Dear John --



I hope you took time to enjoy the Queen’s Birthday weekend holiday and the remarkable fact that it was Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s 70th Jubilee celebration. What an inspiration she has been and still is, to generations of Britons and people of the Commonwealth of Nations that she heads.



Going Backwards



Recently, the Government released Budget 2022 which confirmed that New Zealand is going backwards under Labour faster than ever.



The focus of this Budget should have been on helping the squeezed middle income earners to overcome the escalating cost of living crisis and stop Kiwis falling further and further behind.



What has been delivered is a Backwards Budget.



New Zealand is experiencing a cost of living crisis with inflation at a 30-year-high. It is expected to last for years to come.



Mortgage costs are up because of rising interest rates, rent is up $140 per week, food price inflation is the highest in a decade at 6.4 per cent, and petrol is up over $3.00 per litre.



More and more Kiwis are falling behind each week, squeezed by growing costs and a Government that refuses to offer them meaningful income tax relief while ramming through the biggest spend-up in New Zealand history.



Labour’s temporary cost of living package including the $27.00 per week to qualifying earners, will do little to support Kiwi households through the current cost of living crisis.



We know that Treasury has warned the Government that the one-off cost of living payment is a poor mechanism for addressing a long-term problem. The Reserve Bank says that access to labour is ‘the key constraint on firms’ productive capacity’, leading to higher prices for Kiwis. The National Opposition has a tax plan that would inflation-adjust tax brackets, to allow Kiwis to keep more of what they earn.



Labour have given themselves an extra $6 billion for this budget – the biggest ever spend-up in New Zealand’s history and they are also spending $2 billion from Budget 2023 and $0.4 billion from Budget 2024. On top of that there is climate spending and the cost-of-living band-aid that will mean a total of $9 billion per year of government spending. Do they know where this money is going to come from?



New Zealand needs a government with financial discipline and a culture where government cares about how every single dollar is spent and the outcomes it will achieve. Kiwis across the country are having to tighten their belts and look after every dollar they’re spending and the Government should be doing the same.



Wages and salaries increases should be supported by increased productivity and identifying new ways of doing business. This has been my focus as I have visited many startups and new tech opportunity businesses around New Zealand. I have also been fortunate to meet with people in Britain and especially in Ireland who are working on promoting Research, Science and Innovation. The use of technology and innovation is the best way to provide future solutions to some of the difficult problems facing the world at the moment, especially post-covid.



It is unfortunate the current New Zealand government has failed to deliver a sensible immigration reset following the Covid-19 border closure. It is quite clear and the Reserve Bank is saying it too, that labour shortages because of the restrictions on immigration are preventing the growth of production and economic activity while the Government is driving up labour costs with its labour market policies around the minimum wage and pay parity at a time when New Zealand is desperate for nurses, teachers, rural contractors and farmworkers.



There is no clear plan or targets for delivering better outcomes for New Zealanders. Under Labour, wait times for surgery and specialist assessments have blown out, literacy and numeracy achievement rates have hit alarming lows and violent crime and gang numbers have exploded. They’ve added more than 10,000 bureaucrats to the public service, yet outcomes are getting worse.



The Government’s lack of delivery has meant lower productivity, higher prices and higher mortgage rates for Kiwis, exacerbating the cost of living crisis.



One of my aims on my almost completed trip to Europe was to make sure that European countries realised that our borders are open to many of them through the Visa Waiver agreements we have. This makes it easier for people of all ages to travel here and we particularly hope young people will come to New Zealand rather than Australia for their overseas experiences.



Best wishes,

Judith 







Hon Judith Collins

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National Party Papakura - New Zealand

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