Because, as I have previously pointed out, the people in receipt of the bulk of the tax cuts are more likely to use them to pay down debt and increase savings. At the expense of the other 80% of taxpayers and any short-term fiscal stimulus.
Those tax cuts go to everyone. National dropped the larger tax cuts that would have targeted higher income earners.. Tax cuts always benefit the people who pay the most tax. Personally I think that is fair. [we’ve been through this time and again. look at the archives under ‘tax’. Cuts don’t have to favour the rich and they definitely don’t have to get infinitely larger as income rises. Labour’s cuts, the current legislated ones, cap out at 80K, National’s ones just get larger and larger the richer the taxpayer is, and National’s cuts for ordinary Kiwi’s are smaller than Labour’s. SP]
As for Kiwisaver. An option to save 2% of your weekly income is fair. And the employer giving extra I never liked and think its still too harsh. Where National went wrong was in making the changes where the income cut in to how much the government kicks into the scheme. Hopefully, they make that change when they legislate.
Well he does have a point, nothing like the state abandoning all responsibility to its citizens to to encourage self-reliance. Just a bit of a shame the people needing the most ‘incentive’ don’t actually have any money to save.
No they don’t. Forty percent of the cash goes to the wealthiest ten percent of taxpayers, while anyone with a family earning less than $44,000 a year pays more tax than they would have under Labour.
Oh, and any anyone in Kiwisaver is worse off, no matter what their income.
I did say average. And why link me to two left blogs (one this very blog) who are clearly partisan when it comes to tax cuts and thus are not balanced.
[the numbers in the links are accurate. If you’re arguing they’re not just because the sources are leftwing, I hope you have some evidence. SP]
Ginger: why do you persevere with this practice of saying things that happen to be wrong, and then when you’re provided with evidence proving you’re wrong you claim bias, or, partisanship?
As Tane pointed out – quite succinctly I might add – “Forty percent of the cash goes to the wealthiest ten percent of taxpayers, while anyone with a family earning less than $44,000 a year pays more tax than they would have under Labour.” Both the links he provided provide you with are only “biased” stylistically, the numbers provided on both links come from National’s tax policy. If the same numbers were on a site like Kiwi-blog the writing around it would show “bias” towards right-leaning ideology. My point is: look at the numbers, not the rhetoric surrounding them.
Actional giving tax cuts to the rich? My god, what is the world coming to.
In other news: China is a communist country that everybody wants as a friend and Russia does not hold fair elections and is about to change their constitution to let Putin back in. Such is the world.
I am going to make such a mint off them this year it is obscene. And I would give it all away to have labour/green in power right now. Go figure.
I like your input here Ginger. A lone, (semi 🙂 ) rational right voice in a sea of lefties.
I don’t agree with anything you say, but I figure that provide us something worth being annoyed by and typing about. Good on you!
Yeah, please don’t leave us Ginger, I don’t know what we’d do without you and those of your ilk. This site would be a left-wing hug-fest if people like you weren’t around.
Clearly not everyone is going to be able to save because some at the bottom need all their available income to meet their living needs. Kiwisaver wasn’t a complete fix for this, at the lower end of the income scale people were still unable to afford it, especially with a 4% entry. I’d prefer to see Kiwisaver reduced to a 1% (or even lower) entry to enable those at the bottom to join in. Employers shouldn’t be forced to match contributions, it makes it harder for those struggling just to pay the staff they have and raises the risk of having to lay off staff to keep their business running.
I think we need some sort of cap on how much the government contributes though, it can’t just be an open chequebook.
The tax relief being touted by National is NOT the solution to this problem for all its cost. In rough summery: it is a short-term and therefore short sighted solution to a long term problem. It will also leave NZ in a worse debt situation than before with a very low stimulatory effect due to the income bracket it targets. (i.e. High income bracket tax relief such as the “bush tax cuts” have the lowest stimulatory return)
See the graph at the end of this blog entry: http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2008104427/tax-cuts-ineffcient-stimulus
Kiwisaver was a long-term solution the core debt problem in NZ which is compacting this crisis on NZ and NZers who have taken on too much debt. Of course kiwisaver would not be a complete solution to this problem either – but it sure does help. In 10 years once savings have grown and compounded, it might be renamed “economy saver”.
I would have preferred more ingenious and targeted initiatives. Utilising industries that have or will have spare capacity – such as the building industry. More specifically using them to increase the growth potential of our country.
No offense but my first reply could have rebutted without editing inside.
The problem is not with the data in either of those left-wing blogs. Its the context you put them in. You say the tax cuts are taken away from lower income people to support the higher income. But tax cuts do that. Labour’s tax cuts do that. When you earn 80, 000. You don’t pay that 80, 000 dollars at the top rate. You pay a proportion at the top rate. Even if you said no tax in the first 20, 000 its still the taxpayers who earn the most money. Second, the tax cuts targeted average income earners. Its clear in the data that is what happened. Yes higher income earners get more benefit from the tax cuts. But that is because they pay the most taxes and they only pay a proportion of tax at that top rate. The rest is taxed at what other income earners are paying.
If it was really a tax cut for the rich. The top tax rate and threshold would have dramatically dropped. Ie. 30 cents for earners $50, 000+. National’s plan originally was to see a bigger tax cut for the rich. But because of economic conditions that was changed so they insured AVERAGE earners would get a tax cut. So while with National’s plan higher income earners get the most benefits. That is inherent in how tax is paid in New Zealand in the first place.
You can make your argument with families. That is a fair assessment. But National’s tax cuts benefit most income earners. Always higher income earners benefit from tax cuts more than others. But the tax cuts still delivered to the average worker. Thus was targeted to the average worker.
—-
Oh and thank you vinsin and Mr Magoo its nice to be insulted. You can say a lot about me but I typically don’t go round insulting people and its a pity you can’t do the same.
Oh and thank you vinsin and Mr Magoo its nice to be insulted. You can say a lot about me but I typically don’t go round insulting people and its a pity you can’t do the same.
Actually it was an honest compliment to an opponent about being stoic in an obviously hostile environment. But I guess you are so used to the insults on this site that you missed it?
Regardless. On to my disagreements with your point of view:
At the end of the day, tax cuts give cash back to workers. They do not have to be given back proportionately and in fact can be given in a almost completely flat across the board way. (e.g. first 20K tax free)
The effect of that policy on anyone earning more than 20K is that they ALL (i.e. almost all in full time work) get the same amount of tax relief. No differentiation at all.
The opposite scenario is to reduce the tax rate by a flat amount. (i.e. all tax reduced by 2% at all levels)
The obvious effect of this policy is to give the richest people a disproportionate amount of the total tax relief. This is because most people in NZ do not actually earn a heck of lot compared to the top 5-10%. (i.e. we are talking medians here, not averages!)
There are all sorts of interesting policies in between. Working for families being one of the most innovative I have seen in that the poorer and more “child strapped” you are, the more you get.
National have opted for a solution more towards the “2% for all” scenario, except that they offset the lower income people by cutting a few other things they may have been entitled to. Their package is quite complicated and as far as I can tell was mostly based on gettimg votes from those not covered by working for families and kiwisaver.
