Labour’s fiscal plan a fraud
Labour cannot be trusted with the economy after releasing a dishonest fiscal plan that lacks any credibility and would leave New Zealanders paying a higher price, National’s Finance spokesperson Nicola Willis says.
“This is the least credible fiscal plan released by a major party in living memory.
“Today was Chris Hipkins and Barbara Edmonds’ opportunity to make Labour’s numbers add up and they have failed, far worse than anyone could have expected.
“Key omissions in Labour’s fiscal plan include:
- Funding to fully restore the previous pay equity scheme: $8.5 billion. Labour says it will restore the previous scheme in its first 100 days, which Treasury says would cost $11 billion. In its fiscal plan, Labour has only allocated $2.5 billion.
- Cost of freezing fuel excise and road user charges: $3.1 billion. National fully costed our fuel excise freeze in our 2023 fiscal plan. Even before accounting for this reduction in revenue, the PREFU states that over the next four years, the National Land Transport Fund revenue ‘is likely to be enough only for continuous programmes, critical resilience activities, debt repayments and projects already underway’.
- Dividends foregone of companies in the Future Fund: $2.8 billion.
- Health cost pressures for Budget 2030: $1.55 billion.
- Cost of graduate nurse guarantee: $526 million.
- Cost of capping public transport fares: $260 million.
“Labour says the rest of the money to fully restore the previous pay equity scheme will come from cost pressure funding. If true, this would mean taking almost every dollar of unallocated funding for the next four Budgets, which means nothing more for schools, police, prisons, defence and other frontline social services.
“Labour refuses to tell Kiwis the truth about its plans, which is that households will be paying for its unfunded policies through more new taxes. It is essentially doubling down on its hidden bill, which doesn’t even include the increase to foreign aid funding promised by its Foreign Affairs spokesperson, worth $6.5 billion.
“This election is going to be very tight, and the choice could not be more clear.
“It’s either a Labour coalition which
would squander surpluses, increase debt, and hit Kiwis with nine new taxes. Or
National with a plan to grow the economy, spend sensibly and pay down debt, with no new taxes so Kiwis get ahead and have a more secure future.”
