Hi Friend,

After travelling the country with the Government Debt Clock, it was clear that Kiwis are alarmed about the debt. So the obvious question is "how can the Government get back to surplus and STOP the clock?"

That is why, Friend, today we are launching A Path to Surplus, a Taxpayers' Union Briefing Paper with oven-ready options for Nicola Willis to smash the deficit, stop the borrowing, and restore New Zealand’s financial resilience.

To put it simply - this is a menu of recommendations for Nicola Willis and the Government to choose from in order to STOP the Debt Clock!

The report identifies more than $35 billion in savings (that's more than $17,000 per household!).

We outline how the Government has more than $100 billion in assets, making a poor (or negative) return that could be sold. Asset sales have a bad rep - but when you're borrowing $48 million per day just to cover the Government's expenses, you've got to consider recycling capital (selling old assets to build new ones).  This is money that could be deployed into new capital assets such as new infrastructure, hospitals, schools, and other assets we currently can't afford.

, you might not agree with everything suggested in the Briefing Paper, and that's okay! But tough decisions do need to be made now and simply ruling out anything previous government has seen as 'too hard' is not sustainable.

>> Read the Briefing Paper <<

What do you think ?

If Nicola Willis is serious about getting back to surplus and cutting government waste, we have delivered the paving stones for her to do it. 

Nothing in the Briefing Paper is radical or even new. It simply lists (and quantifies) the various ideas we, and other fiscal realists, have been mooting for a long while.

They are pragmatic, evidence-based solutions rooted in fiscal common sense, made in response to the hundreds of Kiwis up and down the country who have raised their concerns about how to solve the issue of rising Government debt.

New Zealand is in a position now where tough choices are inevitable. If nothing is done, the Government's own officials are saying we will reach a point where there just won't be choices any more.

But we cannot convince them alone.

If you agree the Government can't afford to wait, join us in urging Nicola Willis to follow the pathway to surplus.

Thank you for your support.

Jordan Williams Executive Director New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union

ps. In case you missed it, back in March, we published the first in the series of briefing papers entitled Going for Growth, on Full Capital Expensing - the best tax policy you had (probably) never heard of. Read it here to see why we love this policy.