4. Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE (Labour—New Lynn) Link to this
to the Minister of Finance
Which of the Government’s proposals have been criticised by Treasury as representing poor value for money?
Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Associate Minister of Finance) Link to this
Most Ministers and most Governments have been criticised by Treasury for certain elements of their proposals. For example, Treasury is regularly critical of proposals to take GST off food, because that would cost about $2.5 billion in lost tax revenues per annum. That would dramatically push up our levels of foreign debt, which is another thing that Treasury is also critical of. Treasury is also critical—
Mr SPEAKERI should think so. This is a question on notice, which states: “Which of the Government’s proposals have been criticised by Treasury as representing poor value for money?”. I have been listening carefully to the Minister, and I have not heard any list. It is a question on notice.
Hon Gerry Brownlee Link to this
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. An open question like that surely has to allow the Minister some scope to narrow it down to the portfolio area in which it is asked. If it is just a general question, I will get my office to come over here with a wheelbarrow full of stuff relating to the previous Government’s policies, which Treasury consistently said were poor value for money.
I hear what the member says, and if there are many criticisms it could be a very long list, so maybe we would not expect the Minister to make an exhaustive list. But no attempt was made to advise the House as to which of the Government’s proposals have been criticised by Treasury. The question appears to be in order. It is a very particular question. It is a primary question. It is capable of being answered, and I do not expect the answer to attack the Opposition without making any attempt to answer the question.
The member will be aware that Treasury criticises a huge range of proposals made by many Governments, and it also criticises some policies that actually proceed. One policy that the member may be interested in is the Government’s Youth Opportunities programme, which Treasury criticised, yet it seems to have had a positive effect alongside the Government’s other policies, with the unemployment rate today announced as having fallen to 6 percent, from 7.1 percent in the December 2009 quarter.
Hon David Cunliffe Link to this
When the Minister said earlier he would not be funding the cycleway project—not this year, not next year, and not the year after—was this because he agreed with Treasury advice that it was poor value for money?
The Minister always defers to the Prime Minister’s superior judgment to that of Treasury. Of course, we are funding the cycleway project.
Hon David Cunliffe Link to this
Following on from that answer, why is he continuing to implement policies like the cycleway, which Treasury said was low-quality spending, when he is axing home help for the elderly on the same grounds?
The Government has a huge range of policies that are designed to improve economic growth, in order to take the toughest edges off the world recession. I note that the Government is having some success in that regard, with a reduction in unemployment reported in the household labour force survey this morning from 7.1 percent to 6 percent. I also note the comments by Mr Bollard, the Reserve Bank governor, who says New Zealand’s recovery from the global crisis is now entering a “new, less fragile stage” in an article headlined: “NZ economy trucking again”.
Hon David Cunliffe Link to this
Given the Minister’s contention that the recovery is now fully under way, what does he say to the hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders who have gone without wage rises, who face rises in the cost of living, or who have lost their jobs? What does he say to them, now that he is trumpeting the arrival of the recovery?
The recovery is still in an early stage. The household labour force survey figures are moving around, but they are improving. This is very encouraging when we consider the experience of many other countries in the world, including that of many in Europe, that are still struggling with the global economic recession.
Simon BridgesThe biggest threat to our recovery would be an economic policy mix that featured soaring debt, higher taxes, and never-ending Budget deficits. This Government inherited precisely that scenario in late 2008, when New Zealand had already been in recession for most of that year. This Government has taken concrete steps to reduce our debt, to get our economy growing again, and to get people into sustainable jobs. That is evidenced in figures today. Labour never learns: it is still promoting a recipe of more debt and higher taxes.