Labour, Greens split over tax move

The Budget tax cut plan has split the Opposition, with Labour voting against the changes and the Greens and NZ First voting in favour.

From next April, the moves, which lift the bottom two tax thresholds, will give $10.70 a week to those earning more than $22,000, and $20.38 to those on more than $52,000 a year.

But the simultaneous axing of a $10 a week credit for low earners with no dependents means some will only be better off by $1 a week, leading Labour leader Andrew Little to dub it the ‘‘dollar Bill Budget’’.

He said the Greens were an independent party and could do what they wanted.

Labour and the Greens have a memorandum of understanding as well as an agreement on a joint set of Budget responsibility rules (BRRS).

He said not too much should be read into the two parties voting in opposite ways on the tax package.

‘‘They’ve made their political judgment on the basis of this Budget at this time. But both our parties have pretty clear agreement about the level of discipline required in fiscal management if we have the privilege of forming a government.’’

Labour took a different view on whether the package was well targeted and well prioritised.

‘‘If we have the privilege of forming government there is a level of jointness in our platforms – and we make those decisions more jointly and in a more connected way than we do when we are two parties in opposition, albeit working closely together,’’ Little said.

‘‘You can vote different ways and that (BRRs) document retains its integrity.’’

Greens co-leader Metiria Turei has described their decision as a ‘‘line call’’ to back a move that would put some cash in people’s back pockets.

The family tax credit was the only credit that beneficiaries got ‘‘and they are the ones that need it the most’’.

‘‘I won’t oppose more support for the families that have always had the least and need the most.’’

Turei said the new abatement rates ‘‘were terrible and the tax cuts were ridiculous but the family tax credit, small as it is, will help’’.

The Greens had no choice but to also vote for the threshold rate change because of the way the bill was structured.

Little would not be drawn on the detail of Labour’s plans for tax thresholds, but said the Budget package was poorly targeted.

‘‘This is not about giving benefits to low and middle income earners. It still favours top income earners.’’

Five times as much was going into the tax part of the package than the Working for Families element.

He said Labour would support changes to Working for Families and the accommodation supplement increases.

However, it was concerned at the accelerated abatement rate, which goes up from 22.5 per cent to 25 per cent, and the lower abatement threshold of $35,000 down from $36,350, that applied to Working for Families payments.

Labour would look again at its Best Start policy, to support families on poverty, in light of the Budget changes to Working for Families.

Little said Finance Minister Steven Joyce’s first Budget was clearly an election-year document.

‘‘Tax cuts can only be seen as an election bribe and one heavily targeted at the well-off.’’

Upper income earners got the most benefit and the poorest, earning under $14,000, get nothing from the tax package. Property speculators on $200,000 got 20 times what their minimum wage tenants received.

He and Prime Minister Bill English did not need a $1000-a-year tax cut, which they would get from the package.

But it was an opportunity missed to invest more in things like infrastructure and schools.

‘‘When you use Budgets for sugar hits it means you miss the chance to make other more important changes.’’ The Kawerau siege gunman who shot four armed offenders squad members last year claims he’s a victim of kidnapping and the court has no jurisdiction to sentence him. Appearing via audio visual link at the High Court in Tauranga yesterday, Rhys Richard Ngahiwi Warren, 28, launched into a prepared speech firing his appointed defence lawyer, Ron Mansfield, and challenging the court’s right to sentence him. He said he had been a victim of kidnapping. Justice Brewer cut the audio link to Warren before addressing the court. ‘‘If he carries on this way he will have no meaningful input into the sentencing process. He must understand your role [Mansfield] is to assist me as a judge, not to act as counsel.’’ The sentencing date was pushed back to August 11.

Two of Wellington’s former mayors were honoured at Government House yesterday. Fran Wilde, who held the mayoralty from 1992-1995, received the Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the state and community. Celia Wade-Brown, who held the same position from 2010-2016, was awarded the Companion of The Queen’s Service Order for services to local government.

Drivers who sell rides and source booze for under-aged teens could be slapped with a $2000 fine, police warn. Dunedin police are cracking down on those profiting from the sale of alcohol to minors, after several incidents involving intoxicated teens on city streets. Alcohol harm prevention officer Sergeant Ian Paulin said sober drivers were arranged over Facebook sites, with private messages sent arranging the purchase of booze. ’’They will get in the car, taken to a bottle store, flick them the cash and they will then buy [the booze] and come back.’’ Drivers who bought alcohol for a minor faced a maximum $2000 fine. Paulin said several intoxicated teenagers found on Dunedin streets recently had confirmed to police they sourced their alcohol from drivers over Facebook.

Corrections says it is ‘‘deeply sorry’’ for failing in its duty of care to a young prisoner who was sexually violated by his cellmate. The 19-yearold was forced into oral sex by Stephen Mark Gotty, a repeat sexual offender who had a history of targeting teenagers. The victim now struggles with anxiety and depression. The failure led to disciplinary action against staff at the Mt Eden prison. Chief custodial officer Neil Beales said prison officers had ‘‘incorrectly determined that the prisoners were compatible to share a cell’’. ‘‘We have a range of policies in place, which staff are required to follow to ensure that prisoners are safe. On this occasion those policies were not complied with, and a young man was hurt. We are deeply sorry that this has happened.’’