Podcasts about sir michael cullen

There's bad news, really, and it's been coming and I think I've had my head in the sand for some time. I've been wanting things to get better quickly. I've wanted things to move out from grindy-ness, and a lack of fun, and excess, and nonsense. It's just been for four years of long, slow grind, it seems. Well, Matthew Hooton's opinion piece in the New Zealand Herald has laid it out starkly, unequivocally, in no uncertain terms. The grindy times are here for a long time, as he says. Brooke van Velden's constitutionally dubious and deeply unpopular legislation to amend the Equal Pay Act and more bold moves like it, are now unavoidable, whether they take the form of massive spending cuts, much higher taxes, or most likely, he says both. And the reason? Successive governments have been on a massive jolly, and now we, and successive generations have to pay for it. As Hooton reminds us, Treasury began formerly warning in 2006, about the looming fiscal challenges after 2030. It expected future governments would follow the responsible fiscal management of the Bolger, Shipley, and Clark governments, that they would maintain surpluses, pay back debt, put aside cash for a rainy day. Had we heeded the advice and followed the blueprint, we would be 15% of GDP in the black this year. Instead, the Key-English and Ardern-Hipkins Governments went on a 15-year spending spree, putting us 23% of GDP in the red, despite the Super Fund's returns on investments exceeding expectations. You can say what about the Canterbury quake, the GFC, and Covid? You can say all of that. But he's quite right. Successive governments have had to recover from crises, but they've also used that time to have a spend up, to push through expensive legislation and policies, of their choosing, of their ideology, while at the same time having to fork out billions in damage recovery. So, the four years of grindy times are going to be nothing in comparison to what we are going to see. There's more with this came from. Thanks to the Key-English and Ardern-Hipkins legacy, we're nearly 40% of GDP, or more than $170 billion, behind where Helen Clark, Winston Peters, and Sir Michael Cullen planned back in 2006, just as baby boomers retire and health costs start to explode. He says and argues without radical policy change, there is no plausible scenario that doesn't lead to eventual financial and social collapse. I urge you to read it and have a look and see what you think. That is why Labour's well-intentioned and accurately costed ill thought-out legislation is being scrapped. That is why superannuation and healthcare costs will be put under the microscope as costs balloon. And that is why I would argue, National and Labour need to work together to get us out of this mess. Treasury warned of the fiscal challenges in 2006. They warned of them again in a 2012 post-election briefing to John Key, the papers stressed again as baby boomers move into retirement, New Zealand's 65 and over population is projected to grow nearly four times more quickly than the total population, and consequently there'll be a rapid rise in health, aged care, and New Zealand super costs. Treasury said the fiscal challenge is considerable. There is no way to avoid making trade-offs. Given the potential economic and social instability that could result from any uncertainty about these trade-offs, we think it's crucial that effort be made to build broad public consensus on the way forward. And that's where we are today. The trade-offs are starting but there's no consensus, because it's just been sprung on us. Well, it hasn't been sprung on us. Treasury have been warning of this for some time, and we have ignored it as voters and the parties have ignored it. Both National and Labour are at fault, but we voters are to blame as well. We can't just stand there saying, “oh, we're victims we didn't know”. Would we have elected any party to government that laid out the grim prognosis for New Zealand Inc. and spelled out the tough measures we would need to take to recover? If Christopher Luxon had stood there in 2023 and said, we're in a real mess and it goes way beyond Hipkins and Robertson, Ardern and Robertson. It goes back a lot further than that and we are going to have to cut the equal pay amendment legislation, we're going to have to raise the age of superannuation, as every other western country we measure ourselves against has done, we're going to have to look long and hard at healthcare, we're have to look long and hard at welfare payments, and we're probably going to have to scrap some of them because we're in a deep, deep fiscal hole. Would we have said thank you so much for spelling it out. We're going to vote National back in to do these austere and tough measures that we need to recover so that we've got a country for our grandchildren. I doubt it. We are just as much to blame. The party is well and truly over, and it has been for some time. We've just borrowed to keep it going and buried our heads in the sand, turned up the music so we don't hear the creaking and the groaning of the economy as it struggles to keep the party going. It's time we all grew up. And it's time both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition worked together to try and keep the country together while we work our way out of this mess. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For the love of all that is holy - can we just introduce a capital gains tax and be done with it?  I am so sick of it dominating the headlines. The issue is never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever going to go away, despite two Labour Prime Ministers ruling it out, despite Christopher Luxon ruling it out - it comes up. It's like a nagging child, “I want a capital gains tax. I want a capital gains tax, I want a capital gains tax, I want a capital gains tax”, and then in the end you give in. This time it's because ANZ's Chief Executive, Antonia Watson, said in an interview yesterday that “the time has arrived for a capital gains tax”. Well, the time actually arrived with the Tax Working Group's recommendation in recent times, but nonetheless. She says look, there might be compliance costs introducing a tax, she also made it very clear she was opposed to any tax on unrealised gains, but she says a capital gains tax should be introduced and it should be introduced now. And her intervention adds another voice in a growing group of New Zealanders, influential and otherwise, who are calling for a capital gains or wealth tax.   As I say, the issue really came to the fore when the tax working group, chaired by Sir Michael Cullen and convened by the Ardern government, recommended a CGT be introduced. But then NZ First dug in their toes and refused to budge, so Jacinda Ardern ruled it out and she didn't just rule it out, she said it would never happen on her watch as Prime Minister, and it didn't. Then Chris Hipkins became Prime Minister leading a Labour government, and he ruled it out too. But that was then, and this is now. Now he's singing a different song as he was to Ryan Bridge on Early Edition this morning”  “I think what we've got to acknowledge is at the moment the New Zealand tax system is loaded against working people. Working people end up paying more tax because we're not taxing other forms of income as our other comparable countries do. There's capital gains tax here in the UK, there's capital gains tax in Australia, and so many other countries, that there isn't in New Zealand and what does that mean? It means that salary and wage earners, the people who work hard every day for a living, end up paying a disproportionate share of the tax because we're not taxing other forms of income.”  