ACT New Zealand Finance Spokesman Sir Roger Douglas today described Finance Minister Bill English as nothing more than a National Party version of Dr Michael Cullen – who promised New Zealand tax cuts but never actually delivered the goods.

“The Government pretends it has no choice but to renege on the promised tax cuts – Mr English is just too scared to get his hands dirty and actually make the much-needed, tough decisions,” Sir Roger said.

“But National is down-playing the fact that it actually has two options: honour its tax cut promises and make up for reduced tax revenue by cutting low-quality Government spending, or continue to collect high taxes to throw at low-quality Government projects – as it is now.

“While the first is the quality option, we can be sure that Mr English will take the second.

“Thanks to Labour we are now well-versed in the outcome of high Government spending: high taxes, low productivity, and low wages. To break this cycle we must lower Government spending which, in turn, will allow us to lower taxes and result in high productivity growth.

“Government spending is not a panacea for our problems. Our net external debt currently stands at $167 billion – should we really wait until it reaches $200 billion before we do something about it?

“It’s time for National to put New Zealand first – to stop blaming Labour for poor quality spending and start dealing to it. National must live up to the principles it claims to stand for: individual freedom, competitive enterprise, and limited Government.

“New Zealanders voted for National because it was time for a change – so isn’t it time for National and Mr English to actually make some changes?” Sir Roger said
ENDS