Nicola Willis alleges Labour promises amount to $18.8b ‘hidden bill’- $2,263 per household

National’s finance spokeswoman Nicola Willis has repeated her claim that Labour has a “hidden bill” of unfunded promises and today updated her figures to allege the bill now amounts to $18.8 billion.

She said it would amount to about $2263 in additional tax per household per year.

Willis first made the claim of a “hidden bill” earlier this year, but the numbers released today were updated to include promises Labour has made since.

Labour has not denied the promises and has repeatedly said it will set out how to pay for them in its forthcoming fiscal plan.

Willis tallied Labour’s promises and how much the Labour Party said they would cost. These come to $27.1b of new spending.

She then added Labour’s two tax changes, introducing a capital gains tax and scrapping the Investment Boost Tax credit.

This comes to $8.34b in new revenue.

The difference between the two numbers is the amount of spending Labour has promised but has not said how it would pay for.

Willis alleges it will be made up in borrowing or hidden taxes.

There are some things Labour is likely to contest. Willis has claimed the party’s public transport fare cap will be funded through the core Crown balance sheet. Labour says it will fund this by reprioritising spending from the National Land Transport Fund.

Willis is likely to dispute this, noting Labour is already planning to cut the revenue forecast to flow into the fund by freezing fuel taxes and road-user charges.

Labour has also said it would fund some of this spending through the operating allowance – the pot of new money set aside for each Budget. There’s over $21b that could be included in a fiscal plan for the next Parliament, although most is likely to be needed for funding cost pressures in health and education.

On Tuesday, Willis announced that National is likely to campaign on spending the bulk of these allowances on core health services.

“Labour’s hidden bill has now hit $18.8 billion and that money ultimately has to come from New Zealand taxpayers.

“It works out to $2,263 in additional tax for the average Kiwi household every year,” Willis said.

“It is remarkable that Labour’s hidden bill has grown, even after announcing a $5.5 billion tax hike on businesses by cancelling Investment Boost.

“Chris Hipkins has refused to tell Kiwis how he’ll pay for his promises because he doesn’t want them to know how much additional tax they’ll have to pay,” she said.

Willis pointed to comments made on Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking Breakfast to justify her claim that the “hidden bill” amounted to more tax.

Hipkins told Hosking he would hit surplus in line with the Government’s forecasts, which suggests the only fiscal lever Labour would pull to hit surplus is additional taxation.

“Conveniently for Chris Hipkins, his prospective coalition partners in the Greens, Te Pāti Māori and Opportunity have a suite of new taxes they want to impose on New Zealanders and he’ll be able to use those to pay for his hidden bill.

“Labour does not have a credible economic plan. All Labour has is an irresponsible, unaffordable shopping list which will be paid for by hitting every New Zealander with a growing tax bill,” Willis said.

Updates on the previous Hidden Bill from June, according to the National Party:

Labour’s growing list of promises:

• Freezing fuel excise duty and road user charges for three years: $3.14 billion
• Small business package: $1.56 billion
• Apprenticeship policy: $227 million
• Māori trades training policy: $84 million
• Graduate nurse guarantee: $526 million
• Infrastructure programme: $795 million

Offset (roughly cancels out):

• Reversing income-related rent changes, offset by reversing Accommodation Supplement changes

Added revenue:

• Cancelling Investment Boost: $5.55 billion