“There is never a good time for a tax increase, but Labour’s massive tax hike while Kiwis are struggling with a cost-of-living crisis is about the worst timing you can get,” says ACT Leader David Seymour. “Knowing these extra taxes will just be wasted by the most profligate government in our history just makes it worse.”

“Petrol will go up by 29 cents a litre, Road User Charges up 56%, the ute tax climbs by up to $1725 and alcohol excise jumps by 6.6%.

“What do we get for Labour’s tax and spend policy? Not much. Labour’s spending hasn’t reduced emissions, our roads are no better, empty cycle lanes litter the country and ‘Let’s Get Wellington Moving’ is about to do the exact opposite, at great expense.

“Every day a new example of wasteful government spending pops up. $158 million on expired RATS. $45 million to store them. Billions of dollars to setting up a Three Waters bureaucracy that no-one wants. Instead of tackling this waste, all the Labour government wants to do is grab more of your money to pay for it.

“None of this needed to happen.

“In response to the cost-of-living crisis ACT would have introduced a durable solution by returning the proceeds of the Emissions Trading Scheme to citizens. That’s a simple and practical way to help families through the cost-of-living crisis without cutting a cent from the roading budget.

"ACT’s policy has the advantage of being sustainable in both the financial and environmental sense. A family that used its carbon tax refund for greener transport solutions would effectively be subsidised by those who buy petrol and would be contributing to lowering New Zealand’s emissions.

"A serious approach to the cost-of-living crisis can be found in ACT’s Alternative Budget. The carbon tax rebate is part of this but there is much more.

“As the only party to publish a fully-costed alternative, ACT calls on the Government to reduce wasteful spending so that it can cut income taxes, stop piling red tape on businesses, and get the Reserve Bank back to focusing solely on inflation.”

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