Alliance Leader Jim Anderton - Infometrics/Auckland Chamber report 'garbage'

The Auckland Chamber of Commerce should sue Infometrics for grossly incompetent economic analysis, Alliance leader Jim Anderton said today.

He's describing a Chamber/Infometrics 'report' released today as part of an orchestrated party political campaign on behalf of Act and National.

Infometrics has never contacted the Alliance to check any of the data it used. The Chamber says it - not the Alliance - provided Infometrics with policy assumptions about Alliance policy.

That is bizarre.

Since when did Michael Barnett decide Alliance policy?

"If Infometrics had any professional competence whatsoever, it would have refused to conduct a report on that basis. This is shoddy work. Both the Chamber of Commerce and Infometrics have disgraced themselves with it."

Jim Anderton says he is puzzled that the Auckland Chamber's Michael Barnett is criticising the Alliance's proposal to introduce a tariff on imports from all countries except Australia, when Mr Barnett himself attacked tariff cuts recently.

"Obviously Mr Barnett thinks tariffs are only OK if National or Act administer them.

"If anyone wants to know the total cost of Alliance budget, I will announce the full budget this week. I have already announced that the total cost of Alliance spending proposals is $2.7 billion, yet the Chamber strangely claims that the total cost of Alliance policies is $1.8 billion. An organisation that makes a $900 million mistake in its costing could only be a front for the Act party.

"What Mr Barnett and Infometrics have to explain is why the economy would collapse as they claim if the government supported business through investment partnerships.

"They should explain why it is unsustainable for the government to spend more on tax cuts for the wealthiest New Zealanders than the entire estimate they make of the entire Alliance programme.

"Their claims are so obviously wrong that they are not worthy of attention," Jim Anderton said.

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