New Zealand Votes For Freer Spending Leader

Jan. 13, 2005
Voters have dumped New Zealand's first female prime minister, Jenny Shipley, despite her promises of income and corporate tax cuts. Preliminary results from the Nov. 27 election clearly put the Labor Party's Helen Clark in the position to head a new ...

Voters have dumped New Zealand's first female prime minister, Jenny Shipley, despite her promises of income and corporate tax cuts. Preliminary results from the Nov. 27 election clearly put the Labor Party's Helen Clark in the position to head a new government in coalition with the smaller, left-wing Alliance. Clark is promising more social spending, especially on health and education, to be financed by scrapping income tax cuts planned for next year by the Shipley administration, and by raising the rate on annual income exceeding NZ$60,000 from 33% to 39%. Critics say many taxpayers will easily avoid this higher levy, but Clark has committed herself to fiscal responsibility, saying she will trim spending plans rather than running into deficit. Labor should also be sufficiently dominant in its coalition partner's more free-spending policies. Up to 10% of votes, from New Zealanders living overseas and those who were outside their electoral districts on polling day, could yet complicate the balance of power by giving the environmentalist Greens a handful of seats in Parliament, but they, too, have pledged to back a Labor-led administration.

Popular Sponsored Recommendations

Empowering the Modern Workforce: The Power of Connected Worker Technologies

March 1, 2024
Explore real-world strategies to boost worker safety, collaboration, training, and productivity in manufacturing. Emphasizing Industry 4.0, we'll discuss digitalization and automation...

3 Best Practices to Create a Product-Centric Competitive Advantage with PRO.FILE PLM

Jan. 25, 2024
Gain insight on best practices and strategies you need to accelerate engineering change management and reduce time to market. Register now for your opportunity to accelerate your...

Transformative Capabilities for XaaS Models in Manufacturing

Feb. 14, 2024
The manufacturing sector is undergoing a pivotal shift toward "servitization," or enhancing product offerings with services and embracing a subscription model. This transition...

Shifting Your Business from Products to Service-Based Business Models: Generating Predictable Revenues

Oct. 27, 2023
Executive summary on a recent IndustryWeek-hosted webinar sponsored by SAP

Voice your opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of IndustryWeek, create an account today!