By Chris Whitworth
Labour leader Phil Goff has called National’s pre-election Budget the “worst Budget” he has seen in his 27 years in house.
Mr Goff says New Zealand needed a bold vision and “gutsy” Budget and National failed on both counts.
"New Zealand needed a Budget that gave it a shot in the arm, it needed a vision for a better future and how to get there - we got neither,” he said in Parliament today.
Mr Goff says in November 2008 National inherited one of the lowest Government debt levels across the developed world. But this year they have posted a record deficit, seven times higher than that of Treasury’s prediction in 2008.
While Mr Goff admits there was a global crisis in 2008, he says it was over by 2009.
And he says it is not just his party and the unions that oppose today's Budget, but the ACT Party and business community also oppose it.
Mr Goff says the “lackluster” Budget tinkers and tampers but does no real good for New Zealanders.
He says it fails to address the real issues, such as:
- High debt
- Low wages
- Low productivity
- High unemployment
- Poor economic growth
"This isn’t a zero budget, it’s a sub-zero Budget, its frozen New Zealand in time,” Mr Goff says.
"This Budget makes it clear that National has no plan."
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