Oh, Chris Hipkins, champion of the working man. Where were you when you had a government that had a mandate to do anything at jolly well liked? Oh, that's right, you were there and you ruled it out. This is the same Chris Hipkins who had the best opportunity of any government since MMP was introduced to reform the tax system, he had a cabinet that was champing at the bit to reform the tax system. This is the Chris Hipkins who said no to a capital gains tax. David Parker resigned over the fact he said no to a capital gains tax, he resigned his portfolio - “untenable for me to continue”. Grant Robertson admitted he'd had to swallow a dead rat by standing by his Prime Minister when he wanted to introduce a capital gains tax. This is the Chris Hipkins who released a statement saying I am confirming today that under a government I lead, there will be no wealth or capital gains tax after the election, end of story.   So this is why you cannot have former Prime Ministers leading in opposition because they have absolutely no credibility when their statements from only a few months back come back to haunt them. His credibility on his capital gains tax is shot. Barbara Edmonds, get her up there talking about it, she's untainted. She doesn't have the ghost of Chris Hipkins from yesteryear, well, yestermonth, coming back to haunt her. Carmel Sepuloni. Hell, Jim, the guy who serves the drinks at 3.2, get him up there to say I think a capital gains tax would be fabulous.   You cannot have Chris Hipkins calling for a capital gains tax, he has absolutely no credibility. But the issue is simply not going to go away. And I think sooner rather than later, we need to adopt. I even think Sir Michael Cullen's recommendations were not unreasonable. There will come a time where it will be introduced, and we need to do it credibly and not in a knee jerk reaction, and with the best interests of the entire country at heart. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I am absolutely gobsmacked at the sheer gall of Labour even considering, suggesting, putting it out there, hey, run it up the flagpole, some form of capital gains tax might be back on the agenda. Apparently Barbara Edmonds, who is the finance spokesperson for Labour, is just putting it out there, seeing what people think. How very dare they for two glaringly obvious reasons. A) because they had every opportunity to introduce a capital gains tax or to revamp the taxation system not just once, but twice during their six long years in office. They set up the Tax Working Group to come up with recommendations to make New Zealand's tax system a fairer one, and when the working group Chair, Sir Michael Cullen, presented the final report, the Tax Working Group said, look, we support a broad-based tax on capital gains and suggested that handing back much of the $8.3 billion it might raise over five years through income tax cuts for almost all workers. The proposals, had they been adopted, would take billions from the wealthy and give most of that money back quite evenly to millions of taxpayers, which all sounds kind and fair and true to Labour's socialist roots and not completely unreasonable. As Sir Michael said, it was wrong that wage earners were taxed on their full income while you can earn income from gains on assets and not be taxed at all. So, all very Labour and all very true to the cause. But what did Jacinda Ardern do? She ignored the recommendations and said a Capital Gains Tax wouldn't happen while she was leader.  There was another attempt when Labour had an absolute majority in its final term to introduce a Capital Gains Tax. Both David Parker, the Revenue Minister, and Finance Minister Grant Robertson were for it. They'd done a lot of work on it, they'd picked up the work that the Tax Working Group had done. Chris Hipkins knew the electorate wouldn't stand for it, so put that proposal, along with many others on the bonfire, in a desperate and futile attempt to win back voters. And not only that, demoted David Parker. Well, David Parker to be fair excused himself or recused himself from being Minister because he didn't support ditching their Capital Gains Tax. It was an opportunity in a political lifetime to make effective change. His boss didn't have the cajones for it, so David Parker stepped back and was demoted and has since sort of languishing down in the ranks now.   So they had every opportunity to introduce a Capital Gains Tax and now they're in opposition they're talking about, hey, maybe we should look at some form of inheritance tax based on the Irish Capital Acquisitions Tax. It's galling.   And B), the other reason they shouldn't have the temerity to even suggest it, is because how could they possibly believe that New Zealanders would trust them with another brass cent? Even now, even the most deluded of fervent Labour supporters must look at the money that has been wasted. The money that is being wasted with nothing to show for it, and it makes me want to weep. If they were sensible stewards of our tax dollars, if they or any political party could show that they were sensible managers of our money, fill your boots. Take more of my tax dollars, take the money that I haven't earned, that's just come along with the rise in property values, bring in a 33% tax as Ireland is doing on unearned windfalls, ensure that everyone, not just the children of property owners, benefits from the accumulated wealth. Sure, do it, but for Labour to suggest taking more money from New Zealanders with their track record of waste etched into so many, many minds. It's going to take a very long time to forget that.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It is the multibillion-dollar fund set up to help pay for the extra costs of the retirement of the large baby boomer generation, that peaks mid-century. Now the New Zealand Superannuation Fund has released results to mark the 20 years since it began investing and it has surpassed its three benchmark targets. The Super Fund, the brainchild of former Labour Finance Minister, the late Sir Michael Cullen, has been built up from contributions from government surpluses and investment returns over those two decades. The Super Fund, currently at $64.4 billion, has bettered its rolling 20-year performance benchmark of 7.93 percent per annum, reaching 9.53 percent, after costs and before New Zealand tax. Its chief executive Matt Whineray says the government's finances are $40 billion better off than they would have been had those government contributions been used instead to pay down debt.

