Radio: Across The Ditch – What to expect from NZ’s Budget

[caption id="attachment_1205" align="alignleft" width="300"] Peter Godfrey and Selwyn Manning.[/caption]FiveAA Australia’s Peter Godfrey and EveningReport.nz’s Selwyn Manning deliver Across The Ditch. This week: what can we expect from the Nationals’ Budget 2015? – Recorded LIVE on 21/05/15 . Today (Thursday) is budget day in New Zealand. * The National-led Government is under pressure to deliver on child poverty. Earlier this year the Prime Minister said tackling child poverty in New Zealand would be a primary commitment for his government. But since then, John Key has cooled his hard talk. Instead of tackling poverty, Key now says his government will address deprivation. * The Government is also being hammered on its handling of Auckland housing crisis. It is the issue that just won’t go away, it is especially challenging for the Nationals due to its hands off approach to cooling the demand side of the crisis. Since last week the public and media pressure became too intense and the Prime Minister announced the government would roll out a tax on gains made on homes bought and sold within a two year window. People will want to see more policy in this Budget that cools foreign investment in the domestic housing market. * Will the Nationals on this side of the ditch follow Joe Hockey’s lead and roll out a Google tax – the so called tax designed to rake in billions of lost tax dollars to multinationals that trade across territorial borders? * And finally, will Finance Minister Bill English fail to deliver a budget surplus? The Nationals promised much in the election campaign. They promised a surplus and more, the PM said New Zealand was on the cusp of something big economically. Was it all hot air? ALSO… Weather… If you are thinking of a winter wonderland holiday… Snow is forecast for Canterbury in the South Island. Across the Ditch broadcasts live on Thursdays on Australia’s radio FiveAA.com.au and webcasts on EveningReport.nz, LiveNews.co.nz, and ForeignAffairs.co.nz.]]>