David Whitburn

As an update to my blog on the evening of Anzac Day, the poll on www.billenglish.co.nz has got a lot busier.  The news for the Government is not good with 79% of respondents (at 11:45am on 27 April 2010) voting NO – I do not support tax changes to property.

The big "NO" vote: from 64% to 79% in one and a half days

Perhaps unsurprisingly I am one of these voters.   However I am pleasantly surprised at the number of people voting at 1,710.  Dr English should take a lot at the plethora of comments in relation to his poll.  There is some really interesting feedback there, including from former Deloitte Consulting Partner Paul Kane, and a number of investors in not just property.

Focus on the real issue – the NZ Government Overspending

I am not impressed at the Government losing around NZ$240 million each and every week and the fact that we are forecast to lost over NZ$10 billion per year for nearly 6 more years!  We raise this money typically on the Global Debt Market.  It is interesting to note that New Zealand is a ‘company’ listed on the New York Stock Exchange (see our SEC financial statements).  Looking at how much our debt is on the Reserve Bank’s C3 Aggregates is a bit frightening.  It is $205 billion dollars!  Someone has to service this debt – guess who that is?  Of course it is us, as New Zealand taxpayers. And we will be servicing this debt for decades to come.

It is time to cut Government spending now.  Dr English’s knows from Inland Revenue that around 10,000 property investors have tax losses and then use Working For Families tax credits – this must stop.  But why not get rid of this middle class welfare and Government dependency that Labour introduced towards the end of its 9 year long reign of overspending?

Friends in MFAT and Government departments in Wellington (including the big ones of health and education) say numbers of staff can be chopped, and there is a perception that it is far “cruisier” to work in a Government department than for a private commercial entity.

Private companies and individuals are making big cuts – shouldn’t our Government be doing the same?

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