Key must surely mean lower taxes across the board
new-zealand-labour-party
Thu Jan 14 2010 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)
Key must surely mean lower taxes across the board
Thursday, 14 January 2010, 3:01 pm
Press Release: New Zealand Labour Party
14 January 2010
Media Statement
Key must surely mean lower taxes across the board
If Prime Minister John Key is still set on lowering personal taxes, then presumably he intends to do so fairly across the board for all hard-working Kiwis, says Labour’s Revenue spokesperson Stuart Nash.
“Last year John Key and Bill English delivered tax cuts for their mates. The last thing that Kiwis struggling to make ends meet need is Mr Key returning from holidaying at his Hawaiian home to say he is going to reduce the top tax rates again. He needs to rectify the injustice of last year,” Stuart Nash said.
“Mr Key’s increasingly plaintive focus on lower personal taxes might mean more if it was accompanied by an overall economic plan.
“This is especially the case since Treasury predicted just before Christmas that unemployment will remain high for longer than expected.”
Stuart Nash said it is “obvious from Mr Key’s fumbling comments that National still has no plan to help Kiwis who have suffered most in the recession.
“When he talks about improving economic growth in 2010, he would be a lot more plausible if he could offer a clear strategy for doing that,” Stuart Nash said.
“There is at best mixed evidence from around the world in terms of any convincing link between lowering the top marginal tax rate and increasing economic growth.
“That may, in fact, be a recipe for more hurt for hard-working Kiwis who are already struggling to pay their grocery bills each week.”
Stuart Nash said Mr Key’s comments on lowering personal tax rates also seemed to be in conflict with his Finance Minister Bill English, who had signalled some sort of commitment to considering all the options contained in the report from the Tax Working Group.
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“Mr Key seems more committed to ideology than choosing the best options for New Zealand.
“Instead of talking in vague generalities, Mr Key might be better served sitting down to talk to Auckland University Vice-Chancellor Stuart McCutcheon, who this week made a strong case for more investment in science and technology.
“Instead Mr Key’s government is presiding over reduced investment in research and development. Stuart McCutcheon has a vision of New Zealand becoming ‘the clever country’. Mr Key’s National government has no vision at all.”
ENDS
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