National's tax cuts: small gain, big pain for families
Finance Minister Michael Cullen has returned to the attack on National over what the government sees as National's vulnerability over promises to cut government spending.
"Yesterday my colleague Pete Hodgson announced a major Budget initiative for a very significant increase in spending in elder care. That money is to go overwhelmingly to the underpaid workers in the elder sector.
"Mr English has said the government should not be increasing spending. He now needs to tell us whether he supports or opposes extra money for workers in the elder care sector.
"Meanwhile Mr Key is showing ever more confusion over Working for Families. He is now saying families earning between $70,000 and $130,000 a year should not get Family Support Tax Credits.
"Yet his reported policy is to can the improvements to Working for Families announced in late 2005.
"That means lowering the threshold for abatement from $35,000 to $27,500 and increasing the abatement rate from 20 per cent to 30 per cent.
"Every family currently getting Family Support with a household income over $27,500 would lose. For a couple on a joint income of $40,000 a year - well below the national average - and two teenage children, the cut would be $53 a week.
"At a very ordinary joint income of $60,000 a year, a two child family could lose as much as $82 a week and a minimum of $43 a week depending on the age of the children.
"This is Kiwi battler territory and Mr Key ventures into it at his own peril. The savings such cuts to Working for Families would make would enable an across the board tax cut of less than $5 a week.
"Bring it on."
"Yesterday my colleague Pete Hodgson announced a major Budget initiative for a very significant increase in spending in elder care. That money is to go overwhelmingly to the underpaid workers in the elder sector.
"Mr English has said the government should not be increasing spending. He now needs to tell us whether he supports or opposes extra money for workers in the elder care sector.
"Meanwhile Mr Key is showing ever more confusion over Working for Families. He is now saying families earning between $70,000 and $130,000 a year should not get Family Support Tax Credits.
"Yet his reported policy is to can the improvements to Working for Families announced in late 2005.
"That means lowering the threshold for abatement from $35,000 to $27,500 and increasing the abatement rate from 20 per cent to 30 per cent.
"Every family currently getting Family Support with a household income over $27,500 would lose. For a couple on a joint income of $40,000 a year - well below the national average - and two teenage children, the cut would be $53 a week.
"At a very ordinary joint income of $60,000 a year, a two child family could lose as much as $82 a week and a minimum of $43 a week depending on the age of the children.
"This is Kiwi battler territory and Mr Key ventures into it at his own peril. The savings such cuts to Working for Families would make would enable an across the board tax cut of less than $5 a week.
"Bring it on."