A GST expert says it is possible to remove the tax from fruit and veges, but whether it's good policy is another question. National's Nicola Willis claims it's part of Labour's election tax policy, that's been leaked to her. Labour won't confirm or deny it. Deloitte GST specialist Allan Bullot told Mike Hosking we can make rules to do just about anything, but it might not be the best use of resources. He says the tax working group looked at a number of studies, including from overseas, and found only 30 percent of savings end up in consumers' hands. LISTEN ABOVE   'Not a bad idea': Is GST off fruit and veges Labour's new tax policy? -Thomas Coughlan, NZ Herald Labour is planning to resuscitate a policy from its disastrous 2011 election campaign to revive its ailing electoral hopes: taking GST off fresh fruit and vegetables. That is according to National Party Finance spokeswoman Nicola Willis who said she had been handed details of the plan. Willis has form in this area, claiming earlier this year that Labour was in the advanced stages of implementing a wealth tax, which turned out to be true. The Herald has confirmed Labour has looked at changes to GST as part of its tax policy - although the final details have not been announced. It is the second major leak from Labour in as many days. Willis warned the tax would hand millions to some of the country's largest and most profitable companies who would absorb the cut, and fatten their margins. A Labour Party battered and bruised from losing its fourth minister in seven months, and beset by a major leak from caucus this week, did not deny the tax rumours, with at least one MP saying the policy sounded like a good idea. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, speaking from Christchurch, did not deny the rumours. “I'm not going to announce a tax policy today and Nicola Willis should be focused on making her own policies add up,” Hipkins said. Police Minister Ginny Andersen, a Hipkins loyalist, noted it was an idea that had been “considered before - it's a nice idea”. “Yeah it's not a bad idea,” she said. National's finance spokeswoman Nicola Willis said she had been leaked the policy immediately before Question Time on Thursday. Photo / Mark Mitchell Asked whether the plan was actually Labour policy, Andersen said it would be “pre-announcing the Labour Party tax policy”. The Government's new Revenue Minister Barbara Edmonds also did not deny Labour would be taking GST off fresh fruit and vegetables. “Every party will have the ability to release their tax policies and ours is coming out in the coming weeks,” Edmonds said. “I'm not going to release our tax policy without the Prime Minister,” she said. Edmonds took over the role just this week after her predecessor David Parker asked to be reshuffled out of the job saying it was “untenable” for him to continue. Parker did not stop to take questions on his way to the House on Thursday - the fifth time he has walked away from waiting media since Hipkins revealed he had killed Parker's beloved wealth tax. Illustration / Rod Emmerson The policy, if correct, puts the party at odds with economists, at odds with its own Tax Working Group, at odds with coalition partners the Greens - and even at odds with Finance Minister Grant Robertson who rubbished the idea as recently as May. “GST is a comprehensive tax which makes it very easy to administer and people in the room who've been in other countries with more exemptions will know it becomes an absolute boondoggle to get through,” Robertson told Newshub in March last year. “If you do it off fresh fruit and vegetables, or even staple products, then you get into an argument of what's the difference between beetroot and canned beetroot, and if you want to make a real impact on the lowest income people you wouldn't cut the tax off fresh beetroot - that's not what people on low incomes buy,” he said. Green Party co-leader James Shaw said his party thought a GST cut was the wrong way to go, arguing that other countries had issues in deciding what counted as “fresh” and what did not. In the United Kingdom, for example, chickens were taxed at different rates in the same establishment depending on whether they were cooked or not. “We think it's better to focus on people's incomes,” Shaw said. Shaw cited his own party's policy which was to implement a wealth and trust tax to pay for tax cuts for 95 per cent of income taxpayers. New Revenue Minister Barbara Edmonds. Photo / Angus Dreaver, RNZ Of all the parties in Parliament, only Te Pāti Māori backed the GST policy, but it wants to go further, taking GST off all food. On Thursday, it unveiled a suite of other tax changes, including income tax cuts paid for by a wealth tax and hiking income and company tax. Infometrics chief executive and economist Brad Olsen described the idea as “pure politics over economics - I've never, ever, spoken to an expert in the field before in economics or tax policy who says ‘this is good policy, love it'. Everyone thinks it's diabolically silly.” Olsen said there was no way to guarantee the GST cut was “passed on and, more importantly… passed on in perpetuity”, warning firms would simply absorb the GST cut, particularly in a time of high inflation. Deloitte GST Partner Allan Bullot said the problem with taking GST off fresh fruit and vegetables was how to make it work, and whether suppliers and retailers will simply hike prices. “I think that would actually be quite difficult to do. Then there's ongoing [questions] of how do you do it? “What do you do if the supermarket suppliers themselves put the prices up to the supermarkets [or] if you've got a non-resident that says, ‘Oh, I see that New Zealand is taking GST off food - I'll crank my prices up'.” He said it raised questions of whether seeds and fertiliser should also be GST exempt. Sir Michael Cullen's Tax Working Group called a GST exemption "complex, poorly targeted for achieving distributional goals and generate significant compliance costs". Photo / Mark Mitchell NZ Initiative chief economist Dr Eric Crampton told TVNZ's Breakfast this morning that removing GST from some foods had worked “very badly” in other countries, with some becoming tied up in litigation over which foods qualified. Even taking GST off all foods - as proposed by Te Pāti Māori - would have saved the lowest-income households only about $17 per week at the time the Tax Working Group looked at the issue in 2018. “You could do a lot more good by simply increasing transfers to lower income communities by above that amount, rather than trying to take GST off of food. “So generally you want to have an increase in broad-based taxes - not punch holes in GST - and then use the money to give it to people who you think need it.” The Tax Working Group, established by Labour in its first term and led by former Labour Finance Minister Michael Cullen, dismissed targeted GST exemptions as “complex, poorly targeted for achieving distributional goals and generate significant compliance costs. Furthermore, it is not clear whether the benefit of specific GST exceptions are passed on to consumers.” It said taking GST off all food and drink - a far broader policy than what Labour is proposing - would cost $2.4b a year in 2018, and benefit the wealthiest 10 per cent of households more than three times as much as the poorest 10 per cent. Edmonds said that she was a “team player” and that she would implement the Labour tax policy. “Whatever the tax policy that our party will release, I will make sure if I come back as the Minister of Revenue, I will make workable,” she said. Having different rates of GST on different items is often criticised for creating a compliance burden for businesses, which is passed on to consumers. Edmonds said this challenge was not insurmountable. “There is always a compliance issue with any tax regime and it's something that ministers and any party would need to work through,” she said. Labour had planned to announce its tax policy last week but pulled the announcement sometime after the party's Tuesday morning caucus meeting. Thomas Coughlan is deputy political editor of the New Zealand Herald, which he joined in 2021. He previously worked for Stuff and Newsroom in their Press Gallery offices in Wellington. He started in the Press Gallery in 2018.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's officially Budget 2023 Eve, and experts are speculating about what to expect. Budget 2023 will be announced by Finance Minister Grant Robertson tomorrow, and Robertson has spent the last few days explaining this will be a no-frills budget focused on recovery. ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper predicts there will be extra surprises in this year's Budget. "I've talked around the Beehive today and they say there will be surprises, or a surprise in the Budget. And don't forget it was Grant Robertson that, in the 2005 election campaign working for the late Sir Michael Cullen, came up with interest-free student loans." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand's Superfund celebrates its 20th anniversary today, as Baby Boomers hit retirement age. Former Minister of Finance, Sir Michael Cullen established the fund on October 11th 2001, in anticipation of a bulge in an aging population reitiring.

