Hayes John: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Hayes John: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Sitting date: 14 February 2013. Volume:687;Page:7866. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
2. 
JOHN HAYES (National—Wairarapa) 
 to the  
Minister of Finance 
: What reports has he received on wage increases in New Zealand? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Associate Minister of Finance) 
 on behalf of the Minister of Finance: Everybody’s own circumstances are of course different but average movements in wages across the economy are shown in the quarterly employment survey the latest release of which came out last week. It showed that average hourly wages rose 2.6 percent in the last year compared with inflation of around 0.9 percent. Average weekly wages rose by even more—2.9 percent—and the average wage is now over $53000 a year before tax. So it is quite clear that on average wages in New Zealand are rising considerably faster currently than the cost of living is. 
John Hayes 
: How does the minimum wage in New Zealand compare with the average wage? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: The minimum wage is currently $13.50 an hour in New Zealand which is half the average hourly wage of $27. The OECD’s database shows that this proportion is in fact the highest in the developed world and that on this measure our minimum wage is therefore the most generous in the developed world as a proportion of the average hourly wage. In all other countries the minimum wage is under half the average wage—for example in Canada it is 40 percent of the average wage; in the UK it is 38 percent; and in the US it is 28 percent. 
John Hayes 
: Do any industries stand out as having higher than average wage increases? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: Yes a few industries do stand out. One of them is the manufacturing industry where average weekly wages rose 4.1 percent over the last year and that is actually not a short-term thing. Over a longer period wages in manufacturing have also grown faster than average. Over the last 4 years average weekly wages in the manufacturing sector have risen 18 percent compared with 13 percent in the economy as a whole. No doubt that fact has been brought up and discussed at the Opposition’s manufacturing inquiry. 
Hon David Parker 
: Has the wage gap between New Zealand and Australia grown larger over the last year; if so will he be providing milestones for National’s promise to close the wage gap with Australia given that it is growing rather than closing? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: I do not have that information to hand but I do know that the member is very careful to talk about the wage gap rather than the after-tax wage gap which people actually experience. But again if the member wants to talk about the differences between here and Australia fundamentally the main difference is the investments made in Australia in the resources sector over the last few years. That is the fundamental difference. If the member would like to reverse his party’s ambivalence towards the investment in the resources sector in the New Zealand economy I am sure we could have a good discussion. 
John Hayes 
: By how much have wages risen since September 2008? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: The best measure over a longer period of time is of course growth in after-tax wages because that takes into account factors like changes in income tax and GST. Since September 2008 the average wage after tax has increased by a total of— 
Hon David Parker 
: And GST—how does it take into account GST? It doesn’t. It ignores GST. 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: Just wait you will find out. Since September 2008 the average wage after tax has increased by a total of 22 percent from a bit over $36000 a year to a little bit over $44000 a year. Inflation over the same period has totalled 8.5 percent. So it is a total of 22 percent in after-tax wages versus 8.5 percent inflation over the same period. Again everybody’s circumstances are different but it is clear that on average working New Zealanders have had a sizable increase in their standard of living over the last 4 years. 
Hon David Parker 
: In light of his answer to my last supplementary question has the after-tax wage gap between New Zealand and Australia grown larger over the last year? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: I do not have those figures to hand— 
Hon Members 
: Oh! 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: —I said that previously—but I am very suspicious because the member is talking about only the last year and we know that what he likes to do is go through series and series of data and find the little bit that he can do to get his story. The reality is that in this country the cost of living has gone up 8.5 percent over the last 4 years and people’s incomes after tax have gone up 22 percent.