I listened with interest to the Minister just then, expounding—certainly at the end, at least—his Government's policies pertaining to the Appropriation (2010/11 Estimates) Bill. It strikes me that the single emphasis that has come through in that bill, both in the presentation of the Budget and in the debate ever since, has been simply on economic growth. That is not just one of a raft of policies that the Government is promoting; it constitutes the central plank of this Government's raison d'être.
Economic growth is the loadstar that this Government pursues; it is the criterion by which this Government is prepared—in fact claims to wish—to be judged by. It began, as the Minister more or less said, right from the very beginning with the Speech from the Throne.
If we go back to 9 December 2008, the Speech from the Throne said that "The driving goal of the new Government will be to grow the New Zealand economy in order to deliver greater prosperity, security, and opportunities to all New Zealanders. It will be going for growth because it believes in the power of economic growth to deliver higher incomes, better living conditions and, ultimately, a stronger society for New Zealanders." The Minister reiterated that quite explicitly just now.
Similarly, in presenting the Budget itself back in May, the Minister said that the Government's emphasis is now shifting towards getting the economy growing again, and ensuring that this growth is higher and "more sustainable." Members should note the words "more sustainable", which in a sense reflects the sheer inability of the Government to understand the true meaning of sustainability. There is a sustainable economy or there is an unsustainable economy; there is not a more or less sustainable economy.
So the growth is higher and more sustainable than New Zealand has seen in recent years. "Growth matters", because it creates jobs, increases incomes, and improves the living standards of New Zealand families. To round it off, only last week the Minister for Economic Development, wearing his energy hat, stated in the very beginning of a foreword to the Energy Strategy: "The overarching goal of the Government is to grow the New Zealand economy to deliver greater prosperity, security and opportunities for all New Zealanders.
The Government's goal is for the energy sector to maximise its contribution to economic growth." This excessive focus on economic growth is, I seriously suggest, contestable. With a global population that has shot up in half a century from 2 billion to 6.8 billion, and is rising to 9.2 billion, and with the consumption per capita of people on the planet rising, global economic growth on this planet by humanity has become in itself unsustainable, not less sustainable.
Hon Gerry BrownleeRubbish, utter rubbish.
Dr KENNEDY GRAHAM: I assure the Minister that if he bothers to read the literature pertaining to our economic footprint—I will help him out there: the figures are 1.8 hectares per person for the bio-productive capacity of land, and 2.1 hectares at the moment for an ecological footprint, which is an overshoot of 35 percent.
Hon Gerry Brownlee Left-wing garbage.
Dr KENNEDY GRAHAM: Sorry?
Hon Gerry Brownlee: Left-wing rubbish.
Dr KENNEDY GRAHAM: Left-wing rubbish?
Hon Gerry Brownlee: That's right.
Dr KENNEDY GRAHAM: Yes—thank you for that stunningly insightful comment on the global challenge we face.
The fact is that the global economy is overheating at the moment. Global economic growth has become uneconomic, and what has to be done is to distinguish between the global north, which is overdeveloped, and the global south, which is undeveloped but still has a right to develop in terms of material economic growth.
In the global north we are obliged now to maintain our prosperity without material growth, while in the south, countries like Fiji, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia are free to grow.
The key concept linking that is sustainable development, which has been on the international agenda since 1992.
Thank you.
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