A good Labor budget

Oh I so envy Australia for its luck in having a more moderate less extreme and idelogical Labor Party. Let us look at what Wayne Swan has delivered. Australia’s population is around five times New Zealand so generally divide by five to get an idea of what it would be for a country our size:

• Tax Cuts of $47 billion
• No tax on the 1st $14,000 of income – rising to the 1st $20,000
• A surplus of  $22 billion which is the largest for a decade but get this only around half what Cullen’s level of surplus has been per capita.
• A move to means testing for welfare rather than universal entitlement for the “baby bonus”
• $33 billion (equal to around $6 billion in a NZ sized country) of savings from cutting wasteful or low quality spending
• $4.7 billion on a national broadband network

Lowering taxes, cutting wasteful spending and targeting welfare at those most in need instead of the rich is not some mad right wing agenda. It is normal day to day prudent management by any Government right or left.