Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Barbara Edmonds: Labour's Finance Spokesperson on the opposition's take on Budget 2025

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Barbara Edmonds: Labour's Finance Spokesperson on the opposition's take on Budget 2025 · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: So key we save pay equity tax changes for businesses
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: some of the big things to come out of Budget
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty five delivered by the Finance Minister yesterday. Joining
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: us this morning is Barbara Evans, Labour's finance spokesperson.
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: Good morning, Good morning, Ryan's big days today, wasn't it
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: big day?
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Big day and a big claims made as well. Barbara,
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: you've been accused your party been accused of spreading misinformation
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: saying that the key we saver for your average young person,
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: they would be sixty six thousand dollars worse off after
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: the changes. Will young people young kiwis be worse off
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: or better off as a net result of the changes
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: announced yesterday?
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: So the sixty six thousand dollars less is what we
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: calculated from the removal or the halving of the government contribution.
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: So I understand that with them increasing their contributions, if
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: they increased into four percent, because remember they could drop
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: them down to three and then their employer lifting it
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: up to four percent as well, next they'll be better off.
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: But they could have been way better off if the
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: government had kept the contributions in.
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: As well, so you would reverse that.
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: We're not going to reverse anything. We're not going to
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: say we're going to put it back in to yesterday
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: and today is about working through that budget and we
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: will come together with our fiscal plan pay equity.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: You have already said you would reverse that law change.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: Will you restore the full close to thirteen billion dollars
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: that was taken from to use your words, rated from
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: the kitty.
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we're absolutely committed to pay equity. What we need
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: to do is work through how they got to that
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: twelve billion dollar figure. Close to thirteen billion dollar figure.
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: That'll probably come up with the budget, release of the
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: documents and in probably about two months time. We need
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: to work through that, but we will ensure we don't
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: we do not shirk our responsibility and we don't want
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: women to be paid less. So we're going to work
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: through that, Kevleen, and sure we have appropriate contingency set
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: aside for it.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: So you will confirm that you'll get you'll restore the
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: thirteen billion dollars.
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: We will, we confirm we're going to reverse the changes.
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: We're going to work through to see how the government
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: got to that thirteen billion because there was confusing messages
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: from the government throughout the House in the last three weeks, wasn't.
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: It wasn't that confusing? Yesterday it was close to thirteen
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: billion dollars. I mean, you can't have it both ways.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: You can't run around and say this is women being
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: thirteen billion dollars has been stolen from women, and then
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: on the other hand say, actually, we don't know if
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: that number is right.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: We're going to absolutely make sure we set aside the
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: appropriate contingencies for it, and we want to work through
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: to understand how they got to that figure. We are
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: absolutely committed to pay equity, right, absolutely committed to it.
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: Would you keep the learning support funding?
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: The learning support funding is a good thing, right, But
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: the problem is they have taken money from elsewhere within
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: the education system. So again, like everything else in the budget,
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: like everything we will take to the next election, we
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: will work through it carefully and we're part of our
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: fiscal plan going forward.
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: So you won't commit to keeping that learning support which
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: has been welcomed by the unions.
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: We welcome extra support for learning support, but does that
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: have to be at the cost of something else in education?
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: When the government also gave tax breaks to multinational companies
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: two point nine billion dollars to landlords. You know there
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: is funding there because it's about choices. They just have
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: to choose, and the choices we will make will be
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: covered in our fiscal plan.
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: The problem is you're doing a lot of choices and
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: not a lot of cutting. Right, So are you sticking
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: to Grant Robertson's and Treasury's fifty percent cap or not?
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: We are working. We are working currently within that cap
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: that was given to us, both that the government is
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: working under and part of our fiscal plan. But again
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: at the.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: Elect choices that at the election you won't exceed. If
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: your plan won't exceed a fifty percent cap, you're confirming
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: that for us this morning.
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: There is still another budget to go, Ryan, and we
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: still have time to put together our fiscal plan the
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: way we currently work it, and it's the way that
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: we started with our own fiscal plan in twenty twenty three.
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: We will work through it carefully and everybody will be
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: able to see our plan when we announce it.
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: Will you get to surplus the same time as national
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: or would you push that out? Be happy to push
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: that out again?
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: Well, when even that's questionable, right, I Mean, I've seen
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: so many commentators saying, well, do they really think they're
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: going to get that way for a thin surplus by
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: ober gal x which is a new measure they put
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: in by that time. But it's about our fiscal plan.
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: We're going to work through it carefully and we will
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: announce it in due course. It's time.
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: But the problem you've got, Barbara, is that it's not
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: adding up right. You've promised so many things. You've promised
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: to restore so many things. This is going to mean
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: either borrowing or taxing or pushing surplus out or three
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: which will it be.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: And it'll be about possibly also changing things that the
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: government said that they're funding again. They've given a lot
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: of tax breaks to different sectors. It's all about choices.
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: Every political party will have that choice. We've still got
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: another budget to go and we will make sure that
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: our fiscal plan is measured, it's responsible and it adds up.
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: We didn't promise two hundred and fifty dollars of tax
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: cuts to people. We still can't find a family who
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: actually got the four to fifty.
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: Barbara, appreciate your time this morning. Barbara Edmonds, Labor's finance spokesperson.
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: For more from early edition with Ryan Bridge.
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: Listen live to News Talk Set B from five am weekdays,
• 5:40
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