$27.9 million a day in debt costs shows keeping Labour out not enough

"Keeping Labour and its rag-tag allies away from the finances is an urgent need, but not our only need. Even without Labour making things worse, the next Government needs to do better than we have so far," says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“Taxpayers are now paying $27.9 million a day in interest. Debt servicing costs taxpayers more than law and order, or schooling.

“We won’t unlock New Zealand’s potential while we’re borrowing more to pay interest on the debt we already have. We need a path to real, sustained surplus, now.

“Labour is in trouble because of ACT. It is ACT that has driven the savings that Labour wants to reverse but cannot pay for. There’s the $10.9 billion for pay equity, the $2.7 billion from public sector savings, or $427 million from school lunches. But Labour can’t say how they’d pay for any of it.

“Reversing our savings would mean more debt, more taxes, more pressure on mortgage rates, and more risk of inflation.

“New Zealand cannot afford another government that spends without thinking about the consequences. But the challenge is bigger than keeping Labour out. We must keep finding savings year after year by forming a government that is smaller, more efficient, and capable of balancing the books.

“Taxpayers will benefit from a government which takes less of what they earn, interferes in their lives and businesses less, and returns to surplus faster. More productivity, more jobs, higher wages – all the Government needs to do is less.

“ACT has driven the change that has helped get New Zealand back to surplus a year earlier than expected. The Government hasn’t gone as far as ACT would alone in reducing spending, but it’s gone a lot further than it would without ACT.

“If we want New Zealand to be the best little country in the world, we need a smaller, more efficient government that respects taxpayers, controls spending, and focuses every dollar on results.”