John Key MP National Party Finance Spokesman
23 May 2005

Michael Cullen can't have it both ways

"Michael Cullen should wake up to the fact that people are seeing through his nonsensical argument that it's okay for Labour to spend up large, but it's not okay to give some of that money back to workers in the form of tax relief," says National Party Finance spokesman John Key.

"For the past six years the Labour Government has been spending like there's no tomorrow. They've collected an extra $50 billion in taxes, and presided over some of the most outrageous spending rorts ever seen in this country.

"Labour can't be trusted to set sensible spending priorities. You only need to look as far as the crisis in the police, the slowing productivity in health and the huge waste in sub-degree tertiary education courses.

"Now Dr Cullen has the cheek to turn around and tell all those hardworking Kiwis who've paid for his extravagance that there is nothing left for them. Taxpayers don't believe it.

"At one stage Dr Cullen was a strong advocate for sensible levels of borrowing, especially for infrastructure, that pays for itself over the life of the asset.

"National has no intention of placing interest rates or inflation rates at risk in its upcoming tax plan.

"It's a bit rich for Michael Cullen to now claim National will be driving up interest rates, when homeowners have faced seven rate hikes in the past 12 months, and when both Treasury and a cross section of market economists all agree that current Government policies have contributed to rising interest rates," says Mr Key.

ENDS

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