English bounces back faster than economy

Labour Minister Kate Wilkinson. Photo / Martin Sykes

The Labour Party might claim National does not have a plan for growing the economy.

But National does have a plan. What's more it is a "cogent" plan. Not only that. It is a plan which plans to increase the number of jobs.

For these mind-blowing revelations, we can thank Labour Minister Kate Wilkinson and her replies to questions in Parliament yesterday.

For those silly enough to wonder exactly how this plan will create jobs, Wilkinson had further comforting news.

"Our plan is basically about building a stronger economy," she said.

Just as well. You wouldn't want to make the mistake of building a weaker one.

Wilkinson's statements might have been abrupt to the point of absurd. But she wasn't finished. She could understand why members of the Labour Party did not understand it was necessary to build a strong economy, "but we do".

It goes without saying that Wilkinson is not one of National's more confident parliamentary performers. The rather surreal nature of her answers to questions from Labour's employment spokeswoman, Jacinda Ardern, had the questioner rolling her eyes in wonder with others on the Opposition benches.

Almost as excruciating to watch was Labour finance spokesman David Cunliffe's well-executed evisceration of Bill English.

It is the lot of finance ministers to find a silver lining in the darkest of storm clouds. Even so in a week when the Economist magazine is warning of a world economic meltdown, English was not inclined to talk up the New Zealand economy too much.

Still, he was brave (or foolhardy) enough to set up a patsy question for himself to which he answered that there was "emerging evidence"that despite the February earthquake in Christchurch, the economy had been on track "and perhaps a little stronger than expected" in the first part of 2011.

The cue for this relative outpouring of optimism was the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research's consensus forecasts which, in showing economic growth rising to about 2 per cent over the next year followed by 4 per cent in the following year, were "fairly similar" to discredited Treasury forecasts in last month's Budget.

But Cunliffe had done some homework. He asked whether English recalled his reply to a similar question in September 2009, when he had received reports indicating the economy was showing "some early signs of recovery".

Or the one in October 2009 to which English had replied: "In recent weeks a number of reports have confirmed an early sign of pick-up in business confidence.".

Or the one in March 2010, when English replied: "It is important we convert the early start to recovery into a permanent lift."

Or the one in July 2010 when English had said the economy was "making very significant progress".

There is normally a limit on the length of supplementary questions like Cunliffe's. By this stage, National MPs were demanding the Speaker curtail his one question, pronto.

Lockwood Smith did not oblige. "The question is a little longer than usual, but there is a pattern to it."

Cunliffe then cut to the chase, asking if English's habit of counting his chickens before they had hatched was one reason Standard & Poor's had kept NZ's credit rating on negative outlook.

English took it on the chin. "I do recall those answers," he laughed.

"I am impressed with what an upbeat Government we have been through some very tough times."