Disabled pay cut to $2/hour to pay for tax cuts handing 64% of cash to richest 40%

Coalition cuts pay of disabled to $2/hour to save money for tax cuts directing 64% of benefits to richest 40%; Farmers losing confidence in economy under National-ACT-NZ First; ETS auction fails again

Social Development Minister Louise Upston has defended the Government’s decision to save money by dumping a programme which tops up the pay of disabled workers. Photo: Lynn Grieveson

TL;DR: It has emerged the National-ACT-NZ First Government decided to cut wages for disabled workers from the minimum wage to $2 an hour to help pay for the tax cuts that will see 64% of the benefits go to the richest 40% of the population.

That’s on top of reversing smoke-free changes to raise extra tobacco excise revenues, meaning those tax cuts will be paid for with the lives of smokers, who were forecast to have lived well up to an age where they could claim NZ Superannuation. Christopher Luxon’s defence of the smoke-free change as avoiding time-consuming ID checks for 36 year old smokers was ridiculed yesterday with data showing only seven people would be in that situation.

Also, farmer confidence in the future of the economy has collapsed in a way reminiscent of how they felt under a Labour Government, and the ETS scheme that the coalition is relying on to reduce emissions failed again in an auction yesterday because businesses have lost confidence in its management by both National and Labour.

Six things of note this morning

1. Cutting pay for disabled to pay for tax cuts