Now you may make an argument over whether the wealthy deserve more cash than the average person during this crisis because they “deserve it more”, but I would imagine that 70% of NZ would not agree with you.
I completely disagree with tax cuts as a solution to this problem. Tax cuts to anyone earning over 70k, triply so. I would remind everyone that we already got a tax cut, so a second is just not sensible at the moment. (some missed out, but the idea is that a cut stimulates growth, not make single and/or rich people feel good)
As I mentioned earlier, I would prefer that the money be spent generating jobs and smart infrastructure investment.
ginger. you’re right you can’t argue with the numbers, and the numbers for nationak’s cuts are 40% of the money going to the wealthiest 10%.
The major difference between national’s tax cut and labour’s is national will cut the top rate by 2% and not raise the threshold for the bottom 12.5% rate. Tax cut packages don’t have to be designed like that
You have to give it to him! – Ginge is persistent, or thick, or both!
How is it possible to NOT see that the tax package promised by National rewards the top income bracket AT THE EXPENSE of those on low incomes – the very ones that will be affected the most by the stricter mortgage criteria introduced by the Banks? And now English has the AUDACITY to somehow claim it, as if its a good thing and the result of National’s prudent management of the economy already!
Low income earners pay very little tax. Low income families are generously supported by working for families. Low income earners get a tax cut. Its not at the expense of them as they are supported several ways via state housing, accommodation supplement etc etc etc. Tax cuts will never work for the truly low income workers. They can only benefit via welfare transfers.
The mortgages are a whole separate matter. Labour didn’t do well in this area either. And I can’t see how low income earners could even come up with 5% deposit on a mortgage.
personal interest.. re your wee picture at top right comments.. is it a brussels sprout? I ask because recently the seeds I planted came up with the look of yours but rounded leaves and tips.. and I’m wondering just what I have got.. someone having mentioned they look like broccoli..
Low income earners pay very little tax
Yes, because they also earn very little. They also have a much larger propotion of their income devoted to “keeping alive and well” than wealthy people.
Tax cuts will never work for the truly low income workers.
The difference they make is far more pronounced for low income earners than for the wealthy. Come on now, you really think that 60/wk for someone on 150k per year is going to impact them more than 20/wk for someone on 30k per year?? Pleeease.
But I do agree with you on that point! Tax cuts are a “block of cheese” joke and will not really serve the public good in the end. As much as we like cash in our hand, it has a history of not being as useful to us as we had hoped compared to healthcare, savings, etc.
“And I can’t see how low income earners could even come up with 5% deposit on a mortgage.”
Welcome home loans. More state houses. Shared equity.
I am sorry, your argument here simply does not fly. In fact it barely stands up at all.
State Houses. Labour is opposed to selling state houses to tenants. Welcome home loans has numerous problems. The fact is there are very few houses that fall under its criteria. Shared equity is very limited and you still need to raise 5% deposit.
Once again the Nats show how effective saying the agreeable things to certain audiences is. I dont think they can commit to saying the same thing time and time again.
Except: “Fresh” and “Ambitious” They sure like saying that.
Please, please respond with something about “they should stop spending the dole on booze and drugs’, I like that one.
If I recall the HES breakdown from Statistics New Zealand correctly, it shows that lower income households spend proportionately more of their income on cigarettes and alcohol than the national average… take from that what you will.
QoT – Why are you talking about beneficiaries. No one is talking about beneficiaries. The only way they make more money is if their benefits rise or they get a job.
It amuses me that when people argue people who pay less tax should be given back more of it. 12% of the working age population in New Zealand pay 51% of the personal tax take. So who is being dealt a disproportionate hand here?
Right ginge, because beneficiaries don’t pay tax … OH WAIT THEY KINDA DO, just like Real People.
Phil – as soon as you define “lower income households” and state the actual proportions involved, it’s just so much “Poor people are stupid and deserve to not be able to afford food for their children”.
Yes they do pa tax indirectly true. But I still struggle to see your point about beneficiaries. Since we’re talking about tax cuts for those who pay income tax.
Pascal. I do not have those figures at my fingertips, and I believe they fall outside the study’s parameters. But income tax levels should be set on the basis of income, and not wealth.
Yikes – I feel for Ginger. It’s nice to get a little heated debate going, but lets be rational.
1. Low income families earn less, therefore spend proportionately more on consumption. Therefore they save less than those on higher incomes. This is always going to be true…can anybody suggest a way out of this?
I agree with Tim – maybe the threshhold for Kiwisaver should be dropped to 1% – yes its a tiny amount, but something is better than nothing no? 4% is really high for somebody on the average wage or lower…and we should be encouraging saving at all levels of society.
2. Beneficiaries pay tax through GST – consumption taxes and yes they don’t benefit from income tax cuts, seeing as they do not technincally work and pay personal income tax. I’m sorry, but that seems fair to me. If an individual is on the unemployment benefit I feel they shouldn’t receive the same advantages as somebody who works. Those on sickness or invalid benefits are an entirely different story. Maybe the problem is in lumping different types of beneficiaries into one category…when they all have different needs and incentives.
3. The response to National’s tax cut package was that the rich are benefitting more than the average kiwi…
The way I see it is that if you have natural talent or you worked your butt off to get a job that pays highly, why should you be penalised for that? Most of the people I know that earn over $60,000 have either spent a significant amount of time studying or working their way up to get there. They spent time and money to get where they are and to maintain that position. Why begrudge somebody for having money?
Also – note the difference between income and wealth. Two very different things…!
Lastly, what constitutes an average kiwi? Moreover define ‘rich’…
Steve Withers, yes 1% makes for a poor retirement plan but is nonetheless savings and in that respect is better than saving 0%. Also these people will receive superannuation.
Additionally Kiwisaver funds can also be used towards a house deposit (and contributions can be funnelled to mortgage payments) and in that respect the 1% could be more useful.
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Last year, the government promised that it would strengthen whistleblower protections. Today, they finally released the bill. There's one major change: "[a] discloser is entitled to protection for a protected disclosure made to an appropriate authority at any time" - an "appropriate authority" being public sector heads, officers of Parliament, ...
This week we moved into the second half of 2020 - and our Government delivered another week of big changes and major progress for New Zealanders. Read below for a wrap of the key things moments from the week - from extending paid parental leave, to making major investments in ...
The Green Party has opposed the COVID-19 Recovery Fast-track Consenting Bill which shortcuts normal consenting processes under the Resource Management Act (RMA), reduces public participation and narrows environmental considerations. ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Regional Economic Development A regional freight hub for the lower North Island will be built just northeast of Palmerston North, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. The Government is investing $40 million through the Provincial Growth Fund to designate and buy land and design ...
Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson is calling for the introduction of a Guaranteed Minimum Income to lift hundreds of thousands of people out of poverty and prevent more families entering into further debt with the Ministry of Social Development. ...
