Cunliffe drops Labour proposals to exempt GST on fruit and veges and to exempt first NZ$5,000 of income from tax

Typical , flip flopping all over the place like a fish out of water , with absolutely no coherent policies or firm stance on anything .

And I like Cunliffe's reference to our hard earned money .

He does not have a clue just how hard it is to earn a living when you are in the real world and not sitting in sheltered employment as a Civil servant  in the Public Sector or in Parliament

You can be sure of one thing , it will be more of Labour's historical polices of TAX -AND -SPEND other peoples hard earned money.

One term of  a  GREENLABOURFIRSTINTERNETMAORIMANA MONSTER  will be a financial disaster on the scale of the Christchurch earthquake .

Just how anyone could keep all the divergent wants and nice-to-haves of each of these parties happy in anyone's guess.

God help us .

Skycity regrettably is the NZX equivalent of BHP

Chorus is a former SOE that we have not bailed out yet .

and the Tiwai smelter deal was cheaper than having all those workers on the Unemployment Benefit 

If it were not so serious , it would be funny .

I have just read Cunliffe's expanded press release on the NZ Herald website, and gives one an insight into Labours skewed view of the world  .

Q . Why have they have dropped the GST exemption on fresh fruit & vegetables idea?

A. Simply because their voters dont dont buy much fresh fruit and veggies even though its the cheapest way to eat a healthy balanced and nutritous square meal .

Maybe  they think McDonalds and KFC  should be GST exempt instead ?

You're welcome to draw your own conclusions

Labour, drop the Greens and you will have many many more votes!

Credit where credit is due, someone has finally worked out GST exemptions are a dumb policy. Perhaps it gives some hope the same analysis will be applied to CGT and realisation that this hasn't worked anywhere yet to achieve what the promotors want it to achieve.

If I were a lefty I'd be looking at two tax type changes.  Increase in the top tax rate, bang it on at 50% plus over $XX amount (and bang it on at say 35% for all trust income, distributed or not)... Secondly, bring in estate and gift duties/inheritance type tax on anything above say $100k or whatever..

Bingo....the voters will come running....... some the other way!

CGT is already levied on multiple property trades , its just non-compliance with the Tax laws that are the real issue

I think that Labour should move to the centre and nick some votes from the Nats. Use sensible polcies like this. Leave just enough room on the left for minor parties who will be grateful to be in power.

GST on fruit and veges was never gonna work.

Fine tune super annuation policy but start the trend of retirement age increasing.

Of course the usual suspects will say Cunliffe is fliflopping but in light of a new leader and a changing eceonomic situation I think policy changes are a mark of a grownup.

Most remarkably for me is Cunliffe talking up the Norwegian oil model. It's phenomenally sensible and has served them very very well. That's yer Waitakere man vote right there.

And finally, I absolutely call bullshit on the usual Tory numpties who will talk of companies leaving NZ in their droves if the left-leaning govt is formed. That's either stupidity or blackmail, both of which we can do without.

So is anybody here going to offer up some realistic policy objectives?

That applies to each and every party.

Correct my Gumfuddled memory if I'm wrong Bernard .... but these policies which Cunliffe is dropping as unworkable and not directly targeted to the poorer and lower income folk , aren't they his own concoctions ?

.... didn't the all knowning Cunny one dream these schemes up himself , when shadow-finance minister under David Shearer's leadership ?

Lets face it not a single new original thought has come from Cunliffe or those tired old men who run the Labour party  .

Apart from the flip-flop there is nothing new .....nothing

• Reduce GST on fresh fruit and vegies , seen it before , it did not fly and anyway Cunliffe has just admitted his voters dont eat much fresh fruit or veggies .( They live in HNZ homes at $50per week and have far  too much disposable income for Fast food instead of yucky carrots , peas and beans )
•  
• CAPITAL GAINS TAX seen this before , why anyone would want to pay more tax is beyond me and the rule is if you want less of something .... tax it , so we want fewer houses .And who is going to provide the market with rental stock? Housing New Zealand ? I think not
•  
• Extend WORKING FOR FAMILIES to the unemployed ..... well that defeats the very reason for its existence , it was lauded by Helen Clarke as a financial incentive for low earners to encourage people to find work .
•  
• Increase income tax rates ? Well lets see how much revenue is actually collected by the time the wealthy have set up their efficient tax structures . The brunt of such a move will be felt by those on PAYE
•  
• Instead of increasing the size of the economic  cake , cut the existing cake into smaller slices and take more for the Government .
•  
• Tax- and- spend other peoples money until it runs out ( as it always does )

.... so Cunny has " saved " $NZ 1.5 billion by abolishing these two policies .... which is about all the idiotic CGT was suppose to raise ... so why not dump that too ?