New Zealand's Superfund celebrates its 20th anniversary today, as Baby Boomers hit retirement age. Former Minister of Finance, Sir Michael Cullen established the fund on October 11th 2001, in anticipation of a bulge in an aging population reitiring.

This week,the latest lockdown developments, What to do if you can't pay provisional tax or GST The perils of making payments to overseas beneficiaries Reflections on the late Sir Michael Cullen

Stephen, Ben and Kathryn talk about whether the health system is anywhere near prepared to cope with the Delta strain, 18 months since pandemic surfaced here, and the scramble to get more New Zealanders vaccinated and tested. They also discuss Sir Michael Cullen's legacy.

Stephen, Ben and Kathryn talk about whether the health system is anywhere near prepared to cope with the Delta strain, 18 months since pandemic surfaced here, and the scramble to get more New Zealanders vaccinated and tested. They also discuss Sir Michael Cullen's legacy.

Helen Clark says her right-hand man Sir Michael Cullen, leaves behind a remarkable legacy.The 76-year-old lost his fight to lung cancer overnight.He's known for being the architect behind the KiwiSaver scheme and getting the Superannuation Fund up and running.The former Prime Minister told Heather du Plessis-Allan he always delivered in his various roles.“Incredibly smart, I could throw him just about any problem, any problem, and he would find a way of dealing with it. And you need very senior ministers like that who can help you get the business done.”LISTEN ABOVE

I visited Sir Michael Cullen at his home a couple of months ago and had the great privilege of a few hours of his time, at a moment when it was clear his time was very limited. We spoke about all sorts of different things: Rogernomics, the monarchy, the foreshore and seabed. He talked about God (or, in his opinion, the lack thereof). He spoke frankly about his illness and death. For an egalitarian, Sir Michael Cullen lived a very rich life. And upon news of his death yesterday I found myself thinking of one specific policy, one piece of his work that we discussed, that really stands out to me. Kiwisaver is amazing. It's such a good idea. Simple. Boring. But incredibly effective. More than the Super Fund and more than interest free student loans, I think Kiwisaver will define Sir Michael Cullen's legacy for generations to come. There is currently about $60 Billion under management in New Zealanders' Kiwisaver accounts. Just think about that. $60 Billion. For a nation of notoriously bad savers, a nation with ludicrously high house prices and massive personal debt, Kiwisaver could be the difference between dignity in older age and a pretty miserly existence. In a way, the beauty of it is that half of us don't even know we're saving. We don't think about funds or providers. We never consider the power of compact interest over time. If we're automatically enrolled, it's much more hassle to organise a Kiwisaver holiday than it is to just keep on contributing. I'll be honest, as a younger person, I sometimes feel resentful about the future my generation faces. Many people my age will be locked out of home ownership. The sustainability of superannuation is seriously under threat. Climate change is baked in, and we're the ones who'll have to live with the effects. And truthfully, we won't really see the true scale of Kiwisaver benefits for a few more decades, when people who've been enrolled in Kiwisaver for the whole of their working lives can access the money they've tucked away, when they finally turn 65. There it's my generation, for all the things we feel short-changed by, who will most benefit from Kiwisaver.  All of us who are lucky enough to make it that far and who have been in Kiwisaver since the beginning of our working lives will have Sir Michael Cullen to thank for giving us a materially better retirement. A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in. I hope we remember him then as we do today. 

