Category: Labour Party

Massive cuts to public service are on the cards as Nicola Willis has promised to resign if she doesn’t deliver tax cuts but is refusing to make the same commitment if she doesn’t raise enough income from her bungled foreign buyer’s tax.

This clearly shows that any tax cuts from National will have to be funded by deep cuts to the services New Zealanders rely on.

“Not even Nicola Willis is prepared to back her dodgy costings for the foreign buyer tax which means the $2 billion shortfall will have to come from even deeper cuts to public services,” Grant Robertson said.

“The scale of these cuts is massive. The $2 billion dollar hole in National’s costings is the equivalent of paying for about 3800 senior nurses, 4000 teachers or 2700 police every year.

“National have already said they will cut 6.5 percent from many government programmes, these further cuts will see services that New Zealanders rely on under threat.

“Nicola Willis’ commitment to cuts by Christmas should be deeply worrying to everyone, particularly given her coalition partner ACT promising to slash 15,000 jobs.

“Taking that many jobs out of the New Zealand economy is both destabilising and dangerous at a time when we are turning the corner into higher growth.

“Those 15,000 jobs will affect 15,000 households and families. It is staggering that David Seymour simply doesn’t care about those people.

“If elected the National / ACT / New Zealand First Coalition of Cuts would be a slash and burn Government, immediately throwing 15,000 jobs on the scrap heap to pay for their ropey tax cut plan.

“Nicola Willis and Christopher Luxon’s economic credibility is shot. They are constantly saying they are “rock solid” in their costings, but none of it adds up – their rock-solid rhetoric is turning to rubble. They need to front up and be honest with New Zealanders about their policies, and which public services will be slashed,” Grant Robertson said.

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Labour will help more victims of crime achieve justice faster by introducing a formal class-action regime, modernising consent laws and increasing the use of technology to speed up hearings.

• Establish a formal class actions regime to help groups of victims achieve justice
• Modernise consent law
• Review District Court jury trials
• Increase uptake of audio-visual technology in courts to speed up hearings

“We believe in a justice system where New Zealanders are not blocked by cost, system delays, or confusing processes, and where all voices in our community can be heard,” Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said.

“If elected, Labour will establish a formal class actions regime, which will allow victims with similar interests to collectively sue in a more efficient and cost-effective way than currently possible.

“New Zealand does not currently have a dedicated class actions regime, meaning those on lower incomes or without the means to progress a case on their own are often shut out of our legal system because of the cost of taking individual action.

“This is about fairness, and Labour has a proud record of standing up for everyday New Zealanders and their rights,” Chris Hipkins said.

Justice spokesperson Ginny Andersen said Labour will also review the legislative settings for District Court jury trials, to examine whether the system is fit for purpose.

“We’ve seen a significant increase in the number of complex jury trials taking place, along with a rise in defendants opting for jury trials. This has slowed down the courts and created backlogs,” Ginny Andersen said.

“Reform in this area could include examining the threshold for jury trials, what information jurors are asked to consider and issues around more complex cases.

“In Government we’ve progressed a number of initiatives to speed up delays in the court system, including the use of audio-visual link technology to increase the amount of court appearances that can take place.

“Labour will change the law to further increase the uptake of audio-visual technology in the courts. Some temporary changes made during the Covid-19 pandemic will be made permanent and be taken further in minor cases.

“This will contribute greatly to a more efficient court system to deliver timely justice,” Ginny Andersen said.

Labour will also modernise consent laws in line with other jurisdictions to better protect victims of sexual crimes, building upon our strong record of backing victims.

“For too long victims of sexual violence have been re-traumatised and silenced by outdated laws that don’t properly protect them,” Ginny Andersen said.

“We’ve heard loud and clear from advocates that change is needed, and we’ll draw upon these advocates, survivors with lived experience and justice experts. This includes advice from a petition signed by 12,000 people which was considered last month by Parliament’s Justice Committee.

“Work will include exploring the introduction of a positive definition of consent – defining what consent is rather than what it is not – and examining offences involving sexual conduct to see whether they are fit for purpose.

“It will build on Labour’s proud record of protecting and supporting victims, which includes creating a new criminal offence for strangulation, tripling the funding for the Victims Assistance Scheme and doubling the funding for Victim Support.

“And last week we announced we’ll go further for victims in relation to stalking and harassment and will review the reparations system, to speed up payments to victims.

“Progressing justice reform requires a properly resourced justice system. These changes would be impossible under National, who intend to cut the justice system to fund their dodgy tax plan. This is likely to result in longer court delays, fewer prosecutions and less support for victims,” Ginny Andersen said.

