National has spent three years making life harder for New Zealanders. Now, with ACT pushing an agenda of deep cuts, Kiwis face the prospect of three more years of job losses, squeezed services and higher costs. 

"They promised to fix the economy. Instead, 48,000 more people are out of work, businesses are shutting their doors and families are paying more for the basics,” Labour finance and economy spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said.

“National’s cuts haven’t worked and ACT’s answer is to go even further, with $9.5 billion in spending cuts, a higher age of superannuation and tighter restrictions on disability support.

“National has already shown what cuts look like in practice, with cancelled building projects, causing 20,000 construction workers to lose their jobs.

“A hiring freeze that left our hospitals with just 54 more nurses in two years. They cut thousands of public service jobs and cancelled new ferries, leaving $671 million spent and not a single new ferry afloat.

“Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis need to outline today why New Zealanders should trust their approach when it has already failed to deliver the jobs and growth they promised.

“New Zealanders don’t need more cuts, shrinking services and an economy that isn’t working for them.

“Labour will balance the books without shrinking the economy. We’ll focus on creating jobs, growing wages and easing the cost of living, not making life harder for working families,” Barbara Edmonds said.