It’s called the growth Budget, but there's no growth in it. The only growth is a result of a tax incentive scheme which is a good idea - but doesn’t go far enough.
It lifts GDP by, get this, 1 percent over 20 years. What is that? Is that growth or a rounding error?
In fact, the Budget is full of this kind of thing - good ideas that are only half baked.
Cutting 18 and 19 year olds off the dole and making the parents taking responsibility is a great idea - but it's so full of loopholes, so you can see exactly how those kids are going to get around the rules and stay on the dole.
Cutting the Government KiwiSaver contribution to rich people is exactly what should happen - but it should be cut to everyone.
The gas exploration money is exactly what needs to happen - but it's tiny, a couple of hundred million dollars in an industry that talks in billions.
Five billion dollars of savings and cuts - which is small. That's the same amount we rack up in interest payments on our debt in just 7 months.
So if you were hoping for something to turn this ship around, something that supercharges growth or slashes spending or really gets us out of the financial trouble we’re in - this is not it.
This is a budget of good ideas that don’t go far enough.
Heather du Plessis-Allan is a journalist and commentator who hosts Newstalk ZB's Drive show HERE - where this article was sourced.
7 comments:
Nobody will spend hundreds of millions of dollars exploring for gas when everyone knows a change of government will ban new gas extraction and make the investment worthless.
It does very little. Mainly hype and broadway lights but it doe not address the real issues. Prime example is the 18 and 19 year old's welfare. If they go on welfare at that age most are on welfare for over 20 years. Does not seriously address the debt mountains and the low productivity. No surprises though. PM does not seem to have much depth
NZ is in dire straights. We are so poor now. Dangerously so, and this kind of tinkering will just exacerbate it. As HDA says, 1pct change in GDP over 20 years is a rounding error, not growth. Nothing of note anyway. As for Kiwisaver, they should have just reintroduced the kickstarter - say $2000 for every new person, and canned the contributions.
But buying into the fallacy that those on over $180,000 are rich just shows one’s ignorance. They’re not rich, they’re the mugs who pay for everything because they’re not able to hide their $ in trusts etc, and they’re not earning little enough to ever benefit from anything our taxes pay for.
Removing all subsides to all part Maori, and treating everyone as "one" , per the Waitangi Treaty would save billions and ease the increasing racial tensions.
remove all race based Laws, By-Laws, Rules & Quotas incl All Co-Governance for starters. That will remove some money going to Maori and not all New Zealanders.
It doesnt go far enough in a whole lot of areas.. but to take your example of 18-20 y.o.on the benefit. There is NO reason that these teenagers should be on an unemployment benefit, they are either lazy or rorting the system. The real message should be "it is not acceptable" and what the govt should have done is removed unemployment benefits for those under 20 y.o. completely. But we have a centre govt, not prepared to make the hard decisions like that.
Had me worried when you started with a 'bum' note.
Never know with journos these days.
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