An embarrassing slip occurred by Steven Joyce in the House today.
When I asked in a supplementary to his own patsy question by how many billion the current account defict was forecast to deteriorate over the next four years, he said “less than 5″ and said he based the estimate on the PREFU (Treasury’s pre-election fiscal update).
The actual number in the PREFU is down to $17.6 billion. Nowhere close to sub $5 bn. He then blamed the earthquake for the deterioration. In fact, the PREFU forecasts estimate only a quarter of the deterioration as eathquake related.
Mr Joyce has not corrected the errors – which is required under standing orders at the earliest opportuity.
His problem is that reducing the current account deficit is one of the most basic goals of economic development policy. Not knowingthe headline numbers is embarrasssing. Just making it up is downright risky.
This is the same minister busily negotiating “deals” with corporates, casinos and media moguls. I wonder how many Kiwis would trust his financial nous if he keeps fluffing the numbers?
Bill English is smiling inside.
I don’t think Joyce particularly cares about the numbers in the Government’s bank accounts. He only cares about the numbers in his and his mates’ bank accounts. Bet you he knows those numbers off by heart just fine.
And I hear that Mr Foss may have mislead Parliament as well?
@Ianmac “And I hear that Mr Foss may have mislead Parliament as well?” Yes, I ‘heard’ that too from the dribbling mouth-breathers at the Standard. Is that really where you want to get your information? However, if Parliament was indeed misled, the Leader of the Opposition (umm name escapes me) could lodge a complaint with the speaker. Couldn’t he? If he doesn’t lodge a complaint, then clearly there is no problem, wouldn’t you agree?
Dave , watch this space.
The speakers office is an elephants graveyard for accountability for Keys ministers but is as you know a bit of a dead end to make the Speaker responsible.
Far more productive to have a question for oral answer to the PM. Does he have confidence in the Minister of Broadcasting.
The sound you will hear is your glorious leader ducking for cover -literally hiding in the cupboard in his office , a popular spot
embarrassing Amateur Night stuff again from this useless govt – and the media still don’t hold them to account.
These guys are flying by the seats of their pants, however the media have fallen head over heels in love with John Key, Bill English and Steven Joyce as they love the story they tell.
It’s like Alice in Wonderland stuff, and you have a media who can not distinguish Fact from Fantasy.
I am worried how we are going to tidy up the mess that is left.
We are no longer an export driven economy, we are a country consuming itself borrowing from the rest of the world and selling assets to fuel this consumption.
“A series of emails and reports tabled today clearly show the Minister was advised in January, by both the NZ On Air chair and MediaWorks, of the controversy surrounding John Key’s electorate secretary Stephen McElrea who sits on the board.
“This is despite the fact that Mr Foss claimed earlier this month that he had received no reports or advice about the potential conflict of interest regarding Mr McElrea’s position,” Clare Curran said.
“The documents, released under the Official Information Act, include a two page report from the board chair on the issue, sent directly to the Minister’s office.”
Politicans need to be brought to account if they mislead the public or provide false information.
The NZ Public are sick of being treated like mushrooms, being kept in the dark and being constantly fed shit.
“Treasury says the government’s corporate tax take may miss forecasts for the rest of the financial year, leaving the Crown vulnerable to a bigger-than-expected annual deficit.
The government’s tax revenue was 2.9 percent short of forecast at $31.36 billion in the seven months ended Jan. 31.
The Treasury said tepid wage growth and employment sapped source deductions, while insurance companies sought GST refunds, and companies paid less tax than forecast.”
It seems the drop in company and and other tax rates still isn’t working for the economy.