National's tax plan promises savings of up to $250 a fortnight
Early details of the party's tax policy show an 'average' household with children savings $250 a fortnight. The question of how this will be paid for will be revealed this morning
Mōrena and welcome to The Bulletin for Wednesday, August 30, by Anna Rawhiti-Connell. Presented in partnership with Z Energy.
In today’s edition: local authorities knew homes were at risk nine hours before alert issued in Hawkes Bay; attorney-general says government’s plan to tackle ram raids violates the rights of children; new poll results in Ilam; but first, early details of National’s tax policy have been revealed this morning
‘Average’ household with children will get up to $250 a fortnight under National’s plan
Both the Herald and The Press have details of the National party’s tax policy this morning. The full plan will be announced by the party at 10.30 this morning. Details seen by the Herald show “how the policy aims to ‘boost’ the incomes of five typical households.” A household earning $120,000 a year with no children will receive up to $100 a fortnight, the Herald reports, while an “average” household with children will get up to $250 a fortnight. A full time worker on $60,000 will get up to $50 a fortnight, and someone who works full time on the minimum wage will get up to $20. A superannuitant couple will get up to $26 a fortnight.
National looks to be dealing to ‘taxation by stealth’
As the Press reports, the package appears likely to be delivered through a mixture of tax cuts, indexation of tax thresholds to take inflation into account and through the Working for Families system. There’s been a steady drumbeat about the indexation of tax thresholds to account for inflation for a while. Some have called it taxation by stealth. Stuff’s Susan Edmunds looked at how much people might save if brackets were adjusted for inflation in February. Infometrics chief forecaster Gareth Kiernan said at the time that if tax brackets were adjusted with inflation, the move would be inflationary. Willis is claiming that the party’s policy will not be inflationary.
Prime Minister calls National ‘desperate’ for trying to find four new taxes
We can undoubtedly expect many questions about how this will be paid for but National’s finance spokesperson Nicola Willis said yesterday that the plan is fully costed and will be funded through a mix of spending cuts and new revenue. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins called National desperate for trying to find four new taxes to pay for the policy. In response to questioning in the House from Luxon yesterday, Hipkins said “I'll tell the member what's desperate: spending two years saying that tax cuts are affordable, and now desperately trying to scrabble together four new taxes in order to pay for them.” Hipkins also cited National cutting income taxes and raising GST under John Key in 2010, despite a 2008 campaign promise not to increase GST.
Scrapping tax exemption for churches and charities ruled out
There was speculation yesterday that it might involve scrapping the tax exemption for churches and charities. Willis scotched that idea yesterday but as Toby Manhire writes, there could still be a slight crack in the door for “something narrowly focused on the large, profitable outfits that in many ways behave like any old business in the marketplace.” If you’re eating a Sanitarium cereal this morning you might know that the business is owned by the Seventh Day Adventist Church, who pay no tax. Act’s David Seymour has long called for the closing of this loophole, issuing a statement yesterday about “an archaic and outdated British law classing advancement of religion as a charitable purpose”.
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Local authorities knew homes were at risk nine hours before alert issued in Hawkes Bay
As Newshub’s Michael Morrah reported on Monday night, local authorities in Hawkes Bay knew homes were at risk as Cyclone Gabrielle came in, but it was nine hours before the first emergency text alert was issued to people in Eskdale. In the wake of Morrah’s report, minister for emergency management Kieran McAnulty has held an urgent meeting with national emergency officials and confirmed local authorities did not pass information on to national officials. Newshub has revealed further issues with the sensors used to monitor rivers in real time. An inquiry into the Hawke's Bay Civil Defence response, led by Mike Bush, has a draft report due later this year. McAnulty has also announced an inquiry into the response to the North Island weather events led by former Governor-General Sir Jerry Mateparae.