Supermarkets and Auckland hospitals are struggling under this latest outbreak.They've been forced to call in staff who are self-isolating, potentially putting more at risk.The Government extended the nationwide lockdown until Tuesday along with the Auckland and the Coromandel Peninsula during Friday's briefing.The evacuation of Afghanistan has begun after the Taliban returned to power.On US evacuation flights, dogs have been given seats on planes.Sir Michael Cullen died aged 76 Friday morning.Cullen is credited with creating KiwiSaver and introducing the Superannuation.Listen above as Hayden Munro and Ben Thomas discuss this and the rest of the day's news with Heather du Plessis-Allan above

Sir Michael Cullen's life and legacy are being celebrated across the political spectrum today. The former Deputy Prime Minister died in Whakatāne last night after being diagnosed with lung cancer last year. He left politics in 2009 after a 30-year career with the Labour Party and was pivotal in setting up KiwiSaver, the New Zealand Superannuation Fund and Working for Families. He was Finance Minister for nine years and Deputy Prime Minister for six. And he was a close friend, confidant and colleague of former Prime Minister Helen Clark. She talks to Lisa Owen.  

Tributes have been flooding in for the late Deputy Prime Minister Sir Michael Cullen. He died last night in Whakatāne after being diagnosed with advanced lung cancer last year. Sir Michael played a pivotal role in establishing KiwiSaver, the New Zealand Super Fund and Working For Families. Here's our political reporter Charlie Dreaver.

The former Labour finance minister and deputy Prime Minister Sir Michael Cullen, has died aged 76 in Whakatāne. Sir Michael Cullen had a long and distinguished career in academia, politics and business governance. He is best known for introducing the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, also known as the Cullen Fund; Kiwi Saver and the Working for Families package. He was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer early last year. Susie speaks with the current finance Minister Grant Robertson

I can't remember exactly what the date it was when I last saw Michael Cullen. But I think it was not long before his lung cancer diagnosis. So maybe just a bit before March last year. We were at the airport, saw him in the Koru Club.And so we all grabbed a bite to eat together. And I was telling Michael that I was just finishing renovations in Wellington. And he told me he'd also once renovated a house himself - I think he said it was his first house. And we so complained to each other about how hard it is to lift GIB sheets up to the ceiling to screw them in.After that, I remember thinking about what an interesting person he is.Smart enough to get a doctorate, brilliant as a Finance Minister, rose to the heights of Government and would've been fully aware that he was more than ordinary.  And yet so normal that he'd – just like the rest of us – picked up the hammers and saws and done up his own house. I think that's part of what made him so good as a Finance Minister. He understood what it meant to be a normal Kiwi. He'd been working-class like so many Kiwis.  Today we've lost a huge figure of our time.Michael Cullen was the second-best Finance Minister of modern times. He only comes in behind Roger Douglas, the reformist of our time. Sometimes we called him Scrooge because he was so tight he thought he could get away with delivering the chewing gum tax cuts — remember that? But that's how he paid down debt and got us to 5.4 percent debt to GDP. Compare that to the 33 percent plus we've got now to understand what an incredible achievement that was. He and Helen Clark have a long list of things that they should be proud of achieving: The Super Fund, establishing the Supreme Court, refusing to join the US invasion of Iraq. But the thing he should be remembered for, above all of that, is KiwiSaver. That's going to save so many elderly from retirement poverty, which will only get worse with rising rents.So next time you check your KiwiSaver balance, thank Sir Michael Cullen.

Sir Michael Cullen has had a long and distinguished career in academia, politics and business. The former Labour finance minister, deputy Prime Minister and close confidant of Helen Clark is best known for introducing the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, also known as the Cullen Fund; Kiwi Saver and the Working for Families package. As senior whip when the Fourth Labour Government came to power in 1984, he had a ringside seat to the era of Rogernomics, and the implosion of the relationship between Prime Minister David Lange and Finance Minister Roger Douglas. After leaving politics in 2009, Sir Michael became chairman of New Zealand Post, and has held a number of other public service roles. Early last year he was diagnosed with cancer, for which he has been receiving palliative chemotherapy. He's just released his memoir, called Labour Saving.

Sir Michael Cullen has had a long and distinguished career in academia, politics and business. The former Labour finance minister, deputy Prime Minister and close confidant of Helen Clark is best known for introducing the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, also known as the Cullen Fund; Kiwi Saver and the Working for Families package. As senior whip when the Fourth Labour Government came to power in 1984, he had a ringside seat to the era of Rogernomics, and the implosion of the relationship between Prime Minister David Lange and Finance Minister Roger Douglas. After leaving politics in 2009, Sir Michael became chairman of New Zealand Post, and has held a number of other public service roles. Early last year he was diagnosed with cancer, for which he has been receiving palliative chemotherapy. He's just released his memoir, called Labour Saving.

