Our Policy

Tackling the Cost-of-living Crisis

Tackling the Cost-of-living Crisis Balance the budget to take the heat off interest rates and inflation. Use policies to get our economy out of the red and back to black responsibly. Refocus government on ‘must haves’, not the ‘nice to haves’ For KiwiSavers, we’ll give you full access to clear your mortgage Retirees will face less squeeze through a 50% SuperGold rates rebate Examine the feasibility of lifting the adult Minimum Wage to at least $25 an hour by allowing businesses a tax concession to do so Foreign owned banks, supermarkets, and energy ‘gen-tailers’ will face a full scale pricing and monopoly investigation, as they have in other countries. Tax reforms in the next term of Parliament

All our costs are going up and up – food, power, fuel, health care, rents, rates, and mortgages. If we want to buy essential food or pay your mortgage or rent without always struggling to do so, then let’s take on those foreign banks and supermarkets, charging more here than they do elsewhere.

New Zealand First’s seven-point solution for the cost of living crisis:

1.  Balance the budget to take the heat off interest rates and inflation.  Use policies to get our economy out of the red and back to black responsibly.

  • NZ First commits to orthodox economic solutions and not economic extremism from the far left or the far right.  NZ First has studied the Irish Celtic Tiger success along with the successes of Singapore and Iceland and believe these are much more sound models than economic experimentalism - already tried in New Zealand and failed.
  • NZ First’s fiscal policy is to create surpluses to deal with unfunded commitments and to pay down debt by setting Total Government Expenses at no more than $165bn, while holding Core Government Expenses to no more than $133bn for 2024/25.

2. Refocus government on ‘must haves’, not the ‘nice to haves’

  • NZ First will ensure not one more cent is spent on light rail or new cycle lanes while we have potholes and traffic going ever slower.  This is the start of a root and branch review of every spending line.
  • NZ First will challenge welfarism that has gone in too many areas from a hand up to a handout.  NZ First believes that government and businesses have a role in finding employment for willing workers in a successful economy.
  • Hard working taxpayers expect more so we will make two-years the lifetime entitlement for the JobSeeker WorkReady benefit - presently numbering over 99,000 New Zealanders.   

3. For KiwiSavers, we’ll give you full access to clear your mortgage 

  • NZ First will evaluate the utility of the Singaporean mode,l where at a certain level of savings kiwis can apply savings above that level to downsizing their mortgage. 

4. Retirees will face less squeeze through a 50% SuperGold rates rebate  

  • NZ First will fund rates relief for SuperGold card holders, who are mostly on fixed incomes, to apply for a 50% local authority rates rebate for those who own and live in their only home or equivalent such as an apartment, up to a maximum of $1,600 each year, at an estimated cost of between $1bn to $1.2bn.

5. Examine the feasibility of lifting the adult Minimum Wage to at least $25 an hour by allowing businesses a tax concession to do so

  • New Zealand cannot climb back to being a first world country with a low wage regime.  And higher wages is critical to keeping New Zealand’s trained workforce in New Zealand. 

6. Foreign owned banks, supermarkets, and energy ‘gen-tailers’ will face a full scale pricing and monopoly investigation, as they have in other countries.  

  • There have been five inquiries in the Australian parliament into the Australian banking costs.  There has not been one inquiry here.
  • Big supermarkets are making exorbitant profits, one up to 19% in one year, or over  three times the inflation rate.
  • NZ First will make groceries cheaper and introduce real choice, by forcing the supermarket duopoly to divest themselves of their distribution centres and cool-stores.
  • NZ First will put a regulated duty on the banks to deliver ‘fair value’ through UK-style consumer duties, remove all woke investment rules and create a Financial Services Ombudsman as an Office of Parliament.
     
  • NZ First will lower power prices by forming a Ministry of Energy and abolishing the Electricity Authority.  Generators will be required to divest themselves of retail while allowing local lines companies into generation, retail, and even transmission.  

7. Tax reforms in the next term of Parliament

  • NZ First will legislate to make the lowest tax bracket (currently $14,000 pa) of income tax-free no later than 1 April 2027; providing an extra $28.27 a-week for workers.
     
  • NZ First will adjust tax brackets for inflation starting 1 April 2024, with the first adjustment taking place in 2027 and every three years thereafter.
     
  • NZ First will get more private homes built for renters by reinstating interest tax deductibility.
     
  • NZ First will secure a Select Committee Inquiry into GST off basic fresh foods.  We must examine if this would deliver real benefits for taxpayers before legislating for it. We would want to ensure savings get to consumers before we support legislation to this effect.