Out-of-control spending, borrowing, and money printing have caused inflation. 

The government’s response to the problem they caused was to blame consumers for spending too much and raise interest rates, compounding the pain for everyday New Zealanders, while trying to portray themselves as the “good guys” with “cost of living payments” and a temporary reduction in fuel excise.

But they haven’t tackled the underlying problems, and are now having to put the tax on fuel back up.  As well as hitting drivers directly in the pocket, the increased cost of transport causes cascading price increases, affecting everything from consumer prices to profits of primary producers.

Indeed, the current high price of petrol could have been avoided if New Zealand had retained the level of energy independence it had achieved in 1972.  The success of drilling off Taranaki, the Twizel scheme, and the extension of Marsden Point all created a prime position for a self-sufficient NZ. Then, the Labour government of the eighties sunk ongoing projects and decided to sell all NZ assets.  Now the refinery has been decommissioned, and the threat of an impending jet fuel crisis (after similar fuel supply problems in recent years) has shown our fuel supply lacks resiliency, highlighting that the government has been passive, slow, and unambitious in addressing the issue of fuel security.  The government can bury their heads in the sand, but unfortunately, the need for fossil fuels hasn’t gone away.

New Conservative calls for a common sense approach.  Reign in government spending and restore New Zealand’s self-sufficiency by bringing back oil drilling and mining, for a stable and thriving economy.