Yes spending does need to be trimmed

The Herald reports:

Finance Minister Grant Robertson batted away remarks by Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr today that suggested Governments should look at trimming spending to get inflation under control.

In 2017 core crown expenses were $76.3 billion.

Four years later it was $107.8 billion.

That is a massive 41.3% increase in just four years. Try and tell me that hasn’t contributed to inflation.

Even worse the latest forecast for this year is core crown expenses of $128 billion. That is a 67.8% increase over five years ago. Is the health system 68% better? Is the education system? Is anything? Or are they all in fact performing worse, despite a 68% increase in spending?