Robertson Grant: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Robertson Grant: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Sitting date: 26 March 2013. Volume:688;Page:8886. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
3. 
GRANT ROBERTSON (Deputy Leader—Labour) 
 to the  
Prime Minister 
: Does he stand by all his statements? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister) 
: 
 Yes. 
Grant Robertson 
: Does he stand by his statement that the household labour force survey is “the most rigorous form of measuring employment in the economy” and can he confirm that it showed a net job loss of 23000 jobs in the last quarter? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: Yes but it is also important to look at the quarterly employment survey which is the one Labour used to quote from. 
Grant Robertson 
: Can he confirm that in the last quarter of the household labour force survey 30000 people left the labour force and that had they still been in the labour force the unemployment rate in New Zealand would be 8.4 percent? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: Yes but that is also a function of the participation rate. It is also a very large drop in part-time numbers. We can question those but as I said the quarterly employment survey showed an increase of 54000 jobs over the last 2 years. It is not as good as it could be but it is not too bad. 
Grant Robertson 
: What more evidence does he need that his Government is failing on jobs than 200 people queuing for seven jobs in South Auckland or the front page of the  
Nelson Mail 
 showing hundreds of people chasing a single job at Nelson Hospital or does he not think that his Government has got a part to play in actually helping to create jobs not just destroy them? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: It is not unusual when you have a lot of people chasing one job. My understanding is that all 38— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: —members of the Labour caucus are chasing that job. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! That answer is not helpful to the order of the House. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. By my reckoning that is six times today the Prime Minister—five in a question—[ 
Interruption 
] Let me finish all right? It is five times in a question and once in a point of order. If we are going to have a point of order system surely it applies to every MP— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Would the member please proceed with his point of order. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: —and your job is to defend the interests of minorities in this House. It is one of the oldest rules of a Speaker in case some people do not know it. That is five times today in questions and once in a point of order that he has said that so my question to you is: when are you going to do something about it? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: As I said to the member earlier this is a political debating chamber. The question itself was reasonably political. It got a political answer. As I realised where the Prime Minister was going I stood and closed him down. 
Grant Robertson 
: If the Prime Minister thinks that the loss of jobs and the number of people queuing for jobs is such a laughing and relaxed matter will he decide to follow the narrative today and show up at the Department of Conservation and defend 140 more people losing jobs on his watch? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: Of course people feel for the people in the Department of Conservation who may be losing their jobs. But it is also important to understand that the process actually started under Labour in the Chris Carter review. It is also true that there are more people in the Department of Conservation today than there were when Labour took the number from 1500 up to 2100. It is also true that the director-general is working hard to make sure that at least one in two of those people will be offered another job. It is also true that organisations do need to restructure. In fact the director-general said it would not matter how much money they gave him he would still be taking the course of action that he is today.