English signals more tax cuts
A fourth-term National Government will further cut taxes and raise incomes, Prime Minister Bill English has said in a speech to lift party faithful after a horror week.
Speaking at the party’s annual conference in Wellington yesterday, English said National’s family incomes package in the May Budget was an ‘‘excellent step forward’’ and there was more coming.
‘‘If we are able to keep lifting growth and carefully manage the public finances we will be able to further reduce taxes and lift income.’’
Speaking to reporters later, English would not offer specifics. There was unlikely to be much detail on the campaign trail either, he suggested.
The priority was to bed in the May Budget’s family income’s package, after which any future package would be dependent on the conditions of lifting growth and managing expenditure.
It was only if those conditions were met that National had ’’the potential to do it again’’.
‘‘So you’re not going to see a whole lot of specifics about a second incomes package before we’ve got the first one in place.’’
The package announced in the May budget does not kick in till April next year. Through minor threshold changes and a lift to the family tax credit, families will get an average $26 a week.
A rise in accommodation subsidies could push that to $100 or more a week.
Labour leader Andrew Little said Kiwis had bigger worries than a few extra dollars from tax cuts.
‘‘Right now, when I get around New Zealand, what people are telling me they most want the Government to get on top of is housing, they want the money for hospitals ... tax cuts are not a priority.’’
Finance Minister Steven Joyce signalled on Saturday that any future tax cuts would likely be targeted at low or middle-income earners.
The speech, billed as a ‘‘vision’’ statement, was otherwise short on detail or new policy initiatives. English mostly used it to paint a picture of the ‘‘miserable opposition’’ parties of Labour, NZ First and the Greens as wanting to shut New Zealand off from the world.
‘‘They would rather New Zealand slowed down to their pace.’’
English took particular aim at Labour and NZ First plans to slash immigration, and wouldn’t rule out National winding back its own immigration ‘‘tweaks’’, which sparked a backlash from business for choking off immigrant labour.
But Little said Labour was just calling for a breather.
‘‘We are pro-immigration. We just need a bit of time to catch up, to build infrastructure this Government has failed to invest in.’’
Labour was worried about how New Zealand looked in 30,40 or 50 years time, not three years from now like National, Little said.
The conference has been overshadowed by ongoing questions about English’s handling of a police investigation into rookie MP Todd Barclay, who has announced he will step down.
English released a police statement on Tuesday confirming he was aware of Barclay recording a staff member, who was later paid a secret settlement.
National headed into the weekend with a polling boost from the Budget, but it will be worried some gains have been lost over the Barclay scandal.