17 May 2013

Labour slams 'blackjack' Budget

12:00 pm on 17 May 2013

The Labour Party says the Budget forgets millions of hard-working New Zealanders who are the backbone of the country.

Finance Minister Bill English says the Budget shows the Government is on track to return to surplus in 2014-15. It also contains big changes aimed at driving down house prices and delivering more social housing to people on low incomes.

Labour leader David Shearer branded it a blackjack Budget for the well-heeled and the well-connected.

He told Parliament that people shouldn't be fooled by scraps falling off the table from a government that has vested interests in casino giants, movie moguls and investment bankers.

Mr Shearer says the Government heightened expectations about house price relief and alleviating child poverty but hasn't delivered on either count.

He says the Budget is about looking but not touching and proves the National Party has given up.

"This is a blackjack Budget," Mr Shearer told Parliament. "This is a Budget where Bill English holds all the cards but has stacked the deck against ordinary, hard-working New Zealanders.

"It's a game of winners and losers and those who lose out are the millions of Kiwis slogging their guts out every day."

Mr Shearer says the country needed to hear a Budget that would have made a difference to the lives of everyone, and given people real hope.

Labour also says the Government is only scraping into surplus thanks to excessive ACC charges and the petrol tax it brought in.

Finance spokesperson David Parker says house prices are still too high.

"It's a budget that sort of says, well, it's as good as it gets... We think that the two-speed economy we've currently got is not fixed."

Mr Parker says a capital gains tax needs to be introduced to take some heat off the housing sector.