National would introduce "taxpayer receipts" — sent to every individual taxpayer — that would break down where money had been spent.
National leader Christopher Luxon announced three initiatives a government under his leadership would introduce to "boost fiscal discipline" in Auckland today.
A National government would also tie public sector chief executives' pay to achievement "in order to encourage high performance and ensure accountability". It would also apply to their deputies.
National also wanted to require Treasury to annually report on the performance of major programmes.
Luxon said taxpayers were "being abused" by the Labour Government and National wanted to "restore fiscal discipline, end Labour's wasteful spending and deliver clear reporting of public finances".
"I won't put up with pouring more money into broken programmes that don't work when we need more funding for frontline services like schools and hospitals."
He said the Labour Government had "abandoned any pretence of transparency or performance".
"Agencies should monitor programmes, collect data, and measure performance.
"The Auditor-General has raised this consistently and been calling for it for some time now. Under National, ministers would face public scrutiny for how well different programmes are working."
Luxon said taxpayer receipts would "help explain government spending and improve accountability".
"It's taxpayers' money and we all deserve to know what it's being spent on but unless you've worked in the machine in Wellington, or have trained for years in accounting or economics, it's impossible to work out how much money the Government spends, and where it all goes.
"National will ensure the most senior public servants have part of their base pay determined by performance.
"Labour scrapped this in 2018, with Chris Hipkins arguing it would improve public sector performance. Instead, it's been hollowed out.
"We must get New Zealand's economic engine humming again and these initiatives will be part of restoring fiscal discipline that taxpayers deserve, and the economy needs."
The Treasury produces a monthly government financial statement which includes revenue and expenditure.
The most recent interim report for the nine months to March 31, 2023 showed core Crown expenses were $92.5 billion, made up of $32.3b on social security and welfare, $20b on health, $13b on education, $3.9b on law and order, $2b on defence, and $1.4b on housing and community development. The remainder was spread over nine other areas.
Core Crown revenue was $91.7b, borrowings were $225b and core Crown tax revenue was $83.6b.
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