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David Seymour
ACT Party Leader
I have to be honest with you. The new Government has opened up Labour’s books and discovered a fiscal mess.
Prior to the election, Labour was proudly claiming a $2.1 billion surplus in 2027. But Wednesday’s Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update paints a different picture – the expected surplus has collapsed to just $140 million.
That’s because our economy is now shrinking, even while inward migration surges. The impact of inflation and high interest rates has finally come home to roost.
It turns out taking money from productive Kiwis and putting it in the hands of politicians via taxes and money printing is not a recipe for growth. Big surprise.
The good news is ACT’s stop-work notices are already delivering significant savings to the taxpayer. That includes $753 million clawed back in the Government’s mini-Budget released Wednesday from the following projects:
• Let’s Get Wellington Moving
• Income Insurance (AKA the Jobs Tax)
• Industry Transformation Plans
• Lake Onslow Pumped Hydro
Meanwhile, Brooke van Velden’s excellent work last week scrapping Fair Pay Agreements will save another $65 million. And other ACT commitments such as ditching Labour’s resource management scheme and subsidies for Teslas save a combined $352 million.
But far more work is needed: to cut waste, to return the savings to taxpayers, and ultimately to unleash New Zealanders’ productivity so we return not just to economic growth, but real (per-capita) economic growth.
That’s how we lift wages. That’s how we stop skilled Kiwis heading to Australia. That’s how we earn our right to world-class infrastructure, healthcare, and education.
This will be a fight. You’ve seen how the Left, assisted by the media, have reacted just to Brooke’s first steps in restoring flexibility to employment, or to ACT’s Treaty Principles bill to untangle co-governed bureaucracy. Just wait until we start firing bureaucrats!
The ACT team – 11 of us here in Parliament – are ready to keep fighting every step of the way, and I hope you’ll stand with us too.
