“Grant Robertson just spent nearly $7,000 per Kiwi household in a single announcement,” says New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke.

“However, we have to say the quality of spending is better than we had feared. Most of the transport funding has been allocated to highly-demanded roading projects. And even the rail expenditure is targeted at urban areas where the population density means the investment is more justified. This is far more sensible than the resuscitation of closed regional lines that money has previously been wasted on.”

“Let’s not kid ourselves however that this is a free lunch. The Government needs a greater focus on cutting wasteful spending to pay for infrastructure, rather than relying solely on borrowing.”

“It is concerning that some of the projects do not have firm dates attached. Governments often make vague announcements with the intention of ‘re-announcing’ along with more detail at a later date. For the sake of economic stability, it’s better to have transparent information from the outset.”

© Scoop Media