National’s tax plans do not match up with the money they are wanting to spend, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says.
“National has got some serious explaining to do about how they’re going to afford their tax promises.
“Taking their estimate of $650 million a year for this policy, on top of that Amy Adams needs to find billions of dollars over the next five years to reach her debt targets, there is a massive hole in roading expenditure, and we’ve got Nikki Kaye saying she’s going to spend hundreds of millions more on teacher salaries.
“It just doesn’t add up, unless there are massive cuts to core areas like health, housing and education.”
“Simon Bridges seems to have found Steven Joyce’s fiscal hole in his back yard,” Grant Robertson said.
“New Zealanders will also be wondering if this policy is really worth it. If we take the numbers at face value it is worth $8 per week to the average earner in 2021. For someone on $40,000 a year it would be $1 per week.
“For the cuts to services that would be needed to pay for it, this is small change.
“Simon Bridges needs to front up on how he is going to pay for his tax changes, otherwise it is just a reckless, empty promise.”
