It's a recipe for poverty, Douglas says

Act MP Sir Roger Douglas has attacked the Prime Minister's proposed national cycleway as a low-productivity "make-work scheme" which amounts to a recipe for poverty, not prosperity.

Speaking to Act's annual conference last night, the former Finance Minister said the course of action being followed by the Government in tackling the recession would only delay the correction needed to end it.

"Pretending we can avoid the pain of economic contraction may make us feel better in the short term, but pretence will add to the pain we feel when the inevitable adjustment occurs," he said, criticising the scale of the Government's borrowing programme.

"The only effect of borrowing and spending will be to create ever-larger boom and bust cycles."

Sir Roger also warned of "instant solutions peddled by politicians who actively blind themselves and others to the facts" and "inadequate politicians who saw instant popularity as the key to power".

He did not name any politicians who fell into those categories. But those remarks and the overall tone of the speech are bound to be interpreted within National as a criticism of John Key.

The Prime Minister is addressing the conference this morning in what is being seen as a symbolic display of how the two parties are working co-operatively under the terms of Act's confidence and supply agreement with National.