Labour will continue with work it began in Government to ensure our justice system is efficient, adequately resourced and supported:

• Continue the roll out of the Family Court Associates, freeing up judges’ time so they can focus on the backlog of Family Court cases, and the roll out of Associate Coroners, to speed up the Coroners Court.
• Deliver a new digital system for courts and move away from a paper-based system.
• Continue the building of a new Tauranga Courthouse
• Continue seismic strengthening upgrades at the Auckland District Court, Hamilton District Court and Wellington High Court.
• Pass legislation to address name suppression settings, litigation abuse, and questioning children about consent.
• Evaluate the progress of a series of pilot programmes which aim to improve safety and experience in the court system for victims of serious crime, strengthen support for child victims of sexual violence, and ensure victim’s views are heard in bail decisions, and consider how the solutions could be scaled up.

Our commitments to improve the justice system complement our recently announced Safer Communities policy, which included a further increase of 300 additional frontline Police officers above attrition, creating the best ratio of Police to population in modern history, and new ways to crack down on gang convoys and gang leaders.

A whopping $2.1 billion dollar hole has been confirmed in National’s tax scheme in a new report released today.

“Christopher Luxon’s sorry excuse for a tax plan is now officially dead in the water,” Grant Robertson said.

“Three independent economists have released detailed analysis of National’s plans to tax foreign buyers to fund their tax cuts and found it doesn’t add up.

“They found at best, National’s plan would raise $210 million a year, well short of the $740 million need to make it stack up. That is a staggering shortfall of more than half a billion dollars every year.”

Today’s report comes after numerous other experts have said the plan simply does not add up and follows revelations that John Key received advice when he was Prime Minister that the scheme couldn’t be done, and that Treasury had said in 2019 such a plan would push up house prices.

“National’s economic credibility is in tatters. It has pitched its dodgy plan to voters as fully funded but it’s now clear Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis actually have no idea how their party is going to pay for its tax cuts. If
National wants to press on it will have to make huge cuts to the public services that Kiwis rely on,” Grant Robertson said.

“This is simply not good enough, National must come clean with New Zealanders and release its secret costings immediately. Christopher Luxon knows he’s wrong but is hiding the figures, he is not being honest with voters.

“It has been more than two weeks now since the tax scheme was released and still the costings remain stashed away somewhere, if they exist at all. Meanwhile National is asserting it’s okay and demanding Kiwis just trust them.

“To all the people out there who have wondered about Christopher Luxon’s business abilities – make no mistake, you’d never get away with running a business like this – hiding your figures and avoiding the hard questions.

“Running a country is vastly different to running a company. You need to be honest with New Zealanders about how you are going to pay for your promises – Labour is and it’s time for National to front up,” Grant Robertson said.

Labour will deliver the largest ever increase to the number of doctors trained each year, adding an additional 335 doctors a year to our health workforce from 2027, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins has announced.

• Training an additional 335 doctors every year from 2027.
• 95 additional places in each of 2025, 2026, and 2027 on top of the 50 more places starting next year.
• Increasing the total number of doctors trained to 874 each year.

“Labour will increase the number of doctors trained yearly, scaling up each year until we are training an extra 335 doctors every year form 2027 – a 62 percent increase over current levels.

“This starts with the additional 50 doctors places a year the Labour Government announced as part of New Zealand’s Health Workforce Plan and adds 95 more each year for three years to bring the total amount of doctors trained yearly to 874,” Chris Hipkins said.

A re-elected Labour government will provide relief to our valuable health workers by adding significant additional staff to ease the pressure on many roles, Labour Spokesperson for Health Dr Ayesha Verrall said.

• Creating 700 extra nursing places in 2024
• Expanding new ‘earn and learn’ training opportunities
• Increasing international recruitment allowing us to recruit 300 additional Senior Medical Officers
• Settling pay equity for hospital midwives, continuing improving pay for the health workforce
• Scaling up earn-as-you-learn modular training
• Continue prioritising key health professions through the Green List and review regularly to plug skill gaps

“Our health workers have done more for New Zealanders than people will ever know, holding the system together not just through COVID, but for years preceding due to years of neglect and underinvestment,” Ayesha Verrall said.

“Since 2017 we immediately sought to turn that around, and despite the pandemic we are making good progress. We’ve increased the top of the nurses’ salary scale by almost $40,000 from $66,000 to $103,000, we now have 4,800 more nurses, 1,800 more doctors, and 700 more psychologists.

