Cunliffe David: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeCunliffe David: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 30 July 2014. Volume:700;Page:19655. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]1.Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE (Leader of the Opposition)to the Prime Minister: Does he agree with his Minister of Finance that workers have an expectation that they “will be doing better than zero pay increases”?Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister):Yes. I imagine all workers would like a pay rise and on average wages have been rising faster than inflation. For example average weekly hour wages went up by 2.5 percent over the last year and average weekly wages went up by 3.2 percent. At the same time the CPI went up by only 1.5 percent.Hon David Cunliffe: Complimenting the Government on its sartorial elegance for once—does he instead support the widening gap between chief executive officer pay and that of the average workers which rose from 21.9 percent in 2010 to 26 times that just 2 years later?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: For a very very long period of time this country has had a pretty significant gap between chief executive officer pay and what others earn. I will say though that that gap is considerably smaller in New Zealand than it is in a lot of countries around the world.Hon David Cunliffe: Will the Prime Minister support the pay increase for the quarter of a million workers who would directly benefit from Labour’s minimum wage changes which will provide a significant boost to the economy through boosting workers’ spending power?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: In a word no. The reason for that is I am not so irresponsible that I would say to 6000 New Zealanders that they are losing their jobs because the Labour Party is polling at 25 percent—Mr SPEAKER: Order!Hon David Cunliffe: Why does the Prime Minister oppose higher minimum wages when evidence shows that that leads to workers staying in jobs longer higher productivity higher standards of living more spent at the corner dairy greater consumer demand and more not fewer jobs?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: A few things. First the Government has supported higher minimum wages each and every year we have been the Government but we have done so responsibly. All I can say to the member is that when he sends those 6000 people to the dole queue he should be ashamed that he is doing that because his own leadership is leading the Labour Party down the toilet.Hon David Cunliffe: Why does the Prime Minister oppose policies that would see our lowest-paid workers receive an additional $4000 a year?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: The Labour Party will be known as the “Anti-jobs Party”. This is a party that does not support what we on this side of the House support which is a 90-day trial period. I am actually a bit surprised the Labour Party does not support it because if it had it could have booted out Cunliffe after 89 days.Rt Hon Winston Peters: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. You will appreciate that the Prime Minister has no right to refer to any member of Parliament in the way he just did. This late in the day I suggest you do your job. [Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! Can I suggest to that member that if he again raises frivolous points of order he will not be here for the balance of question time.Grant Robertson: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. With respect it is not a frivolous point of order about what people are called.Mr SPEAKER: Order!Grant Robertson: I will finish my point of order please.Mr SPEAKER: The member will resume his seat. I have just ruled that I said it was a frivolous point of order. [Interruption] Order! The member can freely disagree with me but he has to accept my decision.Grant Robertson: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker.Mr SPEAKER: Is it a fresh point of order? If it is a fresh point of order I will be delighted to hear it.Grant Robertson: Can I clarify that you are now changing a very longstanding ruling of this House that members have to be called either by their full name or by their title as a representative of their electorate? That is what you have just done. The Prime Minister used only the surname of the Leader of the Opposition and nothing else. This is a substantially changed ruling you have just made.Rt Hon JOHN KEY: If I could intervene I say that the member is actually right. I was remiss in doing that. I should have called him Mr Cunliffe. In the heat of the exchange I did not do that. I apologise and correct my answer.Mr SPEAKER: I thank the Prime Minister for that. The difficulty I have is that I actually did not hear that he was not referred to as Mr Cunliffe and that is because of the level of noise and barrage that is coming across the House. I appreciate that we are very close to a general election. That is no excuse for members not showing some courtesy to the House so that I can hear the questions and the answers.Hon David Cunliffe: Given the Prime Minister’s comments and his opposition to raising the minimum wage—and it will not be long before he is out of a job—why is it acceptable that there are 100000 children living in poverty in this country whose parents are in work; if not why does he oppose policies that will end poverty wages?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: The member seems be of the opinion that he can simply through the stroke of a pen make a difference to labour rates in New Zealand with no repercussions for those workers. If that is what the member really believes then he should not have stopped at $16.25 an hour; Mr Cunliffe should have stopped at $50 an hour.Hon David Cunliffe: Given that answer does the Prime Minister accept that a minimum wage rise has a perfectly proper place alongside a package of measures like Labour’s economic upgrade which will lead to increased levels of productivity exports and employment?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: This Government every single year including through the global financial crisis has carefully increased the minimum wage at the same time growing jobs and the economy. If the member seriously thinks that putting a capital gains tax on every single business and doing all the things the unions wanted him to do—and that is why they backed him to be the leader—are going to grow the economy he is dreaming. Oh and by the way I am more than happy to call him Mr Cunliffe. He should worry about what his caucus colleagues call him.