Latest / Best of Business / Barry Soper: Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent on NZ First's bid to cut taxes for small and medium businesses

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Barry Soper: Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent on NZ First's bid to cut taxes for small and medium businesses · Best of Business

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from Newstalk ZB. Follow this
• 0:13
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• 0:16
  Speaker 2: Barry Soper, senior political correspondence with us.
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  Speaker 3: Hey, Barry. Good afternoon, Heather.
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  Speaker 2: All right, so Winston's proposing tax cuts for the small
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  Speaker 2: to medium-sized businesses.
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  Speaker 3: It's amazing how generosity is rolling off the presses at
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  Speaker 3: this time of the year, isn't it, really? Yeah, what
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  Speaker 3: he's saying is that small to medium businesses... that have
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  Speaker 3: a turnover of $ 30 million or less, they should be
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  Speaker 3: paying 20% tax rather than the 28% they're paying at
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  Speaker 3: the moment. And to pay for that, it's about a
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  Speaker 3: billion bucks a year it would cost, he said, would
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  Speaker 3: be more than covered by the smaller companies taking on
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  Speaker 3: more employment, growing the economy and more spending. And, you know,
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  Speaker 3: there's an element of truth in that, I think, Company
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  Speaker 3: tax is probably too high. If you really want to
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  Speaker 3: inject enthusiasm into the economy, jobs and what have you,
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  Speaker 3: I think lower taxes for corporates is not a bad thing.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, it's been tried in Australia. It's been done
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  Speaker 3: in Australia. They're down to 25% now for small to
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  Speaker 3: medium enterprises. And that's had a big impact there. And
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  Speaker 3: if I'm allowed to mention, the taxpayers' union, they like
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  Speaker 3: the idea. They say it's a good one, but what
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  Speaker 3: they say is they're worried that it would create another
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  Speaker 3: distortion in the taxation system where you'd have 28% for
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  Speaker 3: those over $ 30 million turnover and 20% for those under. So,
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  Speaker 3: you know, a bit of a problem.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, totally. Now, what do you make of the government
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  Speaker 2: putting on hold these amalgamation plans?
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  Speaker 3: It doesn't surprise me at all. And I know I
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  Speaker 3: heard your fury about it earlier today, but, you know, Look,
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  Speaker 3: their legislative programme at the end of the year was
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  Speaker 3: so large, the RMA reforms were one part of it. But,
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  Speaker 3: you know, even to think that they would do this,
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  Speaker 3: this is a big change in local government in this
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  Speaker 3: country before the end of this year was absurd. I
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  Speaker 3: guess then you'd say, well, why did they make the
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  Speaker 3: councils or give them a deadline to come up with
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  Speaker 3: their proposals? And I think that's a fair argument, why
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  Speaker 3: the urgency then was, if they were going to do
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  Speaker 3: it next year. And I think that's valid criticism. Certainly,
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  Speaker 3: one person who's very unhappy about it is Andrew Little,
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  Speaker 3: the Wellington mayor. Of course, there'll be a bit of
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  Speaker 3: politics at play in this as well, I suspect, in
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  Speaker 3: that he was the leader of the Labour Party. But nevertheless,
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  Speaker 3: he's perfectly entitled to have a say on this one.
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  Speaker 3: saying that they've spent a lot, unnecessarily spent a lot
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  Speaker 3: of ratepayers' money getting prepared for this. He was just
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  Speaker 3: warming up, tacking the delay today when warmth of another
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  Speaker 3: sort took over. This is all meant to align with
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  Speaker 3: resource management law reform.
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  Speaker 2: That's now passed.
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  Speaker 3: It was meant to align with the local water done
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  Speaker 3: well reform, and we are well into that. We've enacted that.
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  Speaker 3: And now we have a fire alarm as well, so.
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  Speaker 2: At that point, we'll probably have to evacuate. So, my apologies.
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  Speaker 3: And that they did. Probably a National Party person downstairs
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  Speaker 3: pressing on the old alarm button.
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  Speaker 2: I hate that sound. Don't you hate that sound?
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  Speaker 3: It's annoying.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, I think that is... Look, the problem is
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  Speaker 2: that the government was warned. When they announced this in May,
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  Speaker 2: they were warned that the deadline was unrealistic.
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  Speaker 3: Well, even the whole proposal to get into place by
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  Speaker 3: the end of this year... They say they'll be certainly
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  Speaker 3: making decisions. They're committed to it, if you listen to
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  Speaker 3: Chris Bishop.
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  Speaker 2: That is assuming that these ministers are here. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: Chris Bishop, who is one of the lead ministers, may
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  Speaker 2: lose his seat.
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  Speaker 3: No, true that.
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  Speaker 2: The government may be removed from office.
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  Speaker 3: But look, I think there would be a general view,
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  Speaker 3: probably a general political view, that 67 councils in this
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  Speaker 3: country are far too many. We're over-governed locally. Oh, yeah.
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  Speaker 3: And the rate payer suffers at the end of it.
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  Speaker 2: But all I'm saying, OK, so I'm just saying, if
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  Speaker 2: Bish is not there next year, all of this money,
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  Speaker 2: the whole process may get restarted with a new minister
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  Speaker 2: who sees things differently.
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  Speaker 3: Well, it should need to be restarted because they've done
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  Speaker 3: all the preparatory work now. So surely what they've got
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  Speaker 3: on the table now would do for the... Well, you'd
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  Speaker 3: think so.
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  Speaker 2: People are stupid, though, aren't they?
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely.
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  Speaker 2: Hey, have we only got a couple of weeks to
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  Speaker 2: get enrolled?
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  Speaker 3: Yes, October the 4th. people should be enrolled by, although
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  Speaker 3: they do have until October the 25th to get enrolled.
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  Speaker 3: But that's for the easy vote. And if you want
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  Speaker 3: an easy vote, which makes it much easier to cast
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  Speaker 3: your ballot, then you're told to get enrolled, or the
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  Speaker 3: Electoral Commission is telling everyone today to get enrolled by
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  Speaker 3: that time. 90.6% of people in this country are now enrolled,
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  Speaker 3: which is good. but the number, we've always said this,
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  Speaker 3: 18 to 24-year-olds, it has increased to 61% from 54%
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  Speaker 3: in July. And it's about, overall enrolment is about 1%
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  Speaker 3: higher than it was at the same time at the
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  Speaker 3: last election. But at the 2023 election, 94.7% of people
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  Speaker 3: were enrolled, and the enrolment rate for 18 to 24-year-olds
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  Speaker 3: increased was 76.7. So much higher than what it currently
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  Speaker 3: stands at 61% now. So one can only hope the
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  Speaker 3: young will get off their butts, get out and get enrolled.
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  Speaker 3: It's not hard to do. And don't forget this election,
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  Speaker 3: unlike any other election we've had in this country, you've
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  Speaker 3: got to be enrolled before election day or by that deadline. Otherwise,
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  Speaker 3: you don't get to vote.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks, Barry. Appreciate it. Barry Soper, senior political correspondent.
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