4. Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE (Labour—New Lynn) Link to this
to the Minister of Finance
Does he stand by all his recent statements?
Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance) Link to this
Yes, particularly those statements in respect of the weak performance of the New Zealand economy in the last term of the previous Labour Government.
Hon David Cunliffe Link to this
Which statement is correct: his claim to this House recently that over the past 10 years the New Zealand economy performed very poorly, or the statement he made 5 minutes later to the House that over the past 10 years the economy grew significantly?
I would not necessarily take that member’s representations of my statements at face value. But I can understand why he is sensitive about the fact that New Zealand’s economy grew poorly under his management, at a time when the rest of the world was growing strongly.
Hon Darren Hughes Link to this
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. My colleague David Cunliffe put to the Minister a question containing two quotes from the Minister—the person of whom he is actually asking the question. So far, all the answers have been about David Cunliffe, and not Bill English. I do not think it is fair for the Minister to get up and say he understands why the member is sensitive or embarrassed or whatever it might be. He should just answer the question. [ Interruption]
Mr SPEAKERThere should not be interjections—[ Interruption] I am on my feet now. What is more, points of order should be heard in silence. I expect that. I think the difficulty with the question as asked is that the Minister clearly, as he started his answer, disputed the context of the components of the member’s question. As the question is not a question on notice, there has been no authentication of the validity of the context of the two quotes, and that is why I cannot insist on a particular answer.
Hon David Cunliffe Link to this
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. If the difficulty was in the way that the question was phrased, may I seek leave to rephrase that question?
Aaron GilmoreThe statements I have made about the economy looking ahead are focused on the need to rebalance the economy and on the Government’s programme for doing so. We simply cannot continue to be a country that spends more than it earns and tries to create wealth by people buying and selling houses off each other.
Hon David Cunliffe Link to this
How does he reconcile his statement that between 2005 and 2008 “this economy grew by less than 1 percent per year” with official statistics that show that the economy grew at almost twice the rate he has claimed?
I think the member is retelling a story from a couple of weeks ago on one of those left-wing blogs, and the problem there is that he is using nominal growth in the economy, when the standard measure is real growth in the economy.
Hon David Cunliffe Link to this
Can the Minister confirm that during the last year of National’s administration, from September to September, GDP actually declined by 2.2 percent?
I can confirm that, and I am pleased that the member has discovered that. But this Government is dealing with the economy as it found it, and the fact is that from about 2005 onwards the Government sector grew strongly and our earning capacity shrank. We then had a global crisis, and it is our job to clean up that mess.
Hon David Cunliffe Link to this
Is the Minister aware that over the 9 years of the Labour Government GDP growth averaged 3.2 percent, which is higher than under the previous National Government and obviously his own; and is he further aware that that strong and sustained expansion was achieved at the same time that net debt was cut to zero, gross debt was cut in half, unemployment was less than half the current rate, thousands of New Zealanders were lifted out of poverty, and the minimum and average wages rose every year; if so, why does he not just admit to New Zealanders what is patently obvious: that he is shonky in his use of figures, and he has no plan for growth?
I think that shows why Labour got into Opposition and is staying in Opposition. Labour is unable to understand the negative impact that it had on this country and on the thousands of people who have no jobs or little job security because of the poor economic management in the last years of the previous Labour Government.