Small Government

New Zealand is over-governed, over-regulated, and over-taxed

Government is too big and wastes an extraordinary amount of money - and its debt levels are a crisis which needs to be addressed now, or it will strangle our children and grandchildren.

Much of what government now does is worse than useless - it is harmful to society. The only solution is to shrink government, so that it focuses on its core business - justice, defence, border control, and critical infrastructure and services.

The more we rely on government, the more control it has over us. We aim to build back a society where individuals take responsibility for themselves and their own families.

Government spending and borrowing are out of control and must be slashed

The current government was elected with a strong mandate to slash red tape and reduce government spending - which had doubled over just a decade. But despite such substantial efforts as creating a whole new Ministry for Regulation (employing yet another tribe of well-paid bureaucrats), its main achievements include:

continuing to spend even more than Labour, locking in "big government" programs such as school lunches,
doubling down on the economic sabotage of “net zero” climate policy, and
reducing requirements for road cones!

The problem is clearly ‘baked in’ to the system, and radical change is needed. We do not need Big Government done better.

The ever expanding power of government must be reversed

The growth in spending is largely because we have become ever more dependent on government, and allowed it to take over more and more of our lives. Society works best when people are responsible for their own lives and free to decide how to run their own households and businesses. Our people should be treated as adults - trusted and expected to spend their own money and provide for themselves and their families.

We need more than platitudes and token reforms - the problems are deep-rooted and systemic.
Overseas leaders have shown us that government doesn’t need to constantly grow – its spending, its borrowing, and its control over our lives.

All that is needed is a mindset change. The Conservatives offer that change. We will:

Radically reduce government by abolishing useless government agencies and programs and ending wasteful spending and unnecessary regulation.
Get the government’s fingers out of our lunchboxes and wallets.
Restore rational economic policy, including ending all climate-focused taxes, subsidies, and regulations.
Reform the welfare system (including Working For Families - to be replaced by our FamilyBuilder tax cuts) and education (including ECE), to make sure it supports the family instead of undermining it.
End all forms of corporate welfare including subsidies for the media.
End the gravy train for public servants, consultants, tribal elites and politicians.
Re-direct spending towards critical services and infrastructure, including roads, bridges and waterways.
Review major infrastructure projects for viability and to ensure they deliver real benefits and are completed on time and within budget.

Everyday New Zealanders have to work hard to balance their books, and they need government to do the same. We will regularly review current expenditure (day-to-day government spending, which dwarfs capital expenditure), with a view to reducing costs. This should be a constant and healthy practice of all governments - just as it is for families and businesses.

If we learn anything from the covid years, it should be that government is not God. We cannot expect it to solve all our problems, and we mustn't allow it to control how we live our lives.

Vote to end the disaster of Big Government. Vote Conservative.

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