Plain English - Thoughts from your MP for Clutha/Southland

Chipping Away At Dog Chipping

National will have one more go at stopping the dog chipping nonsense. David Carter will be putting up more amendments to stop the chipping of farm dogs and to give the smaller parties in Parliament the chance to reconsider their positions.

The farming community has done a great job of persuading the public that dog chipping is a dog. Bad dog owners wont get their dogs chipped. The problem of dangerous dogs is genuine, but dog chipping is an expensive bureaucratic solution. Robust enforcement of the current law would be much cheaper. More powers for dog rangers to deal decisively with stray and dangerous dogs would send a strong signal to every dog owner to keep their obligations to the community

Blackouts Roll Out

The third electricity crisis in five years is starting to get a bit boring. In the late 90’s, National’s policies on electricity were unpopular. Labour promised to fix it all – that a bit of smart intervention would stop prices rising and guarantee enough for everyone. Six years later Labour have set up a commission, prices are higher and New Zealand faces the possibility of winter blackouts again.

The country needs more generation, and the Government should be helping investors, not standing in their way. One example is the Dobson Dam proposal on the West Coast. Chris Carter, the Minister of Conservation, has vetoed a dam in a gorse- filled gully because the gully is owned by DOC. So we can’t burn coal because it produces CO2 but no one is allowed to build dams either. Wind farms can’t fill the gap.

Who Would Have Got What

Labour and National have been arguing the toss about whether families are better off under their respective packages. The answer is that most families would be better off with National’s package and everyone else would be better off, too. The reason is that National proposed to cut lower all thresholds and cut all rates except the bottom 15c rate under $9500. Our package included Working For Families tax credits. Under National, 85% of taxpayers would be paying a statutory rate of 19c or less.

The Government is running a review of business tax covering the company tax rate and the possibility of a payroll tax. Business groups have united to argue for no payroll tax and a company tax rate of 28 cents.

Bill English
www.billenglish.co.nz
www.national.org.nz

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