I agree, and this is of course in great contrast to what the last Government did with the Covid-19 response where the spent a shocking $30 billion of Covid-19 response funds on stuff that had nothing to do with Covid-19.
So how does the announcement by Nicola Willis stack up to the three Ts.
Timely
The extra assistance will start on 7 April, just 14 days from the announcement.
Temporary
It is for a maximum of 12 months (so will not become a permanent entitlement) or until petrol drops below $3/litre for four consecutive weeks., Sensibly tied to the problem of families being hit by the cost off petrol at a historic artificial high.
Targeted
It is not a cash for everyone splash. There simply is not enough money available to cushion the shock for every household. So it is targeted towards low and middle income households that are working and have children. Very sensible because you don’t have a choice about getting your kids to school and getting to work. It will benefit 143,000 families – the majority earning under $80,000 a year
Even better Nicola Willis said this won’t be funded out of additional borrowing, but will come from the Budget operating allowance – so in other words through savings elsewhere or not proceeding with something else they would have funded.
If Labour had not blown spending out from 28% of GDP to 34% of GDP, leaving us with a permanent structural deficit, we would be better positioned to respond to the fuel crisis.
So I am very pleased to see a sensible approach to helping the families that most need support, but not adding to the debt that will have to be paid back by future generations.
David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders
Timely
The extra assistance will start on 7 April, just 14 days from the announcement.
Temporary
It is for a maximum of 12 months (so will not become a permanent entitlement) or until petrol drops below $3/litre for four consecutive weeks., Sensibly tied to the problem of families being hit by the cost off petrol at a historic artificial high.
Targeted
It is not a cash for everyone splash. There simply is not enough money available to cushion the shock for every household. So it is targeted towards low and middle income households that are working and have children. Very sensible because you don’t have a choice about getting your kids to school and getting to work. It will benefit 143,000 families – the majority earning under $80,000 a year
Even better Nicola Willis said this won’t be funded out of additional borrowing, but will come from the Budget operating allowance – so in other words through savings elsewhere or not proceeding with something else they would have funded.
If Labour had not blown spending out from 28% of GDP to 34% of GDP, leaving us with a permanent structural deficit, we would be better positioned to respond to the fuel crisis.
So I am very pleased to see a sensible approach to helping the families that most need support, but not adding to the debt that will have to be paid back by future generations.
David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders
1 comment:
David are you just parroting the National tag line? The is article appears to be a copy+paste of the National talking points. I don’t get it.
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