John Key MP

National Party Leader

8 October 2008

Economic plan: Discipline, growth & security

National Party Leader John Key says the challenges facing the New Zealand economy require a focus on disciplined government spending and a plan for future growth.

“After a decade of the most favourable global economic conditions in our lifetimes, all New Zealand has to show for it is an ocean of red ink 10 years into the future. This is a loud wake-up call.

“The suddenness and severity of the international downturn has exposed our economy’s weaknesses more quickly than anyone would have expected. But those weaknesses have been present for some time, and they must be addressed now.

“The surest way out of the red ink is for the New Zealand economy to grow faster. I am absolutely committed to ensuring that happens, and today I am announcing tax and fiscal policies which demonstrate my intent.

“New Zealand’s economic recovery must be built on improved productivity and a better environment for investment in jobs and growth. To ensure this happens, New Zealand needs a government with a strong economic management plan.

“Our economic management plan will provide the needed fiscal stimulus while strengthening New Zealand’s position in the longer term by boosting economic growth.”

National’s plan has five essential components:

1. Improving productivity across the public sector by ensuring a strong focus on the provision of frontline services.

2. Stopping the massive rise in head office bureaucracy that Labour has encouraged, and we will deal with the regulatory and compliance issues that smother Kiwi businesses.

3. A programme of ongoing tax reduction. We will pass these tax changes into law before Christmas.

4. A step-up in infrastructural investment in vital national assets like roads and an ultra-fast broadband network.

5. An unwavering focus on lifting education standards. New Zealand simply can’t afford to tolerate the long tail of underachievement in our schools.

“I have always believed that given the opportunity to choose a path to a more successful, enterprising, and prosperous nation, New Zealanders would sign up to policies that would bring a brighter future. But with the current world economic situation, the choices have become starker.

“The Treasury forecasts released earlier this week paint a very bleak picture of the future, for a long way ahead, if we remain on our current course, if we keep our current policies, if we keep our current government.

“My colleagues and I are offering a very different way forward. It involves some clear choices. It requires us, as a nation, to be prepared to back ourselves. That is what the package that I have put before you today is about.”

ENDS

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