There has been renewed focus on New Zealand First acting as a handbrake on the Government after our decision to not support Auckland light rail. We are a handbrake for bad ideas, that istrue, but our track record since 2017 has seen New Zealand First constructively also serve as an ...
Mark Patterson MP, New Zealand First List MP New Zealand First’s Fair Residency for Superannuation Bill passed its First Reading in Parliament today. The Bill makes a significant change to NZ Super by raising the minimum residency requirement from 10 to 20 years, after age 20. “Currently, a migrant of ...
Darroch Ball MP, Spokesperson for Law and Order A New Zealand First member’s bill in the name of Darroch Ball introducing a six-month minimum prison sentence for assaults on first responders has passed its second reading in Parliament. The new offence of "injuring a first responder or corrections officer with ...
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Deputy Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First welcomes the launch of the new Criminal Cases Review Commission, gifted with the name from Waikato-Tainui - Te Kāhui Tātari Ture, announced in Hamilton today by Justice Minister Andrew Little. “New Zealand First has long believed in and ...
The Green Party is celebrating over $800m in new funding for green projects, which will get people into jobs while solving New Zealand’s long-term challenges. ...
Mark Patterson MP, Spokesperson for Primary Industries New Zealand First is appalled that Meridian seems to have been unnecessarily spilling water from its dams to drive up its profits."While New Zealanders have been coming together in some of our darkest hours, we don’t expect power gentailers to waste water and ...
We wrapped up the first half of 2020 with a busy month, taking additional steps to support New Zealanders as we continue with our economic recovery. We rolled out targeted packages to support key industries like tourism and construction, helped create jobs in the environmental and agriculture sectors, and set ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Infrastructure Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has welcomed the appointment of Maurice Davis and his deep infrastructure and construction experience to the board of the Infrastructure Commission. Mr Davis (Ngāti Maniapoto), is the seventh and final appointment to the board led by former Reserve Bank Governor ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand’s click bait journalism is taking a turn for the worse, with yet another example of sensationalist, wilful-misrepresentation of the facts. “New Zealand First has worked constructively with its Coalition partner on hundreds of pieces of legislation and policy, and ...
The Green Party is today unveiling its Poverty Action Plan, which includes a Guaranteed Minimum Income to ensure people have enough to live with dignity. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Rotorua Museum redevelopment and Whakarewarewa and Tokorangi Forest projects will be accelerated thanks to a $2.09 million Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) boost, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher ...
This week, we rolled out the next steps of our recovery plan, with new infrastructure investment, extra support for tourism operators, and a new programme to get Kiwis into agriculture careers. The global economic consequences of COVID-19 will continue to be a challenge, but we have a detailed plan to ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First welcomes the passage of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill through its final reading in Parliament today fulfilling a coalition agreement commitment. “This is an important step in saving the lives of New Zealanders and delivers a key coalition commitment ...
Whakatāne has been given a $2.5 million boost to speed up previously funded projects and create more than 450 jobs in the next decade. Of those, the equivalent of 160 full-time jobs could be delivered in the next six weeks. Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters is in town to make ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $2.5 million to accelerate three infrastructure projects in Whakatāne, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “This package is about ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones is throwing his weight behind a bid by the Auckland Council to fast-track the more than doubling of the city's water allowance from the Waikato River. And he's coming out strongly against anyone who plans on getting in the way of this campaign. "It is my ...
The Green Party is thrilled to see changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that mean consents for large projects can be declined if they will have significant climate change implications that are inconsistent with the Zero Carbon Act and Aotearoa New Zealand’s Paris Agreement obligations. ...
Hon Ron Mark, Minister of Defence The Royal New Zealand Navy’s new ship, Aotearoa, set sail for New Zealand on 10 June from the Republic of Korea, and is due to arrive in Auckland tomorrow, announced Minister of Defence Ron Mark. “Aotearoa is the Royal New Zealand Navy’s new fleet ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Racing Racing Minister Winston Peters has today welcomed the Racing Industry Bill passing its third reading, creating the legislative framework for revitalising the racing industry while limiting the need for future government intervention. “For too long our domestic racing industry has ...
The Green Party has today put forward an amendment to the Electoral (Registration of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill to ensure all people in prisons can vote in general elections. ...
The Green Party welcomes the decision to not proceed with Public Public Investment (PPI) delivery of Auckland’s light rail project and to instead run the process through the public service. ...
Hon Ron Mark, New Zealand First List MP based in the Wairarapa New Zealand First List MP Hon Ron Mark welcomes the announcement of Provincial Growth Funding investment of $1.4 million to help secure the Wairarapa’s water supply. The funding boost will allow the Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC), and ...
New Zealand First list MP Mark Patterson has been selected to represent the party in the newly formed Taieri electorate at the upcoming election. Mr Patterson, his wife Jude and two daughters farm sheep and beef at Lawrence and Waitahuna. He previously stood in the Clutha-Southland electorate however boundary changes ...
Hon Shane Jones, Associate Minister for State Owned Enterprises A new ‘super depot’ to be built for NZ Post in Wellington will create around 350 jobs during construction, Associate Minister for State Owned Enterprises Shane Jones says. Shane Jones today attended a ground-breaking and blessing ceremony for the parcel-processing depot ...
Our strong economic management prior to COVID-19 - with surpluses, low debt and near-record-low unemployment - put us in a good position to weather the impact of the virus and start to rebuild our economy much earlier than many other countries.Now we're putting our plan to recover and rebuild ...
Darroch Ball MP, New Zealand First Spokesperson for Law and Order Recently released Police fleeing driver statistics have shown yet another increase in incidents with another record-high in the latest quarter. “This new quarterly record-high is the latest in a string of record-high numbers since 2014. The data shows incidents ...
New Zealand First MP Fletcher Tabuteau is pleased to be confirmed today as the party’s candidate for the Rotorua electorate. Speaking at the Rotorua AGM for New Zealand First, Mr Tabuteau said this is an election that is incredibly important for the people of Rotorua. “The founding principles of New ...
The Human Rights Commission’s PRISM report on the issues impacting people based on their sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC) provides an excellent programme of work for future governments to follow, say the Greens. ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said the trans-Tasman bubble had not been jeopardised after aborder botch-upresulted in New Zealand having two active cases of COVID-19. On Friday, Mr Peters told RNZ's Morning Report he had heard from Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison that borders for trans-Tasman travel would open by ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters said today he was pleased the army was now running the quarantine and isolation process - up until now it has been the Ministry of Health. Peters told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking that the army knew how to introduce and follow protocols and instil discipline. ...
Hon Ron Mark, New Zealand First List MP based in the Wairarapa New Zealand First MP and Minister for Defence and Veteran’s Affairs Ron Mark has confirmed his bid for the Wairarapa seat.“The Coalition Government has done a lot of good work throughout the Wairarapa, but many constituents have told ...
