Carmel Sepuloni and Nicola Willis go head-to-head on Morning Report's weekly political panel. Photo: RNZ
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Labour is accusing the government of failing to take real action on the cost of living, but the Finance Minister says the opposition has no plan.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Labour's Carmel Sepuloni joined Morning Report's new political panel on Wednesday.
Willis, who has just returned from a trip to London and New York, said lenders overseas saw New Zealand as "a good bet".
The government has kept its AA+ credit rating, with ratings agency Fitch praising both National and Labour's emphasis on fiscal responsibility.
Willis' said the reason that mattered to "the squeezed middle" was that if they downgraded New Zealand's credit rating, credit cards and mortgages would cost more while the government would need to pay more to service the national debt.
"And remember we're spending enough to service our debt to pay around six Waterview Tunnels every year into the future ....so it's important the government gets that under control," she said.
Sepuloni responded that much of the debt, some of which ballooned during the Covid era, had arisen under the current government who had gone ahead with tax cuts and tax breaks for landlords and the tobacco industry.
There did not seem to be any "real action" on the cost of living, she said.
Labour would not be pausing infrastrucuture projects either.
Willis said Labour would not front up on how its plans would be paid for and she believed it would mean extra taxation.
On Tuesday she accused Labour of "fiscal innumeracy" and a reckless approach to spending.
Government action on the cost of living included sending a clear message to Local Government New Zealand on the need to rein in rates rises.
High export prices for the likes of butter and meat were being reflected at the supermarket till while the government was also working hard on trying to get more competition in the supermarket sector.
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