Newstalk ZB: Bryce Wilkinson on the parties’ fiscal plans
Our Senior Fellow Dr Bryce Wilkinson, a former Treasury director, joined Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB to make sense of the fiscal plans dominating the election campaign. He read National’s numbers as a continuation of its effort since 2024 to return to surplus: holding the line on spending despite rising interest costs and an ageing population, and relying on economic growth to lift revenues and close the gap.
On Labour, he said pay equity is potentially enormous and that he hasn’t yet seen how the party would fund it, noting that Labour has been keeping its policy cards close to its chest. He found it encouraging that both major parties are taking the books seriously after government spending rose by around 5 percent of GDP between 2017 and 2023, but was far less upbeat on productivity. With government spending around $180 billion a year, roughly $90,000 per household, he noted the Auditor-General’s warning that there is too little accountability and transparency about what that money actually achieves.