Paul Goldsmith - FinanceTodd McClay - Economic Development

23 September 2019

The Government’s economic plan is weak, underdone and will do nothing to restore confidence in the economy, National’s Finance spokesperson Paul Goldsmith and Economic Development spokesperson Todd McClay say.

“It has taken the Government nearly two years to come up with this so-called plan, which lacks any meaningful ideas to grow the economy, but on the plus side contains some rather nice pictures, Mr Goldsmith says.

“The Government’s plan includes more than 20 working groups or reviews, very few real policies and even fewer ideas to restore confidence and grow the economy.

“Most of the policies are ones the Government has already implemented and are bad for business, like union-friendly industrial law changes, KiwiBuild and Fees-Free.

“The two minor tax changes announced are just tinkering around the edges and will affect very few real New Zealand businesses.

Mr McClay says that in the time it has taken produce this short and muddled document, economic growth has fallen from about three or four per cent a year to just 2.1 per cent.

“Growth per person, meanwhile, is close to zero, business confidence is as low as it was during the Global Financial Crisis, consumer confidence is falling and the number of people on benefits has skyrocketed.

“The Government needs to take responsibility for the slowing economy. It has added costs to businesses and families, created massive uncertainty and demonstrated incompetence, most famously through KiwiBuild and its failure to deliver on infrastructure.

“National understands that a strong economy puts more in the back pockets of New Zealanders and allows us to invest in the things that matter to all of us.”

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