George Orwell would be proud

Oh this is just outrageous.

The surplus has been getting so large one could call it the Hindenburg and fly around the planet on it. The budgeted surplus for the year is $6.5B and the half year accounts showed it already at $4.5B which left the possibility the year end surplus may approach $9.0B. That is a surplus of over $5,000 per family!

So what is Dr Cullen’s solution? He will present the books differently” in the budget“.

Cullen says the Budget would provide “greater clarity” on the cash position. This means try to brainwash everytone that after focusing on accrual accounting for the last 12 years, Cullen wil try and convince people that the cash position is actually more important, and that it is normal to fund long-term capital expenditure out of operating surpluses.

I think there is a simple lesson to this. Labour will never ever give you some of your taxes back. They do not see it as your money, they see it as their own. The surplus could be $10B or $20B and they would not lower taxes without a shotgun to their heads. They would rather waste half a billion on dubious educational courses than lower taxes.