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Speaker 1: So key we save pay equity tax changes for businesses

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Speaker 1: some of the big things to come out of Budget

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty five delivered by the Finance Minister yesterday. Joining

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Speaker 1: us this morning is Barbara Evans, Labour's finance spokesperson.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, Good morning, Ryan's big days today, wasn't it

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Speaker 2: big day?

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Speaker 1: Big day and a big claims made as well. Barbara,

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Speaker 1: you've been accused your party been accused of spreading misinformation

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Speaker 1: saying that the key we saver for your average young person,

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Speaker 1: they would be sixty six thousand dollars worse off after

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Speaker 1: the changes. Will young people young kiwis be worse off

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Speaker 1: or better off as a net result of the changes

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Speaker 1: announced yesterday?

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Speaker 2: So the sixty six thousand dollars less is what we

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Speaker 2: calculated from the removal or the halving of the government contribution.

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Speaker 2: So I understand that with them increasing their contributions, if

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Speaker 2: they increased into four percent, because remember they could drop

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Speaker 2: them down to three and then their employer lifting it

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Speaker 2: up to four percent as well, next they'll be better off.

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Speaker 2: But they could have been way better off if the

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Speaker 2: government had kept the contributions in.

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Speaker 1: As well, so you would reverse that.

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Speaker 2: We're not going to reverse anything. We're not going to

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Speaker 2: say we're going to put it back in to yesterday

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Speaker 2: and today is about working through that budget and we

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Speaker 2: will come together with our fiscal plan pay equity.

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Speaker 1: You have already said you would reverse that law change.

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Speaker 1: Will you restore the full close to thirteen billion dollars

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Speaker 1: that was taken from to use your words, rated from

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Speaker 1: the kitty.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, we're absolutely committed to pay equity. What we need

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Speaker 2: to do is work through how they got to that

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Speaker 2: twelve billion dollar figure. Close to thirteen billion dollar figure.

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Speaker 2: That'll probably come up with the budget, release of the

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Speaker 2: documents and in probably about two months time. We need

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Speaker 2: to work through that, but we will ensure we don't

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Speaker 2: we do not shirk our responsibility and we don't want

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Speaker 2: women to be paid less. So we're going to work

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Speaker 2: through that, Kevleen, and sure we have appropriate contingency set

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Speaker 2: aside for it.

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Speaker 1: So you will confirm that you'll get you'll restore the

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Speaker 1: thirteen billion dollars.

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Speaker 2: We will, we confirm we're going to reverse the changes.

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Speaker 2: We're going to work through to see how the government

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Speaker 2: got to that thirteen billion because there was confusing messages

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Speaker 2: from the government throughout the House in the last three weeks, wasn't.

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Speaker 1: It wasn't that confusing? Yesterday it was close to thirteen

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Speaker 1: billion dollars. I mean, you can't have it both ways.

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Speaker 1: You can't run around and say this is women being

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Speaker 1: thirteen billion dollars has been stolen from women, and then

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Speaker 1: on the other hand say, actually, we don't know if

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Speaker 1: that number is right.

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Speaker 2: We're going to absolutely make sure we set aside the

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Speaker 2: appropriate contingencies for it, and we want to work through

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Speaker 2: to understand how they got to that figure. We are

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Speaker 2: absolutely committed to pay equity, right, absolutely committed to it.

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Speaker 1: Would you keep the learning support funding?

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Speaker 2: The learning support funding is a good thing, right, But

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Speaker 2: the problem is they have taken money from elsewhere within

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Speaker 2: the education system. So again, like everything else in the budget,

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Speaker 2: like everything we will take to the next election, we

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Speaker 2: will work through it carefully and we're part of our

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Speaker 2: fiscal plan going forward.

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Speaker 1: So you won't commit to keeping that learning support which

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Speaker 1: has been welcomed by the unions.

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Speaker 2: We welcome extra support for learning support, but does that

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Speaker 2: have to be at the cost of something else in education?

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Speaker 2: When the government also gave tax breaks to multinational companies

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Speaker 2: two point nine billion dollars to landlords. You know there

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Speaker 2: is funding there because it's about choices. They just have

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Speaker 2: to choose, and the choices we will make will be

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Speaker 2: covered in our fiscal plan.

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Speaker 1: The problem is you're doing a lot of choices and

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Speaker 1: not a lot of cutting. Right, So are you sticking

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Speaker 1: to Grant Robertson's and Treasury's fifty percent cap or not?

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Speaker 2: We are working. We are working currently within that cap

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Speaker 2: that was given to us, both that the government is

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Speaker 2: working under and part of our fiscal plan. But again

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Speaker 2: at the.

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Speaker 1: Elect choices that at the election you won't exceed. If

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Speaker 1: your plan won't exceed a fifty percent cap, you're confirming

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Speaker 1: that for us this morning.

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Speaker 2: There is still another budget to go, Ryan, and we

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Speaker 2: still have time to put together our fiscal plan the

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Speaker 2: way we currently work it, and it's the way that

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Speaker 2: we started with our own fiscal plan in twenty twenty three.

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Speaker 2: We will work through it carefully and everybody will be

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Speaker 2: able to see our plan when we announce it.

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Speaker 1: Will you get to surplus the same time as national

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Speaker 1: or would you push that out? Be happy to push

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Speaker 1: that out again?

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Speaker 2: Well, when even that's questionable, right, I Mean, I've seen

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Speaker 2: so many commentators saying, well, do they really think they're

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Speaker 2: going to get that way for a thin surplus by

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Speaker 2: ober gal x which is a new measure they put

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Speaker 2: in by that time. But it's about our fiscal plan.

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Speaker 2: We're going to work through it carefully and we will

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Speaker 2: announce it in due course. It's time.

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Speaker 1: But the problem you've got, Barbara, is that it's not

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Speaker 1: adding up right. You've promised so many things. You've promised

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Speaker 1: to restore so many things. This is going to mean

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Speaker 1: either borrowing or taxing or pushing surplus out or three

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Speaker 1: which will it be.

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Speaker 2: And it'll be about possibly also changing things that the

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Speaker 2: government said that they're funding again. They've given a lot

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Speaker 2: of tax breaks to different sectors. It's all about choices.

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Speaker 2: Every political party will have that choice. We've still got

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Speaker 2: another budget to go and we will make sure that

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Speaker 2: our fiscal plan is measured, it's responsible and it adds up.

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Speaker 2: We didn't promise two hundred and fifty dollars of tax

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Speaker 2: cuts to people. We still can't find a family who

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Speaker 2: actually got the four to fifty.

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Speaker 1: Barbara, appreciate your time this morning. Barbara Edmonds, Labor's finance spokesperson.

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Speaker 2: For more from early edition with Ryan Bridge.

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Speaker 1: Listen live to News Talk Set B from five am weekdays,

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Speaker 1: or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio