Cullen and Brash go head to head at launch

By LIAM DANN

Finance Minister Michael Cullen and the man who wants his job, Don Brash locked horns before a gathering of top business leaders this morning.

Cullen described the function -- to launch the New Zealand Herald's "Mood of the Boardroom" survey -- as a "home game" for Brash. The National party leader's ideas on tax reform and employment law were well received by an audience which had already voiced its dissatisfaction with Government policy through the survey.

Cullen argued that New Zealand business was adopting an unreasonably gloomy position given that the country had outperformed its economic peers in the last few years.

The Government had presided over a period of economic growth in spite of an international situation which included the SARS outbreak and the Iraq war, he said.

Despite the pessimistic tone of the survey it was positive to see that most respondents were planning to hire more staff in the coming year.

There was a disparity between the perceptions of business leaders and their own intentions with regard to hiring and investment, he said.

For that he laid the blame with business journalists who could not accept the Government had contributed to recent economic growth.

Brash responded by restating the need to cut the corporate tax rate and reduce compliance costs for business. He described the Resource Management Act (RMA) as a cumbersome piece of legislation.

"National is absolutely committed to streamlining RMA processes," he said.

National planned to cut the corporate tax rate to 30 per cent. On the issue of personal tax the priority was cuts for low and middle income earners but Brash did commit to cutting the top tax rate during his first term in Government.

Cullen argued that New Zealand business was not overtaxed compared to countries like Australia.

Despite the lower corporate tax rate across the Tasman, business there was subject to a number of other complicated taxes which New Zealand business was not, he said.