The 'A' List - Labour's Costed Policy Commitments - November 99
Credit Card
Annual cost in 3rd year $m
Notes
$m

Job Creation 100
Labour's Industry Development policy 5/10/98. They estimate current spending at $100m and say this is anticipated to reach $200m after 1st year and more subsequently.
Surgery waiting times 200
Labour commitment confirmed by Annette King in Herald 20/10/99.

Student loans
130
Labour's costing of student loans for third year from The Herald 30/9/99. (Rest of tertiary education policy included below.)

Wage-indexation of NZ Super
243
Treasury estimate of savings from Govt policy of reducing floor to 60%.

Income related rents
75
$75m is what Cullen uses in his letter to the Editor of the Evening Post 24/5/99 - referring to it as an official estimate. Cullen says this is to be phased-in and will be higher in the 3rd year.

Burglary and youth crime
?
Fiscally neutral according to George Hawkins but includes several commitments to increase funding (eg increased funding for CYPFA & community-based programmes).

Credit Card Total
748
In a letter to the Editor of Evening Post 24/5/99, Cullen says "If we assume half the full spending is able to occur in year one, based on official estimates, that makes the cost $361.5m". This gives a full year figure for year 3 of $723m.

Other Costed Commitments

Available costings

$m

Schools
180
Announced at press briefing. Funding increases from $60m in 00/01 to $120m in next year, then $180m.

Early Childhood Education
29
$86m over 3 years (Labour press release 12/10/99).

Tertiary Education (other than loans)
170
Labour costing ($300m in total in third year with $130m of this being student loans).

Industry training
20
Announced at Labour's press briefing.

Farm Partnership Scheme
7
Land protection scheme described in Labour's rural policy. Costing of $20m over 3 years is Labour's. (The costing is indicative and is based on a similar 1990 Scheme rather than a new scheme.)

ACC Policy - reinstate lump sums
110
Ruth Dyson quoted in The Independent 13/10/99.

No user charges for border protection
30
Announced at National Tourism Conference in Queenstown, July 99. Costing mentioned in ODT article 31/7/99 which quotes Helen Clark.

Social welfare
75
Steve Maharey on TV One Breakfast 9/9/99. We have assumed this is an annual cost.

Remainder of health policy
175
Annette King has put the total policy cost at $825m over 3 years, with $175m in the first year, $275m in the next year and $375m in the third year (Chch Press 26/10/99). In the Herald (20/10/99) Annette King confirms that about $200m a year will go to elective surgery & we have included this against the credit card above. Note that removal of asset testing was not included in the costing (Annette King quoted in the Herald 20/10/99).

Green Agenda
22
$65m over three years. Helen Clark quoted in the Dominion 15/10/99.

Anti-gang surveillance & changes to bail
8
Anti-gang: Phil Goff quoted in the Dominion 23/10/99 ($10m which we have spread over 3 years). Bail: Labour press release of 22/10/99 ($4.3 - $10m per year plus capital costs).

Science policy
75
Policy is to increase spending to 0.8% GDP by 2010. Costing of $75m in the third year assumes spending as a % of GDP is increased by 0.02 each year, starting from the current level of 0.58% or about $600m.

Total of Other Costed 900

Grand Total 1,648

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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.

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