Chester Borrows: Budget blunts Labour attack

Chester Borrows

IT'S A FUNNY old thing when Budget time comes around, especially within a few months of an election.

There are always lollies in the Budget that will endear the public towards the government of the day, but there is tension because Opposition parties also want to curry favour with the voters.

The pre-election fiscal update, where the Treasury reveals how much money is in the kitty and how much any incoming government has to spend, means there is no cash unaccounted for and an Opposition can't say: "We'll do all that and more".

Labour says there are hundreds of thousands of children living in poverty. The Budget raises 50,000 children out of benefit-dependent households, but Labour is voting against it.

The Budget raises tax thresholds and cuts tax to everybody and gives some of the poorest up to $100 per week when accommodation supplements are taken into account. Labour has voted against this too.

The Budget raises Working For Families and Labour is voting against that too.

It raises money going to schools and hospitals more than they have ever had before, and Labour is voting against these provisions as well.

Labour argues that as the population goes up and the per-capita dollars don't follow at the same rate, then health spending is in effect getting cut. But with 50,000 more elective surgeries like hips and knees, and cataracts getting replaced, and with thousands more nurses and hundreds more doctors in our hospitals, the point is moot.

If you are putting billions more money in the pot, spending it more efficiently and achieving better results, it is hard to call that a cut, even with an increased population.

The telling behaviour after the Budget has been the behaviour of the opposition parties as they have voted.

The Labour Party has voted against any of the legislation that activates changes in the Budget such as increasing the accommodation allowance and lowering taxes for the low-paid because they hate the Government.

The Greens have voted for those measures because they think any enhancement is worthwhile, as it will benefit people even if it doesn't go far enough in their view -- it's a step in the right direction.

This seems to highlight that the marriage-made-in-heaven between Labour and the Greens is going through a rough patch.

Last year both Green co-leaders spoke at the Labour Party conference, and the event was attended by several Green MPs. This year Greens were a no-show.

The Greens have not notified Labour of changes in policy or their decision to support the Government's budget-empowering legislation.

Although Greens have pulled their candidate in Ohariu to give Greg O'Connor a better chance of tipping over Peter Dunne, they are still standing candidates in marginal seats held by Labour such as Port Hills in Christchurch, where Ruth Dyson has only a 2000-vote lead over National. The MOU is MIA.

The big news from the Budget is that New Zealand is back in the black and projected to stay there, with higher growth, lower unemployment, better healthcare and education, lower taxes, increased benefits, increased take-home pay, and a fairer economy.

This puts the Opposition under pressure as they contemplate another term off the Treasury benches. Winston Peters is doing a far better job leading the Opposition than Andrew Little or the co-leaders of the Greens.

Extended bouts in Opposition put politicians under pressure, and their whole show at the moment is reminiscent of Dad's Army, with Corporal Jones, disguised as Ron Mark, screaming: "Don't panic!"

Andrew Little has scored the lead as Captain Mainwaring.