Back in 2017 Labour claimed they would be a transformational government but they have failed on almost all of their policy promises to New Zealanders, National’s Finance spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

“Labour campaigned on fixing New Zealand’s housing crisis. But everything in relation to housing has gotten worse under Labour.

“The first and most obvious failure is KiwiBuild. By now there should be 16,000 houses built, but only 602 have actually been delivered. That is less than 4 per cent of what was promised. KiwiBuild, with a price tag of $2 billion, has been a giant waste of taxpayer money.

“Under Labour’s failed housing policies the social housing waiting list has more than tripled to record highs, rents are up $50 a week and house prices are rising at the fastest rate since 2007 and faster than any time under the previous National Government.

“Jacinda Ardern’s next big flagship promise to New Zealanders was to build Light Rail down Dominion Road by 2021. Unfortunately Labour has failed every step of the way on Light Rail. After three years there is no plan, no route, no cost estimates, no business case, no consents – nothing.

“All the while Aucklanders have been paying a regional fuel tax with nothing in return.

“Fees Free has been another colossal failure. The 2017 Election bribe was supposed to increase the number of students at tertiary education. Instead, the number of university students went down and students were getting paid for courses they either failed or didn’t complete.

“Finally, Child Poverty. Jacinda Ardern gave herself the Child Poverty portfolio to show how serious Labour took the issue. But they’ve only made things worse. Six out of nine child poverty indicators have deteriorated under Jacinda Ardern’s leadership. And the most important metric, material hardship, has got much worse. Another embarrassing failure.

“Labour are a Government who love to promise the world, but have a terrible record of delivering.

“Kiwi families were promised big but Labour’s wasteful spending and inability to actually deliver has caused nothing but disappointment.

“New Zealand is staring down the barrel of a deep recession. We need a Government who can deliver on what they promise and know how to get things done. The last thing we need is an economic recovery led by Phil Twyford, Kelvin Davis and Willie Jackson.

“What’s needed now is National’s careful economic management. We need to stop the waste and focus spending on policies that will see results.”

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