National's Policy Machine is a thing to behold

• mickysavage
• 12 months ago
• Categories: act, Economy, national, same old national, tax, treasury

Yesterday National set the local political scene alight by coming up with the latest policy proposal that will set the local political scene on fire and the effects of which will no doubt be visible in the next polls.

The policy is …

Wait this is really good …

You will be amazed …

The plan to print out and send to taxpayers information about how the Government’s money is spent and how much tax they paid.

You may ask why this is such a good idea and why the information is not readily available.

You could but there would be a problem.  The information on how much the Government spends is readily available as long as you know how to use google.

For instance you could google “how is New Zealand Government money spent” and it will provide you with this link.

You could ask Chat GPT “where can I find breakdown on how much New Zealand Government spends each year”.

It will tell you:

To find a breakdown of how much the New Zealand Government spends each year, you can refer to the official government sources and budget documents. Here are a few key sources where you can find this information:

1. New Zealand Treasury: The New Zealand Treasury website provides comprehensive information on the government’s finances, including budget documents, reports, and economic updates. You can visit their website at https://treasury.govt.nz/ to access the latest budget information and expenditure breakdowns.
2. New Zealand Government Budget: The annual budget outlines the government’s revenue and expenditure plans for the upcoming fiscal year. The budget documents include detailed breakdowns of spending by different sectors, such as health, education, infrastructure, social welfare, and more. The budget is usually released in May each year, and you can find it on the New Zealand Treasury website or the government’s official budget website.
3. New Zealand Parliament: The New Zealand Parliament’s website provides access to parliamentary debates, committee reports, and other relevant documents. You can explore the Parliament’s website at https://www.parliament.nz/ to find information on government spending and budgetary matters.
4. New Zealand Statistics: Statistics New Zealand collects and publishes data on various aspects of the economy, including government finances. Their website, https://www.stats.govt.nz/, offers a wealth of economic and financial data, which may include information on government spending.

Remember that these sources provide the most reliable and up-to-date information on government expenditure in New Zealand. It’s recommended to consult these official sources for accurate and detailed breakdowns of government spending.

But no, National thinks that a report should be sent out.

The tax information is available anyway.  Just log onto MyIRD.

And National continues on with its barrage of “cut unnecessary spending” without telling the country what it will actually cut.

Which allows Act to fill in the policy vacuum with its alternative budget.  In the absence of anything meaningful from National this is all the electorate has to rely on.

The proposal is usual right wing Ayn Rand wet dream stuff.  Tax cuts for the wealthy and a tax increase for the poor masked by gutting the Emissions Trading Scheme and by a tax credit, for how long who knows.

Other policies include:

• Gutting collective teacher contracts.
• More spending on Defence.
• Incentives for Councils to allow Urban Sprawl.
• More prisons.
• 200 new beds in secure Corrections facilities for youth criminals.  This is a dramatic increase.
• Reduction in eligibility for the Winter Energy Payment and Kiwisaver subsidies.
• 14,000 fewer Public Servants.
• Abolition of the Human Rights Commission.

At least Act has policies that it has announced and that we can debate.  National’s proposal is that lacking in detail and that superficial that you have to wonder what its vaunted Policy Machine is actually up to.