Taxpayers are being abused by the Labour Government and National will restore fiscal discipline, end Labour’s wasteful spending and deliver clear reporting of public finances, National Leader Christopher Luxon says.

“I won’t put up with pouring more money into broken programmes that don’t work when we need more funding for frontline services like schools and hospitals.”

A National government would introduce three initiatives to boost fiscal discipline:

• The Treasury will be required to report annually on the performance of major programmes to demonstrate whether they are achieving results.
• Every taxpayer will receive a “Taxpayer’s Receipt” from Inland Revenue, showing taxes paid and government payments received including Working for Families and benefit payments. It will breakdown where taxpayers’ money has been spent, eg education, health, and welfare.
• Public sector chief executives and their deputies will have their pay linked to achievement in order to encourage high performance and ensure accountability.

“Not content with taxing, borrowing, and spending billions of dollars more on taxpayers’ behalf, this Labour Government has abandoned any pretence of transparency or performance.

“Agencies should monitor programmes, collect data, and measure performance. The Auditor General has raised this consistently and been calling for it for some time now. Under National, Ministers would face public scrutiny for how well different programmes are working.

“Taxpayer receipts would help explain government spending and improve accountability.

“It’s taxpayers’ money and we all deserve to know what it’s being spent on but unless you’ve worked in the machine in Wellington, or have trained for years in accounting or economics, it’s impossible to work out how much money the Government spends, and where it all goes.

“That’s why a government I lead will introduce new requirements for clear financial reporting to taxpayers. Individuals will receive a taxpayer’s receipt each year and Treasury will produce an annual Report Card for Taxpayers to clearly show government spending and tax.

“Thirdly, National will ensure the most senior public servants have part of their base pay determined by performance. 

“Labour scrapped this in 2018, with Chris Hipkins arguing it would improve public sector performance. Instead, it’s been hollowed out.

“We must get New Zealand’s economic engine humming again and these initiatives will be part of restoring fiscal discipline that taxpayers deserve, and the economy needs.”