Superannuation – let the kids pay #1
In the last six months, Labour's Super Fund has increased in value by $4.1 billion or 33 per cent.
But National has stopped putting funding into it, claiming it was losing money.
Labour said at the time of the Budget that National should continue putting funding aside in the Super Fund in order to guarantee the country could meet superannuation costs as the population ages, and those over 65 double in number to over one million.
We also said that investing in the Super Fund when the investment markets were low made sense and that the returns on investment would be much higher than the costs to the taxpayers.
Labour has been proven right on both of these points.
The net result of National's failure to invest in the Super Fund is a $35 billion hole which younger New Zealanders will be expected to fill.
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Climate change – let the kids pay #2
Independent economic commentators like the Business Council for Sustainable Development, Brian Fallow and Rod Oran are now making it absolutely clear what the National Party deal with the Maori Party on emissions trading means.
All have said that it simply transfers the cost of greenhouse gas pollution to the average New Zealander as a taxpayer.
That reduces the incentive on heavy gas emitters to reduce the pollution.
In entails subsidies by the taxpayer which the Minister of Agriculture has said could go on for 90 years.
It means billions in taxes we all pay will be diverted from critical social expenditure to paying out to businesses to continue to pollute.
It is a cause for concern when the Government has so far refused to release the analysis of its own officials.
Free access to Commonwealth Games viewing a Kiwi right
The Government must act quickly to reassure all New Zealanders that they will be able to see next year’s Commonwealth Games free on television.
If Sky TV is allowed to take over the games programming from state-owned broadcaster TVNZ then free to air viewing should be a bottom line.
Broadcasting Minister Jonathan Coleman must tell TVNZ CEO Rick Ellis that a condition of any deal that TVNZ signs should be guaranteed free-to-air coverage of the Games in India.
Sporty weekends
I got two doses of sports in last weekend.
It was great to be at Westpac Stadium for a really good display of rugby from the AB’s. It was a real turnaround from the match against South Africa, and Graham Henry was rightly pleased with the performance of his players. There’s nothing like teaching the Aussies a lesson on the rugby field.
There was a less auspicious ending on Sunday for my local football team Three Kings United. They went down 2-1 to Wellington Olympic in the Chatham Cup final.
My loyal Deputy Annette King though is very happy of course because Wellington Olympic hail from deep in the heart of her Rongotai electorate!
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