1. AMY ADAMS (National—Selwyn) Link to this
to the Minister of Finance
What will Budget 2010 deliver for New Zealanders?
Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance) Link to this
The Budget tomorrow will focus on delivering a stronger economy. It will include a package of tax reforms to make the system fairer and more sustainable, to support a stronger economy, and to help New Zealanders to get ahead. It will continue with a wide-ranging programme of investment in infrastructure, and it will maintain firm control of the Government’s finances, so that we can return to Budget surpluses sooner and pull back our rising debt.
It is important that we focus on growing the economy more quickly so that we can create the new jobs that will provide work for those who have lost their jobs, so that we can lift incomes, and so that we can get back to having surpluses. The Government will then have more choices about how to use public money to improve public services. We also need to tilt the economy towards savings, investment, and exports, and away from the excessive consumption, the unsustainable increases in Government spending, and the excessive borrowing that characterised the last 4 or 5 years of the previous Government.
Metiria TureiWhich of the seven deadly sins does he expect Budget 2010 to deliver New Zealanders from: envy or greed?
Mr SPEAKERThe Budget will express the virtue of earning more than one spends. That will be a new experience. It will be a necessary change for this economy, to undo the years squandered under the previous Government when the country spent more than it earned.
From about 2 p.m. tomorrow New Zealanders will be able to go to the website www.taxguide.govt.nz, where they will be able to put in their own information and assess the impact of the tax changes on their weekly or annual income. But I point out that the tax changes are not just about what people get in their pocket on the day; they are about a long-term need for this economy to focus more on investment, savings, job creation, and exports, and less on excessive consumption, borrowing, and property speculation.
Hon David Cunliffe Link to this
When New Zealanders have looked at the website can the Government explain to them why Budget 2010 will deliver nothing for those on the bottom of the income scale, small change for those on $70,000, and a windfall gain of over $300 a week for those on $500,000? What right does this Government have to lecture New Zealanders about being jealous, when they watch their aspirations going down the toilet?
The member is wrong. New Zealanders have a right to a Government and a Budget that do not squander the opportunities that this country had when the economy was very good. And they have a right to a Budget that undoes the damage caused by Labour when it was in charge of the economy.
Hon David Cunliffe Link to this
I seek leave to table the Financial Stability Report that has just been released, which shows—
The member will resume his seat. This document is already available to members of the House—[ Interruption] I am on my feet, and that is the end of the matter.
The Budget tomorrow will not increase personal income taxes; it will not fiddle with the GST system, acclaimed as being one of the best in the world; it will not jump back on the treadmill of unsustainable Government spending; it will not unnecessarily increase our debt beyond the ability of this country to service that debt; and it will not pin its hopes on unfunded commitments, such as those left by the previous Government. All those measures are ones followed by the previous Labour Government.
Hon David Cunliffe Link to this
I seek leave to table a copy of the Budget that gutted KiwiSaver and suspended—