7. Hon DAVID PARKER (Labour) Link to this
to the Minister for Economic Development
Does he agree with the Dominion Post article “From step change to a giant U-turn” regarding the Government’s plans for mining, and what plans in his capacity as Minister for Economic Development does he have to replace that step change?
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE (Minister for Economic Development) Link to this
No; and if the member had been listening yesterday he would have heard a list of the initiatives this Government is undertaking to enhance the development of the New Zealand economy. Achieving an economic step change for New Zealand is not reliant on one single sector of the economy, as the member seems to wish to suggest. We want a balanced economy with widespread markets and a broad range of products and services. The member should know that one swallow a summer does not make.
Has the Minister seen the pages on his own Ministry of Economic Development website entitled “Regional Development” and “Industry Development”, which list about eight initiatives, all of which were put in place under Labour, with no new additions from him?
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE Link to this
I have seen the website. I am aware of those many initiatives, but I would say that the one stark difference between this Government and the Labour Government is that where those programmes have been seen to have value and to be able to make a difference, we have funded them; Labour did not. For 9 years it did not fund them.
Has the Minister seen the very lonely update on his own ministry’s website under “NZ Economic Development—Recent Updates”, which has only one entry, the Large Budget Screen Production Grant introduced under Labour and retained without amendment under his busy watch?
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE Link to this
The Ministry of Economic Development website is an excellent place to find out what that Government department is doing, and I recommend others look, as well.
Katrina ShanksHon GERRY BROWNLEE Link to this
The economic step change in New Zealand will be achieved by working towards developing a more dynamic economy with a diverse range of export sectors and a range of markets for those goods. I simply ask the member to consider exactly what is going on in the New Zealand economy at the moment. Prior to the election, we had 5 years of going backwards, 5 years of negative growth, and 5 years of exports going down the tube. We now have projections of 170,000 new jobs over the next 4 years and household incomes rising over that time by some $7,000, and, as Mr English explained to the House before, for the first time since 2002 the tradable sector now exceeds the non-tradables. These people do not have a clue how an economy would work.
Why, when John Key last December said that there would be many new moves in the economic development space and promised a step change to catch up with Australia, is there scant evidence of the plan and no targets or dates before 2025 against which National is willing to be judged?
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE Link to this
I have just outlined two very, very significant measures that New Zealanders tangibly feel. I think the member needs to stop believing his own rhetoric, stop puddling around in his dream that one can change the economy by winning Lotto, and look at some of the real things that this Government is doing.
Mr SPEAKER