4. Question No. 4—FinanceNICOLA WILLIS (Deputy Leader—National) to the Minister of FinanceQuestion No. 4—Finance4. NICOLA WILLIS (Deputy Leader—National) to the Minister of Finance: Does he agree with the Prime Minister that There will need to be adjustments to tax income thresholds" and will he prioritise those adjustments as part of the Government's 2023 Budget?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): To answer both parts of the question I agree with the Prime Minister's full quote which was: "there will need to be adjustments to [income tax] thresholds as the overall incomes of New Zealanders rise. I am not outlining any specific plan about that today but I do acknowledge from time to time there does need to be adjustment … But now is not the right time to do that when we have a high inflationary environment because we know that tax changes like that that put more money back into the economy can also lead to any additional value that people … get through tax cuts being quickly eroded by inflation." I note that OECD analysis indicates that the tax wedge for the average single worker in New Zealand—the measure of tax on labour incomes—is the 36th lowest of 38 OECD countries. The Government is focused on supporting New Zealanders to increase their take-home pay through wage increases backed by a strong economy and more jobs and this has been reaffirmed today by the Statistics New Zealand report reporting wages have risen 7.6 percent over the past year.Nicola Willis: Does he think it's fair that under his Government New Zealanders struggling through a cost of living crisis are being forced to pay higher average effective tax rates due to inflation-driven bracket creep?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: As noted in the primary answer the Prime Minister—and indeed myself in the past—has indicated that there is from time to time justification and reason for adjusting tax rates. That has to be set in the context in which we live and the economy in which we live. We live in a situation now where we do have high inflation. We don't want to take steps that will unnecessarily exacerbate that inflation and we need to balance any decisions we make about that with what public services we can afford to provide. Tax cuts are not free; they have to be paid for and the member will eventually have to explain how she's going to pay for them or which public services she will cut to do that.Nicola Willis: Why can he find more than $80 million to subsidise Teslas hundreds of millions of dollars to fund more reports from highly paid consultants and hundreds of millions of dollars to fund policy advisers communications advisers and the like but he can't find money to let New Zealanders keep more of what they earn?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Two answers to that question. Firstly a further acknowledgment from the National Party that they will do nothing to help New Zealand meet its emissions reduction goals. They're happy to sign up to agreements but they will do nothing to do that. The second answer is that the member will be well aware that when tax cuts are put in place they're there for ever; they're costed out for ever. It's billions and billions of dollars Ms Willis—billions of dollars that either the member has to find somewhere or cut services to provide. That is the debate. That's the debate Ms Willis: what services are you going to cut?Nicola Willis: Why under Labour is it never the time to give Kiwis tax relief but it is always the time for the finance Minister to appropriate more of their money?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: What the member is offering New Zealanders on low incomes is two bucks a week. That's what the member is offering New Zealanders on low incomes. What we've done consistently over recent years is prioritise support for low and middle income New Zealanders so that they are hundreds of dollars a week better off than they would have been otherwise. The member might think it's fair somehow for someone on a low or middle income to get two bucks a week while someone on a high income like her gets a thousand dollars a year; I don't think that's fair.Hon Damien O'Connor: Is the Minister aware of any confusing or misleading tax policy that said one thing prior to an election and delivered something completely different after?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I certainly—SPEAKER: Order! I'm just going to warn the Minister to be very careful. Patsy questions should not be used to attack Opposition parties.Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I can certainly say that that's not something I would do."