Willis’ Resignation Call Means Only One Thing – $2 Billion More Cuts – Labour Party

Massive cuts to public service are on the cards as Nicola Willis has promised to resign if she doesn’t deliver tax cuts but is refusing to make the same commitment if she doesn’t raise enough income from her bungled foreign buyer’s tax.

This clearly shows that any tax cuts from National will have to be funded by deep cuts to the services New Zealanders rely on.

“Not even Nicola Willis is prepared to back her dodgy costings for the foreign buyer tax which means the $2 billion shortfall will have to come from even deeper cuts to public services,” Grant Robertson said.

“The scale of these cuts is massive. The $2 billion dollar hole in National’s costings is the equivalent of paying for about 3800 senior nurses, 4000 teachers or 2700 police every year.

“National have already said they will cut 6.5 percent from many government programmes, these further cuts will see services that New Zealanders rely on under threat.

“Nicola Willis’ commitment to cuts by Christmas should be deeply worrying to everyone, particularly given her coalition partner ACT promising to slash 15,000 jobs.

“Taking that many jobs out of the New Zealand economy is both destabilising and dangerous at a time when we are turning the corner into higher growth.

“Those 15,000 jobs will affect 15,000 households and families. It is staggering that David Seymour simply doesn’t care about those people.

“If elected the National / ACT / New Zealand First Coalition of Cuts would be a slash and burn Government, immediately throwing 15,000 jobs on the scrap heap to pay for their ropey tax cut plan.

“Nicola Willis and Christopher Luxon’s economic credibility is shot. They are constantly saying they are “rock solid” in their costings, but none of it adds up – their rock-solid rhetoric is turning to rubble. They need to front up and be honest with New Zealanders about their policies, and which public services will be slashed,” Grant Robertson said.