Zero budgets are what you get when you fail.

Today, National cut growth forecasts, cut 16,000 jobs from the forecasts and told us our foreign liabilities will soar over $200 billion for the first time ever.

The Budget shows we get poorer every year because the value of exports don’t cover imports and interest.

Zero budgets aren’t a sign of success; they’re what you get when you fail.

This budget does nothing to tackle the tough issues that are holding our economy back. It says we will get poorer every year because the value of exports don’t cover imports and interest.

After the worst growth in fifty years, the National Government keeps doing the same thing expecting different results. They’ve even cut their growth forecasts from last year.

Real wage growth doesn’t even reach 2 per cent. No wonder a thousand young New Zealanders every week believe their future lies across the Tasman instead of here. New Zealanders heading off are leaving because of New Zealand’s problems, not Greece’s.

Fiscal fiddling isn’t going to bring them back.

In the last three years New Zealand’s GDP has grown just 0.6 per cent. Meanwhile, overseas debt keeps mounting up every year - not just government debt. Today’s budget confirms that the problem is only going to get worse.

The right place to judge the economy is growth in jobs, growth in exports, and growth in household incomes.

Labour is prepared to make the hard decisions needed to grow our economy. We’ll create jobs by supporting our exporters and help Kiwis get the education and skills they need to seize the job opportunities of a 21st century economy. We will grow incomes by investing in science and innovation to create more high-wage businesses and make it easier for Kiwis to save for their retirement.

Outside of Europe, we have had one of the worst performing economies of any developed country, while our major trading partners, Australia and China, haven’t been in recession at all.

The Government’s strategy is to sell our assets and sell our farmland. Changing who owns what already exists won’t increase our exports.

New Zealand needs change because wages are too low, Kiwis are leaving, and the Government is bringing in a zero budget.

Yours

Hon David Parker

Labour Spokesperson for Finance