OPINION:
On what should have been a day squarely focused on Grant Robertson’s fiscal mismanagement, the dramatic expansion of government spending, and resulting high inflation, there was instead an awful lot of talk about what seemed to be yet another U-turn by the Leader of the Opposition.
It’s becoming harder and harder to keep up with National’s tax policy. Take indexation for example. In the past year, National has been absolutely committed to indexation, then gone wobbly on it, then reiterated it was a “key commitment of any future tax plan”, then backed down only to say in “principle [it] is really good”, and then yesterday reiterated their commitment to the policy. Clear as mud. But indexation should really be a no brainer – even New Zealand First get it.
For too long politicians – Bill English and John Key included – have got away with stealth tax hikes every year. Inflation pushes people into higher marginal tax brackets meaning they pay more and more of their income to the tax man each year, even if there is no real increase to their income. And without a single vote being cast in Parliament. Indexation simply ensures that if a government wants to increase taxes, our democratically elected representatives have the final say—and bear the consequences of that decision.
But while - this week at least - indexation is now definitely National policy, the entire rest of National’s tax plans are again “up for review”. This includes their previous commitment to scrap Labour’s 39 per cent income tax rate.