Grant Robertson interview demonstrates why he should never have been finance minister

Responding to Grant Robertson’s recent admission on a Q+A with Jack Tame that his only regret from his time in office was that he didn’t take on more debt, Taxpayers’ Union spokesperson, Alex Murphy, said:

“Grant Robertson has now admitted that he would rather have spent more, borrowed more, and cranked up the debt level even higher if he was given another shot at managing the economy. For the rest of New Zealand, though, the fact he didn’t is about the only thing we’re thankful for!

“In just the six years he was finance minister, Robertson hiked public spending by 67% and increased government debt by 161%. Yet, despite all that extra debt, New Zealanders continue to think that our public institutions have got worse – not better.

“Robertson’s wilful ignorance might allow him to think that taking on even more debt would have solved his problem. But his failure to manage the economy had nothing to with being underfunded. His problem was that he has an addiction to wasteful, unchecked, inflationary spending.

“While debt isn’t inherently bad if used to fund long-life infrastructure, Mr Robertson was borrowing to fund reckless deficit spending and leaving nothing to show for it upon leaving office except record interest payments and 30-year high inflation.