Taxpayers' Union Welcomes Fiscal Focus – But Words Must Be Matched With Spending Cuts

The Taxpayers' Union is welcoming Finance Minister Barbara Edmonds' comments over the weekend that she will prioritise fiscal consolidation and getting the Government's books back in order.

Taxpayers' Union Spokesperson, Tory Relf, said:

"New Zealand can't keep running the country on the credit card. It's an encouraging sign to hear a possible future Finance Minister talking about balancing the books, but talk is the easy part."

"Prime Minister Luxon wanted to avoid a sugar hit but Nicola Willis is still spending more today than when Grant Robertson left office. Anyone who claims the solution is higher taxes rather than trimming back wasteful spending hasn't been paying attention to what households and businesses are already dealing with."

"It's going to take line by line inspection throughout the Budget, cutting programmes that aren't delivering, and stopping the habit of throwing money at problems in the hope they go away to get back to surplus. With Government debt now over $142,000 per household, more tax hikes are not the answer. Wellington finally needs to learn to live within its means."