New Zealand First is pleased to release the names of its next tranche of candidates for the 2020 election. We’re proud to announce these hardworking New Zealanders that have put their hand up to fight for a commonsense and resilient future.Jamie Arbuckle – Kaikoura Mark Arneil – Christchurch Central Jackie ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hon Ron Mark, Minister of Defence A massive joint effort between New Zealand Government agencies, employers, and the Vanuatu Government is underway to repatriate over 1000 Vanuatu nationals stranded in New Zealand, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Ron ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Regional Economic Development Reprioritised funding of $40 million from the Provincial Growth Fund will support up to 1000 regional apprenticeships, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones said today. The Regional Apprenticeship Initiative is part of the wider Apprenticeship Boost announced by Education Minister Chris Hipkins ...
The Green Party welcomes the ACC’s announcement to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 but emphasises the need to go further, and faster to truly meet the climate change challenge. ...
Farmers are rejoicing after Labour agreed to an amendment pushed by New Zealand First in the firearms bill that will allow the use of restricted guns for pest control. Concessions on gun control mean farmers will be able to apply for a licence to use restricted firearms for pest control. ...
A new programme, which sets a firm course for the Building and Construction sector to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, has been announced by the Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa. “A significant amount of New Zealand’s carbon emissions come from the building and construction sector. If we’re serious ...
The Provincial Growth Fund is investing more than $7.5 million in Northland ventures to combat the economic impact of the COVID-19 virus, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones have announced. The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) investment is going to the Northern Adventure Experience and ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Education Minister Chris Hipkins today announced significant funding for Auckland’s Northcote College as part of the first wave of a new nationwide school redevelopment programme to upgrade schools over the next 10 years. The $48.5 million project brings the total investment in Northcote College to ...
The Government has opened an urgent response fund to support schools and early learning services to get children and young people back on track after the Covid-19 lockdown. “While we are seeing improvements in attendance under Alert Level 1 Ministry of Education data shows that attendance rates in our schools ...
The law to boost the economic recovery from the impact of COVID-19 by speeding up resource consenting on selected projects has passed its second and third readings in the House today. “Accelerating nationwide projects and activities by government, iwi and the private sector will help deliver faster economic recovery and ...
Five port-related projects in Whanganui will receive a $26.75 million Provincial Growth Fund investment to support local economic recovery and create new opportunities for growth, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This is a significant investment that will support the redevelopment of the Whanganui Port, a project governed ...
Whanganui’s Sarjeant Gallery will receive an investment of up to $12 million administered by the Provincial Growth Fund to support its redevelopment, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. The project is included in a $3 billion infrastructure pipeline announced by Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Shane Jones yesterday. ...
The Provincial Growth Fund is investing nearly $2.5 million into three Te Ara Mahi programmes to support Manawatū-Whanganui jobseekers and employees to quickly train and upskill, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “Up to 154 local people will be supported into employment within the first year by these ...
This morning I have formally tendered my resignation as Minister of Health, which was accepted by the Prime Minister. Serving as Minister of Health has been an absolute privilege – particularly through these extraordinary last few months. It’s no secret that Health is a challenging portfolio. I have given ...
Scholarships for 57 early-career agricultural emissions scientists from 20 developing countries is another example of New Zealand’s international leadership in primary sector sustainability, says Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. Mr O’Connor, announcing the scholarships today, says hundreds of applications were received for this fourth round of the CLIFF-GRADS programme (Climate, Food ...
A project to help rejuvenate the Horowhenua town of Foxton will receive a Provincial Growth Fund investment of $3.86 million, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This funding for the Foxton Regeneration project will be used to make the well-known holiday town even more attractive for visitors and ...
Moa bones and other sub-fossil remains of extinct species are set to have improved protection with proposals to prevent the trade in extinct species announced the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage today. “We have lost too many of our native species, but these lost species, such as moa, remain an ...
The Government’s free and healthy school lunches programme moves south for the first time creating jobs for around 30 people in Otago and Southland. “Eighteen schools with 3000 students are joining the programme – 11 have already begun serving lunches, and seven are preparing to start during Term 3. This is ...
Thousands of Kiwi jobs and investment in New Zealand productions will be protected through a screen sector support package announced today by Associate Minister for Arts Culture and Heritage Carmel Sepuloni, Minister for Economic Development Phil Twyford and Minister for Broadcasting Kris Faafoi. The package also includes investment in broadcasting ...
The Government has established a new $10 million fund for the domestic events sector to help save jobs and protect incomes as it recovers from the impacts of COVID-19, Minister of Economic Development Phil Twyford announced today. This funding from Budget 2020 follows talks with the event sector designed to ...
The Government has taken another step in its commitment to making sure New Zealanders get a fairer deal at the petrol pump with the introduction of legislation to improve competition in the retail fuel market, says Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods. “The fuel market study that this Government ordered ...
New Zealand has joined a global initiative that aims to enable all countries to access a safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters announced today. The COVAX Facility was recently launched by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. The Alliance includes the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank ...
From today new legislation takes effect to both restore the right to legal representation at the start of a Care of Children (CoCA) dispute in the Family Court, and allow parties to those proceedings to access legal aid where eligible. During a visit to the Family Court in Auckland today, ...
Home-based early childhood education (ECE) subsidised by the government will transition to a fully qualified workforce by 2025 to ensure better and more consistent quality, Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. “Quality early learning helps provide children with a strong foundation for their future,” Chris Hipkins said. From 1 January ...
The new Criminal Cases Review Commission | Te Kāhui Tātari Ture (CCRC) has started work and can now independently investigate claimed miscarriages of justice. “Even though we have appeal rights and safeguards against unsafe convictions, from time to time our justice system does get things wrong. The design of the ...
E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā karangatanga maha, tēnā koutou Ki a koutou Te Āti Awa, Taranaki Whānui, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, ngā mana whenua o te rohe nei, tēnā koutou Ko Te Whare Wānanga o Aotearoa ki ngā take o te Ao (NZIIA), Ko te Rōpū Tohu Tono ...
The Government’s increase to paid parental leave kicks in today with another 4 weeks taking New Zealand up to a full 6 months (26 weeks, up from 22 weeks) leave for new parents, and the maximum weekly payment will increase by $20pw, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. ...
A new package of infrastructure investments will help kick-start the post-COVID rebuild by creating more than 20,000 jobs and unlocking more than $5 billion of projects up and down New Zealand. Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones today outlined how the $3 billion infrastructure fund in the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today expressed the New Zealand Government’s deep disappointment at the passage by China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee of a national security law for Hong Kong. “New Zealand has consistently emphasised its serious concern about the imposition of this legislation on Hong Kong without inclusive ...
More jobs and more family time with newborns are the centrepiece of a suite of Government initiatives coming into effect today. July 1 is a milestone day for the Government as a host of key policies take effect, demonstrating the critical areas where progress has been made. “The Coalition Government ...
Environment Minister David Parker has today “called in” Auckland’s application to the Waikato Regional Council to take an extra 200 million litres of water a day from the lower reaches of the Waikato River for Auckland drinking water and other municipal uses. The call-in means the application has been referred ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker announced today that New Zealand’s hosting of APEC in 2021 will go ahead using virtual digital platforms. Mr Peters said the global disruption caused by COVID-19, including resultant border restrictions, had been the major factor in the ...
