- Income tax, company tax and withholding tax are set at a flat 25% in year 1, decreasing 5% per year thereafter; the first $50k/annum income is made tax-free immediately. All other taxes, levies and fines are set at zero immediately.
- A program of asset sales is undertaken commencing from year 1. Only assets relating to the government's legitimate activities in law & order and defence are retained.
- All liabilities including overseas debt are paid off by the fifth year. Asset sales and additional defence expenditure are completed by the fifth year.
- Welfare handouts that have grown inexorably since their introduction as a temporary measure in the 1970's will be rolled back. It is worth noting that many of New Zealand's social ills including generational welfare dependency, violent criminal gangs and DPB-encouraged births have arisen in conjunction with rising welfare spending. Compulsory charity will be replaced by allowing natural charity to grow quickly with charities made tax exempt immediately.
- Libertarianz will give schools back to their communities - literally - with ownership in existing schools transferred to parents and teachers in the form of shares. Indoctrination of impressionable young minds by 'politically correct' social engineers will be ended as a matter of urgency.
- State health assets will be disposed of and private medical facilities will be encouraged to grow quickly by being made tax-exempt immediately. The ineptitude of the state to provide quality healthcare is recognised and the sclerotic wasting of the state health system, in spite of evermore funding, is put to an end.
- New Zealand's run-down military will be supplied with modern equipment and built up into a credible defence force for a country of our size and isolation.
- Letting go of Cullen's stodgy, tired old socialist ideals will unleash a wave of growth that NZ should have experienced 20 years ago. Roads, telecommunications and energy supply industries and infrastructure will grow quickly and naturally once the market incentives are in place free of state interference.
- With the Libertarianz budget, the ridiculous churning of money through the government's sticky fingers will generally be eliminated by the first-$50k-income-tax-free. The $50k threshold merely reflects the current $10k-tax-free threshold implemented in 1986, adjusted for inflation using house prices from that era. A flat tax on income over $50,000 of 25%, reducing 5% per year for 5 years, will fund a smooth transition.
- This will wind back the government's intrusion into the economy from the current 35% to a more sensible 1.5%. It is well worth noting that under Labour the large economic expansion of the state has been concurrent with New Zealand's plummeting productivity statistic.
- Unshackling the productive capacity of New Zealand's innovative, resourceful minds will lead to economic growth rates rising to around 10% in 4 or 5 years time. Libertarianz will see NZ growing in concert with other vibrant Pacific rim countries before Labour and National have a chance to drag NZ off the the bottom of the OECD table and into the third world.
If you want to see what libertarians value in government, go and have a look.
8 comments:
Julian,
Your argument is so simplistic it makes me wonder if you are a closet Marxist??
Why penalise investors (international or domestic) for taking advantage of our high interest rates?
By defaulting on debt we simply become a pariah of the global economy.
Euan, you have ignored the (simplistic) point I put up for discussion. Should organisations (no matter what their motive) be rewarded for allowing currupt political regimes to continue acting outside of their legitimate funcions?
Julian
(Corrected for spelling errors)
Euan, you have ignored the (simplistic) point I put up for discussion. Should organisations (no matter what their motive) be rewarded for allowing corrupt political regimes to continue acting outside of their legitimate functions?
Julian
PC,
That's a good budget alright. Just a question about the proposed military spending: will it include nukes?
I ask, because I think a country the size of New Zealand would benefit greatly from being nuclear capable.
Most potential invaders would be assured of eventual victory in a conventional invasion, but if we had weapons of mass destruction, they would know it'd be a very costly exercise.
If you don't believe that'd act as a deterrent, ask North Korea.
Euan, here some points in support of Julian:
1) It is an established principle of international law that the people shall not be held accountable for debts incurred by a dictator (however this did not apply in Iraq for some reason).
2) Many developing countries, beginning with Mexico, have defaulted on debt without becoming pariahs. However, this did require intervention by the IMF and the World Bank, who demanded economic reforms, spending cuts and privatization on a massive scale. Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing ;-)
Duncan: Now THAT would make us an international pariah! I think you underestimate the cost and difficulty of acquiring a nuclear deterrent, especially given the range our missiles - presumably purchased from North Korea - would have to travel. Luckily, there is an alternative deterrent option - the "hedgehog strategy". The best part is, its already our policy to arm the citizenry.
Awesome budget - thanks Greg and Nik!
Nukes are like a .45 at home.
Every CIVILISED country should have a couple.
Like the .45, you don't want to fire on in anger, but it keeps the bad guys real nervous!
Great budget.
Absolutely agree on the nukes and would also include nuclear power plants. With uranium at our back door, a joint venture with Oz would be ideal.
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