Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
License needed for work use Register
Parliament

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | Video | Questions Of the Day | Search

 

Labour sets terms for economic debate

Labour
2000 web site"Labour has defined the basic terms of the election debate about the economy," Labour finance spokesperson Michael Cullen said today.

Dr Cullen made the comment in a speech to a business luncheon hosted by Beattie and Rickman in Hamilton. He was referring to the National Party's death bed conversion to a more hands-on approach for the government in economic management.

"The leadership role is crucial. The small economies that have recently been most successful in the transformation to a knowledge-based economy - Singapore, Finland and Ireland - are all characterised by a structured and active leadership role by government.

"Ask them if they believe in picking winners and they would answer: What else would you do - pick losers?

"Labour has consistently argued that the economic restructuring begun in the 1980s was at best a partial answer to New Zealand's structural deficiencies and that there was a need to switch to a different agenda: one which is about adding value.

"National kept denying this but has now suddenly switched to accepting it. However it seems unable to recognise the kind of policies that are implied by the need to engage in a knowledge economy project. It also fails to recognise the nature of the on-going structural problems which are either causes and/or effects of our failure to engage in that project in a sufficiently focused, organised and committed fashion.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

"Instead we are supposed to be convinced that prattling on about winners and offering a tax cut of less than $5 a week to nearly 80 percent of taxpayers will somehow substitute for the sense of urgency and purpose we need about ensuring that New Zealand rejoins the leading bunch of economies in the world

"New Zealand is not going to improve its economic performance by more hamfisted, incompetently implemented, ideologically driven restructuring. The 1990s are littered with the debris of such efforts from health restructuring to roading reform.

"What is needed now is a partnership approach based on the achievement of excellence, dynamic and well-focused skills development, the promotion of technological change, infrastructure development and support for the leading sectors of the new economy," Dr Cullen said.


© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines

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


 
 
Public Housing Futures: Christmas Comes Early For Landlords

New CTU analysis of the National & ACT coalition agreement has shown the cost of returning interest deductibility to landlords is an extra $900M on top of National’s original proposal. This is because it is going to be implemented earlier and faster, including retrospective rebates from April 2023. More


Green Party: Petition To Save Oil & Gas Ban

“The new Government’s plan to expand oil and gas exploration is as dangerous as it is unscientific. Whatever you think about the new government, there is simply no mandate to trash the climate. We need to come together to stop them,” says James Shaw. More

PSA: MFAT Must Reverse Decision To Remove Te Reo

MFAT's decision to remove te reo from correspondence before new Ministers are sworn in risks undermining the important progress the public sector has made in honouring te Tiriti. "We are very disappointed in what is a backward decision - it simply seems to be a Ministry bowing to the racist rhetoric we heard on the election campaign trail," says Marcia Puru. More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.