Rodney Hide attacks spending

Act wants all ministries and government departments to have binding "service agreements" so the public can see what they are supposed to deliver and if they do deliver.

Party leader Rodney Hide says government spending has increased by $20 billion since 2000 and there is nothing to show for it. "Twenty billion dollars is bundles of hundred-dollar bills stacked 20km high. A million dollars is a stack of hundred-dollar bills only 1m high - $20 billion is a lot of money," he told the party's South Island conference in Christchurch at the weekend.

He said there should be service agreements with ministries and departments, reviewed every six months, to make governments accountable.