John Key National Party Finance Spokesman

5 November 2004

Tax: Cullen should listen to the facts

National's Finance spokesman, John Key, says the Government should listen to the facts and give over-taxed Kiwis their hard-earned money back.

Treasury reports released today show that the Government's surplus is growing faster than their Budget forecasts. The Government received $289 million more than they were expecting in the first quarter of this financial year.

Mr Key says this is yet more evidence that the Finance Minister should relieve the tax burden. "The Minister may not want to listen to his coalition partner or his junior support partner in their calls for tax cuts, but he should listen to the facts. He is sitting on the biggest cash reserve in a generation."

"It's time he put money back into the pockets of hard-working Kiwis."

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>