Media Statement
Monday, 30 November

Hon Peter Dunne
MP for Ohariu
Leader of UnitedFuture

Dunne: 2025 Report a mix of good and bad

UnitedFuture leader Peter Dunne says the 2025 Taskforce’s Report’s recommendations released today are a mixture of good and bad

“There are some bold initiatives here which are well worth further consideration, while others are nothing more than Business Roundtable propaganda New Zealanders have long since rejected.

“In particular, some of the tax initiatives proposed deserve further consideration, and I am sure they will be taken into account alongside the forthcoming reports due from the Tax Working Group and the Capital Markets Development Taskforce,” he says.

However, Mr Dunne says other recommendations such as changing superannuation entitlements and abolishing the superannuation fund are “an eerie 1980s and 1990s throwback, which should be junked immediately.”

“Also, while there is undoubtedly a strong case for welfare reform, and greater efficiency in health services delivery, that the Government should consider, this cannot be at the expense of broader equity issues.

“In short, the Government has to tread carefully, lest it be seen that the Report is merely a preview of the 2010 Budget,” he says.

Mr Dunne is therefore urging the Government to adopt a cautious response to the Report, and to consider its recommendations alongside the forthcoming reports from the Tax Working Group and the Capital Markets Development Taskforce.

“I do not think the Government should embrace this report wholeheartedly, but should pick the eyes from it and the other reports to produce a coherent overall package to boost domestic productivity and economic growth which will in turn contribute to reducing the standard of living gap with Australia.”

“And above all else, the Government should never forget that politics is the art of the achievable, not necessarily the desirable,” he says.

ENDS

© Scoop Media