Pledge record puts integrity to the test

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Pledge 1

1999: Create jobs through promoting New Zealand industries and better support for exporters and small business.

2002: Work with all sectors to create an innovative, growing economy with more jobs.

Comment: Achieved. Unemployment rate now lowest in the West.

2005: No interest on student loans for New Zealand-based graduates.

Pledge 2

1999: Focus on patients not profit and cut waiting times for surgery.

2002: Better access to primary healthcare.

Comment: Health system restructured into district health boards and funding increased, but number of operations virtually static. Labour has funded cheaper doctors' visits and prescriptions through Primary Health Organisations.

2005: 7500 extra cataract operations and 10,000 extra major joint operations in the next term.

Pledge 3

1999: Cut tertiary education costs, starting with a fairer loans scheme.

2002: Keep tertiary education affordable. More schoolteachers.

Comment: Both pledges kept. Students pay no interest while studying and 3000 extra teachers above those required to match roll growth. Spotlight on some tertiary providers over value of courses and spending.

2005: Final date for lodging historical Treaty claims by 1 September 2008, and commit to finish all settlements by 2020.

Pledge 4

1999: Reverse the 1999 cuts to superannuation rates. Guarantee superannuation in the future by putting a proportion of all income tax into a separate fund which cannot be used for any other purpose.

2002: Put government funds aside now to guarantee current superannuation for everyone in the future.

Comment: Both achieved.

2005: Increase maximum rates rebate to $500 and increase income eligibility thresholds.

Pledge 5

1999: Restore income-related rents for state housing so that low-income tenants pay no more than 25 per cent of their income in rent.

2002: Double the number of modern apprenticeships.

Comment: Both achieved.

2005: $1000 kick-start for everyone joining KiwiSaver and up to $10,000 as a grant for couples ($5000 for single people) saving to buy their first home.

Pledge 6

1999: Crack down on burglary and youth crime.

2002: Tougher sentences for the most serious offenders. More support for proven programmes to cut youth offending.

Comment: Crime resolution rate has risen from 38.9 per cent to 44.6 per cent between 1999 and 2004. Imprisonment rates and average sentence lengths up.

2005: 5000 extra modern apprentices.

Pledge 7

1999: No rise in income tax for the 95 per cent of taxpayers earning under $60,000 a year. No increases in GST or company tax.

2002: No rise in rates of income tax, GST, or company tax.

Comment: As promised, but rising incomes mean 11 per cent of taxpayers are now in top tax bracket.

2005: 250 extra community police on the streets.