Prebble on balancing the budget

Why we miss Richard Prebble.

In the OECD only two countries owe more money per person than we do; Iceland which is bankrupt and Spain where unemployment has just hit 17 percent. New Zealand’s external debt is now $167 billion. Politicians used to say “Most of the money is owed by Aussie banks, it is not our worry”. The banks owe most of the debt but just days before the election the Labour government extended a guarantee to cover all bank borrowing. Potentially you owe $41 thousand; that’s what $167 billion divided by 4 million works out at. As only a third of us pay income tax as a taxpayer you potentially owe around a $120 thousand.

Only a third? He is probably right. While the workforce is around 2.2 million, many low income workers effectively pay no income tax.