Ram raid bill violates rights of children says Attorney-General
Attorney-General David Parker has assessed the legislation at the centre of the government’s plan to target ram raid offending and said it violates the rights of children. The Ram Raid Offending and Related Measures Amendment Bill is an omnibus bill that amends several others to allow for the measures announced by the government in July. It includes amending the Oranga Tamariki Act to allow for 12 and 13-year-olds who commit a ram raid and are charged with a ram raid offence, to be escalated to the Youth Court. As the Herald’s Derek Cheng reports, Parker vetted the bill against the protections in the Bill of Rights Act and said it appeared to be inconsistent on three grounds: the right of a child to be dealt with in an age-appropriate way, the right to be free from unreasonable search or seizure, and the right to freedom of expression.
Gone by Lunchtime: Live from Word Christchurch
Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas took the stage at the Word Christchurch festival on Saturday for a live recording of Gone by Lunchtime. They were joined by Lianne Dalziel, former cabinet minister and Christchurch mayor, to share her thoughts on the Labour campaign, the Christchurch electorates to watch and the local-central balance.
Raf Manji of Top places third in new Ilam poll
As Toby Manhire writes, the Opportunities party’s hope of entering parliament rests heavily on leader Raf Manji and his attempt to win the seat of Ilam. Polling by Curia for the Taxpayers’ Union released last night shows Manji has a way to go. The poll has National candidate Hamish Campbell ahead on 33%, while the incumbent, Labour’s Sarah Pallett is on 15%. Manji is in third place at 14%. Almost a quarter of respondents, 23%, were undecided or refused to answer. With undecideds removed, the Campbell scored 43%, Pallett 20% and Manji 18%. Party vote polling also done by Curia for the Taxpayers’ Union in Ilam shows National ahead at 39%, 10 points higher than the party’s 2020 result of 29%. Labour was 21%, falling from 45% in 2020. Act was at 12%, the Greens at 15%, while Top was on 6%.
Click and Collect
Grant Robertson says he will apologise to James Shaw for cutting $236m in climate spending without a heads up
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi was suspended from the House and National MP Tim van de Molen was censured yesterday
Central Otago communities get first glimpse of Tarras Airport plans
Bad smell in Mount Maunganui caused by “pile of smouldering tapioca”
The world will witness a rare “super blue moon” later this week
For our series The Quarter Million, Shanti Mathias documents the stories of survivors from Marylands School, where sexual and physical abuse by Catholic brothers was brutal, prevalent and normalised. Haimona Gray asks whether there is such a thing as a wasted vote. Sela Hopgood explains why she’s backing Tonga – and only Tonga – for the Rugby World Cup. Duncan Greive spends a night at Aotearoa’s venture capitalist ball. Clare Halford, a doctor who prescribes medicinal cannabis, says it’s time the law caught up and stopped penalising users.
Sporting snippets
Jorge Vilda, Spain’s World Cup-winning coach, is believed to be facing the sack
Why All Blacks lock Scott Barrett escaped a ban after being given a red card
New Zealand athletes finish world athletics championships with six top-10 finishes
Muriwai residents still in caravans and limbo seven months on
Many Muriwai residents are still in limbo after Cyclone Gabrielle and the Auckland floods caused a series of landslides back in January and February. Some storm-damaged properties in West Auckland's Muriwai have now been categorised as RNZ reported yesterday. As time marches on, it can be easy to forget how unsettling and exhausting this is for those who, like Lachlan Mackinven, are still living in caravans waiting for some kind of resolution. TVNZ’s Mark Crysell has stayed on the story and shared Mackinven’s story on Sunday. It’s worth a watch. Mackinven’s home didn’t sustain damage but has been deemed too risky to live in. He shares the only bed in the caravan with his five-year-old daughter and has stopped wearing anything but gumboots to cope with the campground mud. He’s still paying a mortgage on his uninhabitable home which chews up half his weekly income.
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Something isn't stacking up here. Daily we're told there is an infrastructure deficit, the health system is at a point of collapse, climate change needs serious funding to meet our commitments, and police and teachers need more support. So what can we do? How about a tax cut?
Unbelievable.