"Jenny Shipley's reckless $800 million tax cut promise risks taking New Zealand into fiscal meltdown," Labour finance spokesperson Michael Cullen said today.

"The $800 million actually represents $1.6 billion off the operating balance given Bill English's dollar for dollar pledge.

"He promised the National Party conference, and repeated in a debate with me on National Radio's Crosstalk show on July 25, that National would match every dollar spent on tax cuts with an extra dollar in social spending.

"And he said this would apply not only to the $400 million tax cut scheduled for April 1 but to any cuts National delivered in the next electoral cycle.

"His exact words in his speech to the conference were: "Over the next term of Government, for every dollar in tax reductions, we will provide for an extra dollar of expenditure on social services. This is our dollar for dollar commitment."

"There was never any suggestion that the additional spending was already provided for in Treasury base lines or referred to existing policies," Dr Cullen said.

"That means Mrs Shipley has effectively committed National to $2.4 billion; $1.2 billion in tax cuts and $1.2 billion in new spending.

"Mrs Shipley can't have it both ways. She can't commit National to such a fiscally expansionary programme and at the same time maintain that Labour cannot afford to fund its spending promises," Dr Cullen said.

"This is especially so as Labour will have at least $800 million more headroom than National in the first year - the $400 million we would expect to raise from our modest tax increase for the 5 percent of taxpayers earning more than $60,000 and the $400 million we would save by cancelling National's April 1 tax cut.

"Even more irresponsible is that Mrs Shipley is would risk plunging the country back into deficit just to save her own skin.

"It is a disgraceful vote bribe which would only line the pockets of the richest New Zealanders, all of whom have already got substantial benefit from the economic reforms initiated by her Government," Dr Cullen said.

© 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>>