On Wednesday I attended a morning tea hosted by Paul Goldsmith at which the National Party’s deputy leader was the guest speaker. VERY IMPRESSIVE. Nicola, as many will be aware, is National’s finance spokesperson, so her presentation mainly concerned financial and economic matters, but other matters were covered in a post address Q+A. This post, apart from informing readers of some of what she said, is aimed particularly at those who are finding it difficult to see much difference between National and Labour.
In the finance and economic area, Nicola listed some current policies that would change under National:
RESERVE BANK – National will return the Reserve Bank to its core responsibilities of keeping inflation under control, and the printing presses will be turned off. Nicola pointed out that only America borrowed more than we did in relation to the size of the economy during the pandemic. We were fifth in the list of developing countries in terms of the amount of money we printed.
AGRICULTURE – Farmers will be relieved of crippling taxes and the mountain of bureaucratic paperwork they are required to fill in. One farmer told Nicola that every spare moment when not out on the farm was taken up with this kind of activity.
JOB INSURANCE TAX – This is currently being worked on and will probably be introduced by Labour. This is a tax levied on both employers and employees, to pay a person who has just lost their job up to 80 per cent of the wage they were on for up to eight months. National will repeal this tax and introduce a system whereby people are assisted into getting back to work sooner.
BOOSTING THE ECONOMY – National will allow more immigrant workers into the country in areas where they were most needed. National will make it easier for them to obtain citizenship. Nicola said National will turn the Immigration Department into a recruiting agency rather than the policing agency it is now.
DISCIPLINE IN GOVERNMENT SPENDING – Nicola’s comments in this regard really related to the old saying ‘you cut your coat according to your cloth’. Government spending will be reined in and wasteful spending will be a thing of the past.
TAX REDUCTIONS – There will be tax reductions taking into account the economic conditions prevailing at the time. This will mean any tax cuts may not be as large or as immediate as some would like.
Responding to questions Nicola confirmed the following:
- Charter schools will return.
- A Covid inquiry will be held.
- Three Waters will be repealed. National believes in the one person one vote principle.
- The Maori Health Authority will be disbanded.
- Co-governance will cease to exist.
- The programme Bill English and Paula Bennett instituted for solo mothers will be brought back. This is where mother and baby are put into a crèche. The baby receives the appropriate health care and the mother is provided with the education needed to equip her to enter the workforce. This policy was operating very successfully.
It is very easy to look at National and Labour with a broad brush and say there is little difference. The points Nicola made in what I have referenced above show there are differences. These differences occur in areas that have the most impact when it comes to turning this country around from the basket case it currently is. You need to look at the individual policies of both parties and then the differences are obvious.
If you want this country to extricate itself from the ongoing shambles Nicola is the person to get the job done.