The out of control spending

This shows very clearly how our problem is too much spending, rather than not enough tax. Labour and Greens in 2000 pledged to keep spending to below 30% of GDP. You do this by not increasing spending faster than the rate the entire economy is growing. The more economic growth you have, the more you can spend.

If they had kept their word, then we would be facing a large budget surplus with tax revenues well in excess of spending.