Nats preparing for victory—Richardson

Press, 28 June 1989, Page 1

Nats preparing for victory —Richardson

By

PATTRICK SMELLIE

in Wellington A newly elected National government would be ready with a three-month plan of legislative and policy initiatives for the economy, the Opposition’s spokeswoman on finance, Miss Ruth Richardson, said yesterday. Intensive work over the fiveweek parliamentary recess by National’s finance team was bringing together the second of three phases of policy formulation, Miss Richardson said. The first had been the broad statement of policy from the three-day caucus in Auckland early in the year. The second was constructing a framework for policy development and priorities. The third would be to finalise specific policy measures for implementation by National “from day one,” she said. “You won’t find the new National government will be on the back foot. We will be on the front foot. “We have to have a first-three-month plan of action for what we do between October and Christmas,” she said. This would involve an “omnibus set of measures — some

legislative, some administrative.” Legislative measures would include reform of the tax and benefit system and of the labour market. Miss Richardson said National, during its years under Sir Robert Muldoon, had learned it could not afford to disappoint public hopes of economic leadership. People had been disappointed after 1976 “and we were punished at each successive election for our failure to go on the front foot and to move to tackle our problems,” she said. Miss Richardson, also promised National would develop a substantial “business tax initiative” to improve and clarify the mass of business tax law introduced by the Government. She did not promise repeal of reforms such as the international tax regime, provisional tax changes, or the dividend and interest income withholding tax. But she indicated National was prepared to review them where they were proving needlessly onerous. “At the moment, those reforms are costing the Government an awful lot of money in lost investment and production,” she said. Miss Richardson said she

would promote a "four corners” approach to economic policy. It was essential to integrate policies aimed at education and training with appropriate labour market policies. These in turn should be supported by the tax and social welfare systems so that people were not discouraged from taking work rather than benefits. Differentiation was needed between the kinds of welfare support people received — whether income replacement for the unemployment benefit, family income support for benefits such as the domestic purposes benefit, long-term income for disabled or invalided people, and programmes for rehabilitation and training for people able to undertake work. Retirement income also needed to be addressed. Miss Richardson said she was confident she would be appointed Minister of Finance in a new National Cabinet. She would reject the “politics of blame” adopted by her predecessors, Mr Roger Douglas and Sir Robert Muldoon. “Blame doesn’t pay debt, it doesn’t get growth and it doesn’t create jobs,” she said.