Labour

Bill English can try to rewrite history all he likes, but the truth is that inequality is getting worse under National and Thursday’s Budget does nothing to fix that, says David Parker, Labour’s Finance spokesperson.

“Both income and asset inequality have worsened under the current government, and will continue do so.

The National government’s “upside” forecast is an even more unbalanced two-speed economy, says Labour’s Finance spokesperson David Parker. 

“The Government’s central projection in its budget shows just modest growth. But their so-called “Upside Scenario” is in reality even worse.

The 2014/15 surplus is not ‘wafer thin’, it comes from massaging from the numbers, rather than growth, Labour’s Revenue and Associate Finance Spokesperson David Cunliffe said.

“The Government has had to resort to contortionist accounting tricks, overcharging for ACC and hiking petrol tax to scrape back into surplus.

Speech to Grant Thornton’s Budget Breakfast, Wellington

Good morning,

I want to talk to you about Labour’s economic plan. A plan that is modern, fiscally responsible and has the good of the people at its heart.

But first I’ll tell you why we need it.

The budget does nothing to tackle the two-speed economy that National is creating, says Labour’s Finance spokesperson David Parker.

“National’s two-speed economy is creating winners and losers. The winners are a few well, connected elites. The losers are the rest of us.

With less than 24 hours to go before the budget Bill English has shown he’s not on top of the numbers, making an embarrassing error on manufacturing figures, says Labour’s Finance spokesperson David Parker.

Rampant Auckland house prices are a symptom of National’s poor economic management, says Labour’s Finance spokesperson David Parker.

It will comes as no surprise that Labour disagrees with the open letter from Phil O’Reilly and others, says Labour’s Finance spokesperson David Parker.

“Labour is absolutely committed to lower power bills for New Zealand households and businesses. NZ Power will reduce bills by $230 - $330 a year for families and commercial bills by 5 – 7 per cent. 

National has caved in to the overwhelming pressure from manufacturers and exporters who have backed Labour’s procurement policy, says Labour’s Associate Finance spokesperson Shane Jones.

Labour’s NZ Power plan to cut power bills will provide a real boost to New Zealand businesses and the economy, says Labour Associate Finance spokesperson Shane Jones