“We’ve launched a massive rebuild programme to improve our hospitals, build new ones, and upgrade our health infrastructure.

“We’ve already made doctor’s visits cheaper for more than three million people, boosted funding for PHARMAC by $440m (51 per cent), so more New Zealanders can access more publicly-funded medicine, and expanded the Nurses in Schools programme.

“There is still so much to do. We understand things are still hard for many New Zealanders, but we are starting to move the dial and with the worst of the pandemic over, we’re free to drive our plan forward at a greater speed.

“We simply cannot risk the Coalition of Cuts taking us back to a time where front line services were neglected, workers pay in real terms went backwards, and sewage ran down the walls of hospitals. National’s talent tax will also drive away the doctors, GPs, nurses and midwives we need to build the workforce through immigration.

“Only a re-elected Labour government has a plan to build the health workforce we need for the future, while continuing to back our health workers and give New Zealanders the world class health care we all deserve,” Ayesha Verrall said.

“Labour has invested heavily in our health system. We have a job to finish and ensuring we have the staff we need is top of our list of priorities for our next term,” Chris Hipkins said.

If re-elected Labour will make cervical screening services free to all women and people with a cervix aged 25 – 69 years, delivering better cancer care for over 1.4 million New Zealanders.

• Cervical screening free to all women and people with a cervix aged 25 – 69 years
• Saving of up to $100 in co-payments

“Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable cancers and regular screening saves lives, so it is critical cost isn’t a barrier to accessing early detection,” Labour Women’s Health Spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime said.

“The current screening programme is delivered by primary care and has never been fully funded with most people making a co-payment that can be up to $100.

“Making cervical cancer screening free for everyone eligible brings it into line with other forms of cancer screening, like breast cancer.

“In addition to pledging to make screening free if re-elected, the Government is also rolling out today a new self-test option which looks for the human papilloma virus, rather than cell changes.

“With innovations in cancer prevention and screening like the self-test New Zealand can make significant reductions in cervical cancer rates.

“The new test is a simple and quick swab that women can choose to do themselves, while under supervision at a health facility or in time, at home,” Willow Jean Prime said.

The promise of free screening for all those eligible builds on the work the Government is rolling out today to extend free screening to people aged 30 and over who have never had a cervical screen or who have not had a screen in the last five years, people requiring follow up, Māori and Pacific people, and Community Service Card holders.

“Providing free cervical screening to all will cost $20 million per year and will be funded from within health baselines,” Willow Jean Prime said.

“We’re focussed on making access to healthcare and medicines free so no one misses out. Our policy of free prescriptions would be gone under National.

“This month is Cervical Screening Awareness Month, and with free HPV vaccinations and increasing access to our new HPV self-test, ultimately we can achieve enough coverage to make cervical cancer a thing of the past.” Willow-Jean Prime said.

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Labour Leader Chris Hipkins has set out nine key pledges to be achieved in his first full term as Prime Minister.

“I’ve only just started. Having been Prime Minister for just over eight months I’m asking New Zealanders to back me for a full term to put in place my priorities for fighting the cost of living crisis and growing our economy,” Chris Hipkins said.

“Labour has achieved a lot in government, but there is more to do and also a lot at stake if the Coalition of Cuts get in.

“The traditional Labour pledge card is my promise to New Zealanders of the key things I intend to get done next term.”

Labour’s pledge card priorities are:

1. Free dental care for under 30-year-olds. Basic dental care will be free for everyone under age 24 from July 2025 and under age 30 from July 2026.
2. Remove GST from fruit and vege. Families will save around $20 a month from April 2024, making healthy eating easier.
3. Financial Literacy required in schools. Every school leaver will have a good understanding of banking, budgeting and investing starting 2025.
4. Expand 20 hours free Early Childhood Education to 2-year-olds. Saving parents an average of $133 a week from March 2024.
5. Extra $25 per week for 160,000 working families. Big boost to Working for Families from April 2024 to help with the cost of raising kids.
6. Add 300 more frontline Police. We’ve already delivered 1,800 additional Police, now we will add 300 more frontline Police by 2027.
7. Four weeks paid parental leave for partners. Partners will get 2 weeks paid leave from July 2024, 3 weeks from July 2025 and 4 weeks from July 2026.
8. Trade mission to India in the first 100 days. Boost economic growth and support our farmers and exporters by working towards a Free Trade Agreement with India.
9. Make Apprenticeship Boost permanent. Businesses who take on an apprentice will receive $500 per month for 2 years. This successful scheme will be made permanent.

