7 December 2010

Media Statement

Razor gang can’t cut National’s way out

National’s promise of more razor gang spending cuts in Budget 2011 is frightening in terms of the areas being targeted and its potential to deepen the recession, says Labour’s Finance spokesperson David Cunliffe.

“What John Key and Bill English are hinting at doing defies logic,” David Cunliffe said.

“Unemployment has skyrocketed under National to more than 150,000 out of work, with the worst figures among young people, Maori, Pacific and other ethnic groups. It seems that National’s ‘answer’ to unemployment is going to be to cut government spending and put more people out of work.

“Having given huge tax cuts to already wealthy New Zealanders, National’s priorities are truly alarming.”

David Cunliffe said one in four New Zealanders are worried about paying their rent or their mortgage.

“Yet National is talking about cutting spending on housing. That is unacceptable.

“National’s big spending on policy advice is not happening at government department level --- it’s happening in the area of government think tanks.

“National has poured taxpayer cash into Don Brash’s great leap backwards to close the gap with Australia, Murray Horn’s ideological pathway for Tony Ryall’s health cuts, and Paula Rebstock’s welfare revisionism,” David Cunliffe said.

“National’s preoccupation with spending cuts will only make the recession worse. It cannot fail to make New Zealanders more nervous about where the economy is heading. What New Zealand needs instead is a real plan for jobs.

“The Government has no strategy to get the economy growing again. Labour’s priorities will be creating jobs, keeping the cost of living down and giving our children the best start in life. Any new social spending will need to be paid for by reallocating spending or growth, not by ideological cuts.”

ENDS

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