Stuff asked the following question
More than 2 million Kiwis should have received their first cost of living payment as we all face rising prices.
All up, those eligible will receive $350 over three instalments, an extra $27 per week over 3 months. Will that really provide a meaningful helping hand or are there other ways to more effectively fight inflation?
Stuart Smith
National MP
Kaikoura
Below is Stuart Smith’s response.
We are in a cost-of-living crisis as a result of a government who cannot manage the economy.
Inflation is currently at a 7.2 per cent, which is a 32-year high.
Wages are simply not keeping up with that, which means New Zealanders are going backwards. While prices at the supermarket and the pump increase, the back pocket of every single Kiwi is getting lighter and lighter by the day.
Back in May when the Government finally realised the fiscal pain that households were facing after denying that we had a cost-of-living crisis, they panicked and floundered around looking for a solution.
They came up with the cost-of-living payment virtually days before the Budget and, as it turns out, it has been a failure of epic proportions.
Inland Revenue and the Treasury advised Grant Robertson and David Parker that they did not have the logistical means to administer such a payment. But they decided to push on anyway in a desperate attempt to alleviate the crisis they themselves created.
Inland Revenue were on the money, because 800,000 people who were meant to and were eligible to receive the payment didn’t, but French backpackers who were in New Zealand five years ago did. Even worse, it has been confirmed that some New Zealanders who have passed away would still have received the cost-of-living payment.
It is easy to be generous and not consider the consequences of your actions when you are spending other people’s money.
Taxpayer money, your money, is being given to ex-pats across the world who are not suffering the cost-of-living crisis we are in New Zealand and who are not contributing to our economy.
A National government would alleviate the cost-of-living crisis by adjusting income tax thresholds for inflation. That means, you keep more of what you earn. I’m a strong believer that you know what to do with your money better than the government does, and adjusting such tax thresholds would ensure that there are far less complications with Inland Revenue.
Unfortunately, it is not just the cost-of-living crisis that we are all grappling with, it is the lack of housing, poor healthcare, low education standards and increases in crime. Frankly, under this Labour Government, we are going backwards.
Having good intentions can only get you so far. When the rubber hits the road, you need to be able to deliver on the intentions you set out. I’m confident that National can deliver for New Zealand.