Sir Michael Cullen is known for a number of roles while in politics: former deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, Attorney General, deputy leader of the Labour Party from 1996 to 2008.He left parliament in 2009, but certainly didn't slow down, going on to hold a number of public service roles.He has slowed down over the last year, after Sir Michael was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, but he's still found time to write his memoir - Labour Saving.He joined Francesca Rudkin to discuss how writing the book helped with his retirement, and to reflect on his time in politics - and how it compares to the politics of today. LISTEN ABOVE

A frank interview with Sir Michael Cullen by Q+A

Sir Michael Cullen shares his best and worst money stories with Liam Dann.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sir Cullen Michael says Labour's historic victory is a green light for much needed changes in climate action and transport infrastructure.But it is not a mandate for a lurch to the left in terms of tax or welfare reform, and any attempt to do so quickly could risk "middle-ground voters jumping off a cliff", the former Finance Minister told the Herald.Last night Labour secured a parliamentary majority with 64 seats, the party's best result under MMP and its strongest showing since 1946, when Labour won 51 per cent of the party vote.National plunged to 26.8 per cent, its second-worst result ever, with 2002 being its only worse result.He said Labour played a "very safe" campaign, including its tax policy that would only affect 2 per cent of income earners."I can understand their nervousness ... but without additional revenue, and given the Covid-19 flow-on, they are somewhat restricted."We're locked into programme for three years in terms of tax generally. Its more immediate problem is that any feasible tax programme is going to have a very minor bearing on the size of deficits in the next three years."I do have to admit that one or two points I was worried they were being too safe. But in the end, that paid off and allowed Jacinda to project that image of competence, combined with kindness, and an occasional spark of severity when dealing with Judith Collins."He said Labour had a strong mandate on climate change action, transport infrastructure and tackling poverty, though on the latter he agreed with Ardern that lasting change came in increments rather than in leaps and bounds."Jacinda has a mandate for some quite significant change, but in areas like the welfare system and poverty, it is a matter of progressive change over a period of years."Cullen said National voters had shifted to Labour over the Government's successful Covid response and, to a much lesser degree, to strengthen Labour's hand against Green influence."And there were definitely Labour people who were worried the Greens might not make the 5 per cent threshold and who switched their party vote to ensure that happened."He noted National's issues with leadership changes and campaign bungles including caucus leaks and signs of disunity."People were disillusioned with National. It was a bit like 2002, when National got a lot less than in the polls as people gave up on them. Clearly a lot of National people voted Act this time."NZ First leader Winston Peters also played the wrong hand in criticising "wokeness" and "pixie dust", he said."Winston spent two or three weeks attacking Labour, and attacking Jacinda in code-language."He should have been making more of what NZ First had done positively, sort of hugging Jacinda close to him in the same way James Shaw did. Shaw seemed to be getting as close to Jacinda under the umbrella as he could."His advice to Peters?"Retire. Imagine him coming back at 78 next time around. What as? The grumpy old vote is almost by definition declining, despite the fact the population is getting older, and his time has passed."He said the Greens should be careful about getting into a coalition arrangement, nothing how poorly minor parties have fared in the past, including the fate of NZ First in 2008 and in 2020."Think very carefully before getting too closely locked in to the web of government. The history of minor parties who do that, if and when the Government starts to get a little unpopular, is not encouraging."The minor parties have a real struggle coping with the stresses and responsibility for decisions that aren't popular with everybody. We've had a variety of loose arrangements under MMP, and the looser the better."They can still have an influence, but that will be limited anyway because ultimately they don't have the votes to stop Labour from doing anything." 

It's been an extraordinary result for Labour. Guyon Espiner talks to Sir Michael Cullen, who was deputy prime minister to Helen Clark, and her finance minister, about the results.

75 - Bubbles of Humanity - Sir Michael Cullen in Ohope Beach joins Samuel Mann in Sawyers Bay and Mawera Karetai in Whakatane. With contributions from Tahu Mackenzie and Liesel Mitchell. This show was broadcast on OAR 105.4FM Dunedin - oar.org.nz

The financial situation for New Zealand's District Health Boards is continuing to deteriorate, with newly released data showing all but one are in the red.And the overall position is expected to get worst too, with the Ministry of Health forecasting an end of financial year deficit of more than half a billion dollars.The combined deficit for all 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) stands at $103 million as of August last year – according to the latest data available.That's $20 million higher than the reported deficit at the same time the year prior.The Ministry of Health (MoH) published the data in the first week of this month.National's Health spokesman Michael Woodhouse said the data was "quietly released" by the MoH over the summer period so the numbers would get little attention.He has accused Health Minister David Clark of putting DHBs in a perilous financial position through "sheer incompetence"."David Clark has shown little appetite or ability to remedy the situation. He's out of his depth and he knows it, which is why he quietly released the data online over the summer period."The August numbers are the first tranche to be released from the 2019/20 financial year.As well as showing the $103 million deficit, the numbers also show that the MoH expects the overall DHB deficit to be $534 million by June this year.At $23 million in the red, Canterbury DHB has the highest deficit, followed by Waikato with $15 million then Auckland at $10 million.South Canterbury, the only DHB with a surplus, was $1 million in the black.In the year to June 2019, DHBs reported an overall $1.1 billion deficit.The DHBs' financial performance came under intense scrutiny as the deficit deepened.Last year, the Herald revealed the Government was forced to pour extra emergency money into the DHBs after being warned hospital workers' pay could be affected without a bailout.Information, released under the Official Information Act, revealed the Government had spent and extra $368 million more than it had expected on topping up DHB funding.In December last year, the Government revealed it had enlisted the aid of former Ministers, chief executives, top-ranking officials and mayors to help get the country's embattled DHBs back on a firmer financial footing.Former Finance Minister, and Tax Working Group chairman Sir Michael Cullen, was among 76 new District Health Board (DHB) chairpersons or board members.

