7. JACINDA ARDERN (Labour) Link to this
to the Prime Minister
Does he stand by all his answers to oral question number 12 yesterday?
Rt Hon JOHN KEYWhich of the three initiatives he listed yesterday as contributing to the creation of 170,000 jobs will have the biggest impact: interest rates, national standards in primary schools, or early childhood education?
Well, you see, what is really, really fascinating about this is that Labour members are laughing about delivering good economic conditions for the private sector to grow jobs. That says it all, does it not? In their world the Government creates jobs; in our world the private sector does.
Is the job growth number of 170,000 based solely upon the job growth trend of the past 20 years, as he stated yesterday; if so, is that an acknowledgment that his Government has provided no new initiatives to support business, or anyone else, to contribute to job creation?
No. Treasury put together the job-growth prediction numbers. As quite a number of commentators have said, they are very much the middle of the pack, if not lower down. As I said yesterday in the House, the number is not overly unachievable, given that the 20-year trend has been an average of 35,000 per year, so it is slightly above that. But the first question from Jacinda Ardern makes it quite clear, does it not, that Labour does not care about the level of interest rates in our businesses—they do not care whether interest rates go up.
Mr SPEAKERDoes he acknowledge that despite his claim that 39,000 jobs were created last year, the number of people unemployed still increased overall by over 13,000; does not this indicate that his job-growth predictions will not necessarily provide enough jobs to bring unemployment down?
No. And it is a shame the member was not listening to the very informative question before this one, which pointed out, as the Minister of Social Development and Employment has today, that there are now 57,000 people on an unemployment benefit. The number is falling dramatically; 9,000 New Zealanders went off a benefit in May. This Government inherited a mess from Labour, a global financial crisis, a country that was in recession, and this Government is turning that situation round.
What assurance can he give New Zealanders that his bold prediction of 170,000 new jobs is more accurate than his claim that the cycleway would create 3,900 jobs when it has made only 5 percent of that?
Treasury advice is that we will create about 170,000. This Government will deliver interest rates that are lower than a Labour Government would produce. We are not going to continue to borrow and put the country into hock. I know that Jacinda Ardern’s message to businesses today is that she does not care about the rate of interest. We do, on this side of the House; that is why we are going to deliver lower interest rates for longer, under a National Government.