Day of shame as tax cuts go begging

new-zealand-national-party

Fri Mar 31 2006 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Day of shame as tax cuts go begging

Friday, 31 March 2006, 2:15 pm
Press Release: New Zealand National Party

Don Brash MP National Party Leader

31 March 2006

Tomorrow is a day of shame as the public gets more welfare handouts and tax cuts go begging, says National Party Leader Don Brash.

"April 1st sees a massive expansion of the welfare state as Labour extends the Working for Families package," says Dr Brash.

"As we have seen from Labour's TV ads, much of the extended Working for Families handout will go to higher income families who can afford to live in plush homes and own the latest electronic gadgets.

"It's clear the extension was aimed at middle and higher income earners - proving it was a huge and desperate bribe to get Labour re-elected.

"But thousands of Kiwis miss out. People without children will subsidise those with children to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.

"National's policy at the 2005 election was to offer tax cuts to working New Zealanders. These would have provided far better incentives for working people to get ahead in life from their own efforts.

"The surpluses were large enough, and the economics of tax cuts stacked up.

"National remains committed to introducing competitive tax rates and other growth-enhancing elements in a fairer regime that lowers the burden on Kiwis.

"The problem with Working for Families is not that it provides a tax credit to families, but that the delivery mechanism is clumsy, expensive, and dispiriting.

"Families - even those on high incomes - have to go cap-in-hand to government agencies. Families should not have to apply for tax credits; it should be built into the structure of the tax system.

"Many people will not get Working for Families payments because they will not wish to suffer the indignity of having to apply to get their own money back," says Dr Brash.

ENDS

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