Heather du Plessis-Allan: Our debt's not bad, but it is a waste

Did I have a debate on my hands when I got home last night about the country’s debt levels.

The husband gave me a huge telling off for saying yesterday that the Government had taken on too much debt.

So I feel like I need to clear this up:

I don’t mind the level of debt New Zealand has. We've heard this a thousand times, but it’s worth saying again- we have very little debt in contrast to other countries in the OECD.

Actually, debt is good. If you borrow money to invest in things which make your country richer, like building roads for productivity or new schools for education, it’s a good thing.

Case in point- how else did you buy your house if not with a mortgage, AKA, debt?

And same with infrastructure- if you need to take on debt to build roads and schools in New Zealand, that’s fine, it’s actually a smart way to spread the cost over generations.

My problem is what we did with that debt. What have we got to show for it? Absolutely nothing.

In 2019, we had the tiniest, tiniest amount of debt. $5 billion in debt, that’s nothing.

By the time all of Grant’s promises have rinsed out our books in 2027, we will have $102 billion in debt. And what we have got to show for it?

Grant keeps saying- oh, we needed to support businesses and people through the pandemic.

Absolutely, he’s right. I will never begrudge smart spending that helped Kiwis out when they needed it.

But by far and away, the biggest cost was the wage subsidy. That cost us $19 billion. But what about the rest of it? That leaves $78 billion spent on - what? Nurses’ pay can’t account for all of it.

The truth is - and we know it - the pandemic gave Labour permission to spend. Some of the spending was fine, but then they didn't stop spending. And they blew a lot of our money on rubbish.

$1 billion for the Greens Jobs for Nature scheme.

$3 billion for NZ First.

$50 million on consultants for the bike bridge that never got built.

$33 million to buy the Bacon building in Kingsland for Auckland Light Rail, even though it’s going to get cancelled.

I could go on, but you get the picture. Debt, not bad. This debt, what a waste.

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