All talk, no thought on Growth Report

The Economic Development Minister needs to read between the lines of the Growth and Innovation Framework Report released today, says National's Associate Finance spokesman David Carter.

"Jim Anderton misses the detail in his rush to trumpet so-called 'initiatives' that he claims are propelling the New Zealand economy forward.

"How then does he explain that New Zealand's economic growth rate has halved from 4.3% to Treasury projections of around 2% over the next ten years?" asks Mr Carter.

"BERL forecasters hit the nail on the head in June when they lambasted the Government's lack of vision for the economy and said that 'economic mismanagement had choked out a perfectly sound period of growth.'

"Jim Anderton is as bad as Steve Maharey with his 'Jobs Jolt' propaganda this week - all spin and no substance," says Mr Carter.

"Let's not forget that the Government has already abandoned its earlier goal of lifting our living standards back into the top half of the OECD within a decade - and doesn't have a dog's chance of getting there on current policies.

"What the GIF Report shows is that New Zealand's growth performance improved in the 1990's as a direct result of the reforms of the late 80's and 90's," points out Mr Carter.

"But the Government's abandoned this direction and is instead hell-bent on destroying the climate for business growth by over-taxing and over-regulating.

"If we are to have any chance of lifting our game and closing the gap in living standards between New Zealand and Australia, the Government has to get the fundamentals right and let business get on with the job of doing business," says Mr Carter.

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