Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive 24/8/23

“Three Waters” is flushed from recent govt press statements while National promises to flush away the new Three Waters laws

The latest bunch of ministerial statements tells us about a government splashing out on a programme that has delivered school lunches to 100 million school kids.

This comes from Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Education Minister Jan Tinetti, who notably do not mention the cost.

Point of Order: Framing an election-winning budget a priority for Hipkins-led team....

.... but will inflation erode any benefit before it arrives?

Incoming Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has already indicated he intends making the tax system “fairer”. That points to the route a government facing an election could take to tilt the odds towards winning in its favour, given Labour’s support in the last months of the Ardern era had been drifting downwards.

Appearing on AM on Monday, Hipkins said he will focus on bread-and-butter issues, like the cost of living, in his new role.

He also hinted that tax changes could be on the cards, saying “we should always look at how we can make the tax system fairer”.

Dr Bryce Wilkinson: How do “we” fairly tax the rich?

Last week, Inland Revenue Minister David Parker gave a speech titled “shining the light on unfairness in the tax system”.

His speech defended an Inland Revenue investigation into the “tax paid by the wealthiest New Zealanders relative to their economic income”. He is proposing a Tax Principles Act in this context.

Parker assured us that this was in the interests of fairness, not envy. Yes, really.

In arguing that the tax system should probably soak the rich more, he asserted that: