Cullen to miss televised tax debate

Steve Maharey

Labour has decided not to use Finance Minister Michael Cullen as its spokesman in a televised tax debate tonight.

The party is instead putting up Social Development and Employment Minister Steve Maharey to face National's finance spokesman John Key and a host of smaller party leaders and finance spokespeople.

The move is likely to be seen as evidence the Government is changing tack, by shifting Dr Cullen away from tax issues and refocusing debate on the Working for Families package instead.

Mr Maharey is architect of the complex package of tax credits and income assistance - which Labour paints as targeted tax cuts.

Dr Cullen presided over a badly received Budget last month which offered a small adjustment to income tax thresholds in 2008. Since then National has either edged ahead of Labour or been neck-and-neck in the polls.

The One News Insight live debate, starting at 8.30pm, has been promoted using footage of Dr Cullen.

However, his office says the invitation arrived only in the last few weeks and he had a long-standing commitment to visit the West Coast.

His spokeswoman said the show did not approach his office until June 9 and the itinerary for the West Coast trip was finalised in mid-April.

The itinerary shows his last engagement starts at 3.15pm today in Hokitika but his spokeswoman argued there would be little time to get up to the debate as he did not fly out of the town until 5.30pm.

The debate's executive producer, Richard Harman, said he would have preferred that Dr Cullen attend and thought Mr Maharey was coming instead to accentuate the spending consequences of tax cuts.

Mr Key said tax was one of the crucial election issues and, if Dr Cullen was proud of his policies, he would front up.

But Dr Cullen's spokeswoman said Mr Maharey was "more than capable" of speaking for the Government on tax.

Other debaters are expected to include Act leader Rodney Hide, United Future finance spokesman Gordon Copeland, Greens co-leader Rod Donald and Maori Party president Dr Whatarangi Winiata.

NZ First leader Winston Peters had a prior engagement and it was not sending anyone else, a spokeswoman said. The Progressives were not invited.

The hour-long debate also includes input from a small audience that includes a tax expert from Australia, PricewaterhouseCoopers tax partner John Shewan, Council of Trade Unions economist Peter Conway, Business Roundtable executive director Roger Kerr, Business NZ chief executive Phil O'Reilly, and a handful of workers and small business owners.

Meanwhile, in a speech in Timaru yesterday Mr Peters lashed out at both big parties on tax and said NZ First offered a different perspective - incomes were far too low.

He said putting more disposable income in people's pockets meant growing the economy and exports.

Dr Cullen, speaking to Greymouth Rotary and Lions last night, again attacked National's tax plans, which are yet to be outlined in detail.

"The problem with the kind of wholesale tax cuts National are promising, is that they cost an enormous amount in terms of lost revenue, and benefit primarily those on higher incomes and big business," he said.