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POLITICS

Taxpayers' Union Unwraps 'Nicola's Fudge' to Expose the Government's Fiscal Sweet-Talk

New Zealand Taxpayers' Union

Thursday 11 December 2025, 11:34AM

By New Zealand Taxpayers' Union

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The Taxpayers' Union has today launched a confectionary company – Nicola's Fudge – to call out what it says is the Government's growing habit of sugar‑coating fiscal truths, front loading spending while pushing savings back into the future and ultimately failing to honour pre‑election promises on fiscal responsibility.

Instead of cutting spending, rolling back Labour's bloated bureaucracy, and restoring surplus discipline, the Union says the Government has delivered spin over substance – it's resorted to fudge.

Taxpayers' Union Chair, Hon. Ruth Richardson, says:

"Speaking to National Party members in Upper Hutt last month, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon condemned the previous Government's 'sugar‑rush economics' – policies he said gave an illusion of growth but left a long‑term crash. Yet this Government has reached for the same lolly jar."

"Rather than cutting back on sugar, Nicola Willis has poured more into the mix. Government spending has actually increased – both in real terms and as a proportion of the economy – since Grant Robertson left office. That's a fiscal recipe for trouble, no matter how thickly the fudge is poured."

"Similarly, much mooted 'savings' by Nicola Willis have simply shifted spending, not reduced it. It's also a fudge."

"And it's showing in the debt numbers too – which Treasury have been sounding the alarm on. Nicola Willis can't fudge that under her watch, borrowing continues unabated as she tried to paper over her inability to control excessive spending. We're going backwards, with Willis borrowing $75 million each and every day, and the National Debt Clock now showing Government debt amounting to more than $142,000 for every Kiwi household."

"Even the promise to tackle Labour's 33 percent increase in bureaucrats has been fudged. The 'cuts' have been a meagre one percent from when Labour left office."

"The role of the Taxpayers' Union is to point out the fiscal facts – even when they cut across political convenience or the Government's narrative. Ministerial claims the fiscal position has improved should be dismissed. Merely projecting future savings, when overall spending and borrowing has continued to increase, is not getting books back into shape. It's not just a fudge, it's a fail."

"This campaign is about calling out the fiscal elephants in the room. As the Prime Minister has himself warned, New Zealand cannot afford the 'sugar‑rush economics of more people and more debt to patch over every crack'. A country addicted to fudge eventually gets sick."

"The irony of Nicola's Fudge is that the Government is getting all the political cost of perceived austerity, while none of the economic upsides of actually following through on a proper exercise of fiscal discipline."

"We know that some of our friends in Parliament will be upset about Nicola's Fudge. But sweet talk doesn't fix structural deficits."

Nicola's Fudge launches with six delicious flavours:

  • OBEGALx ORIGINAL: Nicola Willis is pushing the narrative that a surplus by 2029 is achievable. But the reality is the 'surplus by 2029' is a fiction, built on heroic assumptions and hidden ACC liabilities using what she calls OBEGALx.
  • BUREAUCRAT BRITTLE: Nicola Willis promised to cut back‑office staff. But the reality is we still have 33 percent more bureaucrats than when Labour first took office. She has only trimmed total back‑office bureaucrats by a dismal one percent. This flavour is packed with extra layers of management.
  • DEBT DELIGHT: Despite promises, borrowing is still near Grant Robertson‑era levels. But the reality is this particular delight is made with $75 million borrowed every day.
  • BIGGER THAN GRANT: While the media calls it austerity and unions are calling the cuts brutal, the reality is claims of spending "cuts" are exaggerated. Spending has actually grown, not shrunk, since Grant Robertson.
  • GDP CRUMBLE: The Government says we are "back on track". But the reality is the economy, measured as real GDP per capita, has shrunk by a massive $3,110 since 2023. This is truly the taste of being poorer, as GDP per capita keeps tumbling downwards.
  • BOND MARKET BONANZA: The Government wants you to believe they are fiscally responsible. But the reality is Nicola is borrowing so much that bond markets now rank our risk just behind the UK – a major, massive warning sign. Even the markets can't swallow this!

Nicola's Fudge is available just in time for Christmas at www.NicolasFudge.nz and will be for sale outside political conventions and events throughout the New Year.

Hurry, while stocks last!