National Surplus Destroyed

National a Better Manager of Economy, says Goldsmith

Labour--Destroyers of Value and Wealth 

Arvind Kumar
Stuff

People need to remember that the National Party is a better manager of the New Zealand economy, says the party's finance spokesman, Paul Goldsmith.

In an interview with Radio Tarana today, Goldsmith said it was more important now than ever that the economy be managed properly post-Covid.

When asked if he had a message for voters, Goldsmith said he wanted to remind listeners that the Labour government had "squandered" within two years the surpluses it inherited from the National government.  "The previous National government, we had to borrow a lot of money to get us through the Global Financial Crisis, and the Canterbury earthquakes - we had to borrow $50 billion," Goldsmith said.

"And then with good economic management, and careful spending and an absolute focus on growth, we got on top of that and restored New Zealand's prosperity to the extent that in 2017 when we left government, we left an inheritance of massive government surpluses, a rapidly growing economy, and jobs being created - 10,000 jobs a month.

"And within two short years, before the Covid-19 crisis, this government had taken that inheritance and squandered that entire surpluses and were projecting a budget deficit before the Covid-19 situation occurred," he said.  "And that needs to be remembered, and your listeners can rely on the National Party being sound managers of the economy.

"I think that is more important now than ever," Goldsmith said.  "We just hope we will have the opportunity over the next few weeks to talk about that and to reassure New Zealanders."