Of course , to mitigate against higher income earners getting a benefit from the $ 0-5000 tax-free threshold ..... Labour could have raised income tax on actual high earners , the $ 150 000 + club ..... you know , civil servants  and MP's !!!

Well, let's have a leetle fun with some actual Policy, moderated by the main principle  (Buying enough Votes to get Elected)

• Take a leaf out of UK Labour:  open the door to new migrants and expats (especially the Maori diaspora) and offer a cash sum as an incentive.  A goodly percentage will take the Red Pill in sheer gratitude for the $.
• Impose swingeing taxes on luxury goods (a sumptuary tax) - unless they are made, handled or otherwise touched by poor people in the distribution chain, because we mustn't have Inadvertent Regressiveness in Tax Policy, must we?
• A double-glazed window tax - after all, only new builds, fat felines and the Rilly Rich have DG, and it;s a very objective tax - easy to spot, hard to avoid.  Inspections alone could do wonders for the unemployment rate and the training wouldn't take long - just a GPS-capable tablet, an app with a checkbox, and 5 minutes instruction, and yer Ready to Tax!
• A Living Wage Commission, to ensure that there is constant and unrelenting pressure to extend a fair Wage to all and sundry irrespective of Where Da Munny comes from.  A mini-employment scheme in its own right, methinks.  The usual gaggle of unionista, the perpetually discontented, and not excluding newly minted BFA's and Putative Journo's, would seem a fairly representative body...we might term them the Usual Suspects.

Although, and the dreadful thought has just struck me (my two, old, brain cells do take some coaxing these days) - what if some a them reddish or greenish pollies are reading this?

Oh, wait....

So Labour have this imaginary $1,5 Billion which they are going to 'save' (but  which we dont have ) through dropping the idea of spending it on veggies , which their supporters dont want anyway , because as Cunliffe says in his statement they dont buy veggies .

We assume Labour has cottoned on that its voters prefer KFC and Maccers to peas ,  beans, asparagus and artichokes  .

Labour supporters do like carrots however , but not the Akaroa Long Red varietal ( famous NZ carrot variety) , they prefer the figurative carrot , and no not the Amsterdam finger carrot either.

I wish to announce I have just this minute solved all the financial problems of the country. I have decided to drop my previous policy of 99% tax on all revenues, I see clearly now this tax might have had some compliance and enforcement problems.

This clearly frees up billions and billions of dollars for distribution to every family in the country.

Elect me and then get in the queue for the handout of the century.

Save us all.

Credit, where credit is due.

When Cunliffe proposes saving a billion, here or there, is he actually competing with the old credit regime, or the new over blown credit regime.

Or are they combining forces and taking the accounting practice to extremes and the payrise anyway, anyhow, any time soon..

Because when Key, National and English  boasts of beating the deficit, they are  usually talking up large, not piddly small stuff we used to spend before, a mere bagatelle, a mere trifle, a soupson based on current events, current rates and elctrifying examples.

Because revenue gatherers and revenue estimates, clearly state that there is a negative element used today, even before adding in and taking away any benefits of SOE sales, and tax credits, tax deductions and share points peaked.

Negating that premise, can Cunliffe and Key jointly, Dunne and Winnie, Greens , Reds, Commies and Maori, agree on what constitutes the current deficit going forwards, so that we can look back with relief, when each has exceeded his mandate.

If the Politicians after the election have a coffee date in Epsom to buy back, or reform, or even repurchase each others votes and or sales prior to announcing a winner, so stated, State owned enterprises and their write downs, we can all be assured of what figures they are talking about, in riddles, dollars and sense.

Failing that, can we simple MMP voters all just get a simple pay rise from  someone's simply over extended budget, to simply pay our our simply inflated mortgages, simply compounded rates, borrowings and deficits, fractionally enhanced and eagerly accepted.

I do not mind you all getting a payrise before Christmas,  based on figures plucked out of the air, the ether and the smog, but surely to goodness, fair shares all round, would have been better than a kick in the crutch.

And 6  grand goes further at McDonalds, than the poor ineffectual  taxpayer can stand at the Beehive.

Plus mayonaise, GST and the like.

Or are we still on a budget,  80 Billion and rising and did we put it all on the House, before the election, or after, hedged either way.