“No one buys Labour’s vision for the New Zealand economy after they’ve spent six years running it into the ground. The reality is that New Zealand is in real trouble. An economic recovery, and eventual economic strength for New Zealand, will require real change,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.
“Another term of Labour’s economic policy just means more handouts, more strategies and more plans dreamed up by politicians and bureaucrats in sitting in Wellington. New Zealand businesses need world class public policy that gives them confidence to go out and take on the world.
“None of this has worked in the past six years, why would hard-pressed Kiwi taxpayers start believing them now? All Labour has left New Zealanders with is out of control inflation and crippling national debt.
“Despite loading the agriculture sector up with crippling compliance costs for the last six years, Hipkins now claims that supporting agriculture is essential to New Zealand’s economic future. It’s like the captain of the All Blacks saying they support the Wallabies to win the Rugby World Cup.
“Since coming into office, Labour has increased spending from $80 billion to $137 billion. Even allowing for inflation and population growth, that’s a real, per person spending increase of 29 per cent. You just have to ask, who is getting 29 per cent more value from their government services?
“Real change starts with serious reductions in Labour’s spending. ACT is the only party that has set out how to meaningfully cut Labour’s spending.
“ACT is proposing the next Government puts productivity at the heart of everything, we’re explicitly focussed on New Zealand’s economic growth. Any Government ACT is part of will publicly state its objective for New Zealand to be in the top 10 fastest growing economies in the OECD, as measured by real GDP per capita growth.
“ACT would create a flatter, more competitive tax system. We would attack wasteful government spending by shrinking the bureaucracy and cutting corporate and middle-class welfare.
“That would create a culture where work, savings and investment are rewarded, raise productivity and wages, and make the government’s books sustainable.
“The next Government can deal with the hard issues, or it can carry on pretending they don’t exist. Successive governments have ignored problems and taken the easy road and New Zealanders are paying the price. Labour’s approach is just continuing the decline away from first world status.
“ACT is the only party willing to tell the truth about the state of our economy and our country. Only ACT has the courage to make the tough decisions required for real change. New Zealanders face a choice: more of the same, or real change. The choice is ours.”