KEY POINTS:
Sir Roger Douglas has accused Labour of "robbing" every New Zealand household of an average $230 a week with finance policies that fail to hold Government expenditure.
The former finance minister, Act founder and upcoming election candidate said he had done his own calculations based on limiting Government spending to the inflation rate and population growth.
He said the failure to do so in the 10 years since 1998 was causing $230 a week in tax to be taken from "each and every" household to cover it.
"That's how much expenditure has gone up over inflation. For families that represents children's books, meals in restaurants, carpets and clothes."
Sir Roger criticised Finance Minister Michael Cullen for going beyond this, but also said National finance spokesman Bill English was "no better - with every utterance he [Mr English] makes it clear that he'll increase existing expenditure, not just continue it". Sir Roger said his calculations showed that under Dr Cullen's "no-change scenario", Government spending would rise $50 billion over the next 10 years - "or $23 billion over and above inflation and population growth".
He said his calculations further found that $23 billion would cost every household an average $65,000 over 10 years - with the cost to each household rising $260 a week by 2018.
"Given that the Government wastes so much of the money it takes, voters must ask if they would rather have the $260 a week - or $13,520 a year - in their pocket to spend as they want, or give it to the politicians?"
Sir Roger said both parties should follow Act's policy: to limit Government expenditure increases over the next 10 years to the rate of inflation - estimated at 2.5 per cent - and population growth of 1 per cent. If they did, he said, "New Zealand would undoubtedly prosper".
"For a start, households on average would have an extra $65,100 to spend over those 10 years."