Bill English MP
National Party Finance Spokesman
12 November 2007
Dr Cullen maintains tradition of tax-cut denial
National Party Finance spokesman says Michael Cullen's strongly held view that tax cuts make no difference to the
trans-Tasman brain-drain is not new.
"Dr Cullen has always maintained that tax makes no difference to the decision by a growing number of Kiwis that they
should pack up and leave."
In the heat of the 2005 election campaign, Dr Cullen put his real feelings down on paper when he said: 'If, as some have
suggested, New Zealanders are fleeing as tax exiles to Australia, one can only conclude that those individuals are
functionally innumerate, and we are probably better off without them.' **
Mr English says Dr Cullen's message has always been that there's no way New Zealand can win, so there's no point even
trying.
"So, instead of working tirelessly to try to close the gap, Labour has become pre-occupied with staying in power. That's
the only reason Helen Clark put tax on the agenda at her recent conference. The reality is that neither she nor Dr
Cullen actually believes in them."
Mr English says National has been a long term advocate of phased tax cuts as an incentive for enterprise and
productivity growth. Meanwhile, Dr Cullen cancelled the 'chewing gum' tax cuts he promised in an election year because
New Zealanders weren't grateful enough.
"By Dr Cullen's own calculations, someone on the average wage who has had pay increases of around $10,000 since he came
to power, has been allowed to keep only $1,700 of it, once taxation and inflation is taken into account.
"On Dr Cullen's best-case-scenario numbers, the total dividend to Joanna Average is just $1,700 in real terms.
"Little wonder, on those figures, that according to Dr Cullen, New Zealanders have 'zero' chance of closing the income
gap with Australians."
ENDS