“I’m aware others have got on the Labour bandwagon and launched their own pledge card in recent times – as they say imitation is the greatest form of flattery,” Chris Hipkins said.

“Unlike our opponents’ pledge card, ours is specific about what we’re going to do and when we are going to do it.

“This is about giving New Zealanders confidence about what a first full term Chris Hipkins Government looks like. It will be focused on the basics of fighting the cost of living and growing the economy.

“What you see is what you get with me. In contrast National’s tax plan doesn’t add up and we don’t know exactly what cuts the Coalition of Cuts will make after ACT and New Zealand First place their demands. There is a lot of uncertainty around them.

“I offer experience, stability and certainty with a practical plan that responds to the cost of living crisis today, while also building a better tomorrow,” Chris Hipkins said.

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A re-elected Labour Government will help Kiwi households to be more energy efficient and reduce emissions from household energy use, Labour Spokesperson for Building and Construction and Energy and Resources, Megan Woods, announced today.

• Rebates of up to $18,000 for deep retrofit of an existing home
• Encourages air tightness, insulation, double-glazing and electrification
• Up to $7,000 for partial retrofits like double-glazing and insulation
• Up to $3,000 for households who electrify and move off gas

“Warmer, dryer homes have massive potential to help decrease energy demands, and therefore emissions, especially when you swap out gas appliances,” Megan Woods said.

Labour will introduce a rebate pilot over three years for owners who undertake either a deep retrofit, full insulation upgrade or electrification of their existing home.

“Everyone deserves to live in a warm, dry home. We know much of New Zealand’s housing stock is energy inefficient. The rebate scheme announced today will reduce emissions, bring down household energy bills, build demand for deep retrofits, and grow jobs,” Megan Woods said.

A deep retrofit aims to achieve greater energy efficiency by taking a whole-of-house approach. This differs from conventional retrofits which typically focus on an isolated system for upgrade, such as ventilation or insulation. Deep retrofits will be eligible for a rebate of 30% of total cost, up to $18,000.

For many homes, a deep retrofit may not be required, particularly if the home already runs on electricity. These homes will be eligible for an insulation rebate of up to $7,000.

Eliminating gas from New Zealand homes and moving to electricity has the potential to reduce our annual carbon emissions by around 250,000 tonnes if replacements are made with direct electric heaters and hot water cylinders. That’s the equivalent of taking over 92 thousand cars off the road. Up to $3,000 will be provided to households to move off gas entirely.

“Energy efficiency is often called the ‘first fuel’ in clean energy transitions, providing some of the quickest and most cost-effective emissions reductions while lowering household energy bills and strengthening energy security. These rebates make energy efficiency a possibility for everyday Kiwi homeowners,” Megan Woods said.

“This builds on initiatives we have already delivered in Government, including the 100,000 retrofits undertaken through the Warmer Kiwi Homes programme for lower income New Zealanders, and the Healthy Homes standards for renters.

“This Labour policy is a win – win for Kiwi householders, and for the environment,” Megan Woods said.

Find out more: 

Labour leader Chris Hipkins has set out his top five priorities for growing the economy which include ambition for New Zealand to be a global leader in sustainable agriculture and renewable energy.

Labour’s economic priorities for the next term are:
1. Grow an export-led economy with a strong global reputation
2. Turn New Zealand into a Centre of Excellence for sustainable agriculture and agricultural technology
3. Be a global leader in renewable energy
4. Harness New Zealand’s digital creativity and expertise, and
5. Boost our premium tourism offering

These priorities will be underpinned by:
1. High paying jobs
2. Building infrastructure that lasts
3. Better skills and practical education for better jobs, and
4. A balanced fiscal plan

“My vision is for a smart, modern and green economy that profits from our brand and natural offerings as well as our leadership on climate,” Chris Hipkins

“By seizing strategic advantage globally in areas we have existing strengths we can grow our economy and create well paid jobs that help Kiwi families get ahead.

“These priorities reflect my values as a Kiwi. I’m proud of what this country stands for in the world and how the rest of the world looks at us. These values will drive how Labour supports Kiwis to get ahead.

“We’ll build on where we are already strong – in our primary industries, our renewable energy sector and tourism – to present a modern, sustainable economic base that provides new opportunities for ourselves and our children.

“Free trade agreements now cover almost three quarters of New Zealand’s exports. A key focus next term will be to expand those opportunities further.

