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 stand by his statement this morning that every government would want to be able to adjust those tax brackets and make sure that people do keep more of that money in their take-home pay" and how much more tax does he estimate New Zealand wage and salary earners are paying today compared to what they paid five years ago?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): I stand by my full statement in which I went on to say "we have to balance that against all of the needs we've got in delivering the health system"—that you've just been talking about—"delivering education building houses making sure that we provide all the public services [that] people rely on." To answer the second part of the question wage and salary earners pay a range of taxes and it is not possible to separate instances like how much GST is paid by wage and salary earners when trying to provide a comprehensive answer for the member. However I can advise the member that total personal income tax payments represented 41.6 percent of total tax revenue in the 2022 year just ended compared to 41.5 percent of total tax revenue in 2017—that would be an increase of 0.1 percent.Nicola Willis: Why does he support a situation where a median wage earner in New Zealand today is paying more income tax than they were when Labour came to Government?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: What we have to do as every Government has to do is find the balance between investing in the public services that we know we all need—the health system the education system the housing that needs to be built—along with what we ask New Zealanders to contribute through the tax system. As I said this morning of course every Government would like to make the adjustments the member's advocating for but the member doesn't seem to understand that when making those decisions you have to balance that against investment in public services. It's very clear the member doesn't understand that because the previous Government underfunded health education housing social development. The Bermuda Triangle that the member is stuck in might be a pleasant place to be but it doesn't add up.Nicola Willis: Does the Minister think he's getting the balance right when his Government increased Government spending by 16 percent in the past year alone while New Zealanders' real wages declined by 3.7 percent?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: As the member knows because we've traversed this in the House before when you take out the emergency COVID spending the Government spending as a percentage of GDP was 30.9 percent. That is effectively the long-run average. The member might also recall that when her party was in office following on from the Canterbury earthquakes spending reached as high as 34 percent of GDP and then came down. We're at 35 percent in the face of an even bigger economic shock.Nicola Willis: Does he agree with Australian Treasurer and Labor Party MP Jim Chalmers who said "We don't want to make the situation worse by making inflation worse. And you do that if you spray too much money around." and why does the New Zealand finance Minister continue to insist he can spend his way out of the cost of living crisis?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I have great respect for my friend and colleague Jim Chalmers and I wish him all the best for the Budget that he will deliver tonight. The member might want to reflect on the concept of spraying money around when she thinks it's a priority right now to cut taxes for the wealthiest New Zealanders. Not even Don Brash thinks that's a good idea.Nicola Willis: Does the Minister consider someone earning $60000 a year to be rich and if so why is it that that person today is paying far more tax if their wages have only kept pace with inflation while inflation continues to burn a hole in their pocket?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: In answer to the first part of the member's question no. What I consider is that middle-income people in New Zealand have worked hard over the last few years and the Government has stood beside them helping them stay in work helping them get through COVID and investing in our public services."