The start of construction on a new link road between Matakana Road and State Highway 1 will create jobs and support the significant population growth expected in the Warkworth area, Transport Minister Phil Twyford and Mayor Phil Goff announced today. Transport Minister Phil Twyford said construction of the Matakana Link ...
The Government is prioritising its latest investment in PPE for frontline health workers, including staff at managed isolation and quarantine facilities, Health Minister David Clark says. “With no community transmission of COVID-19 our response now has a firm focus on keeping our border safe and secure. “We must ensure that ...
The Parihaka Papakāinga Trust in Taranaki will receive up to $14 million for a new visitor centre and other improvements at the historic settlement that will boost the local economy and provide much-needed jobs, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little have ...
Protections for workers who are employees of one employer but working under the direction of another business or organisation have come into force, closing a gap in legislation that made the personal grievance process inaccessible for some workers, says Workplace Relations Minister Iain Lees-Galloway. “This Government is working hard to ...
A range of improvements are already underway to address issues identified in the rapid review of the Managed Isolation and Quarantine system released today, Housing Minister Megan Woods said. The review was commissioned just over a week ago to identify and understand current and emerging risks to ensure the end-to-end ...
The important brown kiwi habitat around Whakatāne will receive added protection through an Iwi-led predator free project announced by Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage and Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau. “The Government is investing nearly $5 million into Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa’s environmental projects with $2.5 ...
An extra 4,000 tonnes of offcuts and scraps of untreated wood per year will soon be able to be recycled into useful products such as horticultural and garden mulch, playground safety surfacing and animal bedding as a result of a $660,000 investment from the Waste Minimisation Fund, Associate Environment Minister ...
The Governor-General has referred Scott Watson’s convictions for murder back to the Court of Appeal, Justice Minister Andrew Little announced today. Mr Watson was convicted in 1999 of the murders of Ben Smart and Olivia Hope. His appeal to the Court of Appeal in 2000 was unsuccessful, as was his ...
A new five-year funding agreement for the Reserve Bank will mean it can boost its work to protect New Zealanders’ finances, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. “New Zealand has a strong and stable financial system. Financial stability is an area that we are not prepared to cut corners for, particularly ...
A law change has been introduced to make it easier for forgotten funds in institutional accounts to be returned more easily to their rightful owners. Revenue Minister Stuart Nash has introduced an amendment to the Unclaimed Money Act 1971. It will update the rules controlling forgotten sums of money held ...
The Government is delivering on election commitments and a key recommendation of He Ara Oranga: Report of the Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction with the establishment of a permanent independent Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission, Health Minister Dr David Clark says. Legislation enabling the establishment of the fully ...
A Bill to replace New Zealand’s Privacy Act passed its third reading in Parliament today, Justice Minister Andrew Little has announced. “The protections in the Privacy Bill are vitally important. The key purpose of the reforms is to promote and protect people’s privacy and give them confidence that their personal ...
Extra support is being provided to tourism businesses operating on public conservation land announced Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis and Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage today. The Government is providing $25m worth of support to tourism operators impacted by COVID-19, with a decision to waive most Department of Conservation tourism related concession ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne At Saturday’s Eden-Monaro byelection, Labor’s Kristy McBain currently leads the Liberals’ Fiona Kotvojs by a 50.7-49.3 projected margin in The Poll Bludger’s Eden-Monaro election page. This page has all the ...
The controversial MP says his former party put a target on the minister’s back, but Melissa Lee insists there was no concerted campaign.The MP who exited the National Party in a tailspin attack on former leader Simon Bridges has publicly apologised to Clare Curran for his role in the treatment ...
By Jane Patterson, political editor of RNZ News The State Services Minister says the government will do everything it can to track down who is responsible for a massive privacy breach relating to New Zealand’s active covid cases, and is not ruling out pursuing criminal charges. An investigation has been ...
The National editorial Hundreds walked the Sir John Guise drive on Thursday calling for justice for the brutal death of 19-year-old mother-of-two – Jenelyn Kennedy last week. Jenelyn’s battered lifeless body was taken into the Port Moresby General Hospital last Tuesday by four men (one believed to be the father ...
*Watch the full video in the player below*In the first 48 hours of life, blood from newborn New Zealand babies is taken and tested. Most parents will never hear back. For others, it’s life-changing, and life-saving. Frank Film investigates. Performed 48 hours after birth, it’s a medical procedure ...
Latest from the Beehive Shane Jones, the Minister of Munificence, in a joint statement with fellow Northlander and Deputy PM Winston Peters, wrapped up a week of handout investment announcements with news of more millions for the people of his patch in the Far North. This time it was a ...
By Rebecca Kuku in Port Moresby A passionate plea by men, women and children has echoed around the Papua New Guinean capital of Port Moresby – that it is time to turn the corner on addressing gender-based violence in the country. Gatherings, a peaceful march and a vigil were staged ...
Former Race Relations Commissioner Gregory Fortuin has called out National MP Hamish Walker for his racist comments towards people of colour. This follows Walker's press release objecting to people from Pakistan, India and Korea potentially being quarantined ...
Khruangbin have established their live reputation with spacious instrumentals, but the band’s third album, Mordechai, features prominent vocals and disco-funk jams. Andrew Drever interviews the Texas-based trio upon its release.While the Covid-19 pandemic continues to rage in the US, the situation has actually been a blessing in disguise for Khruangbin ...
The State Services Minister says the government will do everything it can to track down who is responsible for a massive privacy breach relating to New Zealand's active Covid cases, and is not ruling out pursuing criminal charges. ...
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level one – read about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. To support this ...
With the collapse of Bauer NZ resulting in Australian magazines flooding our shelves, Wendyl Nissen looks back at her battle to get homegrown content given the star billing it deserved.Thanks to some hard-fought battles 30 years ago, New Zealand women have been enjoying their own version of Woman’s Day and ...
Extending the franchise to prisoners is the latest in a series of contentious electoral reforms enacted by this government, but history suggests the ‘convention’ for consensual election reform is more imagined than real.The Electoral (Registration of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Act, passed last week and corrected this week, extends the franchise ...
Since publication of Newsroom’s extensive investigation into serious issues at Oranga Tamariki, our inbox has been flooded with stories from more current and former employees. In less than 48 hours after Newsroom’s in-depth inquiry into the children's ministry was published we received a high volume of correspondence from current and former ...
“She’d come into town on the bus. The photographer, so her mother had told her, was famous”: a short story by Wellington writer Elspeth Sandys. It was to be a present for her father who was dying. A photograph of her in her first ball gown. When she reached for ...
Those who can’t afford to travel will “attend” the terror sentencing via video link, the Immigration Minister says. David Williams reports The Immigration Minister is demanding officials give urgent help to overseas victims of the Christchurch terror attack and their families. Yesterday, High Court Justice Cameron Mander announced the terrorist, ...
Controversy over Wellington's Shelly Bay has ensnared iwi, the council and politicians for years. Investigative journalist Nicky Hager uses official documents to lay out the roles of money, power and wheels-within-wheels on this most contentious of developments. Any time I am asked whether we have corruption in New Zealand, I ...
