GULP – Austerity Agenda sees GDP collapse

Massive GDP fall: NZ in deep recession – worst since 1991

New Zealand’s gross domestic product (GDP) crashed by 1% in the September 2024 quarter, a much larger fall than economists had expected.

The slump came after a revised 1.1% decrease in the June quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ today.

The previous figure for the June quarter was a fall of just just 0.2%. That puts New Zealand into the deepest recession since the Covid-related slump in 2020.

NO ONE should be surprised that our GDP has collapsed!

This National, ACT and NZF Government can not keep pointing to the money the previous Government borrowed to protect us from a once in a century pandemic as the reason the Economy is in free fall!

This National, ACT and NZF Government decided to borrow more than Labour did for tax cuts we couldn’t afford creating a hollowed out Austerity Budget that cut the supply of constant infrastructure work and has led to an exodus of skilled workers to Australia.

The economic results are grim and damning…

“The data showed that the economy is growing more slowly than forecast just six months ago. Next year GDP growth was forecast to 1.7% at Budget, now its 0.5%. GDP is $20bn lower by 2028. Unemployment is higher in every year of the forecast – with 20,000 more people on jobseekers support by 2026. OBEGAL absent the new tricks of accounting – never comes back into surplus across the forecast period. Net Core Crown Debt increases across the forecast period by $58bn.

“The Budget Policy Statement signals that we are in for more cuts in the next few budgets. There is only $700m available at the next Budget to pay for everything outside health. That bakes in likely cuts to public investment and to the public sector workforce every year for the next few years. All to pay for the tax cuts that have now passed. The folly of that decision is now being uncovered.

…this isn’t Labour’s previous Covid spending, this is a direct result of the actions and virtue signal stunts of this Government!

When cuts beget cuts

Treasury’s Chief Economist Dominick Stephens warned yesterday the recession was worsening to be deeper than the one seen in the Global Financial Crisis and widening the Budget deficit. His comments echoed those of a group of 15 economists who yesterday called for a suspension to Government spending cuts, saying they weren’t needed and were creating a negative feedback loop of economic contraction.

Stephens couldn’t have been clearer:

Economic growth has proved slower than anticipated. Weaker economic growth means a smaller economy and less tax revenue, increasing the challenge for the Government in balancing its books. Treasury’s Chief Economist Dominick Stephens in a speech to the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ) Annual Tax Conference.

…the austerity of this Government is causing public services to collapse because this Government hasn’t borrowed for public services, they’ve borrowed for tax cuts!

Economists call for end to Budget cuts

A group of economists, including former Treasury Chief Economist and former Productivity Commissioners, published a letter to PM Christopher Luxon this morning calling for an immediate suspension of budget cuts to avoid further worsening a recession they say is hollowing out businesses and conflicts with the Government’s goal of doubling exports.

They argued fiscal policy was needlessly worsening the recession, saying there was no clear rationale for projected budget cuts and little consideration about the short-term effects. They wrote:

For example, your Government’s cancellation of key infrastructure projects and sinking-lid cuts to the public service are powerful contributors to the current severe and prolonged recession. This is substantially worsening the contractionary effects on the economy of the Reserve Bank’s use of the Official Cash Rate to contain inflation.

All National have as economic philosophy is whatever the fuck their donor interests are, and their donors interests are all about deregulation so they can rape the environment without having to talk to da Maaaris.

This Austerity is literally killing us!

Look at the official annual Health Survey released last week for the last year under this National Government:

• One in four children (27.0 percent) lived in households where food ran out often or sometimes, up from 21.3 percent in 2022/23
• 10.7 percent of adults had an unmet need for professional help for their emotions, stress, mental health or substance use in 2023/24 – more than double the rate of 4.9 percent in 2016/17
• One in 11 adults (9.1 percent) and 8.2 percent of children aged 2-14 years ate the recommended amount of vegetables
• Fewer than half of adults (46.6 percent) met physical activity guidelines, ie at least 2.5 hours of moderate-intensity activity in the past week – down from 50.9 percent five years ago
• One in three adults (1.5 million) classified as obese, rising to nearly half of those living in the most deprived neighbourhoods
• Nearly half of adults (44.9 percent) reported unmet need for dental care due to cost. Rates were worse for Māori, Pacific, disabled, people living in the most deprived neighbourhoods and those aged 25-54 years
• One in four adults (25.7 percent) and one in five children (18.5 percent) reported that “time taken to get an appointment was too long” as a barrier to visiting the GP in the 12 months prior to the 2023/24 survey. This is higher than the previous year (21.2 percent for adults and 14.8 percent for children). In 2021/22, the figure was 11.6 percent.

This Government’s Austerity Agenda is killing New Zealand economically, culturally and literally.

Using small business morality to pimp for venal corporate profit, selling out the common good for donor interests and using divisive race baiting stunts to eclipse the economic collapse by using culture war revenge fantasies masquerading as social policy to keep everyone divided IS NOT a fucking solution!

We are a better people than this hateful anti-Māori, anti-Treaty, anti-worker, anti-renter, anti-beneficiary and anti-environment agenda.

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