Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Low And Middle Income Earners Miss Out
15 April 2002
Low And Middle Income Earners Miss Out In
Nats’ Strategy
“It is disappointing that Bill English has adopted the tired old National Party strategy of the 1990s by promising tax cuts for the rich,” Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson said today.
“It is no surprise that the National Party is promising tax cuts for employers and those on the highest incomes,” he said.
“We have seen this all before. Unfortunately it is those on low and middle incomes who will miss out.
“This is made even worse by the National Party’s announcement that they will amend the Employment Relations Act and effectively privatise accident compensation.”
Ross Wilson said the whole tenor of the economic statement was that the only issue is compliance costs for business.
“In fact, what is important for firms today is to focus on adding value rather than constantly calling for lower taxes and exaggerating compliance cost issues,” he said.
“New Zealanders are still suffering from the tax cuts of the last decade which favoured those on high incomes, resulted in benefit cuts for those on low incomes, and led directly to the huge pressures on health and education spending.”
Ross Wilson said it was not reassuring that tax cuts would be funded through removing the prefunding of superannuation.
“It is vital that some provision is made to ensure that at least the current level of entitlement that superannuitants get can be preserved for current workers when they retire,” he said.
“The CTU supports superannuation prefunding provided it is phased in without a damaging impact on other important areas of expenditure.”
ENDS
New Zealand Council of Trade Unions
Te Kauae Kaimahi
The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi brings together over 350,000 New Zealand union members in 40 affiliated unions. We are the united voice for working people and their families in New Zealand.
Gordon Campbell: On unemployment, Winston Peters’ low boiling point and music criticism
The Treasury: New Treasury Paper On The Productivity Slowdown
NZ Government: Government Recommits To Equal Pay
Emily Ireland - Local Democracy Reporter: Deputy Mayor ‘disgusted’ By Response To Georgina Beyer Sculpture
Te Pāti Māori: Māori Unemployment Rate Increases By More Than Four-Times National Rates
Government: Streamlining Building Consent Changes
Koi Tu - The Centre for Informed Futures: If Not Journalists, Then Who?
