Nothing for agriculture, bag of peanuts to replace National's largest ever increase in business tax.

Business tax measures announced today are worth only a fraction of the increase in business tax the National Government introduced before Christmas, Progressive leader Jim Anderton says.

And the changes, worth just $10.50 a week to a small business, again ignore agriculture when New Zealand's main source of overseas income faces testing times.

"The first thing National did in office was to introduce the largest increase in tax paid by business in New Zealand's history. It introduced a new tax on innovation, at a cost to our most promising industries of over a billion dollars in just three years. The peanut-sized tax policies announced today are worth less than half that.

"Across 220,000 small businesses, $480 million over four years is worth only $10.50 a week. That's a big bag of peanuts.

"It is a quarter of the two billion dollars that would have been invested in our primary industries through the New Zealand Fast Forward fund if National had not jeopardised our economic future by axing it.

"There is nothing for agriculture in this package. Agriculture earns two thirds of New Zealand's income overseas, and if we are going to weather the global economic crisis we need to strengthen our agricultural sector. The National Government didn't mention agriculture in the Speech From the Throne and didn't get a mention from the Prime Minister today. This is a government made up of money market dealers, not people who understand productive businesses that power the real economy.

"If John Key hadn't spent his first months in office on holiday, he would have had the strength to reverse his failed tax on innovation. The measures announced today are useful, but nowhere near enough to deliver the strength and innovation our economy needs."

ENDS

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