1
00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:02,120
Speaker 1: So the last thing I did before the White Tunging

2
00:00:02,200 --> 00:00:05,439
Speaker 1: Day holiday was taught to Kiera macanulty about the financial

3
00:00:05,480 --> 00:00:08,959
Speaker 1: strife surrounding Kaying Order, and that interview has bugged me

4
00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:12,840
Speaker 1: ever since. The Labor Housing spokesperson denied the agency was

5
00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:17,200
Speaker 1: in financial difficulty. He told me that Housing New Zealand's

6
00:00:17,239 --> 00:00:21,000
Speaker 1: asset base was so large there was no problem borrowing

7
00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:24,600
Speaker 1: more money to keep its construction schedule on track. And

8
00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:27,960
Speaker 1: that response bugged a lot of you too. And the

9
00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:30,200
Speaker 1: typical thing I got on the text machine was augh

10
00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:33,279
Speaker 1: typical socialists, just borrow more and more to fund your

11
00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:36,440
Speaker 1: ideological program. But you know what, it doesn't really have

12
00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:39,640
Speaker 1: anything to do with your political bent, whether you're left

13
00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:43,600
Speaker 1: or right. It's basic fiscal management. The world is full

14
00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:46,960
Speaker 1: of people who have the assets to borrow whatever they like,

15
00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:49,440
Speaker 1: but the devil in the detail is whether they have

16
00:00:49,560 --> 00:00:52,960
Speaker 1: the capacity to pay it back, and increasingly as a nation,

17
00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:57,880
Speaker 1: we don't. Yes, our debt is internationally insignificant and not

18
00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:00,120
Speaker 1: at an extreme level. We're not like the u U

19
00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:02,640
Speaker 1: or the United States, who have debt ratios over one

20
00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:05,560
Speaker 1: hundred percent of GDP, and we certainly not like Japan,

21
00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:07,679
Speaker 1: who has a debt of over two hundred and fifty

22
00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:10,120
Speaker 1: percent of GDP, and that's a country that's stuck with

23
00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:13,880
Speaker 1: stagflation and has been since the nineties. But still we

24
00:01:13,959 --> 00:01:17,240
Speaker 1: are heavily indebted and our cash flow is poor because

25
00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:20,000
Speaker 1: the economy is poor. And what Karin and the Labour

26
00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:24,000
Speaker 1: Party don't realize is that is the principal reason they

27
00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:27,399
Speaker 1: no longer control the Treasury benches. Sure at the last

28
00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:29,399
Speaker 1: election there were side shows like the gender war, of

29
00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:32,760
Speaker 1: Maori relations and benefit levels, but at the core of

30
00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:36,319
Speaker 1: Labour's electoral collapse was the feeling that they were not

31
00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:40,800
Speaker 1: fiscally prudent and that recklessness with debt was not the

32
00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:43,800
Speaker 1: right direction for the country. So we voted them out.

33
00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:47,960
Speaker 1: And I think this is a lesson for the current government, who,

34
00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:50,840
Speaker 1: for all their posturing that they are the most prudent

35
00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:56,200
Speaker 1: fiscal managers, are still running deficits, falling further into debt

36
00:01:56,640 --> 00:02:01,320
Speaker 1: and the timing of future surpluses is sliding ever further

37
00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:07,520
Speaker 1: into the future. Always remember this deficits mean borrowing. And

38
00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:10,680
Speaker 1: I know and you know that New Zealanders are not

39
00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:14,679
Speaker 1: happy voting for anyone who commits us to that sort

40
00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:18,600
Speaker 1: of track. For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge.

41
00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:22,120
Speaker 1: Listen live to news talks it Be from five am weekdays,

42
00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:24,440
Speaker 1: or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio