Joyce’s multi billion dollar budget hole

Written By: - Date published: 2:13 pm, November 29th, 2017 - 29 comments
Categories: Media, national, Politics, same old national, Steven Joyce, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, you couldn't make this shit up - Tags:

It appears that Steven Joyce’s claim of a multi billion dollar hole in the Government’s finances may have been true after all.

Just that it was $14 billion in health spending. And $20 billion in defence. And it was in National’s own forecasts.

From Politik:

The former Finance Minister Steven Joyce made no financial allowance for National’s $20 billion defence re-equipment programme and says it was possible his Government might not have replaced the Orion maritime surveillance aircraft because of the cost.

Because of this the new Government is to review the $20 billion programme which was unveiled with much fanfare last year.

But the National Government never accurately costed it and made no provision in any of its long-term forecasts to pay for it.

No allowance was made in the capital spending forecasts of the Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update for the procurement programme.

This has left Labour facing a multi-billion dollar hit to its budgets each year over the next 13 years if it decides to go ahead with the programme which apart from replacing the Orions calls for replacing the Hercules and 757 transport aircraft and the Navy’s frigates.

The money would come from the capital investment account which means it will not directly impact on Government operating expenses but rather its impact would be on Government borrowing.

The matter is now urgent because New Zealand’s option to purchase four P8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft expires next March.

Under Treasury accounting rules, purchases must be booked when the purchase is confirmed.

They are estimated to cost $2.2 billion.

The next time National lectures the left on fiscal discipline remind them that the Government’s debt went up by over $50 billion during nine long years of National’s reign.

And that it appears Steven Joyce would not recognise a fiscal hole if he buried himself in one.

29 comments on “Joyce’s multi billion dollar budget hole ”

  1. adam 1

    Well we now have a good reason to not buy them.

    We can’t afford them, and it’s Joyce’s fault.

  2. Macro 2

    When Steven counts 3 + 3 and gets 5 he is relaxed about that, because it is “Pretty Close”.
    Why he ever was given the task of keeping the Government accounts will forever remain a mystery.

  3. SO Joyce was right after all! He said that there was a hole in the finances, he just meant the PREFU where his government had omitted major spending. If oly we had known before hand how trustful these National lot were…

  4. One Anonymous Bloke 4

    As predicted.

    How did this escape the PREFU?

  5. tc 5

    Interested to see how this gets handled given the ever present DP media shills dotted about the place.

    Hopefully the sheeple go off at xmas with a clear message from jacinda as to the wrecking job done across the board so the bbq chats arent all ZB Mediawonks dog whistling memes.

  6. Ad 6

    Ka-ching!

    When Goff was Minister of Defence I wrote and asked him if on the successive regional Anniversary days he could parade all those Light Armoured Vehicles and new patrol ships up our main streets and harbours.

    Show off to taxpayers and citizens what all that capital was tied up in.

    Unfortunately he was just too shy with the gold epaulettes and Aviator glasses to get the idea, but I’m sure Ron Mark would be in to it. I’ll try Ron. I just know coming home he salutes his dog at the door.

  7. OncewasTim 7

    That’s a bloody big hole we’ll need to cater for its excrement!
    Perhaps a PPP treatment plant?
    Any gNat interested in ‘vesting, going forward’??

  8. greg 8

    we always suspected nacts were cooking the books there will be more to come

  9. This has left Labour facing a multi-billion dollar hit to its budgets each year over the next 13 years if it decides to go ahead with the programme which apart from replacing the Orions calls for replacing the Hercules and 757 transport aircraft and the Navy’s frigates.

    And is pretty much essential.

    We really do need a defence force with modern capability.

    The money would come from the capital investment account which means it will not directly impact on Government operating expenses but rather its impact would be on Government borrowing.

    The government, being the issuer of the countries currency, never needs to borrow. The fact that they do so is due to the lies told by the private sector for their own benefit and the economists who mostly don’t understand money (or the economy for that matter).

  10. eco maori 10

    Well I was waiting for joyce bullshit to surface this was predictable national can’t help but try and lie and cheat.
    And they try and make everyone toe the line. Look at simon bridge he can not talk straight with his crooked lisp all that comes out of that boys mouth is bullshit war is for idiots we just need to have gear to help in a natural disaster not a war leave that to the idiots Ana toa kai

    • One Anonymous Bloke 10.1

      If we leave violence to idiots only idiots will be able to do violence, and then who will defend you from the idiots?

      Idiocy requires restraint.

      • +111

        Dissolution of the armed forces is a nice idea but the world isn’t nice.

      • eco maori 10.1.2

        If we stopped glorifing war and stopped making movies on war stopped celebrating war the wealthy start wars and the poor have to fight in a war started by some idiots who can’t see the the big pictures which is we are all human full stop. Maori lost a lot of good leaders going to war for the west and came home to get kicked in the private parts Kia kaha

        • One Anonymous Bloke 10.1.2.1

          I agree. War is stupid and useless, which is a good reason to study it closely.

          The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting. Sun Tzu.

  11. Liberty4NZ 11

    So the guy hit by a fake cock is whining about N.Z. being hit by a fake hole. Frued would have a field day.

  12. Booker 12

    And just think: we have Winston to thank for saving us from Joyce being the country’s finance minister.

    Just remember kids, failing 8 finance and economics papers at university doesn’t mean you can’t run the country’s books in the National party.

    • Just remember kids, failing 8 finance and economics papers at university doesn’t mean you can’t run the country’s books in the National party.

      He had the same ideology as National and that means it was all good. As far as they were concerned he’d make the ‘right’ decisions and that was all that mattered.

  13. garibaldi 13

    This is a bigger issue than Golriz, so let’s see how the media manages to ignore it and concentrate on excoriating the Greens.

  14. cleangreen 14

    Steven Joyce = “an orchestrated litany of lies”

    Now where have I heard that before??????

    Oh of course: – !!!!!; – That was when another ‘tory’ Government “ruled over us” right?
    1977-79 era.
    Justice Mahon ruled over the Air NZ ‘Royal Commission enquiry over AirNZ’s flimsy excuse for the fatal flight 901 over Mt Erobus.

    Seemed like the pattern of lies doesn’t change with these right wing Governments does it?

    I was very very sadened then to feel for those bereaved families who lost their loved ones then.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_New_Zealand_Flight_901

  15. Tricledrown 15

    Do we need all this equipment.
    Frigates are going to be really expensive.
    The Hercules replacements like wise the P8.
    We should cut all the numbers down as the cost of running bigger more modern equipment may be more expensive to.

    • Do we need all this equipment.

      We really need more. Our defence forces are not where they need to be in terms of capability.

      As for expense: That’s just par for the course of being a nation. We need the capability to defend ourselves. It’s expensive but if we made the gear ourselves it would be less so and would also have major spin-offs for the economy.

  16. tracey 16

    So the Nats covered up a hole which meant it had committed future money meaning the new government cant keep alot of promises? How to be in Govt while in Opposition?

  17. tracey 17

    Key lying to win an election in 2014 and Joyce in 2017…

    Have the media foubd Key for comment? He used to love a photo op