The Government announced the biggest spend up in Budget history this week but there’s no clear plan and they lack the competence to deliver it, National’s Finance spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

“In this week’s Budget they announced an additional $3 billion for infrastructure and $5 billion for building 8000 houses.

“This is the same Government that failed to deliver KiwiBuild, has quietly shelved the light rail, and has failed to build any new roads.

“And the same Government that failed to deliver more students with its Fees Free policy, created more jobs in Wellington than Wairoa with the Provincial Growth Fund and failed to reduce child poverty or the state housing waiting list.

“The headline of the Budget was a $50 billion fund. The announcement of a fund does nothing. It’s the implementation that counts.

“They have announced more than a billion will be spent on apprentices; that would be good but the entire sector is in a state of upheaval because of government reforms.

“The headline of last year’s budget was a large sum for mental health, and yet a year later precious little has actually changed.

“We can’t trust this Government to deliver on their promises.

“National has the competence and track record to follow through on our announcements.

“We invested in Ultra-Fast Broadband, which has made the past couple of months more bearable and productive.

“We started, and had a plan to continue, the Roads of National Significance, we built the Waterview Tunnel, and gave the green light to the City Rail Link in Auckland.

“New Zealanders know National would get the job done and get New Zealand working again.”

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