Dear John --

If you were looking for some income relief in this year’s Budget, you’ll be bitterly disappointed. Instead, we have seen a government that is addicted to spending throw more fuel on the inflationary fire.

Crown accounts show government spending is up to $137 billion per year, $61 billion more than when Labour took office.

The deficit has blown-out to $7.6 billion - a whopping $7.1 billion increase since they took office – and the return to surplus has been delayed again.

Grant Robertson has gone on a spending spree and the official advice is clear - this will push interest rates up and keep them higher for longer.

So, when people refix their mortgages this year - just remember interest rates are higher thanks to a finance minister who refuses to rein in his spending.

New Zealand needs National's fiscal discipline. We can't tax and spend our way to prosperity.

The Government should have adjusted tax brackets for inflation to provide relief for hard working Kiwis. But yet again, Labour has refused to do the right thing - instead deciding that they can spend taxpayers' money better than those who earn it.

A National government will fix the economy, end wasteful spending and deliver meaningful tax relief.

Read our plan to restore fiscal discipline and ease the cost of living here.

Wasteful Spending

Finance Minister Grant Robertson promised a bread-and-butter Budget. What he delivered was a spending spree creating a massive increase in deficits and debt climbing for years to come. So far, we have identified $9.5 billion in wasteful spending, and here are just a few examples:

• $7.9B Public Housing
  • Additional 3,000 places for $3.1B capital ($1.03M capital per place!) + $465M operating
  • Cost Pressures $3.6B capital + $700M operating
• $18M for Building the Momentum of Matariki Public Holiday to “build broader public awareness of Matariki” and for whanau, hapu and iwi to “grow and lead their practices and customs”
• $220M Te Pūkenga Transformation Project – interest-free Crown loan to implement an IT transformation programme in a merger that simply hasn’t worked
• $369M more for Kiwirail
• $28.5M for 100 “Community Connectors” for rural NZ ($285,000 per position!)
• $200M Auckland City Rail Link to “enable timely delivery” on a project that has already blown its budget and timeframe
• $71 million for Kāinga Ora baseline funding for "for urban delivery, climate change and sustainability activities, Māori engagement and the delivery of housing related Crown products"
• $10.7 million for establishing a Renewable Electricity System on Chatham Islands and "to undertake discussions with Stewart Island residents on an appropriate renewable electricity option." ($8,000 per person!)

Labour is spending $1 billion more every single week than when they were elected - against all advice. For that sort of spending, New Zealanders have a right to expect better outcomes - but this simply isn't happening. Labour is spending more, yet outcomes are going backwards.

Women forgotten…again

The Labour Government has again shown how much it values women by completely overlooking them in this year's Budget.

I completely agree with the Breast Cancer Foundation’s statement this week “it's hard to see how the Government is serious about its women's health strategy when this Budget has nothing in it for women's health - let alone breast cancer."

In light of a recent inquiry in the Wellington region that found women have experienced delays of up to nine months to receive their breast screen over the past five years, with two thirds of all enrolling women waiting longer than the target of 60 days, we would have expected the Government to have taken some action to fix this.

Instead, Labour has - yet again - refused to accept National's proposal to address screening backlogs and increase the free breast screening age from 69 to 74. This small change will save up to 65 lives each year - and we think this sort of action is what our women and girls deserve.

Nothing for farmers

New Zealand's agriculture exports are forecast to hit a record-breaking $55 billion by June, but the Government has done absolutely nothing to decrease the cost and compliance of farming. Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor didn't even issue a press release yesterday!

Instead, the only rural announcement from the Government was for more EV chargers in small towns, and more money for emergency road repairs. Farmers are still swamped with unworkable regulation and compliance costs.

The Government needs to rein in spending on compliance and 'advice' and, instead, cut costs for the most productive sector of this country. National has a 19-point plan to support our farmers by cutting red tape and lowering costs, allowing them to focus on what they do better than the rest of the world.

Kind regards,

Nicola Grigg
http://nicolagrigg.national.org.nz/