13 May 2015

Recklessly complacent Govt fails own test

This recklessly complacent Government has not only failed its own surplus litmus test, it has squandered opportunities to improve the lives of New Zealanders, Opposition Leader Andrew Little says.

In a pre-election budget speech today, he described the broken surplus promise as “one of the biggest political deceptions of a lifetime”.

“This Government’s major election pledge was clear – they were the good economic managers who would reach surplus. Now they’ve abandoned that pledge.

“In the last 7 years, National hasn’t announced a single initiative that has tackled the long term problems in our economy to improve the lives of New Zealanders. They have been recklessly complacent.

“They haven’t tackled our overreliance on dairy and housing speculation and have done little to encourage innovation.

“They’ve done nothing to fix the issues that made our economy vulnerable in the first place.

“Instead of fixing the roof when the sun is shining John Key has taken credit for the sunny day.”

The questions every Kiwi must ask the Government are:

Why haven’t we hit surplus?
Why are we still so reliant on dairy?
Why are you still ignoring the housing crisis?
Why are you still neglecting the regions?
Where’s the plan to diversify our economy?
“New Zealand needs to become a country where we reward the risk takers, the innovators and the unafraid. Where we celebrate growing wealth, and where everyone who works for that success shares in the rewards.”

ends

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On The New Government’s Policies Of Yesteryear

Winston Peters is routinely described as the kingmaker who decides whether the centre right or the centre-left has a turn at running this country. He also plays a less heralded, but equally important role as the scapegoat who can be blamed for killing taxes that his senior partners never much wanted in the first place. Neither Ardern nor Robertson for example, really wanted a capital gains tax, for fear of Labour copping the “tax and spend“ label they ended up being saddled with anyway. Usefully though, they could tell the party faithful it was wicked old Winston who killed the CGT. More