ACT’s fiscal plan cuts the waste to grow the country

“ACT’s Fiscal Plan ‘Cut the Waste, Grow the Country’ is taking the hard road of truth-telling this election with the release of our fully-costed fiscal plan designed to cut waste, grow the economy, and balance the books with no new taxes,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“Our party has ‘taxpayer’ in its name – the Association of Consumers and Taxpayers. When your party has taxpayer in the name, you don’t make up expensive policies in the middle of a television debate. You publish a fully-costed fiscal plan with every dollar accounted for.

“Taxpayers know the Government has too much debt. When you’re paying over a million dollars an hour in interest on government debt, it’s not time to make a virtue of saving money slowly. That is money taken from health, education, infrastructure or lower taxes.

“ACT’s plan lowers debt by $12.4 billon. Less debt gives New Zealand room to respond to the next earthquake, a financial crisis, pandemic or other disruption. We need to be able to afford the next shock without placing an unmanageable burden on taxpayers.

“Labour and their allies seem to believe greater spending is needed. Somehow, they seem to think, if the Government taxed more and borrowed more it could make better financial decisions than others.

“ACT rejects that thinking for two reasons. The New Zealand Government already spends as much as, or more than, most of our Pacific Rim neighbours and competitors. More fundamentally, nobody who has seen how government works would think it can make better decisions than families and businesses.

“The Government’s finances are in some trouble and repairing them requires clear-sighted honesty. Identify the problems, compare the solutions, choose one and just do it.

ACT’s Alternative Budget will do four things:

1. Substantially reduce debt by $12.4 billion at the end of the four-year forecast period

2. Stop kicking the can down the road on hard issues like Superannuation and the size of the bureaucracy, to balance the budget sooner, with a bigger surplus than currently forecast and no new taxes

3. Introduce several strategic tax cuts to boost Kiwisaver, cryptocurrency adoption, and charitable giving

4. Fund new services that will make a real difference to efficiency and prosperity, such as funding pharmacies to address minor ailments, and Year 11’s to start investing in shares.

“Change must start at the top. It is not credible for ministers to demand public sector savings while there are more ministers in the New Zealand Government than most countries, including nearly twice as many as the Government of Japan. Excessive governance doesn’t just send the wrong signal, it is inefficient.

“Excluding frontline services for Health, Education, Police, Defence, and the Ministry for Children, the rest of the Government is spending 20 per cent more than in 2017. That’s after adjusting for inflation and population growth. Does anyone think they’re getting 20 per cent better services from the Government?

“ACT will return spending, outside protected frontline services, to its 2017 level per person, adjusted for inflation and population growth. Since 2017 we tried bigger government and higher debt - it's not working and people are not better off. We need to go back to what we know works.

“Cutting waste allows ACT to fund better public services in areas that matter to Kiwis. This plan funds better healthcare, stronger protection against crime, investment in local infrastructure and practical education initiatives. These include ACT's Pharmacy First Policy, and our Young Investor policy.

“ACT will remove tax on KiwiSaver investment earnings. We support greater personal retirement saving and will let more of people’s returns compound over their working lives. Broader tax reductions can follow once the books are back in surplus.

“It is immoral to keep borrowing for political promises and sending the bill to the next generation. We are cutting waste, bringing the surplus forward, and using some of those savings to let New Zealanders build greater financial security.

“New Zealand needs a credible path to surplus without new taxes, and an economy where work, saving and investment pay off. A stronger ACT presence in government will provide the determination to deliver both. That is how we unlock New Zealand’s potential.”