“Jacinda Ardern is quick to blame the banks for their record profits, conveniently forgetting about her government’s record tax take that has likely grown by twice the big four banks profits,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“The extra $10.5 billion the government has raked in is more than the profits of ANZ, ASB, and Westpac combined. When BNZ reports, the Government’s extra tax take will likely be twice the big four banks’ profits. Ardern is happy for the government to post record tax takes, but not for businesses to make profits.

“The Government’s tax take was up 10.7 per cent in the year to June, while household expenses rose 7.7 per cent. The big cost households are paying is not bank profits, but tax increases, that are out of control.

“Ardern has spent her entire time as Prime Minister trying to make businesses less profitable, with lockdowns, red tape, regulations and closed borders causing Labour shortages. We can only guess she’s furious her plan hasn’t worked on the banks.

“Ardern is also talking down the sector that her Reserve Bank Governor has been talking up. Adrian Orr last week said New Zealand has the most stable financial system ‘on the planet.’ While he’s talking it up, Ardern is talking it down by saying they’ve made too much profit.

“Ardern needs to stop scapegoating and take some responsibility. Her government’s endless spending is what has caused inflation that has led to these profits.

“The Government is entirely responsible for local conditions. This is the Government that indemnified the Reserve Bank against losses from the highly inflationary Large Scale Asset Purchase Program, after its insistence on a dual target helped encourage irresponsible monetary policy.

“The Reserve Bank distorted government policy making by giving it cheap credit, now we are all paying the cost, literally ,in the rising price of everything.

“There’s always a human cost to this sort of economic mismanagement, and sadly we are seeing it play out across New Zealand households as families decide whether to pay the rent or buy food. This is evidenced by Kidscan needing to feed 10,000 more hungry students than it was at the beginning of the year.

“The Government has to take responsibility for its policies, namely its spending, its Reserve Bank legislation and appointment of Adrian Orr, its long closure of the border and its expensive ideological experiment called the ‘immigration reset.’

“The next government will need to clean up Labour’s mess with sensible economic policy, restore credibility to the reserve bank, and rebuild the faith of the world with a welcoming immigration policy. These ideas and more are laid out in ACT’s paper New Zealand’s Cost of Living Crisis.”

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