2. Hon RODNEY HIDE (Leader—ACT) Link to this
to the Prime Minister
Has he received any reports regarding the comment attributed by the New Zealand Herald to National MP Shane Ardern that “Mr Hide could stop the ETS if he wished by reconsidering his party’s confidence and supply agreement with National”; and what is his view of the ETS and the confidence and supply arrangement?
Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister) Link to this
I am aware of the comments. My view of the emissions trading scheme is that it strikes a good balance between our economic opportunities and our environmental responsibilities. My view of the confidence and supply arrangement with the ACT Party is that it forms the basis of a very positive and healthy relationship. I thank the ACT Party for its contribution in our stable and balanced Government, and, in particular, I thank the Minister for the great work he has done in reforming Auckland.
Does he share ACT’s concern that the entire net gain from tax cuts for the 550,000 households earning between $40,000 and $85,000, shown to be 0.4 percent of their income on page 9, in the Minister’s Executive Summary, in the Budget, is eaten up by the 0.4 percent extra cost of the emissions trading scheme, as shown on page 65, in the Economic and Fiscal Update—that is, that what Bill English has given back, Nick Smith has taken away for over a million middle-income New Zealanders?
No, because the estimates I have are that the emissions trading scheme will cost the average household around $3 a week, and the tax cut for someone on $50,000, even if they consume the lot, net of GST, is about $14 to $15 a week.
Is the Prime Minister, therefore, saying that the figures contained on page 9 in the Minister’s Executive Summary and on page 65 in the Economic and Fiscal Update, showing, respectively, the extra income for middle-income households earning between $40,000 and $85,000 and the extra costs of the emissions trading scheme are wrong?