The Taxpayers’ Union says National’s fiscal plan is more credible than another spending splurge, but offers little new to accelerate the return to surplus or tackle the biggest pressures on the Government’s books.
Taxpayers’ Union Head of Policy James Ross said:
“Some restraint and no new taxes are welcome, but National is largely repackaging the forecasts Treasury released at PREFU. The surplus date is unchanged, and there is little here that will get the books back into the black any faster.”
“PREFU was better than expected, but better is not the same as good. Taxpayers won’t see a single year of government debt actually being paid down this decade, and the structural spending pressures are still going nowhere.”
“National’s support for independent policy costings rings a little hollow when its own fiscal plan has the same school lunch funding cliff as Labour’s. Nobody believes school lunches will simply disappear in 2031, so why leave the cost off the books?”
“Superannuation is the fiscal elephant in the room. Until politicians are prepared to tackle its growing cost, fiscal plans like this are little more than sticking plasters. National’s barely even mentions it.”
No new vision in National’s fiscal plan
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