In just two years, New Zealand has become a land of lost opportunities as Jacinda Ardern’s Labour Government has failed to deliver on its promises and instead piled on taxes, costs and more red tape. As I frequently hear from my North Shore constituents, the business owners, self-employed and retirees, it’s now much harder for you and your families to get ahead, to save and plan for the future and for some, it’s harder to even pay the next bill and stay afloat.

As the cost of living continues to rise, an ever-increasing number of people are heading overseas for better opportunities. The economy that was projected to produce 15 years of surpluses is now in a tailspin and is back into deficit after only two years of Labour's unwise spending. It is clear that when it comes to the economy, this government is clueless. National does not accept that this is as good as it gets. New Zealand should be doing better and deserves better and our big focus ahead of the September election is our bold new economic plan and we will release fully costed details soon.

National will abolish the petrol tax and keep taxes low because we believe that every cent this government wastes should instead be in the hands of hardworking New Zealanders. The more people have to pay in taxes the less they have to put food on the table and provide for themselves and for their families. Median rent is up $2600 due to added taxes, and regulations and job growth has dropped from 10,000 new jobs a month under National to barely one thousand. This isn’t even counting the $1000 a year the average earner would have been better off if Labour hadn’t cancelled National's planned tax cuts.

We’ve committed to keeping debt low, because we know that every time we borrow irresponsibly as this government has, it is future generations of Kiwis that will have to pay it back. We’re holding ourselves to targets, such as lifting our economic growth back to at least three per cent per annum and lifting New Zealand’s GDP per capita growth to the top ten in the OECD instead of being the seventh lowest as we are now under Labour.

Labour spent nine years criticising National for our investment in critical infrastructure, and cancelled many of the projects that National would have already started if re-elected. Now after realising they have no new ideas of their own, they have re-announced many of National's projects but people aren’t so easily fooled.

People are already seeing this government for what it is, all talk and no action. Winston First is running amok under a weak and ineffectual PM who can’t bring him into line. I’m relieved National has ruled out working with the dodgy Winston First negative brand of politics. Oblivious to the pleas of families struggling to make ends meet, this government continues with its plans for more taxes and more wasteful spending. Come the election in September we have a choice, continue down the path we’re on, with costs of living and debt skyrocketing, or get back on track under leadership that has a proven track record of responsible economic management.