10 December 2003 Media Statement

Cullen on OECD report

Finance Minister Michael Cullen has welcomed the latest OECD analysis of New Zealand, describing it as a thorough and useful piece of work.

“I agree broadly with the report’s assessment that, to return to the top half of the OECD, New Zealand needs to focus on global connectedness, science and innovation, removing infrastructural bottlenecks, streamlining the environmental consents process, improving labour productivity, encouraging the transition from welfare to work and attracting skilled migrants.

“As the report acknowledges, the government is already actively pursuing policies across all these fronts,” Dr Cullen said.

“There are some differences of opinion at the margins but these are of long-standing and well-understood.

“The government’s approach to getting beneficiaries into paid employment, for example, relies more on the carrot and less on the stick than the OECD would prefer and we are stronger on workers’ rights.

“But the areas of policy disagreement are within the context of broad endorsement by the OECD of the government’s overall fiscal and economic strategy,” Dr Cullen said.

ENDS

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