Todd Talks With Todd Muller National MP

Opposition Leader Christopher Luxon has released National's plan to restore fiscal discipline, curtail wasteful spending and ensure that public finances are reported clearly. National will focus
on funding frontline services such as schools and hospitals.

National's leader has shared three initiatives aimed at ensuring fiscal discipline: Annual reports from Treasury on the performance and results of major programmes; clearly itemised receipts from IRD showing what tax has been paid, what credits have been received and where your taxes were spent in the public service; and government department CEOs and deputies will have their salaries linked to achievement, ensuring accountability and greater performance.

Government agencies should monitor programmes, collect data, and measure performance. The Auditor General has raised this consistently and has been calling for it for some time now.

Under National, Ministers would face public scrutiny for how well different programmes are working. It's taxpayers' money – and we all deserve to know what it's being spent on but unless you've worked in the machine in Wellington, or have trained for years in accounting or economics, it's impossible to work out how much money the Government spends, and where it all goes.

New Zealand's economic engine must start humming again and these initiatives will be part of National's process to restore the fiscal discipline that taxpayers deserve, and the economy needs.