Amelia Wade, political reporter for Newshub, has a piece up today about the Council of Trade Union’s analysis of the alleged benefits of National’s tax cuts (she also mentions the Goldman Sachs’ warning about National’s tax policy),
It’s a big focus of National’s campaign too. It said its tax plan will help up to $250 a fortnight.
To get that, the family must be spending at least $300 a fortnight on childcare, and it needs two adults earning between $53,500 and $66,000 to get the $25.30 per week tax cut.
The Council of Trade Unions has worked out just how many families would get that – it estimates about 3000 households would.
“If the National Party disagrees with this analysis, it should show who benefits and when,” said CTU economist Craig Renney.
Luxon on Wednesday said he couldn’t remember how many families will get the full $250.
Wade also tweeted this this morning,
Shared the CTU’s numbers and workings with the Nats and asked how many households they expected to get that $252 p/fortnight promise. Instead of providing an answer, Nats sent a conspiratorial press release saying it had uncovered Labour “gutter politics”
For all those who missed the point – the Nats’ spin machine trashed a long-standing understanding about embargoes & broke trust to try and ‘win’. Not seen anything so blatant the 14 years I’ve been a journalist. All while not answering a very basic question about their policy.
We now have both National and NZ First actively refusing to answer important questions about their policies during an election, in the face of serious critique of those polices from economists and the media. This isn’t even dirty politics, it’s just blatant ‘we will bollocks our way through the election, because nothing matters any more other than gaining power’.
The Greens have well costed, progressive polices, and as micky pointed out this morning about Labour,
I expect this blog post will attract two types of comments. Incredulity at the suggestion that Labour is a better manager of the economy than National. And disappointment that Labour is a better manage of the capitalist system than National.
But the reality is clear.
Put aside the corporate angst and the uber rich donation dollars being spent on trying to achieve even lower tax rates Labour manages the economy better than National. And at least it also puts effort into solving child poverty and environmental challenges. Sure some of us want it to do more but it has achieved way more than National.
And it will not wreck the economy in the pursuit of tax cuts for those who already have more than enough. To be paid by those who cannot afford it and the run down of public services that help us all.
Labour has been a very careful manager of the economy and despite the rhetoric the economy is in good shape. We face the prospect of a UK style economic collapse if National get into power and implement their Liz Truss style policies.
UPDATE:
The conspiratorial press release from National is here.
Grant Roberston is very good in this stand up today, calm and competent: he’s never seen a major political party have their flagship policy debunked by economists from across the political spectrum. Then naming it for what it is: National’s tax policy is a scam
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