Chris Hipkins has handed the Greens, Te Pāti Māori and Opportunity the upper hand by promising to form New Zealand’s first four-party coalition by Christmas, National’s Finance spokesperson Nicola Willis says.
“Labour’s coalition partners now have Chris Hipkins over a barrel. They know his deadline. They know he needs all three of them to form a government. And they know that to become Prime Minister, Chris Hipkins will have to make serious concessions to secure their support.
“Kiwis are voting now and they deserve to be able to make an informed choice.
“The question that people should ask themselves is: what would be the cost of a Labour coalition with the Greens, Te Pāti Māori and Opportunity?
“The answer is tens of billions in additional spending, paid for by new taxes and higher debt that would make every New Zealander poorer.
“Labour itself has $18 billion in spending it has not explained and National has estimated that the combined cost of policies announced by the Greens, Te Pāti Māori and Opportunity would be $232.6 billion on top of that.
“Nobody is suggesting all their policies will survive coalition negotiations. But with polls suggesting Labour’s three coalition partners together make up around half of the left bloc, it is reasonable – if not conservative – to suggest 20 per cent of their spending promises would make it though.
“If just 20 per cent of these promises survived negotiations, the cost would be nearly $46.5 billion over four years. That money has to come from somewhere.
“If it is borrowed, net core Crown debt would climb to around $280 billion, and taxpayers would face around $2 billion more in annual interest costs by 2031. This debt-fuelled spending would mean higher inflation and higher interest rates.
“With no obvious path back to surplus, New Zealand’s financial stability would suffer and our reputation as a reliable destination for investment would also falter.
“Labour’s coalition could also fund its spending plans through more tax.
“Between them, the four parties have no shortage of new taxes on the table – and Chris Hipkins will need them to pay for Labour’s own spending and every coalition promise he’s forced to adopt to form government by Christmas.
“New Zealanders deserve to know which promises are on the table, what a deal would cost, and who would pay for it.
“The choice couldn’t be clearer. Stick with National’s plan for a more secure future, or risk it all on a Labour-led four-party coalition with Chloe Swarbrick as Finance Minister.”