Is the answer to saving New Zealand's professional sports teams creating super-franchises? The Extra Time podcast asks sports leaders. Professional sport is slowly emerging from the grip of the pandemic but its financial future is far from certain. Covid-19 highlighted a weakness in the structure of professional sport in New ...
Before Covid-19, it’d take a long flight and half a grand to see Hamilton in the flesh. Now, the biggest musical of the past two decades is available to watch on Disney+. Sam Brooks takes stock of this extraordinary move. Right now, Broadway is a sleeping dragon. New York theatres ...
Sacked cabinet minister Clare Curran speaks for the first time about the brutal end to her political career – and what she calls the toxicity and bullying that marked her years in parliament. By Donna Chisholm.Of all the humiliations – often self-inflicted – that Clare Curran endured during her 12-year ...
On 03 July Children’s Commissioner was given additional responsibility by the Minister of Justice which extended its role as the independent monitor of the conditions and treatment of children and young people in secure detention centres. The Children’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick, ARC Future Fellow, UNSW The term “heatwave” is no stranger to Australians. Defined as when conditions are excessively hot for at least three days in a row, these extreme temperature events have always punctuated our climate. With many of us ...
Pacific Media Watch A senior Indonesian government official and a New Zealand journalism professor have clashed over differing perspectives on access for journalists and media to the West Papua region. Speaking on a webinar organised by the Jubi newspaper in Jayapura, Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ director of the European affairs ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Barbara Mintzes, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sydney To beat the coronavirus pandemic, countries need to collaborate. We need the best possible science to develop vaccines and drugs, and to test, track and contain the virus. If we’ve learned anything ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Russell Dean Christopher Bicknell, Post-doctoral researcher in Palaeobiology , University of New England Let’s turn back the hands of time. Before extinction knocked dinosaurs off their pillar, before the “Great Dying” extinction wiped out 95% of all organisms – we had the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jane Williams, Researcher at the Centre for Values, Ethics and the Law in Medicine (VELiM), University of Sydney Last week, outgoing chief medical officer Brendan Murphy announced all returned travellers would be tested for COVID-19 before and after quarantine. Some were surprised ...
A new package to help foreign nationals stuck in New Zealand due to Covid-19 is inadequate and needs to be supplemented with the emergency benefit, say Community Law Centres O Aotearoa (CLCA) and the Human Rights Commission (HRC). The assistance ...
With Shortland Street’s 7,000th episode screening tonight, Tara Ward salutes the soap for keeping calm and carrying on through level three lockdown. It’s been one heck of a week on Shortland Street. Leanne lost her winning $8 million Lotto ticket, Louis slipped over in a pile of vomit, and Desi tried ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Clift, Teaching Fellow and PhD candidate, University of Melbourne In recent days, the prime ministers of the UK and Australia each declared they are working toward providing safe haven visas for Hong Kong residents. In the US, lawmakers passed a bill ...
How two multi-millionaires, two pandemic futurists, Air NZ’s former boss, a dairy executive on a break, a retired anaesthetist (and a few others) nearly saved NZ. ...
A commitment from Labour to protect productive farmland from blanket afforestation if re-elected is a step in the right direction, Federated Farmers Meat & Wool Chairperson William Beetham says. "We’re really pleased there is now ...
Tomorrow, 4 July, will see protests in at least nine centres around New Zealand against Israeli plans to steal more Palestinian land (Details are at the end of this media release) “Virtually the entire international community is standing together ...
Pacific Media Watch Australia’s ABC has revealed the Australian Federal Police (AFP) recommendation regarding the Afghan Files investigative journalism report is for the Commonwealth DPP to consider charging journalist Dan Oakes for his role in the leak. The revelation has prompted a renewed call by the Alliance for Journalists’ Freedom ...
While we’re growing in confidence that we are in the enviable position of basically eliminating Covid-19, our trading nation at the bottom of the world is also in the unenviable position of locking off our economy to the world. “No is not an answer ...
Netflix’s new adaptations of The Baby-Sitters Club makes long-time fan Tara Ward fall in love with the series all over again. When I was 12 years old, my class had to write a letter to a famous person. Some of my classmates wrote to an All Black, Tom Cruise or ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is questioning the scale and value of the Government’s $230m screen industry recovery package. Union spokesperson Jordan Williams says: “The official justification for this ‘recovery package’ is the impact of COVID-19 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Former Ambassador and Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland Chinese activity in Papua New Guinea was not the only factor behind Australia’s Pacific “Step-Up”. As a former high commissioner to PNG, I know it ...
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk A Papuan church leader and advocate for social justice has penned an open letter to the Indonesian government calling for justice and an end to racism to enable a genuine self-determination process for the Melanesian region. “The problem of Papua has become increasingly complex and severe ...
Latest from the Beehive – Nine press releases (when we checked this morning) had flowed from the Beehive since we last reported. Eight of them brayed about the money Ministers have been spending and (as they prefer to put it) investing. The sole exception came from Environment Minister David ...
CEAC pre-election review of National Party ‘climate change policy’, is lacking in substance without any clear policy, that will leave voters with no idea of what National Party plans for saving our climate, and glancing at their ‘Transport plans’, ...
Film crews can get exemptions to enter New Zealand, so why not the families and supporters of terror victims, David Williams asks. OPINION: If the public needs a sign last year’s terrorist attack has slipped off the Government’s radar, this is it. A sentencing date has been set for the ...
A new poem by Michaela Keeble.Only the ocean only the oceanturns me overlike this only the oceanturns meon like this only the oceangives warning: what will changeand when so it doesn’t comeacrosslike violence white capsdrift inon the rising tide i feel likeopening my legs i don’t wantto do anything elsetoday i don’t wantto goto work i want to lie downwith ...
As the Covid-19 pandemic rages round the world, New Zealanders are re-discovering food production is the fundamental engine of the economy. And farming is not a sunset industry. Instead of being rubbished by lobby groups for so-called “dirty dairying”, the country’s core export industry has the chance to transform itself ...
The world-famous best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman (Bloomsbury, $34)This is the one that kicks off with the essay about the Tongan ...
The New Zealand Down syndrome community is urging the Government to ignore the recommendations in the recent Health and Disability Sector Review. “New Zealand has made terrific progress to enhance the quality of life for people with Down syndrome and other disabilities ...
The Covid Plan B group says New Zealand can minimise the economic consequences of Covid-19 if it opens its borders following the rest of the world. The group, which has critiqued the Government's lockdown response since March, has today added its ...
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Because, as I have previously pointed out, the people in receipt of the bulk of the tax cuts are more likely to use them to pay down debt and increase savings. At the expense of the other 80% of taxpayers and any short-term fiscal stimulus.