This weekend, the Tuia 250 voyage begins in Gisborne.A flotilla, including a replica of Captain Cook's Endeavour, is travelling around New Zealand to mark the first on-shore encounters between Maori and European.As we know, the fallout of these interactions continues today.And one person who knows all about that is Sir Michael Cullen, who's got one of the best insights into the business of treaty settlements through his time as Deputy Prime Minister, Crown Treaty Negotiations Minister, and more recently Ngāti Tūwharetoa Negotiator.His story is featured in the Maori TV series The Negotiators, and he's been speaking to Andrew Dickens.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE

Amanda Martin is a Tax Principal at tax specialist firm, nsaTax Limited. Amanda advises on a wide range of taxation law and provides practical and plain English solutions for her clients. Amanda has a particular interest in the taxation of land and the recent legislative reforms to the taxation of residential land. Amanda has a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws and is a CA member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand with over 20 years’ tax advisory experience. Capital Gains Tax. As our country matures, is it time to not only tax the fruit of our labour and the leaves but now the tree itself? Please take the time to read the actual report and form your own opinions - https://taxworkinggroup.govt.nz/resources/future-tax-final-report 1 - What is 'Capital Gains Tax'. Simply put, it's taxing the tree. Currently in NZ you pay tax on income derived from physical exertion (labour) ie the fruit, you pay tax on earnings that come from capital (leaves), but you do not normally pay tax on the tree itself (the increase in the value of the capital itself). Under the proposed legislation the gain in the value of your capital whether held in property or shares (in Australasia) would be payable in addition to the income tax you paid in order to acquire that asset (as well as the dividend, interest or rental income also received.) a - Bright Line Test. Extended from 2 years to 5 years around this time last year, the gains made on residential property (outside of the primary residence) is already going to be taxed at your marginal tax rate. The proposed CGT may render this rule redundant. b- Ring-fencing of tax losses. This rule change is almost guaranteed to go through with an effective date being 1/4/19. If you make a 'loss' on a rental property traditionally you've been able to offset that against your personal income tax liability. These losses will soon be 'contained' and whilst it may offset future taxable income there may soon be no immediate tax relief that we currently enjoy. In an episode with accountant Karl Moreton, we delve deeper into these two issues separately (check it out) 2 - What's the likelihood that the proposed CGT will go ahead as proposed? Well, most would suggest it's a certainty that it will only proceed after some fine-tuning. Originally it was discussed the changes in tax around capital gains would be tax neutral, having the effect of redistributing wealth from the 'haves' to the 'have-nots'. This is where politics and the safety net of our democratic system come into play - assuming most Kiwi's understand the impact of the proposed CGT and express their opinion not just on facebook but at the polls - ultimately what's best for NZ is what the majority think it should be...right? 3 - How will the proposed tax changes affect the NZ Everyday Investor? This will impact every Kiwi - for richer or for poorer. Hopefully out of this there's going to be some healthy debate around the following questions: Will this be perceived to be 'punishing' those who take a risk, innovate, build wealth and employ Kiwi's? Even if it's not punitive, will it be perceived like that? Will the 'middle' or those aspiring to build wealth, pay the bulk of the cost for the upper 1% who will likely find ways still to avoid paying this tax? Will those with wealth move to another country? Will this remedy in any part the housing crisis? Some would suggest that the value of lower-priced homes (typically homes that are acquired by property investors) will fall at a greater rate relative to larger owner-occupied style homes (the 'mansion effect') Fair Dividend Rate (FDR) taxation rules applied to overseas shares will be more appealing now in light of a new CGT on the gains on shares held in Australia and NZ. Is this something that the NZX really needs right now and if seeking capital, would a startup or SME be able to resist a growing temptation to move off-shore? Covering a topic like Capital Gains Tax can be challenging to say the least - inevitably it gets clouded by our own political bias and pre-conceived notions around equality. To ensure a rational debate here we really should be looking primarily at the problem that the CGT attempts to solve, then after that ask this very important question - is this going to be an effective tool in solving that problem? NZ Everyday Investor Podcast: https://www.facebook.com/NZ-Everyday-Investor-338969376637717/ We’re keeping it real on NZ Everyday investor – we’re not journalists and this isn’t an interview – it’s a discussion, hosted by someone who’s genuinely into this sort of thing. If you like what we do, remember to subscribe to our show and share it with others – we’d really appreciate it! Do you know what else would make us rather pleased with ourselves? Write a review on facebook too! Where to find Darcy Ungaro: Ungaro &Co (registered) financial advisers https://www.ungaro.co.nz Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UFinServ/?ref=bookmarks Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ungaro.co.nz/ Help support the mission of our show on Patreon by contributing here: NZ Everyday Investor is on a mission to increase financial literacy and make investing more accessible for the everyday person!