“After securing trade deals with the UK and EU this year, my next priority will be to lead a Prime Ministerial delegation to India within the first 100 days of a new Government.

“Our ambition is to grow the agritech sector to $8 billion by 2030. To achieve that goal Labour will inject $100 million into the Venture Capital Fund to support this objective.

“This fund will invest in agritech businesses, including through their joint investment fund with Finistere Ventures developed through the Agritech ITP.

“New Zealand also has a huge opportunity to be a renewable energy powerhouse – using our position as near 100 percent renewable generator to sell our expertise and know-how to the world as countries seek to reach energy independence and build security against oil price shocks and global conflict.

“A strong digital economy allows us to leverage what Kiwis have to offer – no matter our geographic location, the time or place.

“I believe we can really drive export value across science, space, gaming, information technology and biotech.

“New Zealand will always be a beautiful place that people want to explore and visit. But a high volume strategy puts at risk the attractiveness of our offering.

“The Government is working with the industry through the Tourism Industry Transformation Plan to build a more sustainable and higher value tourism industry that doesn’t overstep its social license.

“These investments – backed by solid Government finances – will underpin the opportunities of the future and for New Zealand to be the best country in the world to raise a family and get ahead through decent jobs,” Chris Hipkins said.

“Our plan will help the Government continue providing targeted cost of living support to Kiwis, like free prescriptions and public transport, support for parents with young children, and importantly, allow us to keep providing free education and healthcare to all New Zealanders, no matter their background,” Grant Robertson said.

“Unlike National’s dodgy numbers, Labour’s plan doesn’t require billions of dollars of Kiwi homes to be sold off overseas year-on-year. We’re going to focus on selling our goods and services to the rest of the world, not selling ourselves like Christopher Luxon wants to do – that’s a road to ruin and loss of control.”

“Labour will focus on supporting our primary sector to become more productive and profitable through increased use of technology. This will be led by a $100 million investment to the Venture Capital Fund. This will this help our farmers and growers and broaden the job opportunities in our primary sector for our kids,” Barbara Edmonds said.

Find out more about Labour’s economic priorities here. 

Under Labour: 

• The economy is 6.7 percent larger than before COVID. Since the depths of the COVID recession, New Zealand’s economy has grown by 10.2 percent compared to compared to 8.8 per cent for Australia, 7.6 per cent for the US, 7.1 per cent for the Euro Area and 6.1 per cent for the UK, according to the IMF
• Unemployment below 4 percent for eight consecutive quarters
• Strong Government finances: Affirmed last week by Fitch. Net debt of 18.9 percent of GDP, below Australia, the US, and the UK according to the IMF
• Seven trade agreements singed or upgraded; FTAs now cover almost three quarters of New Zealand’s exports

It’s Chris Hipkins’ birthday today, and to celebrate we’re taking a look back at some of his most defining moments.

During his time at Parliament, he’s led New Zealand through some difficult times, delivered change that will make a real difference to Kiwis’ lives, and given us a few laughs. 

Whether you call him Prime Minister, Chris or Chippy – he’s got your back, and he’s in it for you.

Here’s our top 10 favourite Chippy moments:

Free and healthy lunches in schools

Focused on the literal bread and butter issues, Chippy knows a full tummy makes a world of difference to a child being able to learn. Our free and healthy lunches in schools programme kicked off back when he was Education Minister. Now, it’s delivered more than 100 million lunches to kids across the country – feeding more than 230,000 students, and helping parents with the cost of living.

We hit a huge milestone this week – 100… – Chris Hipkins MP

We hit a huge milestone this week – 100 million free and healthy lunches delivered to school students across the country since we kicked off the…

The faux pas…

The eyebrow raise says it all.

Backing communities to recover and rebuild

Almost immediately after becoming Prime Minister, New Zealanders faced devastation caused by the Auckland Anniversary Floods and then Cyclone Gabrielle – the most significant weather event our country has experienced this century. Chris made it clear that his Government was committed to standing shoulder to shoulder with the affected regions as they recovered – backing them to lead their local responses. He put in place support for hard-hit regions like Hawkes Bay, and visited affected communities to ensure support went where it was most needed. 

There’s still more work to do, and Chris and the team remain committed to making sure affected regions can build back better, safer, and smarter. This includes making sure communities are better prepared to withstand the next extreme weather event.