Those tax cuts go to everyone. National dropped the larger tax cuts that would have targeted higher income earners.. Tax cuts always benefit the people who pay the most tax. Personally I think that is fair. [we’ve been through this time and again. look at the archives under ‘tax’. Cuts don’t have to favour the rich and they definitely don’t have to get infinitely larger as income rises. Labour’s cuts, the current legislated ones, cap out at 80K, National’s ones just get larger and larger the richer the taxpayer is, and National’s cuts for ordinary Kiwi’s are smaller than Labour’s. SP]
As for Kiwisaver. An option to save 2% of your weekly income is fair. And the employer giving extra I never liked and think its still too harsh. Where National went wrong was in making the changes where the income cut in to how much the government kicks into the scheme. Hopefully, they make that change when they legislate.
Well he does have a point, nothing like the state abandoning all responsibility to its citizens to to encourage self-reliance. Just a bit of a shame the people needing the most ‘incentive’ don’t actually have any money to save.
The tax cuts targeted the average taxpayer.
No they don’t. Forty percent of the cash goes to the wealthiest ten percent of taxpayers, while anyone with a family earning less than $44,000 a year pays more tax than they would have under Labour.
Oh, and any anyone in Kiwisaver is worse off, no matter what their income.
http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2008/10/who-benefits-from-nationals-tax-cuts.html
I did say average. And why link me to two left blogs (one this very blog) who are clearly partisan when it comes to tax cuts and thus are not balanced.
[the numbers in the links are accurate. If you’re arguing they’re not just because the sources are leftwing, I hope you have some evidence. SP]
Ginger: why do you persevere with this practice of saying things that happen to be wrong, and then when you’re provided with evidence proving you’re wrong you claim bias, or, partisanship?
As Tane pointed out – quite succinctly I might add – “Forty percent of the cash goes to the wealthiest ten percent of taxpayers, while anyone with a family earning less than $44,000 a year pays more tax than they would have under Labour.” Both the links he provided provide you with are only “biased” stylistically, the numbers provided on both links come from National’s tax policy. If the same numbers were on a site like Kiwi-blog the writing around it would show “bias” towards right-leaning ideology. My point is: look at the numbers, not the rhetoric surrounding them.
All the recent history (several decades) shows Kiwis SPEND money and don’t SAVE it.
National cutting the saving capacity of Kiwisaver is no help to saving.
With interest rates expected to head to 4% to subsidise all the debt addicts….tell me again why people would save?
I’m not seeing it.
Actional giving tax cuts to the rich? My god, what is the world coming to.
In other news: China is a communist country that everybody wants as a friend and Russia does not hold fair elections and is about to change their constitution to let Putin back in. Such is the world.
I am going to make such a mint off them this year it is obscene. And I would give it all away to have labour/green in power right now. Go figure.
I like your input here Ginger. A lone, (semi 🙂 ) rational right voice in a sea of lefties.
I don’t agree with anything you say, but I figure that provide us something worth being annoyed by and typing about. Good on you!
Yeah, please don’t leave us Ginger, I don’t know what we’d do without you and those of your ilk. This site would be a left-wing hug-fest if people like you weren’t around.
Clearly not everyone is going to be able to save because some at the bottom need all their available income to meet their living needs. Kiwisaver wasn’t a complete fix for this, at the lower end of the income scale people were still unable to afford it, especially with a 4% entry. I’d prefer to see Kiwisaver reduced to a 1% (or even lower) entry to enable those at the bottom to join in. Employers shouldn’t be forced to match contributions, it makes it harder for those struggling just to pay the staff they have and raises the risk of having to lay off staff to keep their business running.
I think we need some sort of cap on how much the government contributes though, it can’t just be an open chequebook.
Tim: 1% is useless for retirement saving….unless you live to be 150 and don’t retire until you’re 120.
The tax relief being touted by National is NOT the solution to this problem for all its cost. In rough summery: it is a short-term and therefore short sighted solution to a long term problem. It will also leave NZ in a worse debt situation than before with a very low stimulatory effect due to the income bracket it targets. (i.e. High income bracket tax relief such as the “bush tax cuts” have the lowest stimulatory return)
See the graph at the end of this blog entry:
http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2008104427/tax-cuts-ineffcient-stimulus
Kiwisaver was a long-term solution the core debt problem in NZ which is compacting this crisis on NZ and NZers who have taken on too much debt. Of course kiwisaver would not be a complete solution to this problem either – but it sure does help. In 10 years once savings have grown and compounded, it might be renamed “economy saver”.
I would have preferred more ingenious and targeted initiatives. Utilising industries that have or will have spare capacity – such as the building industry. More specifically using them to increase the growth potential of our country.
No offense but my first reply could have rebutted without editing inside.
The problem is not with the data in either of those left-wing blogs. Its the context you put them in. You say the tax cuts are taken away from lower income people to support the higher income. But tax cuts do that. Labour’s tax cuts do that. When you earn 80, 000. You don’t pay that 80, 000 dollars at the top rate. You pay a proportion at the top rate. Even if you said no tax in the first 20, 000 its still the taxpayers who earn the most money. Second, the tax cuts targeted average income earners. Its clear in the data that is what happened. Yes higher income earners get more benefit from the tax cuts. But that is because they pay the most taxes and they only pay a proportion of tax at that top rate. The rest is taxed at what other income earners are paying.
If it was really a tax cut for the rich. The top tax rate and threshold would have dramatically dropped. Ie. 30 cents for earners $50, 000+. National’s plan originally was to see a bigger tax cut for the rich. But because of economic conditions that was changed so they insured AVERAGE earners would get a tax cut. So while with National’s plan higher income earners get the most benefits. That is inherent in how tax is paid in New Zealand in the first place.
You can make your argument with families. That is a fair assessment. But National’s tax cuts benefit most income earners. Always higher income earners benefit from tax cuts more than others. But the tax cuts still delivered to the average worker. Thus was targeted to the average worker.
—-
Oh and thank you vinsin and Mr Magoo its nice to be insulted. You can say a lot about me but I typically don’t go round insulting people and its a pity you can’t do the same.
Oh and thank you vinsin and Mr Magoo its nice to be insulted. You can say a lot about me but I typically don’t go round insulting people and its a pity you can’t do the same.
Actually it was an honest compliment to an opponent about being stoic in an obviously hostile environment. But I guess you are so used to the insults on this site that you missed it?
Regardless. On to my disagreements with your point of view:
At the end of the day, tax cuts give cash back to workers. They do not have to be given back proportionately and in fact can be given in a almost completely flat across the board way. (e.g. first 20K tax free)
The effect of that policy on anyone earning more than 20K is that they ALL (i.e. almost all in full time work) get the same amount of tax relief. No differentiation at all.
The opposite scenario is to reduce the tax rate by a flat amount. (i.e. all tax reduced by 2% at all levels)
The obvious effect of this policy is to give the richest people a disproportionate amount of the total tax relief. This is because most people in NZ do not actually earn a heck of lot compared to the top 5-10%. (i.e. we are talking medians here, not averages!)
There are all sorts of interesting policies in between. Working for families being one of the most innovative I have seen in that the poorer and more “child strapped” you are, the more you get.
National have opted for a solution more towards the “2% for all” scenario, except that they offset the lower income people by cutting a few other things they may have been entitled to. Their package is quite complicated and as far as I can tell was mostly based on gettimg votes from those not covered by working for families and kiwisaver.
