David Seymour announced a Stop Work Notices policy at a Trafalgar Centre public meeting on Sunday to get on top of the government’s “failing and wasteful” projects if elected.
The ACT Party leader says Labour’s increased government spending by $56 billion over six budgets was “damaging”, and ACT’s new policy requiring ministers to immediately issue Stop Work Notices to their chief executives, would save up to $1 billion on the next government’s first day in office.
“By issuing Stop Work Notices to Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment [MBIE] for example, ACT would aim to reduce the number of staff in that department by up to 50 per cent,” he says.
“New Zealanders busy trying to balance their household budgets will be astonished to hear about some of the insane projects that have grown up like mushrooms under Labour.
“Those doing the work will be told to down tools, then they'll be made redundant, or maybe redeployed, but it is better to send them home than let them keep doing damage to New Zealand.”
Mr Seymour says the “failing and wasteful” government projects it will reduce spend on include the Three Waters implementation, the Provincial Growth Fund, fees-free tertiary education, and the He Waka Eke Noa partnership to reduce primary sector emissions.
He says this will contribute to reducing inflation which he’s noticed in certain corners.
“It’s the Z petrol station where they say, until recently, we used to sell about 45 coffees in the morning just on average, now we’re selling 20… people still come and fill up with petrol because they have to, but they’re not buying the coffee,” he says.
“It’s the restaurant owner who’s saying he’s slipping petrol vouchers to my staff under the table because if they don’t show up they don’t get paid, then the whole thing just spirals.
“We need to get inflation under control, no question, and that means getting on top of wasteful government spending.”
Mr Seymour says he made the announcement at Sunday’s public meeting, which attracted about 350 people, because Nelson residents were “feeling the pressure”.
“I think what people are seeing is a rapidly deteriorating fiscal situation, and even just catching a taxi from the airport here in Nelson I’m hearing that people are really feeling the increased pressure on the standard of living,” he says.
“Nelson like a lot of places is somewhere where there’s people on fixed incomes and people with families, and they’re both equally feeling the pressure.
“I think it’s an ideal place to talk about what we would do to reduce the amount of waste in Wellington that is making it harder for everyone else to get by week to week.”
Mr Seymour received applause from the audience when he laid out his party’s latest policy, and other promises to crack down on crime and pass legislation to define the Treaty of Waitangi principles.