As we head into the weekend I’m… – Chris Hipkins MP

As we head into the weekend I’m thinking of all of the people I’ve met this week. Those whose lives have been turned upside down by Cyclone Gabrielle,…

Dirty dogs and sweats

The boy from the Hutt hasn’t left his roots behind. A man of the people, his dress sense hasn’t changed – but it has stood the test of time.
Anyone can dress like the Prime Minister if they chuck on the classic combo of a hoodie, dirty dogs and a cap.

Watch: Casual Chris Hipkins talks to Newshub about leadership https://t.co/ACOeLv8K29 pic.twitter.com/ElFxSECrVn

— Jenna Lynch (@JennaLynchNZ) January 19, 2023

Real, practical cost of living support

Things are tough right now for many Kiwis, as global inflation has driven up the cost of living. Under his leadership, Labour has provided practical cost of living support across some of the key expenses facing New Zealanders – childcare, healthcare, transport and power bills. And he’s announced more to come, like extending free dental, taking GST off fruit and vege, lifting incomes for working families, and lots more. Check out Labour’s 10-point Cost of Living Plan here.

Sausage rolls, with a side of international wins

A lover of cuisine, his fine dining preference is well-known and embraced by leaders around the world. Chris has scored some big wins for New Zealanders on international trade trips this year – including securing lucrative free trade deals, promoting Kiwi products on the world stage, and improving the rights of Kiwis living in Australia. We put at least some of this success down to the sausage rolls.

Very positive meeting with UK Prime… – Chris Hipkins MP

Very positive meeting with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak this morning. The relationship between our two countries is the strongest it has been for some…

The gingerbread men

He’s a ginger man, making gingerbread men… enough said.

First day of the school holidays so I… – Chris Hipkins MP

First day of the school holidays so I agreed to make gingerbread men with the kids. They lost interest halfway through the icing. I won’t be giving up my…

Apprenticeship Boost

When Chris was a kid, he wanted to be an electrician. He’s a staunch advocate for education, and under his watch, the Apprenticeship Boost was introduced a few years ago. The programme has now supported over 60,000 Kiwis to stay in or take up apprenticeships. This is a great example of how Government can get alongside and support business to invest in their next generation of talent. It’s a win-win.

When I was a kid I wanted to be an… – Chris Hipkins MP

When I was a kid I wanted to be an electrician. It’s such an awesome job. Great to chat with some apprentices today at the ETCO Training Centre in…

The Spiderman meme

Back in 2022, Chris was asked in a written parliamentary question if he as Minister of Education had met with the Minister for Covid-19 response. At the time, he was the Minister for both and replied with a meme, in what was possibly a first for Parliament.

Chris Hipkins possibly the first-ever minister to answer a WPQ with a pdf of a meme pic.twitter.com/SFT73J0V6R

— henry cooke (@henrycooke) February 10, 2022

He likes a nice, long walk in nature

Emerging from the bushes, Chippy’s unusual entrance to deliver an update to the media just a stone’s throw from a Kāpiti Coast beach has been immortalised on the internet. In stark contrast to the polished floors and podium of Parliament, the Kiwiana elements of his appearance amused those watching and resulted in some lighthearted humour online. 

What an entrance pic.twitter.com/LhlPnyZGvi

— David Cormack (@David_Cormack) December 29, 2021

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Revelations on Newshub tonight that National only got an expert to review their tax plan two days after it was released adds further fuel to the call for Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis to release all costings and advice they have received on it, Labour Finance Spokesperson Grant Robertson said.

“It’s now public that National failed to get advice on whether their discredited tax plan breached our international tax treaties. They only did so two days after it was released,” Grant Robertson said.

“That’s a huge mistake and it appears they only sought advice in a panic after several experts made it clear their dodgy plan was likely a breach of our international agreements.

“This is despite Nicola Willis saying on Thursday morning – apparently before they had engaged with the expert – that “National had sought independent legal advice to check that we can do this while complying with out Free Trade Agreements and Tax Agreements.”

“National is relying on bringing in nearly $3 billion dollars from foreign buyers to fund their tax cuts, but nearly every expert says those numbers simply aren’t possible.

“If Christopher Luxon is so rock solid in his belief his numbers and advice are correct then he should have no opposition to releasing them.

“Every day another aspect of National’s tax plan falls apart. Voters deserve to be able to examine this house of cards before they vote on it.

“National just needs to get permission from SkyCity to release the work they did for them on the gambling part of their policy so it can be examined. Given it relies on an increase in gambling it’s in the public interest to know.

“If National’s revenue streams don’t add up their tax cuts are unaffordable. They will have to scrap them or make even deeper cuts to public services like health and education,” Grant Robertson said.

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