Labour has made a nearly $90 million error in its fiscal plan by incorrectly recording a $44.8 million cost to reverse the Government’s Income Related Rent Subsidy and Accommodation Supplement changes as a saving.
The figures in Labour’s fiscal plan appear to use the Government’s published fiscal impacts without reversing the signs to account for Labour undoing those changes.
Between 2026/27 and 2030/31, Labour records a $44.8 million saving. Reversing the Government’s policy would instead produce a $44.8 million cost, overstating Labour’s fiscal position by $89.6 million over the forecast period.
Taxpayers’ Union Head of Policy James Ross said:
“Labour won’t open its books and share its workings, and perhaps this shows why. The more people pore over its fiscal plan, the more gaps and mistakes they seem to find.”
“This isn’t some complicated forecasting dispute. Labour seems to have taken the Government’s own numbers and forgotten to reverse the signs when undoing their policy, turning a $44.8 million cost into a $44.8 million saving.”
“Hiding behind the defence that its costings were reviewed by consultants no longer holds water. We saw an almost identical problem with the Greens getting confused by negative numbers in their tax plans, and those numbers were externally verified too.”
“Labour maintains it is confident in its numbers, and that every policy is properly costed. If that’s the case, Hipkins would have no problem releasing his party’s workings and correspondence with Hall Chadwick for scrutiny.”
$90m maths blunder in Labour’s fiscal plan
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