Now you may make an argument over whether the wealthy deserve more cash than the average person during this crisis because they “deserve it more”, but I would imagine that 70% of NZ would not agree with you.
I completely disagree with tax cuts as a solution to this problem. Tax cuts to anyone earning over 70k, triply so. I would remind everyone that we already got a tax cut, so a second is just not sensible at the moment. (some missed out, but the idea is that a cut stimulates growth, not make single and/or rich people feel good)
As I mentioned earlier, I would prefer that the money be spent generating jobs and smart infrastructure investment.
ginger. you’re right you can’t argue with the numbers, and the numbers for nationak’s cuts are 40% of the money going to the wealthiest 10%.
The major difference between national’s tax cut and labour’s is national will cut the top rate by 2% and not raise the threshold for the bottom 12.5% rate. Tax cut packages don’t have to be designed like that
so this is a national special huh sp!
You have to give it to him! – Ginge is persistent, or thick, or both!
How is it possible to NOT see that the tax package promised by National rewards the top income bracket AT THE EXPENSE of those on low incomes – the very ones that will be affected the most by the stricter mortgage criteria introduced by the Banks? And now English has the AUDACITY to somehow claim it, as if its a good thing and the result of National’s prudent management of the economy already!
Low income earners pay very little tax. Low income families are generously supported by working for families. Low income earners get a tax cut. Its not at the expense of them as they are supported several ways via state housing, accommodation supplement etc etc etc. Tax cuts will never work for the truly low income workers. They can only benefit via welfare transfers.
The mortgages are a whole separate matter. Labour didn’t do well in this area either. And I can’t see how low income earners could even come up with 5% deposit on a mortgage.
the sprout,
personal interest.. re your wee picture at top right comments.. is it a brussels sprout? I ask because recently the seeds I planted came up with the look of yours but rounded leaves and tips.. and I’m wondering just what I have got.. someone having mentioned they look like broccoli..
Low income earners pay very little tax
Yes, because they also earn very little. They also have a much larger propotion of their income devoted to “keeping alive and well” than wealthy people.
state housing, accommodation supplement
Most families do not receive these or live in a state house. Shocking, I know. The waiting list for state houses is 3+ yrs.
http://www.hnzc.co.nz/hnzc/web/rent-buy-or-own/rent-from-housing-new-zealand/waiting-list.htm
Over 4000 families in significant housing need or greater. Thats of those who bother to apply…
Tax cuts will never work for the truly low income workers.
The difference they make is far more pronounced for low income earners than for the wealthy. Come on now, you really think that 60/wk for someone on 150k per year is going to impact them more than 20/wk for someone on 30k per year?? Pleeease.
But I do agree with you on that point! Tax cuts are a “block of cheese” joke and will not really serve the public good in the end. As much as we like cash in our hand, it has a history of not being as useful to us as we had hoped compared to healthcare, savings, etc.
“And I can’t see how low income earners could even come up with 5% deposit on a mortgage.”
Welcome home loans. More state houses. Shared equity.
I am sorry, your argument here simply does not fly. In fact it barely stands up at all.
State Houses. Labour is opposed to selling state houses to tenants. Welcome home loans has numerous problems. The fact is there are very few houses that fall under its criteria. Shared equity is very limited and you still need to raise 5% deposit.
Haha, nice one, Ginge. All those families on benefits who don’t qualify for Working for Families are clearly a figment of my imagination.
Please, please respond with something about “they should stop spending the dole on booze and drugs”, I like that one.
Once again the Nats show how effective saying the agreeable things to certain audiences is. I dont think they can commit to saying the same thing time and time again.
Except: “Fresh” and “Ambitious” They sure like saying that.
QoT,
Please, please respond with something about “they should stop spending the dole on booze and drugs’, I like that one.
If I recall the HES breakdown from Statistics New Zealand correctly, it shows that lower income households spend proportionately more of their income on cigarettes and alcohol than the national average… take from that what you will.
QoT – Why are you talking about beneficiaries. No one is talking about beneficiaries. The only way they make more money is if their benefits rise or they get a job.
It amuses me that when people argue people who pay less tax should be given back more of it. 12% of the working age population in New Zealand pay 51% of the personal tax take. So who is being dealt a disproportionate hand here?
Gustavo,
“12% of the working age population in New Zealand pay 51% of the personal tax take. So who is being dealt a disproportionate hand here?”
Need more info. What percentage of NZ’s total wealth does that 12% control, what % of national annual income do they earn, etc and so on and so forth.
In any case, who here is arguing that the rich don’t pay a higher proprtion of the tax take?
Right ginge, because beneficiaries don’t pay tax … OH WAIT THEY KINDA DO, just like Real People.
Phil – as soon as you define “lower income households” and state the actual proportions involved, it’s just so much “Poor people are stupid and deserve to not be able to afford food for their children”.
Yes they do pa tax indirectly true. But I still struggle to see your point about beneficiaries. Since we’re talking about tax cuts for those who pay income tax.
Pascal. I do not have those figures at my fingertips, and I believe they fall outside the study’s parameters. But income tax levels should be set on the basis of income, and not wealth.
ginger. benefit payments are taxable income, you pay income tax on them
What Mr Magoo said on the first pass… hit it in one.
We seem to be damned to at least 3 years of one-dimensional quick fix approaches to long-term systemic issues.
Yikes – I feel for Ginger. It’s nice to get a little heated debate going, but lets be rational.
1. Low income families earn less, therefore spend proportionately more on consumption. Therefore they save less than those on higher incomes. This is always going to be true…can anybody suggest a way out of this?
I agree with Tim – maybe the threshhold for Kiwisaver should be dropped to 1% – yes its a tiny amount, but something is better than nothing no? 4% is really high for somebody on the average wage or lower…and we should be encouraging saving at all levels of society.
2. Beneficiaries pay tax through GST – consumption taxes and yes they don’t benefit from income tax cuts, seeing as they do not technincally work and pay personal income tax. I’m sorry, but that seems fair to me. If an individual is on the unemployment benefit I feel they shouldn’t receive the same advantages as somebody who works. Those on sickness or invalid benefits are an entirely different story. Maybe the problem is in lumping different types of beneficiaries into one category…when they all have different needs and incentives.
3. The response to National’s tax cut package was that the rich are benefitting more than the average kiwi…
The way I see it is that if you have natural talent or you worked your butt off to get a job that pays highly, why should you be penalised for that? Most of the people I know that earn over $60,000 have either spent a significant amount of time studying or working their way up to get there. They spent time and money to get where they are and to maintain that position. Why begrudge somebody for having money?
Also – note the difference between income and wealth. Two very different things…!
Lastly, what constitutes an average kiwi? Moreover define ‘rich’…
Steve Withers, yes 1% makes for a poor retirement plan but is nonetheless savings and in that respect is better than saving 0%. Also these people will receive superannuation.
Additionally Kiwisaver funds can also be used towards a house deposit (and contributions can be funnelled to mortgage payments) and in that respect the 1% could be more useful.