Opposition leader Simon Bridges has criticised the government for its spending, saying hard-working Kiwis should keep more of their money, but he stopped short of committing to tax cuts.
Appearing on TVNZ 1's Breakfast ahead of his first major economic policy speech as leader, Mr Bridges said he would wait to see the state of the economy if his party were in government following the 2020 election before cutting taxes.
“When it comes to tax cuts, you’ve got to be responsible and see where the economy is in 2020 so whether you’d commit to that or do that, you’ll see in 2020.
“If you don’t have silly spending, you can do the infrastructure, you can do the things you need, but you don’t need to raise taxes.”
Despite not guaranteeing tax cuts, Mr Bridges said there will be an announcement today along those lines.
“We believe hard-working Kiwis should keep their hard-earned money and if you manage the economy well, if you don’t have the wrong spending, you don’t need an environment like this where you’ve got growth, more taxes.
“It’s New Zealanders that drive the economy, it’s chippies, it’s sparkies, it’s IT professionals, it’s hairdressers, it’s not the government.”
“We need to ensure high growth policies, business confidence and then get out of the way and I think that’s a marked contrast to what you see from these guys.”
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