Bill English MP
National Party Finance Spokesman

10 October 2008

Will Cullen cancel Labour’s tax cuts?

National Party Finance spokesman Bill English says that if Michael Cullen is re-elected his first instinct will be to axe the tax cuts he has promised for 2010 and 2011.

"Dr Cullen has announced a decade of deficits and a 50% increase in government debt.

“The fair-weather Finance Minister cancelled the tax cuts he promised in 2005 to pay for Labour’s spending blow-outs, and that's when he had big surpluses. Now he has large deficits.

"Dr Cullen has no understanding of what it takes to grow the economy. He has spent this week acting more like a commentator than the man in charge of the national purse.

“National’s careful economic management plan delivers overdue and up-front tax cuts for hard pressed workers and strengthens the economy. We have made responsible choices around KiwiSaver and R & D tax credits to fund it.

“National’s package requires no added borrowing, promotes growth, and will start the path out of deficits earlier.

“Dr Cullen has known about the numbers in the PREFU for weeks. He can see what is happening in world markets.

“At this point Dr Cullen's plan appears to be to pretend the current recession will go away by itself and cancel tax cuts if it doesn't.”

Dr Cullen said this week that he would have taken ‘a more cautious approach’ in the 2008 Budget had he known about the state of the government’s books.

“Dr Cullen cancelled tax cuts when there was a big surplus and said it was an ‘easy decision to make’. He must now say what Labour would do differently.”

ENDS

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