6. Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE (Labour—New Lynn) Link to this
to the Minister of Finance
Does he stand by all his statements?
Hon BILL ENGLISHHon David Cunliffe Link to this
How can he stand by his personal statement that his personal focus is on getting debt under control or by his call for permanent restraint, when his colleague Nick Smith has made inept changes to the emissions trading scheme that will increase Crown debt by up to 8 percent of GDP by 2050, amounting to tens of billions of dollars?
The business of the Government is about making balanced decisions that take into account competing objectives. The Government is balancing all the time the need to keep debt down along with other legitimate shorter-term objectives that serve the public interest.
Hon David Cunliffe Link to this
Given his call for permanent restraint, when will he restrain the Minister of Broadcasting and the Minister of Māori Affairs from spending millions of dollars of additional taxpayer money on outbidding each other; and can he confirm comments from the Minister of Broadcasting yesterday that a special appropriation will be necessary to support the Television New Zealand Rugby World Cup bid?
Hon Trevor Mallard
Mr SPEAKER
Peseta Sam Lotu-IigaI have seen a number of reports that the economy has stopped contracting. It looks as though it has stabilised. But there will continue to be restraint, as the member opposite pointed out. Current forecasts include a significant pick-up in growth in the economy, but even with that pick-up in growth, the Government will be running substantial cash deficits and will need to borrow $250 million per week for the next 4 years.
Hon David Cunliffe Link to this
Does the Minister of Finance still stand by his advice to the previous Government that there was “room in the surplus to make reducing taxes the normal business of government”, and does he agree that the Government’s accounts would now be in a much worse state had the previous Government taken his advice then, rather than bequeathing some of the world’s lowest debt, best growth, and lowest unemployment to the incoming Government?