Brownlee Doesn’t Know Gap With Australia Growin

Brownlee Doesn’t Even Know The Gap With Australia Is Growing

Economic Development Minister Gerry Brownlee has admitted that the National government has no intermediate target by which progress can be judged on its election promise to close the income gap with Australia by 2025, says Labour Economic Development spokesperson David Parker.

“Last week’s abandonment of mining in National Parks highlighted the absence of any credible economic development plan to get there. Today’s answers in Parliament by Mr Brownlee have given further cause for concern," David Parker said.

“National campaigned day after day, week after week, before the last election about how they would close the gap in wages with Australia, but Gerry Brownlee, the Minister charged with doing that, admitted sheepishly in Parliament today that he did not know the size of the gap.

“The best Gerry could come up with is an assertion that he believes we the gap between wages for a fulltime worker in New Zealand and Australia has closed since National was elected. No proof, mind you. No statistics. No hard facts. Just a misplaced assertion, and he must think we are simple if we are going to believe him,” David Parker said.

"This latest assertion by Mr Brownlee is obviously wrong. Wages and salaries have been going up in Australia, but have been static in New Zealand. On this measure the wage and salary gap has grown.

“Per capita GDP growth has also been higher in Australia. On this measure the gap has grown wider. Unemployment has gone down in Australia but up in New Zealand, so earnings per available worker available must also have increased in Australia and decreased in New Zealand.

“So under this measure as well, the gap has grown.

"What measure is National using?”

ENDS