National is accusing the Government of wasting taxpayers' money on using Tax Working Group chairman Sir Michael Cullen as a "hired gun," after his contract was extended.But Cullen – who was also once a Labour Party Finance Minister – rubbished the claim and said he was only staying on to "defend the integrity of the report".Speaking on The Weekend Collective, Cullen said he although people may assume he is biased towards the Labour Party, he is solely focused on the tax working group."My job is to defend the integrity of the process and the recommendation and facts which it is based. That is what I am being paid to do."LISTEN ABOVE AS SIR MICHAEL CULLEN SPEAKS TO THE WEEKEND COLLECTIVE

Well, I have really, really, really tried but I have failed. The same way I failed last year’s Dry July. I had the best intentions but it’s just too tempting. Or maybe I’m too addicted. Or maybe it’s too infuriating.I honestly thought I might get through this week without discussing the recent findings of the Tax Working Group. I imagined and visualised never uttering the words “Capital Gains Tax”. But I have now fallen.I was tempted to talk about it after Jacinda Ardern got stuck into the people who write columns in the Herald. People like me. The inference being that we were all ganging up against the CGT. That the proposals were slowly being picked apart like pulling at a loose thread on a jumper. The tax was dying a death of a thousand cuts. And that was unfair. And of course, this whole thing is about fairness.I took exception to that because what she was really complaining about is that nobody was coming out in favour of the tax. Apart from a few people writing emotional pleas about fairness and how it just feels right.Ask yourself. Who have you seen crusading for the biggest shakeup of our economy in a generation? Where are the crowds marching in the street? How many water cooler conversations have you had about the taxes? The only ones I’ve had is about how we could avoid paying any. Perhaps on factory floors and minimum wage sweatshops, there are mobs of supporters, but I haven’t seen any evidence of that.What the Prime Minister is really upset about is the Working Group’s ideas do not have a champion.Which brings me to why I’ve broken my silence.This week the government extended Sir Michael Cullen’s contract as Chairman of the Tax Working Group so he can defend the ideas his group presented to the Government. That’s a sweet gig. A grand a day to phone talkback stations or write letters to the editor to dispel any scaremongering that may or may not be going on.I’m afraid this is just not right. Sir Michael was paid to collate expert advice, which he’s done. Job over. His ideas need to defend themselves. If he wants to defend them now the job’s finished he can do it on his own coin.Then we come to David Seymour’s criticism today that this demonstrates the inability of Finance Minister Grant Robertson to articulate and defend his Government’s tax plan.That’s not strictly true because the Tax Working Group’s plan is not yet the government’s plan. They’ll tell us what their plan is next month. And that’s their political failure. To be honest they’ve lost this already. By failing to come out immediately and say what they like and don’t like about the groups that plan the government is just sitting there like a big lump, saying nothing and getting kicked. If I was a supporter of the Capital Gains Tax, I would very angry at the government right now.What all this is really saying is that the supporters of the Capital Gains Tax are so few and far between that this government is now paying people to support it and that just sounds a teensy bit corrupt.

The news is like buses. There’s nothing for ages and then the stories all come at once and yesterday was incredible so quick notes on three stories.Firstly, Iain Lees-Galloway. Mr Onceover-Lightly, what could possibly go wrong and if it does, it’s not my fault.It’s always the Minister’s fault, Minister. That’s the point about Ministerial oversight and responsibility. But here’s a thing; listening to his reasoning at 1pm yesterday, I was struck by his final comments. He said he’d review his and the IMS procedures and then added, on his own volition, an example. He said he’d start reading the files before the meetings! Hello! You think? Bully for you!Which gives credence to the belief that Iain Lees-Galloway swanned in, had a look at the notes provided, and made a decision. Which raises some red flags to me. He was very possibly blindly following the advice of his bureaucrats who were pointing out the issues. So the so-called professionals are not without blame. Advice to all politicians. If you want to get it right, read all the guff, prepare, and don’t trust the bureaucrats.Now, on the spies deciding Spark should not use Huawei to build the 5G network. This came after American pressure last week on its allies not to use the Chinese company. You can see why. After all, would China use an American company to build its telecommunications infrastructure? Of course not. And we are part of the Five Eyes spying programmes with the States.We’ve already reported that New Zealand is caught betwixt and between two trade warring superpowers and we’d eventually have to choose. We upset China with our investment in the Pacific. We did it again with some forthright statements from our Foreign Minister. And now we’ve chosen America again. No wonder Jacinda Ardern’s visit to China has been postponed and the chances of an improved FTA just took a step backwards. It’s going to be a frosty time with China in the short term.And then to Sir Michael Cullen and a possible Capital Gains Tax. Silver-tongued Cullen almost made the whole thing sound logical. He argues with an ageing population we’re running out of taxpayers. The Labour based revenue will decrease and so we need to supplement it with capital taxation and revenue. He claims there’ll be no more tax gathered. That the whole thing could be fiscally neutral.But that’s not wholly true. The next generation of taxpayers will be hit on their labour and their capital. I doubt very much whether they’ll not end out paying more tax than their elders and they’re not going to take that.After all, turkeys don’t vote for Christmas.

Chris Lynch spoke to former Deputy Prime Minister Sir Michael Cullen about his now role as the Earthquake Commission chair and the challenges EQC faces.

Sir Michael Cullen is the chair of the New Zealand Post Group. As the then Minister of Finance he oversaw the introduction of Kiwibank in 2002, which was created as part of a diversification strategy for New Zealand Post. He spoke to Kate Gudsell about the future of the business.