The Greens “alternative” budget reveals their desire to live in a ludicrous la-la land, National Party finance spokesperson Nicola Willis says.

“The mind boggles that – even in these economic times – Labour and the Greens are hellbent on confiscating wealth and income from hardworking Kiwis and returning to the bad old days of more tax and inflationary spending that wrecked the economy.

“That’s even before you bring Te Pāti Māori’s absurd circus into the mix.

“The idea that raiding New Zealanders’ incomes will somehow make the country better off is offensive to every New Zealander struggling with the cost of living crisis that Labour and the Greens created. This is truly magical thinking.

“We can assume that having no businesses left in New Zealand is the ultimate goal for the Labour-Greens-Te Pāti Māori coalition of chaos.

“While the Greens’ proposals are not grounded in any kind of fiscal reality, their approach is very similar to Labour’s. It’s all about higher taxes, more spending and ballooning debt.

“In normal times, it would make sense to call on Labour to rule out letting the Greens anywhere near an economic portfolio in a future coalition. But the reality is, they are as economically illiterate as each other. The only difference is the Greens are more honest in telling New Zealanders just how illiterate they are.

“Chris Hipkins has been open about wanting to go into government with the Greens and needs to come clean about which specific policies he’ll accept in exchange for power, and how he’ll drive the New Zealand economy into the ground in the process.

“Incredibly one of the very few savings the Greens have committed to is by massively reducing the prison population, releasing thousands of criminals onto the streets. Labour votes the same way as the Greens on law and order so it would not be surprising to see this emerge as Labour’s policy too.

“Labour and the Greens’ uncosted promises are stacking up like all-you-can-eat hotcakes but Labour won’t tell us how they’ll cover the bill at the end. Spoiler alert: it will be on the taxpayer credit card.

“Luckily there are still a few adults in the room and in charge of the Government’s books. On May 22, the National-led Government will deliver a responsible Budget that secures New Zealand’s future.”

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