Today’s fuel excise announcement by Prime Minster Chris Hipkins shows he is bereft of any new ideas for addressing New Zealand’s deepening cost of living crisis, National’s Finance spokesperson Nicola Willis says.

“Today the Prime Minister had an opportunity to present a plan to tackle the long-term drivers of record price increases. Instead, he simply re-heated an old Labour policy with a three-month time horizon.

“New Zealanders confronting the cost-of-living crisis know that Labour’s short-term, band-aid approach has failed to make things better. Yet that’s what the Prime Minister served up again today.

“National knows it’s not just the price of filling a tank that’s hurting Kiwis: it’s the grocery bill, rent and mortgage repayments too. Where is Mr Hipkins’ plan to address those massive costs?

“The truth is he doesn’t have one and is just re-heating Jacinda Ardern’s policies.

“Not only that, but today’s policy questions where this money is coming from, with the Finance Minister Grant Robertson stretching his credibility by claiming he has found $700 million in the past two months. Mr Robertson must explain the source of these funds.

“New Zealanders need a Government with a long-term plan to address inflation and let Kiwis keep more of what they earn.

“National has that plan. We would restore discipline to Government spending, fix worker shortages, reduce business costs, focus the Reserve Bank on delivering price stability and reduce the income tax paid by Kiwis with our plan to adjust tax brackets for inflation.

“New Zealanders grappling with a record cost-of-living crisis need long-term solutions and that’s what we will provide.”

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