Key on Working for Families

John Key said National would not touch Labour's original Working for Families programme, which was targeted at lower-income earners, but there was no reason why higher earners should receive a handout from the state.

"It's always been my view that it has never been a well-designed system. It was never the intention of Working for Families to reach so far up the income scale," he said.

Ironically it is the lower income workers who get the "hand-out from the state" because they receive more in tax credits than they pay. High income earners get tax credits but are still nett contributors. The language around Working for Families distorts and misleads. Another reason for a fair, unambiguous, transparent flat tax system.