor was right when he said monetary policy needs mates but the mates have been few and far between for the last few years. For years the last Government's only response to inflation was more spending. Instead of just delivering income tax relief they experimented with broken policies like the cost of living payment and during their term in office managed to increase Government spending by 80 percent. And yet which New Zealander can point to a central government service that is 80 percent better?Hon Grant Robertson: This is not actually within the Standing Orders.SPEAKER: A bit of order—that's enough.Hon NICOLA WILLIS: The past Government may be prepared to put more fuel on the inflation fire but we won't.Chlöe Swarbrick: Is the Government not just wasting the House's time removing the Reserve Bank's dual mandate as the governor said in response to my questioning in 2022 that it had not changed their approach to monetary policy and targeting inflation—virtue-signalling if you will?Hon NICOLA WILLIS: Well I note that both the Treasury and the Reserve Bank are supportive of an approach to monetary policy that more clearly prioritises achieving price stability.Hon Grant Robertson: On what date will inflation fall below 3 percent as a result of this piece of legislation?Hon NICOLA WILLIS: Quicker than under your watch! But I would note that I asked the member the same question when he was the Minister of Finance and as he well knows the Reserve Bank is required to return inflation within the target band over the medium term. This very point is one that the coalition has committed to exploring and we will be taking advice on whether we should better define the medium term so that New Zealanders can have even greater confidence about the time period in which inflation will come under control.David MacLeod: What other plans does the Government have for achieving low and stable inflation?Hon NICOLA WILLIS: The Government recognises that inflation has many influences. We are also committed to reducing costs on business which end up being passed on to New Zealanders and this will help reduce inflationary pressure in the economy. We're already taking actions through our 100-day plan including ending the ute tax abolishing the Government's broken Resource Management Act reforms restoring flexibility in the labour market and cancelling Labour's plans for fuel tax hikes next year."