Bennett David: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBennett David: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 18 June 2015. Volume:706;Page:4558. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]1.DAVID BENNETT (National—Hamilton East) to the Minister of Finance: What reports has he received showing progress on building a growing economy supporting more jobs and higher wages for New Zealand families?Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance): This morning Statistics New Zealand released the GDP data for the quarter to March 2015. A reduction in dairy production and reduced output from the oil and gas industry contributed to a low quarterly growth figure of 0.2 percent—around the lower end of market expectations. Agricultural output was influenced by drought conditions. This was offset by increased output in business services retail trade accommodation and transport warehousing. Our economic fundamentals remain sound and the outlook remains positive for more jobs and higher wages. We would expect the economy to remain on track to average 2.5 percent to 3 percent growth—moderate sustained growth—delivering moderate increases in incomes for New Zealanders.David Bennett: How does New Zealand’s economic growth in the year to March compare with growth in other developed economies?Hon BILL ENGLISH: New Zealand continues to perform relatively well compared with other developed economies although GDP is just one measure of economic progress. Increases in incomes and growth in jobs are just as important. With a 2.6 percent growth rate in the 12 months to March New Zealand is in the top third of the OECD and is a bit higher than Australia and the United Kingdom about the same as the US and certainly well above the euro area.David Bennett: What is the outlook for economic growth over the next 3 to 4 years?Hon BILL ENGLISH: The most recent outlook published is that of the Reserve Bank which indicates growth of just around 3 percent over the next 3 years taking into account lower dairy prices for longer but also including lower interest rates and lower exchange rates which will help those parts of the economy that are under pressure.Grant Robertson: Is he aware that 21 percent of the weak growth in the economy this quarter came from retail spending and that 80 percent of that was from Christchurch and Auckland and does he really think that our recovery from a natural disaster and spending based on a housing bubble is a sustainable economic strategy?Hon BILL ENGLISH: That is not the case although the Labour Party does insist on saying that the people digging up the water pipes laying new roads and building houses in Christchurch are somehow not doing real work—not real work—perhaps because it does not involve sitting around analysing and measuring. All those things are contributing to economic growth. We welcome the contributions of hard-working New Zealanders and we do not believe that people in Christchurch are not doing real work.David Bennett: What are some of the risks to the economic outlook and what steps is the Government taking to manage those risks?Hon BILL ENGLISH: There are a great number of risks that we cannot control such as those that affect the New Zealand economy that come from the rest of the world. However at the moment probably the single biggest risk to sustainable moderate growth in New Zealand is the fast-rising housing market. We welcomed the draft report from the Productivity Commission yesterday which is going to help central government and local government to deepen their understanding of the complex set of issues around faster land development and faster growth and infrastructure and therefore a more responsive housing market.