This last weekend, we got National where we need them: committed to no new taxes.

That didn’t happen by accident. It represents the years of hard work pushing back against new taxes, higher taxes, and politicians dreaming up ever more creative ways of getting their hands on your money.

National has now drawn a line in the sand. But now the focus is on Labour.

Just as National shut the door on new taxes, Labour gave us a good indication of what they are planning for the other side of the election.

As Te Pou [The Post]‘s political editor put it yesterday morning:

Fight Chris Hipkins’ and his plan to rinse and repeat Ardern-style ‘tax and spend’ policy.!

Labour wants Government spending to eventually sit at around 33 percent of GDP. National’s target is around 30 percent.

These percentage differences might sound small, but every 1 percent of GDP is worth around $4.35 billion.

And Labour isn’t talking about a temporary spending increase. It wants a structurally larger state, with permanently higher spending funded by permanently higher Government revenue.

Labour has a problem: the numbers don’t add up.

To get Government revenue to 33 percent of GDP by 2031 would require around $10.3 billion a year in additional revenue.

That’s $4,971 more tax for the average household when we can least afford it.

Labour’s Capital Gains Tax is forecast to bring in just $1.3 billion.

Labour has also signalled changes to interest deductibility for landlords and kept the possibility of a bank levy alive.

But even with those taxes, there’s still an enormous hole.

We need your support to make sure taxpayers know what’s at stake before they make up their minds. 

The election is on a knife-edge.

Right now the election is neck-and-neck. 

Today’s RNZ-Reid Research Poll has the Opportunity Party as the kingmaker. *

Labour will need the Greens, Te Pāti Māori and TOP to form a Government. That means we know Labour’s plan is just the baseline! 

With just 10 weeks to go, we need your support to get the message in front of voters.

The spending ‘lolly scramble’ is coming.

National’s no-new-taxes commitment shows that taxpayer pressure works. Now we need to turn that pressure on Labour and demand answers about how it intends to fund billions more in Government spending. Will you back the campaign?

With just 10 weeks until election day, voters are making up their minds about the choice in front of them.

Thank you for standing with us,

Jordan Williams Executive Director New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union

*Here is the above-mentioned poll from the Radio NZ site:

The 3% margin of error means that these figures shouldn’t be taken too seriously and simply tell us that it will be tight as it always is. —Eds