National and Labour at Odds Over Economic Vision
Finance spokespeople for National and Labour clashed over their approaches to helping struggling New Zealanders get ahead at the Politik election summit on Wednesday.
Labour's Barbara Edmonds spoke about her own electorate of Mana, where people can no longer afford a simple meal like mince on toast due to excessively rising prices. She emphasized that Labour is focused on making other things cheaper for people through policies such as capping public transport fares and offering three free GP visits.
National's Nicola Willis countered by saying it was irresponsible of Edmonds to focus solely on the price of mince, unless Labour has a policy to address it. She emphasized National's approach is to control inflation.
Edmonds responded that Labour's policies are not just about trickle-down economics, but rather making tangible changes for people struggling with basic costs. She referenced Labour's pay equity scheme, which was implemented by the former Labour government and later tightened by the National-led government.