Little Andrew: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeLittle Andrew: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 02 December 2015. Volume:710;Page:8461. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]3.ANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Does he have confidence in his Minister for Economic Development given that the economy is shrinking on a per person basis?Hon BILL ENGLISH (Acting Prime Minister): Yes because the Minister is insightful dynamic very focused he is thorough and he has achieved an awful lot through the Business Growth Agenda which is a very thorough microeconomic policy reform programme.Andrew Little: Is he confident that Minister Joyce is doing his job when household incomes fell in Manawatū-Whanganui Wellington Canterbury Otago and the Southland regions over the last year?Hon BILL ENGLISH: Yes and I am not surprised that some household incomes have taken a hit from a loss of national income which the Opposition parties have described as billions of dollars. Of course if there is less income coming into the country from the big drop in dairy prices then there is bound to be an impact on incomes in our households.Andrew Little: Does he think that Minister Joyce is focusing enough on lifting wages given that household incomes in the South Island fell 2 percent in the last year?Hon BILL ENGLISH: Given the Opposition’s predilection for picking out often quarterly numbers in years when numbers actually went up I will have to check those out. But by and large across New Zealand on average wages are going up faster than inflation and that is benefiting households because it is the fruit of a growing economy.Andrew Little: Does he think that Minister Joyce is focusing enough on creating jobs given that unemployment in the South Island—[Interruption] Mr Joyce—has risen by a third in the past year alone?Hon BILL ENGLISH: The member should go there sometime because he would find that over the last 4 or 5 years unemployment in the South Island has been very low actually—very low. If he visits places like Invercargill he will find that the main problem of many employers is getting staff. So actually the issue is continuing to work on a better match between the jobs that are available and the skills of the people who are applying for them.Andrew Little: How can he say Minister Joyce’s regional growth programme is working given the West Coast has entered recession according to the ANZ report?Hon BILL ENGLISH: In the first place the member probably understands what is going on on the West Coast but does not want to say so and that is that like every other coal-producing area in the world it is suffering significant impact from very low coal prices. But the regional growth partnerships being set up by Mr Joyce are by far the most constructive cohesive and comprehensive approach to growth in the regions which allow and in fact encourage the regions to understand their own strengths and make their own decisions about their own destiny.Andrew Little: How can he say Minister Joyce’s—[Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! I will not put up with that interjection from Mr Joyce. The supplementary question Andrew Little.Andrew Little: How can he say Minister Joyce’s Business Growth Agenda is working given the economy lost 11000 jobs in the past 3 months and there are now 150000 New Zealanders out of work?Hon BILL ENGLISH: Again those numbers reflect what was a pretty soft first half of this year—everyone knows about that—after a period of 4 or 5 years of very strong job growth. Mr Joyce is sufficiently humble that he will not try to take credit for the whole lot of that job growth but he is certainly working hard to ensure it picks up again.Andrew Little: Are not the 15000 more Kiwis out of work over the past year proof that after 7 long years this Government has failed to create an economy that delivers for New Zealanders and gives them the security to live the Kiwi dream?Hon BILL ENGLISH: No. What it is primarily proof of is the very strong migration flow into New Zealand. Population growth at the moment is running at around 2 percent which is about as high as it has ever been and we have a net inflow from Australia for the first time in 20 years. These are the problems of success not the problems of failure.