More bad news for New Zealanders as the cost of living once again skyrockets, with the Consumer Price Index showing the worst inflation figures in 10 years according to ACT Leader David Seymour.   

“New Zealand has been feeling it at the pump, in the vege aisle and even at the fish and chip shop with the price of battered fish rising 5.3 per cent year on year.

Fuel prices have never been so expensive in New Zealand, with the national average of 91 octane now $2.39 per litre.

“None of that is to mention the devastating effect of 30 per cent house price inflation on a young generation trying to find their way in the world, hoping to follow their parents and grandparents into a property-owning democracy.”

Seymour said “This Government has modified the Reserve Bank Act, giving the bank a dual mandate of fighting inflation and maintaining employment rates. It now has an excuse to pursue any policy track it likes, with a choice of mandates to justify it.”

“The Government also modified the governance politicising the bank by putting a Treasury representative on the Monetary Policy Committee.

“The Government’s relentless focus on regulation and redistribution, added to global supply chain interruptions, has further fuelled inflation with too much money chasing too few goods.”

“The Government has been the biggest beneficiary of the inflation with GST, business and personal taxes swelling the Government’s coffers to a record $98 billion.”

National’s Michael Woodhouse said “Grant Robertson has increased the size of government spending by more than 40 per cent in just four years. It is no surprise New Zealanders are now seeing costs increase all throughout the economy.”

“Labour’s big spending is hurting the very people Labour claims to represent. The cost of renting a house has now increased 7.8% since just September last year, the biggest increase since records began.”

“Prices of fresh fruit and vegetables have increased 9.3 per cent in the past 12 months..”

“The increase in prices in just the last three months is the highest three-monthly increase since the 1980s, excluding the one-off increase in GST in 2010.”

“The next big cost increase is unfortunately likely to now be mortgage costs as the Reserve Bank is forced to painfully increase interest rates as Kiwis and businesses try to recover from the current Covid outbreak.”

“Grant Robertson needs to hit pause on any and all of his so-called Covid stimulus spending that is not fully committed. It makes no sense for the Government to be spraying cash at pet projects like the Green School when the biggest problems now facing the economy are inflation, labour shortages and Covid closures.”

“The Covid Fund needs to be used to support businesses impacted by lockdowns and to ramp up the health response to Covid, not as Grant Robertson’s personal slush fund.”