Apparently Keys only excuse was that the increase was neutralized by a personal tax cut, when this is just another lie. He thinks that the office of Prime Minister means that he should not be held to account for his lies and broken promises.
In fact John Key was regularly found to be lying his head off during the debate. So in light of how dishonest the current Prime Minister is, here is a brief rundown of what he said:
Key says he should be judged on his record... but makes cuts to KiwiSaver. Raising GST. Working for families cuts. Cuts to the public service.
Key blames a “dynamic environment” for breaking his promise not to raise GST then raised it to 15%.
Key says leadership is about being decisive... but it took him four days to show up at the Rena.
Key says they’re doing enough to keep Kiwis here... however over 100,000 New Zealanders have left for Australia under National. People are voting with their feet.
Key says he has narrowed the wage gap with Australia... the facts show the gap has widened by $32 a week under National.
Key says he would protest for a strong economy... while ensuring that New Zealand had the 29th slowest growth out of the 34 OECD countries in the past year.
Key says we make $3.2b from oil... but it is oil companies that make those profits. NZ makes very little.
Key says his priority is growing the economy... but GDP per person is down 3.2% under National - The worst economic record in at least 50 years.
Key says they need to move more families off welfare... but National has failed to create any jobs meaning that benefit costs are $2 billion higher than they were under Labour.
Key says Naitonal increased early childhood education funding... but National cut $400 million in their 2010 budget.
Key says the number of beneficiaries is too high... The number of beneficiaries has increased dramatically since National took office - enough to fill Eden Park.
Key claims his youth wage will help young people... but proposes to lower youth wages to $10.50 an hour. Youth need jobs not pay cuts. 24,000 young people are either not earning or learning. National have cut skills training for youth.
Key claims his was a fiscally neutral tax switch... but National raised GST to 15% and borrowed $1.1 billion to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy.
Key says interest rates are low... however under Naitonal’s policies, mortgage rates will be back to 7.7% next year according to NZIER. That will add $350 a month to a typical mortgage.
Key claims that raising the minimum wage will cost jobs... The 2010 minimum wage increase resulted in zero redundancies according to the Department of Labour.
Key says he will boost wages... while the median household income has fallen by $82 a week under National after inflation. Incomes have gone up just 2.5% while inflation has been 9%.
Key says the public service is now efficient... however Maritime NZ lost two top public servants with oil spill skills to Australia in the last year because of funding pressures.
Key says there’s nothing scary about asset sales... but the assets National would sell return huge dividends that already pay for schools and hospitals. Once they’re gone, they’re gone forever.
Key claims Labour will borrow more... Labour will return to surplus in 2014 and have less debt in the long run because they won’t sell the assets.
Key says National has created 43,000 jobs... unfortunately under National there are 49,000 more people unemployed.
Hat tip to Draco and Labour for this excellent fact check on John Keys lies.
