Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Rosy Glow on the Economy is a Sham
Winston Peters
New Zealand First Leader
Member of
Parliament for Northland
23 AUGUST 2017
Rosy Glow on the Economy is a Sham
Today’s Treasury forecast puts a rosy and reassuring glow over New Zealand’s economic outlook - as you would expect.
“Look a little deeper and the gloss evaporates,” says New Zealand First Leader and Northland MP Rt Hon Winston Peters.
“Let’s start with what is not in it - namely National’s $10.5 billion ‘Roads of National Significance,’ the $1.2 billion for Dunedin’s new hospital or the hundreds of millions for $18 doctor visits and Auckland commuter rail.
“That’s a $12.3 billion hole of unfunded expenditure that has not been past Cabinet so is not in this Pre-Budget Economic and Fiscal Update.
“In relation to New Zealand’s Achilles heel, the balance of payments deficit, there are no grounds for comfort with permanent deficits locked in due to this immigration-led import obsessed government.
“Messrs English, Joyce and Bridges have predicted doom should migration settings be touched but Treasury obviously did not get the memo. Treasury vindicates New Zealand’s First’s immigration policy.
“Treasury forecasts no economic repercussions with its migration forecast of 20,000 by 2021 and 15,000 by 2022. This confirms New Zealand First’s view that net foreign migration of around its target 10,000 a year is completely sustainable for our economy.
“There are also some huge bills not included in this document. For example, Auckland’s $6 billion transport black hole, health funding not keeping pace with population growth and many unfunded policy commitments.
“How reliable are Treasury forecasts when a desperate government is raiding the NZ Superannuation Fund for upwards of a billion dollars each year in tax? Not much. Money that should invested to grow the Fund is being diverted to pay for National’s promises.
“Given the risks in the global system the Budget Economic and Fiscal Update provides no contingency for any shock – natural or in the global financial system. It is clear the economic cupboard is empty aside from migration and consumption.
“The Treasury forecast shows that underneath the bonnet this economy is barely growing above 1 per cent annually.”
ENDS
Gordon Campbell: On The Royal Commission’s Fine-tuning Of Vaccine Mandates And Lockdowns
NZDF: Details From Interim Court Of Inquiry Report Into HMNZS Manawanui Incident Released
Land Air Water Aotearoa: Ambitious Nationwide Initiative To Track And Share Actions To Improve Freshwater
NZ Government: Chemical Weapons And Iranian Missiles Targeted In New Russia Sanctions
Ministry For Culture And Heritage: Reverberations Of Erebus Disaster Still Felt 45 Years Later
Watercare Services: No Cause For Concern After Slightly Elevated Levels Of Arsenic Detected In Treated Waikato River Water
Te Pāti Māori: Government’s First Year A ‘Catastrophe For Māori’
