{"id":589,"date":"2024-07-12T07:34:09","date_gmt":"2024-07-11T19:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/daveforcouncil.nz\/?p=589"},"modified":"2024-07-12T07:34:09","modified_gmt":"2024-07-11T19:34:09","slug":"letter-not-a-budget-for-all-new-zealanders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exposures.co.nz\/?p=589","title":{"rendered":"Letter: Not a budget for all New Zealanders"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source<\/a> Jul 12, 2024 PDF<\/a><\/p>\n

Not a budget for all New Zealanders<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I AM writing in response to Dana Kirkpatrick\u2019s Members Only<\/a> piece in the Beacon July 3.<\/p>\n

As part of the protest group Postpone The Tax Cuts, we met with Ms Kirkpatrick on May 3 this year and conveyed to her our concerns about the amount of borrowing that the National-led Coalition government would need to undertake to finance this budget.<\/p>\n

We were told to wait until the budget came out and then see if our concerns were valid.<\/p>\n

Well, it turns out Finance Minister Nicola Willis will need to borrow $28.7 billion over the next four years. That\u2019s up by $22 billion from the $6.5 billion forecast just before Christmas that sent financial experts across the political spectrum calling on the Government to postpone the tax cuts.<\/p>\n

The tax cuts themselves will cost Ms Willis $14.7 billion.<\/p>\n

The numbers don\u2019t lie; there is no doubt Ms Willis is borrowing to fund the tax cuts, and then some.<\/p>\n

And as I write this, I can hear the old guard of National party faithful yelling at the top of their croaky voices, \u201cthat\u2019s better than Robertson\u201d. Bless them.<\/p>\n

However, the facts are that Willis will spend $2.6 billion MORE than Roberston planned to in 2024\/2025.<\/p>\n

Willis will spend $194.8 billion in this financial year. Overall, the National led coalition will spend nearly $7 billion more in 24\/25 than in the last financial year.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s with the massive job cuts.<\/p>\n

In dollar terms, Willis is the biggest spending finance minister in Aotearoa\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

The budget for all New Zealanders predicts no surplus in the foreseeable future, $10 billion a year in debt servicing, higher unemployment, lower wage growth while prices are expected to rise by 8.5 per cent.<\/p>\n

More New Zealanders are expected to leave for better lifestyles while immigration is set to increase with people happy to work for poor wages.<\/p>\n

Per capita GDP fell by 2.8 per cent this year and will fall again in 24\/25. By 2028, if things go to plan, New Zealanders will be just 4 per cent better off by 2028 than they were at the end of the final Auckland lockdown of 2021.<\/p>\n

And at what cost?<\/p>\n

Our public services which were rundown to the point of dysfunction under Sir John Key and Sir Bill English and built back up under Dame Jacinda Ardern and Chris Hipkins are once again being run down under the National led coalition. We are already seeing the flow on effects of this with a deeper recession and higher than expected unemployment.<\/p>\n

Putting people out of work to deliver a budget for all New Zealanders sounds like something from a Monty Python skit \u2013 except it\u2019s not funny because this isn\u2019t a skit, this is our country going down the gurgler.<\/p>\n

Happy landlords may be telling Ms Kirkpatrick that they\u2019ll vote for her again, but who else is falling for this?<\/p>\n

One of the saving grace\u2019s from Ms Willis\u2019 budget has to be that the tax cuts for the wealthy were postponed.<\/p>\n

Those on over $180,000 have been put on hold.<\/p>\n

Unless we intend to sell off everything that moves, and tax people for using every road in the country, probably including their driveways, the National-led coalition cannot proceed with any further tax cuts that increase our nation\u2019s debt.<\/p>\n

This has been a budget that robs our grandchildren of any chance of getting ahead living in this country.<\/p>\n

This has not been a budget for all New Zealanders.<\/p>\n

Dave Stewart<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jul 12, 2024 As part of the protest group Postpone The Tax Cuts, we met with Ms Kirkpatrick on May 3 this year and conveyed to her our concerns about the amount of borrowing that the National-led Coalition government would need to undertake to finance this budget. We were told to wait until the budget came out and then see if our concerns were valid. Well, it turns out Finance Minister Nicola Willis will need to borrow $28.7 billion over the next four years. That\u2019s up by $22 billion from the $6.5 billion forecast just before Christmas that sent financial experts across the political spectrum calling on the Government to postpone the tax cuts. The tax cuts themselves will cost Ms Willis $14.7 billion. . . . → Read More: Letter: Not a budget for all New Zealanders<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7411,"featured_media":407,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Not a budget for all New Zealanders","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[121,129,128],"tags":[],"series":[124],"class_list":["post-589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-from-the-press","category-letters","category-whakatane-beacon","series-dave-for-council","odd"],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/exposures.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/57_plymouth_towcar_front.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/exposures.co.nz\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/exposures.co.nz\/?feed=podcast&podcast_series=dave-for-council","embedCode":"

Letter: Not a budget for all New Zealanders<\/a><\/blockquote>