Gilmore Aaron: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Urgent Questions Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
Gilmore Aaron: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Urgent Questions Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
[Volume:656;Page:5529] 
1. 
 AARON GILMORE (National) 
 to the  
Minister of Finance 
: What recent reports has he received on the economy? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance) 
: 
 I have seen today’s household labour force survey which puts our unemployment rate at 6 percent. This represents a 1 percent rise from 30 March and is the largest quarterly rise since 1988. It is slightly higher than predicted but not a surprise given that we are in the midst of the largest global recession since the 1930s. One of the reasons for the higher than expected figure is the larger than usual number of people who joined the workforce in the June quarter. These figures should make it clear there can be no complacency about what will be required to turn this economy round to provide new jobs for all those people who have lost jobs. 
Aaron Gilmore 
: What reports has the Minister seen on business and consumer confidence? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: The best thing for people who have lost a job is the hope they can get another one. As it happens forward-looking indicators such as business and consumer confidence have improved over the last 6 months. The basic picture is that the economy shows signs of stabilising and we are hoping that it will start to grow again towards the end of this year and into the beginning of next year after a recession that has lasted about 18 months. 
Hon David Cunliffe 
: Can the Minister tell the House which other countries have recently recorded the highest quarterly increase in unemployment in 21 years and can he now confirm that New Zealand’s unemployment rate has skyrocketed to exceed that of Australia’s? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: I cannot actually tell the member which other countries. It is unlikely there will be many because New Zealand is the only country that was already in a recession caused by the economic mismanagement of his Government followed by a global recession. That is why we are doing everything we can to turn the economy round after a decade of mismanagement so that people who lost their jobs can get another job. 
Aaron Gilmore 
: What steps is the Government taking to support jobs? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: The most direct impact is that the Government is over the next 4 years borrowing $40 billion to pump into the economy in the form of investment in infrastructure preserving existing entitlements and maintaining public services through the bottom of a recession. That $40 billion will also finance packages such as the $152 million youth unemployment package which will provide 17000 jobs and training opportunities for young people over the next 18 months. 
Hon David Cunliffe 
: Will the Minister now concede that his Government to use his own words “was too complacent;” “did not do enough early enough”; and “did not take the real sharp edges off unemployment”; if not when can New Zealanders expect to see this Government’s economic plan return New Zealand to growth? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: No I do not accept that. The 2009 Budget as I have just said laid out a track whereby the Government is borrowing $40 billion over the next few years to pump into the economy— 
Hon David Cunliffe 
: It’s 3.5 percent stimulus down from 5. 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: Well it is one of the more significant stimulus packages in the developed world. Alongside that the Government has initiated a rolling maul of programmes that are supporting people who were made redundant and providing jobs for people through the insulation scheme and more recently the Job Ops scheme. 
Aaron Gilmore 
: What reports has he seen on business’s approach to employment during the recession? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: We have been pleased to see that the quarterly employment survey released this week backs up the anecdotal evidence that many employers are working as hard as they can to keep people on. For instance a survey released this week suggests that many employers are choosing to reduce employees’ work hours and keep wage rises static rather than lay off staff and the Government has supported this flexible approach through its innovative 9-day fortnight scheme. It is worth noting that even at the new level of unemployment announced today unemployment in New Zealand is lower than in the US Europe and the UK.